Bible
Study - Are You Worshipping God In Spirit And In Truth?
Lesson 13
Prayer
In
prayer we show our total dependence on God who created all
things and us and by Whom all things continue to exist. In
prayer we give praise, honor, glory and reverence to His name
for His greatness and goodness. We recognize Him as the source
of all blessings. It is also the outpouring of our hearts
desire. In Romans 10:1 the apostle Paul says,
"Brethern, my hearts desire and prayer to God
for Israel, is that they might be saved." Our
prayer must come from our heart.
Prayer to God is only reserved
for those who are obedient childrenof God. We are
told in John 9:31, "Now we know
that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper
of God and does His will, He hears him." There
are people whose prayer God will not hear. Isaiah 59:2 says,
"But you iniquities have separated
you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from
you, so that He will not hear." To allow
anything to separate us from the fellowship of God, so that
He will not hear our prayers is a very serious matter. It
is a sad situation for those who try to pray to God if God
will not hear them. But it is their own fault, because they
are not obedient to God. They could be obedient if they wanted
to be.
Then we read Proverbs 28:9;
"One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even
his prayer is an abomination." God looks
with disgust at the prayer of one who is not faithfully following
His will. What a pitiful situation it is for us when our prayers
become disgusting to God. Could anything be more hopeless?
We also read in 1 Peter 3:12, "For
the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are
open to their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against
those who do evil." The Lord desires to hear the
prayers of His faithful children and His eyes are watching
out for them. What a great and wonderful blessing this is.
When we pray to God, we must
be humble and not self-righteous. Our Lord gave a parable
which illustrates this requirement very well. In Luke 18:9-14
we read, "Also He spoke this parable
to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous,
and despised others: Two men went up to the temple to pray,
one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you that
I am not like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give
tithes of all that I possess. And the tax collector, standing
affar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven,
but beat his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather
than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be
humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
The attitude we have when we approach God in prayer and other
worship is very important.
If we approach God with an
attitude of showing great pride and arrogance in ourselves,
but contempt and scorn for others, then God will despise thiskind of prayer. Our prayers must be like the attitude
of the tax collector. From what our Lord is trying to teach
us here, when we approach our Creator in prayer we must be
humble, not proud or self-assertive, but modest, unpretentious
and our prayer must be from the heart. We are told in 1 Corinthians
14:15, "I will pray with the spirit
and I will also pray with the understanding."
Our prayers should not be
flowery and to impress other people, because God will not
be impressed with such. Jesus says in Matthew 6:5, 7,
"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.
For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the
corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Assuredly,
I say they have their reward. And when you pray do not use
vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they
will be heard for their many words." The only
reward someone who prays a prayer like this receives is the
recognition he receives from men because God will not heed
his prayer. We are also warned not to use vain repetitions,
such as repeating something over and over. This type of prayer
makes us a hypocrite because it is pretentious.
Our prayers must be asked
in faith. Concerning our prayers James 1:6-7 says,
"But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for
he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed
by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive
anything from the Lord." We must have faith in
God and if we are faithful and obedient to Him then He will
hear and answer our prayers, otherwise we will receive nothing.
Jesus says in Mark 11:24, "Therefore
I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe
that you receive them, and you will have them."
So we must have faith if we expect God to answer our prayers.
Since Jesus is our advocate
or go between with God, Jesus says in John 14:13,
"And whatever you ask in My name, that I will
do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."
Our requests to God must be in the name of or by the authority
of Christ.
Another requirement of God
answering our prayers is we must be forgiving of others. Jesus
says in Mark 11:25-26, "And whenever
you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive
him, that your Father in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven
forgive your trespasses." How important it is
to be forgiving of others? Could the Lord be any clearer as
to what will happen to us if we are not forgiving? The Lord
will not forgive us. We will be eternally lost. According
to Isaiah 59:2, it is our sins that "separate us"
from God so we cannot go to heaven. We must develop a forgiving
attitude toward all people so that God will be forgiving of
us so we can go to Heaven.
How we treat others can also
affect the way God hears our prayers. In 1 Peter 3:7 we read,
"Husbands, likewise, dwell with
them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the
weaker vessel, as being heirs together of the grace of life,
that your prayers may not be hindered."
Our prayers can be hindered by the way we treat our wife,
husband, children, relatives, friends, acquaintances, or strangers.
We must pray regularly and
not just when we are in trouble and need God. As 1 Thessalonians
5:17 says, "Pray without ceasing."
Also we are instructed in James 5:16,
"The fervent prayer of a righteous man avails
much." If we expect our prayer to be effective,
it must be fervent and we must be righteous. In our prayers
we must, with all earnest, show great feeling and intense
devotion to God.
The things we ask must be
in accordance with God’s will. 1 John 5:14 says,
"If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us."
Our requests to God must not contradict His will but
must be in agreement with it. We should not ask for anything
contrary to His will or for selfish things on our part. Our
prayers must be "in spirit and in truth" if they
are to be heard by God.
Questions Lesson 13
Prayer
(click on the button
of the answer of your choice)
1) (John 9:31) Whose prayer does God hear?
Everyone’s.
God’s favorites.
The worshipper who does God’s will.
2)
God does not hear the prayer of those who don’t do His
will.
3) (Isaiah 59:2) What separates
us from God so He does not hear our prayer?
A great distance.
Our sins.
Time.
4)
God will hear and answer all prayers.
5) (Proverbs 28:9) One
who will not hear God’s law
His prayer is an abomination.
God still desires to hear his prayer.
Is a friend of God.
6)
God looks with disgust at the prayer of one who is not
faithfully following His will.
7) (Matthew 6:5, 7) When
we pray we should
Try to be seen of men.
Not try to be seen of men.
Use vain repetitions.
8)
We should not try to receive recognition of others when
we pray.
9) (James 1:6-7) When we
pray
We should try to impress God as to how good we are.
God may not hear our prayer even though we are faithful
to Him.
We should ask in faith, nothing doubting.
10)
When we pray we should doubt that God will hear our prayer.
11) (Mark 11:25-26) When
we ask God to forgive us
We must be forgiving of others.
We do not have to be forgiving of others.
We don’t have to mean it.
12)
God will forgive us even though we don’t forgive others.
13) (James 5:17) What type
of prayer avails much?
A long prayer.
A prayer that impresses people.
The fervent prayer of a righteous man.
14)
If we expect our prayer to avail much, it must be fervent
and we must be righteous.
