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HOW
TO PRAY
Chapter 2: Come to God the Right Way When You Pray
What is
the Right Way?
“Does it really matter how we
pray?” some people ask. “Don't all religions
lead to God?” Jesus said:
“I
am the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to
the Father except by me” ( John 14:6).
And so we go to the Father through Jesus, on the
basis of what He has done for us. We pray in Jesus'
name, presenting His promises just as we might a check
on the Bank of Heaven. His account is not overdrawn.
And Jesus Himself is there to honor the promise, to
identify us as authorized to draw on His account.
Jesus tells those who believe in Him:
“And
I will do whatever you ask for in my name, so that
the Father's glory will be shown through the Son”
( John 14:13). We
have, then, my brothers, complete freedom to go into
the Most Holy Place by means of the death of Jesus
( Hebrews 10:19).
We
have a great High Priest who has gone into the very
presence of God -- Jesus, the Son of God. Our High
Priest is not one who cannot feel sympathy for our
weaknesses.
On the contrary, we have a High Priest who was tempted
in every way that we are, but did not sin. Let us
be brave, then, and approach God's throne, where there
is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace
to help us just when we need it (Hebrews 4:14-16).
For You to Do
Write the answers to these questions in your notebook.
Check your answers
with answers for Lesson 2.
1. Which of these do you mean when you use the words
'in Jesus name' in a prayer?
a) I ask not because of my own goodness but because
of what Jesus did for me, making me a child of God.
b) I come to ask for and receive what Jesus has promised
me.
c) I belong to Jesus and ask Him to help me.
d) This is something that Jesus would ask for, that
will advance His cause, that will please Him, and
so I ask for it in His name, for His sake.
e) Jesus, as my High Priest, please ask the Father
for this in Your Name.
f) I don't really think of what the words mean, but
just use them from habit.
g) The words are like a magic formula that are supposed
to make our prayers heard.
h) I pray this way because Jesus told us to. I really
don't know what the words mean.
2. What Bible verse would you use to show that the
only way to God is through Jesus?
3. According to Hebrews 4:14-16 , what is Jesus doing
for us now in heaven?
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With
What Attitudes?
Respect, Joy, Thankfulness,
Confidence
Thinking about who God is and of His goodness, love,
and power makes it easier for us to come to Him with
the right attitudes. We come with respect and submission
to our Lord and Maker, ready to do whatever He tells
us. We come to our Father with joy, thankfulness,
and confidence. We know God will hear and answer our
prayers because He loves us and because He has promised
to give us what we need. Jesus has told us about prayer:
“Ask
and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock,
and the door will be opened to you” ( Luke 11:9).
When we have truly prayed and have heard God speak
to us or have seen Him answer, we learn from experience
that He does hear and answer prayer. This strengthens
our faith. Sometimes we have to wait with patience,
but we can trust and thank God for the answer that
will come.
Remember, too, that God has no favorites. He loves
everyone and welcomes us all. The apostle Peter learned
this by experience and said:
“I
now realize that it is true that God treats everyone
on the same basis. Whoever worships him and does what
is right is acceptable to him, no matter what race
he belongs to” ( Acts 10:34-35).
Humility and Repentance
Jesus once told about two men to illustrate the right
and wrong attitudes in prayer:
“Once
there were two men who went up to the Temple to pray:
one was a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The
Pharisee stood apart by himself and prayed, ‘I
thank you, God, that I am not greedy, dishonest, or
an adulterer, like everybody else. I thank you that
I am not like that tax collector over there. I fast
two days a week, and I give you a tenth of all my
income.’
But the tax collector stood at a distance and would
not even raise his face to heaven, but beat on his
breast and said, ‘God, have pity on me, a sinner!’”
“I tell you,” said Jesus, “the tax
collector, and not the Pharisee, was in the right
with God when he went home” (Luke 18:10-14).
Pride and a critical attitude toward others are sins.
And sin separates us from the presence and blessing
of God. The Pharisee was shutting the door in his
own face. But repentance (being sorry for the wrong
we have done and wanting to stop doing anything that
is wrong) opens the door for us to receive forgiveness
and God's blessing. Humility is the opposite of pride.
The tax collector knew he was a sinner and acknowledged
it. He knew he didn't deserve God's blessing (none
of us do!) but he came asking for mercy. And God forgave
him.
Forgiving and Loving Others
Hatred, resentment, and unwillingness to forgive
those who have wronged us will close the door between
us and God in prayer. Jesus said:
“If
you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you,
your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if
you do not forgive others, then your Father will not
forgive the wrongs you have done” ( Matthew 6:14-15).
If we have done someone else a wrong, Jesus teaches
us that we should make it right, ask forgiveness.
We should be careful to treat others with love and
kindness in our home, at work, or wherever we are.
Harsh attitudes hinder prayer.
“So
if you are about to offer your gift to God at the
altar and there remember that your brother has something
against you, leave your gift there in front of the
altar, go at once and make peace with your brother,
and then come back and offer your gift to God”
( Matthew 5:23-24).
Estela, a young Peruvian school teacher, was praying
for God to fill her with the Holy Spirit. As she prayed,
God brought to her mind the resentment she felt against
a certain person. “Lord,” she prayed,
“I forgive her. Please forgive me for holding
resentment against her. Tomorrow I will write her
a letter and ask her to forgive me.” Immediately
a deep joy and peace filled Estela and she praised
God as He answered prayer and filled her with His
Spirit.
Sincerity and Earnestness
Mean what you say when you pray. Too often we simply
say a prayer without really thinking about what we
are saying. Jesus had a great deal to say about this.
For You to Do
4. Make note of the attitudes you want to cultivate
in prayer in your notebook. Talk with the Lord about
them all.
Joyfulness
Listening
Thankfulness
Forgiveness
Worship
Sincerity
Earnestness
Repentance
Confidence
Obedience
Pride
Praise
Love
Humility
Respect
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Where?
First, remember that God is everywhere;
so, wherever we are, God will hear us and answer.
However, we learn in the Bible that there are special
places of prayer. Our churches, like God's temple
in Jerusalem, have been dedicated to God as His house
where we go to meet with Him. They are special places
of worship.
“God said, ‘My Temple will be called a
house of prayer for the people of all nations’”
( Mark 11:17).
Jesus let people know that the place
was not so important as the attitude, but He also
said we should pray privately at home. We follow this
principle when we pray silently within ourselves,
but it is good to have a place where we can get alone
with God regularly. There we can think and listen
quietly for the voice of God when we pray.
“But when you pray, go to your room, close the
door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And
your Father, who sees what you do in private, will
reward you” ( Matthew 6:6).
God shows us in His Word that we should
pray with others too. You may do this with a friend
who is willing to be a prayer partner with you. If
possible you should pray with your family. In many
places prayer groups meet in homes or in other convenient
places. We read about one such group in the book of
Acts, a women's group that met down by the river.
And then of course you will have a special opportunity
to worship God together with others as you join with
other believers in God's house.
PRAY:
Alone
With a Friend
With Your Family
With a Prayer Group
With the Church
Whereever You Are
For You to Do
5. Do you have a place where you can get alone to
pray? Where? Write in your notebook any benefits you
find in praying by yourself.
6. Make a list of different places where you have
prayed or where you plan to pray.
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In
What Position?
In the Bible we find that people
sometimes stood to pray, showing respect and reverence.
Sometimes they knelt, as they might before a king
to show their respect, submission, and willingness
to obey his orders. The Psalmist spoke of praying
in bed during the night. We read that David "sat
before the Lord," and the 120 believers were
sitting when the Holy Spirit filled them on the Day
of Pentecost. If we are praying for a long time, it
is important to be comfortable and relaxed, thinking
about God instead of about how uncomfortable we are.
Sometimes, though, we may want to stand up and walk
about in order to keep wide awake when we pray. Sometimes
we take the hand of the person with whom we are praying,
uniting our prayers in agreement. Sometimes, as people
did in Bible times, we lift our hands to God in praise
or stretch out our hands in supplications as if to
receive the answer. We may place our hands on the
person for whom we are praying, in Jesus' name, trusting
that He will use our hands as His to heal or encourage
the person or set him apart for a special work.
Come,
let us bow down and worship; let us kneel before the
Lord our Maker! ( Psalm 95:6). Raise
your hands in prayer in the Temple, and praise the
Lord! ( Psalm 134:2).
For You to Do
7. From what you have seen in the Bible, which is
more important in prayer, the
position of the body or the attitude?
8. List three common positions of the body for prayer.
Which do you like best? Why?
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In
What Pattern?
Jesus has given us the best pattern
for our prayers as well as wonderful teachings about
prayer.
We call this “The Lord's Prayer.” We
use it in two ways: 1) as a prayer that we memorize
and repeat, and 2) as a pattern for other prayers.
“This,
then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in
heaven: May your holy name be honored; may your Kingdom
come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need. Forgive us the wrongs
we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others
have done to us. Do not bring us to hard testing,
but keep us safe from the Evil One”” ( Matthew
6:9-13).
You may be used to a different translation of this
prayer. I like the ones that include the ending found
on some ancient manuscripts but not on others: “For
thine (yours) is the kingdom, and the power, and the
glory for ever. Amen.” In this way we begin
and end our prayer with a recognition of who God is
and looking forward to the time when He will establish
His perfect rule here on earth. Amen means “may
it be so.”
In this beautiful model prayer, Jesus tells us to
pray - “Our Father in heaven.” God is
the One to whom we pray. We come with confidence as
His children to talk with Him about our needs. We
come respectfully, praying that His name may be honored
- that we and others may honor Him.
One of the first and most important things for us
to pray about in every circumstance is for God's will
to be done - that He may do what He knows is best.
As we let Him guide us in prayer, He will impress
on our minds what to pray for, what He wants to do.
We cooperate with Him as we pray in His will for those
things that are best for our family, our nation, and
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our heavenly Father loves us and wants to give us
whatever we need for each day - the work to earn our
food, the strength and health to work, the wisdom,
the right relationships, shelter, clothing - He tells
us to ask for it.
We are to pray for God to forgive us for anything
that we have done wrong. This includes getting rid
of any bad feelings that we may have toward anyone
else. It also means that we stop doing what is wrong.
We ask for God's help to do right along with His forgiveness
for our faults and failures.
We pray for God to guide us and help us, that He
won't let us surrender to temptation. And we ask to
be kept safe from the power of Satan, the tempter,
the evil one, the enemy of God and of our souls. This
may include deliverance from his attacks: from doubts,
fears, wrong attitudes, sickness, discouragement,
and anything that would hinder us from doing God's will.
We close by reminding ourselves that God is in control!
He will give the victory. His power is sufficient
for all our need. And some day we will see Him and
live with Him forever in His perfect kingdom. His
is the glory forever, Amen!
For You to Do
9. Read the Lord's Prayer over, line by line, thinking
for several minutes on the meaning of each line and
talking with God about how it applies you.
10. Now pray using each line of the Lord's Prayer
as your pattern, beginning some-thing like this: My
Father in heaven, may I honor your name today in all
that I do. May other people see your love in me and
want to know and serve You too ... etc.
11. If you do not yet know the Lord's Prayer from
memory, learn it now. If the con-gregation prays it
together in your church, learn the version that is
used there.
Check your answers.
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Check
Your Answers – Lesson 2
1. Answers a) through e) are all good
ones. It would be good to go over them and think of
them when you pray in Jesus name. I am afraid that
too often we could answer f), g), or h). Of course,
g) is completely wrong.
2. John 14:6.
3. Serving as our great High Priest. That is, we
can go to Him with all our problems and He prays for
us.
4. Your answer. You probably want to cultivate all
of them except pride. I think these lessons will help
you do it. Just being conscious of our weak points
helps us receive the strength that the Lord wants
to give us.
5. I hope you do have a place or can find one. You
may have mentioned that you find it easier to concentrate
on the Lord and talk frankly to Him.
6. Your list might include several of these: at home,
with the family, at meals, at work, on the street
while going to and from work, in the woods, at school,
at a friend's home, in a prayer group, on the telephone,
at church -- wherever you are.
7. The attitude.
8. Standing, kneeling, sitting. Your preference.
9-11. 1 hope you were blessed in doing this.
Go to Chapter
3: Listen to God When You Pray
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