TEACH ME TO PRAY WEEK #4

During this study, have you found that you are praying for the same things when you pray for yourself and for others?  Look at some of the suggestion below and try to see if you can include them in your prayers this week.

Prayer to do God’s will over your own.

Pray for encouragement and endurance and that your attitude and actions will bring glory to God.

Pray for expansion and growth for the Church in your community and around the world.

Pray for clear direction.

Pray for justice in all areas of life.

Pray for those who are longing for a child.

Pray for people who need deliverance, whether it’s from danger, addiction, or sinful lifestyle

Pray for boldness and for opportunities to bring people to Christ.

Pray for your community.

Pray for those you work with.

Pray for church leadership.

Pray for those who need to know the depth of God’s love.

Pray for the next generation of believers to rise up and lead the church.

Pray that God will bring leaders to lead kids and students to know Christ.

Pray for God to give you a fresh start and a clean heart.

Pray for God’s grace and fresh start for those in struggling marriages.

There are so much more that we could pray about for others and ourselves. When you find yourself in a trial, don’t just pray to get out of it quickly, ask God for wisdom and strength to endure it. That trial maybe for you, or for someone else to see God’s Glory and for God to work in their life.  Just trust in God. He is right there with you. Depend on Him to get you through.

PRAYER MODELS

What do you think is the most well know prayer in the Bible? The Lord’s Prayer.  Several years ago at my church we did a study on prayer and it was  based on the Lord’s Prayer.  The Lord’s Prayer was not intended to be a prayer for use to recite.

After Jesus spoke to what is known as the sermon on the Mount, one of his disciples said” Lord, Teach us to pray..” Luke 11:1 

READ MATTHEW  6: 9-13

This could not really be the “Lord’s” prayer because he had not sinned. This should have been called the Disciple’s prayer. Anyway this prayer is a model for us to use when we pray. There are some similarities to those we have already discussed.  So let’s break in down.

THE RELATIONSHIP- OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN

This is the relationship we have with God if we are believers. He is our FATHER.  He has many other names as well.

ELOHIM- means the “strong one”

EL SHADDAI- means “God Almighty”

EL ELYON- means “Most High God”

EL OLAM – means “ the Everlasting God”

YAHWEH (YHWH) JEHOVAH – comes for a verb which means “to exist, be”

YAHWEH JIREH (YIREH)- means “The Lord will provide”

YAHWEH NISSI- means “ the Lord is my banner” the one who fights for His people

YAHWEH SHALOM- means “the Lord is Peace”

YAHWEH RAPHA – means “the Lord who heals”

YAHWECH SABBAOTH- means “the Lord of Host” portraying the Lord as the commander of the armies in heaven.

YAHWECH M’KADDESH- means :the Lord your Sanctifier”

YAHWEHR’I- meas “The Lord my Shepherd”

YAHWEH TSIDKENU- means the Lord our Righteousness

YAHWEH SHAMMAH- means “ the Lord is there”

ADONAI- like Elohim, master owner. Stresses man’s relationship to God as his authority and provider.

THEOS- primary name for God in the New Testament

KURIOS- greek word for Lord

DESPOSTES- Greek word for “master”

And my favortite

ABBA- means ‘daddy”

One of the most important element of effective prayer is a deepening relationship with the Father. This means worshipping the Father, knowing Him better through the Word, fellowshipping with Him, obeying His will and seeking to please Him. When you pray, would you feel comfortable using the word “ABBA”? That is what God wants.

Jesus said in Matthew 18:3 “ And said, Verily I say unto you. Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven”. We have to be like children. Talk to God like he was your earthly father, your daddy. God wants this type of relationship with you.

WORSHIP- HALLOWED BE THY NAME

The word hallowed means reverence. It’s another way of expressing worship and praise to God.  This is the “A” part of the A.C.T.S. prayer model. Adoration. Most people like to jump right into prayer with their needs. Begin with worship and focus on GOD rather than your own needs.

Here we let God be God in our life. All parts of our life, personal, family, business, recreation…and to allow God to set us apart. This is not only for when we pray for ourselves but also when we pray for others. We should not primarily that others will be delivered for sin BUT that they will come to know GOD.  That is the ultimate goal. For people to understand who HE really is. The God for holiness, grace and righteousness. Let GOD be GOD in your life.

SURRENDER-THY KINDGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.

Moving from worship, leaves us realizing how great God is. HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD! Sing with me HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD! At this point of the prayer model, we bow before Him, acknowledge HIS purpose and plan. We humble pray for HIS will to be done and we lay our plans, goals and will down before Him.

I find this is so HARD to do as times. He has a plan for my life and MANY times our plans don’t match. It is hard to give up on something that you want so badly, when it is NOT part of God’s will for your life. But we may not be able to know or see God’s will or plans for us, that is why it is essential to trust him.  And HIS ways are much better than our ways.

ASK- GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD

Now is the time it is ok to ask in prayer for our needs. This don’t mean a trip to the grocery store. It is ok to pray for our daily needs. What are your daily needs? A job to get the money to get the food. Clothes that we need to work in. Transportation to get us to work. It’s ok to ask for these. God knows our needs and He is concerned about them.

Pray for the necessities for life, not luxuries. Ask for bread not the cake!

FORGIVENESS- Forgive US OUR TRESPASSES AND WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TREPASSES AGAINST US

Ask God to search your heart and to reveal any sins that your need to confess to HIM. Ask Him also to reveal anyone that you need to forgive or anyone that your need to ask forgiveness from… We have to forgive others, before our heavenly FATHER forgives us. MATTHEW 6:14  Luke 6:37  Matthew 18:21-22

If you harbor an unforgiving spirit. You are actually asking God NOT to forgive you. To sin is human, to forgive divine. We are never closer to God’s grace than when we admit our sin and cry out for pardon. We are never more LIKE God than when we extend forgiveness FULLY and FREELY to those who have sinned against us.

PROTECT – AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL

Ask God to protect us and deliver us from our flesh and worldly desires.

NOTE God does NOT LEAD us into temptation. This really means “Keep me away from temptation”. If the opportunity to sin presents itself, grant that I will not have the desire.” “ If the desire springs up within me, grant that I will not have the opportunity”,

When we pray about our sins, it’s not the temptation that bothers us; it’s the consequence of our disobedience that we want removed.

And we know the evil one (Satan) has power. We affirm our weakness and plead for the greater power of God.

WORSHIP- FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, THE POWER AND THE GLORY, FORVER AMEN

Just as we begin with worship so we should end with worship. Giving praise and glory for hearing our prayer, acting on our prayer. This show our faith that he can and will do what we ask.

WHY DO WE PRAY?

God wants us for Himself. He desires communion with us. His purpose is prayer is not to make us “Sit up and beg” . He wants us to know Him. Prayer is His method to accomplish that.

When we pray, we often concentrate on the gifts in God’s hand and ignore the hand of God Himself. We pray fervently for the new job, or for the return of health. When we gain the prize, we are delighted. And then we have little more to do with God. If we are only after the “coins”, God’s hand serves only as a way to pay the “rent”, heal the sickness or get through the crisis. After the need has been met, the hand itself means little to us.

While God in His grace does give good gifts to His children, He offers us more than that. He offers us Himself. Those who are merely satisfied with the trinkets in the Father’s hand miss the best reward of prayer. The reward of communicating and communing with the God of the universe.