Chapter 1: Think About God When You Pray

God Will Teach You to Pray

Do you ever wonder why some people receive such wonderful answers to prayer while so many of your prayers seem to be unanswered? Or why some people talk to God so easily and you find it hard to know what to say? Or why sometimes you feel the presence of God, and at others you seem to be talking to a blank wall? Perhaps every Christian has asked himself or herself these questions.

Even Jesus' disciples had some problems about prayer. They could see in His life how important prayer was, what wonderful things happened in answer to His prayers. And so they begged Him:

Let's make this our prayer as we study these lessons. God wants to answer this prayer for us. In fact, He is the One who has given us the desire to pray.

When God made us, He put something in us that reaches out for Him. We realize that we need a power greater than our own to solve our problems, protect us, and meet our needs. We reach out to the world of the supernatural for help. But our urge to pray goes beyond that. We feel the need to worship, honor, and serve some supernatural thing.

How important it is to direct this worship to the right Person - the One who made us, God! Only then can we find the deep satisfaction that He wants us to enjoy. God made us so that we could talk things over with Him and He could talk with us and help us. Life is not complete without this communion with Him.

God invites us to come to Him in prayer and ask Him for whatever we need. Just think of it - the One who made the world and everything in it, the Lord and Ruler of the universe wants to talk with us. He made us, understands us, loves us, and wants to help us. Time and again in the Book He has given us - the Holy Bible - He invites us to take our problems to Him, talk everything over with Him. That's what prayer is – talking with God. He tells us:

You may be sure that God will teach you as you study and put into practice what the Bible tells us about how to pray. The title of each lesson in this book gives you a biblical principle, a simple rule that will help you when you pray. Then the lesson is full of practical suggestions on how to apply it. The principle for this lesson - think of God when you pray - is one that Jesus teaches us. If we follow the model He gave, we begin our prayers recognizing who God is, honoring Him, and praying for His will to be done.

For You to Do

In each one of these For You to Do sections, the questions or exercises will help you review or apply what you have just studied. Please write the answers in a notebook.

1. Read Luke 11:1 and Jeremiah 33:3 five times. How do you plan to use these verses as you study these lessons?

2. If you have not yet read the information from the beginning of the study to here, please do so now, then write in your notebook your main reason for studying this course.

3. Look at the table of contents. Make note of the things that you already do when you pray in your notebook. Make note of the things you feel you probably should practice more in your notebook.


4. What biblical principle do you find in the title of this lesson? Who taught it?


5. Which do you usually think about more when you pray?
a) God - who He is, what He has done for you, what He wants you to do.
b) Yourself - your problems, what you want God to do for you.

Talk with God now about what He wants you to learn in these studies.


Now check your answers.

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God is Good

When we talk with someone, we don't just think about ourselves and our needs. We think first about the other person - who he is, what he does, and what he is to us. Our first lesson in how to pray effectively is to apply this same principle when we talk to God: Think about God when you pray. In fact, this is a basic part of worship. The word worship in English comes from worth+ship and means to recognize the worthiness of God.

First of all, let us realize that God is good. Because God is good He wants to free us from the things that bring suffering. He wants to bless us, making us happy and healthy and helping us live good and useful lives. Thinking about how good God is makes us want to join in the song of the Psalmist:

For You to Do

6. Read Psalm 100 five times. Find the answers to the questions in the verses indicated.
a) Who should sing to the Lord? (v. 1)
b) How should we come to God? (v. 2)
c) What should we always remember?(v. 3)
d) With what attitude should we go into the place where we worship God? (v. 4)
e) What does verse 5 teach us about God?

If you know a song of praise, sing it to God.

Now check your answers.

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God Loves You

God loves you and me. It is His very nature to love. The Father sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world to: 1) tell us about His love, 2) demonstrate that love in His life and death for us, and 3) make it possible for us to be with Him and enjoy His love forever. Jesus said:

Because God is good, He has set certain standards for the world He has made. He teaches us right from wrong in the Bible and helps us do what is right. As Ruler of the universe, He must judge us for what we do, rewarding those who do right and punishing those who do wrong. Unfortunately, we have all done wrong and were condemned to be separated eternally from God unless there was some way to save us.

And there was a way! God loved us so much that He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to take our place. Jesus loves us too and died for our sins. He came back to life and went back to heaven. Some day He will come again to put everything right here in His Father's world.

When we pray, if we think about how God loves us, we want to please Him. We are sorry for the wrong we have done and ask Him to forgive us and help us do what is right.

For You to Do

7. Read John 3:16 five times. What proof do you have that God loves you?

8. How can we be forgiven for our sins?

Now check your answers.

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God is Our Father

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, God becomes a Father to us. He does more than just adopt us. He sends His Holy Spirit to live in us, give us a new nature and make us His children. Jesus teaches us to call God Father when we pray, just as He always did. Think what it means for us to be able to call the Creator of the universe Father! We can come to Him at any time and ask for whatever we need from our Father in heaven. Jesus tells us that the Father loves us and wants to give us what we need.

Our part is simply to ask God for what we need. This is an important part of prayer. We ask and He has promised to answer. We need not be afraid that we are asking for something that is too hard for God to do. He can do anything! And so we ask, knowing that God is our Father.

Ask and You Will Receive
Luke 11:9

For You to Do

9. Have you accepted Jesus as your Savior? If so, thank God for being your Father. If not, would you like to pray this prayer?

God, I would like to have You as my Father. Thank You for sending Your Son to save me. Please forgive all the wrong things I have done and help me do what is right.

10. Read five times John 16:27; Matthew 6:25-26; Matthew 7:11; Luke 11:9. Make a list in your notebook of any needs you have in the list above. Pray about them. Thank God for answering your prayer.

11. Write in your notebook any special needs that ydou want your Father to supply. Pray. As He provides them, write beside each the date that you receive the answer.

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God Can Do Anything

God can do anything because He is infinite, that is, He has no limits. He is not limited by space - He is everywhere. He is not limited by time - He has always been and always will be; in other words, He is eternal. God sees the future just as clearly as He sees the past and present because He is infinite in knowledge. Nothing is hidden from Him - not even our thoughts.

God understands us much better than we understand ourselves and knows just what is best for us. As we go to Him in prayer and ask Him to guide us, we can trust in His infinite wisdom, goodness, and love. Whatever He does is right. We can surrender our lives to Him joyfully, knowing that He will take good care of us.

GOD IS INFINITE IN:

BEING
WISDOM
KNOWLEDGE
GOODNESS
POWER
LOVE

God is infinite in power - He created the universe and operates it by His commands. The laws of nature are simply the patterns that God has established for His world; He is not limited by them. Whenever it suits His purpose God may speed up or slow down their operation. Or, He may even temporarily suspend their action by a higher law, the order of the Creator. The result is a miracle. We read of the miracles that Jesus did: He healed the sick, raised the dead, caused the blind to see and the deaf to hear, all with a word or a touch. We need never fear that our problems are too big for God!

For You to Do

12. Repeat these great truths:

God is good and wants to answer my prayers.
God has all power; He can help me now.
God is everywhere; He is with me now.
God is all wise; He will do what is best.
God is my Father; He wants to meet my need.
God loves me and I love Him.

What do you feel about God when you repeat these sentences? I suggest that each day you find a place of quiet meditation and repeat these truths before you pray. Do this until you have formed the habit of really thinking about God whenever you pray.

Check your answers.

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Check Your Answers – Lesson 1

1. Your answer may be different from mine. I would make Luke 11:1 my prayer as I began to study each lesson and then remind myself of God's promise in Jeremiah 33:3.

2. Your answer might be any of the reasons you have read about, a reason of your own, or simply that you want to pray better and have your prayers answered.

3. Your answer. I would have to make note of several of them.

4. Think about God when you pray. Jesus.

5. Your answer. Most people would mark b.

6. a) All the world.
b) With happy songs.
c) He made us and we belong to Him.
d) Thanking and praising God.
e) He is good, His love lasts forever, and He is always faithful.

7. He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to save me.

8. Believe in Jesus and ask God to forgive us.

9. Your answer. I hope that you have received Jesus as your Savior. If you need to know more about receiving Jesus as your Savior, send our CBN Prayer Counselors an e-mail right now. Or you can call, 24-hours-a-day, 1-800-759-0700. A caring friend is standing by to answer your question or pray with you.

10-11. Your answers. We will be praying that God will meet all your needs.

12. You probably feel more confidence in God and more desire to talk with Him in prayer.

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Go to Chapter 2: Come to God the Right Way When You Pray

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