The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is going through the book Prayer Does It Make A Difference? by Philip Yancey.   In his book Philip explores the intimate place where God and humans meet in Prayer. Polls reveal that 90 percent of people pray. Yet prayer, which should be the most nourishing and uplifting time of the believer’s day, can also be frustrating, confusing, and fraught with mystery. Writing as a fellow pilgrim, Yancey probes such questions as: Is God listening?; Why should God care about me?; If God knows everything, what’s the point of prayer?; Why do answers to prayer seem so inconsistent?; Why does God sometimes seem close and sometimes seem far away?; How can I make prayer more satisfying?  In Session 15 we talk about prayer and God.

We’ve talked a lot about the mystery of prayer.  Why are some prayers answered and others not, why do we have to wait why, why, why.  With all the whys there are a couple of things that we can count on. God loves us and He is faithful.  

​“I pray and I breathe - because I can’t help it.  Prayer is hardly a perfect form of communication, for I, an imperfect, material being who lives on an imperfect, material planet am reaching out for a perfect, spiritual Being.

To purchase a copy of the book click this LINK or the one in the notes.  ​
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To hear the audio of the session click on the YouTube link.
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In the last  two weeks two sessions before I left we talked about prayer and you, and prayer and others.  In those sessions we talked about how we as individuals view prayer We talked about the fact that we often pray because of fear.  We are often impatient in prayer.  We want everything right now. We are impatient and so are our prayers.  We want God to act now. When we pray for others we really start to see those that we pray for as God sees them and not us.  Our view changes from our own to God’s view. It is clear from the Bible that we are encouraged to pray for others. Paul’s letters to the churches include prayers for the church and for specific  individuals. We ended by saying that Jesus instructs us to intercede for our enemies.

Before we start this week’s session.   Here is something that I read. 
 
Matthew 26:36‭-‬46 CEV Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane. When they got there, he told them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”  Jesus took along Peter and the two brothers, James and John. He was very sad and troubled, and he said to them, “I am so sad that I feel as if I am dying. Stay here and keep awake with me.”  Jesus walked on a little way. Then he knelt with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, don't make me suffer by drinking from this cup. But do what you want, and not what I want.”  He came back and found his disciples sleeping. So he said to Peter, “Can't any of you stay awake with me for just one hour? Stay awake and pray that you won't be tested. You want to do what is right, but you are weak.”  Again Jesus went to pray and said, “My Father, if there is no other way, and I must suffer, I will still do what you want.”  Jesus came back and found them sleeping again. They simply could not keep their eyes open. He left them and prayed the same prayer once more.  Finally, Jesus returned to his disciples and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? The time has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to sinners. Get up! Let's go. The one who will betray me is already here.”
 
“Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Jesus says, “Pray that you’re not led into temptation, Peter.” This was the warning. This was the moment that would have prepared Peter’s lips with a resounding ‘yes!’ when, in just a few hours, he would find himself sitting around a campfire and being asked the question, “Are you with Jesus?” This was the moment—the moment that would have prepared him for the greatest battle he’d ever fight within his soul. It was a moment that no one would celebrate. It was a moment that no one would like on Instagram. It was a moment that he’d get no credit for. It was a moment that no one would ever see. I wonder if it even would’ve been written in the Bible at all if Peter had just prayed with Jesus; surely they had all prayed together before, but we don’t see it in Scripture.
 
Peter decided to sleep rather than to pray, and he left his spirit unguarded. Prayer is the protective force around our lives. It positions us in a place of power. We should never underestimate the power of prayer in our own lives. Yes, we pray for the needs of others. Yes, we pray for the needs of the world, but this was the moment for Peter not to pray for the world but to pray for himself and to take inventory in his own heart—to follow the example of Jesus, who was in a garden praying so hard that his body was producing blood out of his sweat glands—and yet all the while, Peter is asleep with his spirit unguarded. We have to get into that place of prayer. We’ve got to fight for that place of prayer and connection with Jesus. 
 
I’m not saying this in a religious way. I’m not saying this legalistically. Prayer is a relational imperative in the life of the believer. Sometimes we view prayer as a test for our discipline, but prayer is more than that. It is an indicator of the health of our relationship with God. Any relationship that exists without communication is unhealthy. Prayer guards our spirit. Prayer is a secret place, an uncelebrated place, at times a painful place, but it is a crucial place. 
 
Ask yourself this question: What does my prayer life look like right now and what does that say about the condition of my relationship with Jesus? Am I putting myself in a place of power through prayer or am I, through my lack of connection to God, putting myself in a place of vulnerability to the attack and the weapons of the enemy?
  
Quit Praying!
by Mark Batterson, from Draw The Circle

“Well done, good and faithful servant!”— Matthew 25:23
                        
One of the defining moments in my prayer life happened a decade ago. I was in a small group with a friend who worked for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Georgetown University. Jeremy was working on a shoestring budget, and their campus ministry needed a computer. He shared the request at the end of our meeting, and I agreed to pray for it, but when I started praying for it, I felt that the Lord wanted me to stop praying. It was like the Holy Spirit said, “Why are you asking Me? You’re the one with the extra computer!” I quit praying in mid-sentence. I told Jeremy we didn't need to pray about it because I had an extra computer he could have.
                        
I wonder how many of our prayer requests are within our own power to answer? Yet we ask God to do what we can do ourselves. And then we wonder why God doesn't respond. Maybe it’s because God won’t do for us what we can do for ourselves. God isn't honored by prayers that are within the realm of human possibility; God is honored when we ask Him to do what is humanly impossible. That way, God gets all the glory!
                        
There are some things we don’t need to pray about:
                        

• We don't need to pray about loving our neighbors
• We don’t need to pray about giving generously or serving sacrificially.
• We don’t need to pray about blessing someone when it is in our power to do so.
• We don’t have to pray about turning the other cheek or going the extra mile.
• God has already spoken on those subjects.

                                         
There comes a moment when praying becomes a form of spiritual procrastination. It’s time to stop praying and start acting.
                        
Quit praying about the program and fill out an application. Quit praying for the friend you hurt and make a phone call. Don’t just complain to God about your coworker; circle them in prayer. Don’t just pray for missionaries; write a check.
                        
One of my heroes is Peter Marshall, the former chaplain of the United States Senate. His prayers at the opening of Senate sessions are timeless. Peter Marshall believed in an action-oriented approach to Scripture.
                        
I wonder what would happen if we all agreed to read one of the Gospels, until we came to a place that told us to do something, then went out to do it, and only after we had done it... began reading again?
                        
There are aspects of the Gospel that are puzzling and difficult to understand. But our problems are not centered around the things we don’t understand, but rather in the things we do understand, the things we could not possibly misunderstand. This, after all, is but an illustration of the fact that our problem is not so much that we don’t know what we should do.
                        
We know perfectly well... but we don’t want to do it.
                        
Please don’t misinterpret what I’m saying. Pray about everything. Then pray some more. But at some point, we have to quit praying and start acting.
                        
One of the great mistakes we make is asking God to do for us what God wants us to do for Him. We confuse roles. For example, we try to convict those around us of sin. But that is the Holy Spirit’s responsibility, not ours. In the same sense, God won’t do for us what we can do ourselves. And many of us get stuck spiritually right there.
                        
We are called to pray about everything, but there comes a time when praying can be a form of disobedience, laziness, or negligence. We can’t just pray like it depends on God; we also must work like it depends on us.
                        
When Christianity turns into a noun, it becomes a turnoff. Christianity was always intended to be a verb — more specifically, an action verb. The title of the book of Acts says it all, doesn’t it? It’s not the book of Ideas or Words. It’s the book of Acts. And if we said less and did more, I believe we would have the same kind of impact the first-century church had. And while we’re on the subject, we should be more known for what we’re for than what we’re against.
                        
When everything is said and done, God won’t say, “Well said, good and faithful servant.” He won’t say, “Well thought,” “well planned,” or even “well prayed.” There is only one commendation He will give: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

This week, our final one in this study is Prayer and God.
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​Without Ceasing

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)16  Rejoice always,17  pray without ceasing, 18  in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 

We need to know the difference between saying prayers, which is an activity, and praying,  which is a soul attitude, a “ lifting up of the mind to God.” Praying in that sense can transform every task into prayer.

We are always talking about praying without ceasing and there are many definitions of it.  Most of them are applicable. It’s really a lifestyle. It’s really, as Philip describes it, keeping company with God who is always present with us.    He makes a great point on page 316 and that is that we have the potential to do more than one thing at a time (walk and chew gum at the same time). It’s possible to give God attention even while doing something else;  to pray simultaneously as other things are going on. We can pray while standing in line at the grocery store and it can even help us deal with what’s going on around us. Prayer allows us to take ordinary things and convert them to acknowledgements of God’s presence.  With prayer everything is realigned; revenge is realigned as grace, greed to generosity, hate to love, fear to faith.

Jesus cautioned us about using vain repetitions as praying without ceasing so we have to be careful that our prayer doesn’t become empty phrases 

Matthew 6:7 (NKJV)7  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.  

What Jesus is really talking about here is public displays of prayer or vain displays for the approval of others or to show off in front of others.  

Heart felt repetitions are not what He meant when in conversing with Him one-on-one.  There is an example on page 317.

This is something done by a novelist that Philip knows and talked with  in writing this book. She had become familiar with a prayer called the Jesus Prayer in a book The Way of the Pilgrim.  There was a little line in that prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me”   she started praying that prayer over and over even when she was doing other things.  You have probably done the same thing. It may not be “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me”, it may just be “Lord and mercy on me”. My default thing is “Thank you Jesus”  I say it at times not even realizing that I’ve said it. It becomes second nature. When you don’t know what to pray it will come out.  

Inappropriate Prayers

Although most of our prayers are for ourselves, or our friends and family, we sometimes become very pious and refuse to ask God for things for us.  Sometimes it’s because we don’t think that we are worthy because of sin, or what we are asking is nothing when looking at the needs of others. I think that’s a good thing because we are urged to think of others more than ourselves.

Philippians 2:3 (NKJV)3  Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.  

However the Bible has many “selfish prayers”.

1 Samuel 1:9-11 (NKJV)9  So Hannah arose after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the LORD.10  And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish.11  Then she made a vow and said, "O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head." 

David often asked for victory over his enemies:

Psalm 109:1-31 (NKJV)1  Do not keep silent, O God of my praise!2  For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful Have opened against me; They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.3  They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, And fought against me without a cause.4  In return for my love they are my accusers, But I give myself to prayer.5  Thus they have rewarded me evil for good, And hatred for my love.6  Set a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand.7  When he is judged, let him be found guilty, And let his prayer become sin.8  Let his days be few, And let another take his office.9  Let his children be fatherless, And his wife a widow.10  Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg; Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places.11  Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder his labor.12  Let there be none to extend mercy to him, Nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children.13  Let his posterity be cut off, And in the generation following let their name be blotted out.14  Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.15  Let them be continually before the LORD, That He may cut off the memory of them from the earth;16  Because he did not remember to show mercy, But persecuted the poor and needy man, That he might even slay the broken in heart.17  As he loved cursing, so let it come to him; As he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him.18  As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, So let it enter his body like water, And like oil into his bones.19  Let it be to him like the garment which covers him, And for a belt with which he girds himself continually.20  Let this be the LORD'S reward to my accusers, And to those who speak evil against my person.21  But You, O GOD the Lord, Deal with me for Your name's sake; Because Your mercy is good, deliver me.22  For I am poor and needy, And my heart is wounded within me.23  I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens; I am shaken off like a locust.24  My knees are weak through fasting, And my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness.25  I also have become a reproach to them; When they look at me, they shake their heads.26  Help me, O LORD my God! Oh, save me according to Your mercy,27  That they may know that this is Your hand-- That You, LORD, have done it!28  Let them curse, but You bless; When they arise, let them be ashamed, But let Your servant rejoice.29  Let my accusers be clothed with shame, And let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle.30  I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; Yes, I will praise Him among the multitude.31  For He shall stand at the right hand of the poor, To save him from those who condemn him.

Even in the Lord’s prayer we are asking for something for ourselves;

Matthew 6:11-13 (NKJV)11  Give us this day our daily bread.12  And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.13  And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Paul prays for safe travels, prosperous work, relief from a physical ailment, and boldness in preaching.

2 Corinthians 12:8-9 (NKJV)8  Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.9  And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

Ephesians 6:19 (NKJV)19  and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 

James says that we should pray for  wisdom;

James 1:5 (NKJV)5  If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 

And physical healing;

James 5:14-15 (NKJV)14  Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.15  And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 

Paul says that we should pray about everything no matter how trivial.  We laugh at praying for a parking space but it fits the description of praying about everything :)  

Philippians 4:6 (NKJV)6  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 

Nothing is too trivial to talk to a friend about because they will listen while others may not.  It’s a characteristic of friends to talk about anything even nonsense. Like a child talking to a parent.  A child has no filter in what to ask a parent for. They will ask for anything we should do the same. Now as a child grows and matures they learn of what things they are more likely to get a yes on.  As we mature and study and learn more about God’s will we will start asking for things that we know are in His will. We will start seeking God’s view on things through prayer.
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Praise 

Since this chapter and session is on prayer and God we need to consider Him, and not just ourselves.  The way that we can do that is through praise. Praise is defined as the expression of approval or admiration for someone or something.  So when we praise God we are showing our admiration for Him for who He is and what He has done.  

Man was actually created to glorify and praise God. 

Isaiah 43:7 (NKJV)7  Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him." 

Psalm 102:18 (NKJV)18  This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD. 

There is a scripture that even says that God inhabits praise. 

Psalm 22:3 (NKJV)3  But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.  

Now God doesn’t need us to affirm Him because the creation does that.  

Psalm 19:1-4 (NKJV)1  The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.2  Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.3  There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard.4  Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,


Psalm 98:7-8 (NKJV)7  Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell in it;8  Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together before the LORD,

Luke 19:37-40 (NKJV)37  Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen,38  saying: "'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!' Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"39  And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples."40  But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out."

We can use instruments to show our admiration 

Psalm 150:3-5 (NKJV)3  Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp!4  Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!5  Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals!

Psalm 148 includes almost everything. 

Psalm 148:1-14 (NKJV)1  Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights!2  Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts!3  Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light!4  Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, And you waters above the heavens!5  Let them praise the name of the LORD, For He commanded and they were created.6  He also established them forever and ever; He made a decree which shall not pass away.7  Praise the LORD from the earth, You great sea creatures and all the depths;8  Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;9  Mountains and all hills; Fruitful trees and all cedars;10  Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and flying fowl;11  Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth;12  Both young men and maidens; Old men and children.13  Let them praise the name of the LORD, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven.14  And He has exalted the horn of His people, The praise of all His saints-- Of the children of Israel, A people near to Him. Praise the LORD!

The only part of God’s creation that can use words is man.  Our praise is a form of thanksgiving which is not something that comes natural for us.  We have to be taught starting as children to thank others. So we have to be constantly reminded to say think you until it becomes second nature.  

We don’t have to do as some devout Jews do and that is to recite at least one hundred blessings every day.  The Talmud which is a central text of mainstream Judaism and consists primarily of discussions and commentary on Jewish history, law (especially its practical application to life), customs and culture, spell out blessing for almost everything.  There is a list on page 321.  
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To Love God The First Rule In Prayer

The first rule in this relationship is our loving God and showing it.

As far as God is concerned, love is the most important thing because that’s who He is;

1 John 4:8 (NKJV)8  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 

And He loves us.  

John 3:16 (NKJV)16  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  

It was so important to Jesus that He asked Peter if he loved Him three times.  

John 21:15-17 (NKJV)15  So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Feed My lambs."16  He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Tend My sheep."17  He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep.

He said that our love of God is the most important thing of all.  

Matthew 22:36-37 (NKJV)36  "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 37  Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'

Jesus actually changed the original commandment which was 

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (NKJV)4  "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!5  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 

Jesus changed strength to mind.

Our most treasured gift to God, that whichever God can never force, is love.

The way that we love God with all our mind is described on page 324 

“In other words, you shall love God with everything you have and everything you are.  Everything. Every longing, every endowment, each of your intellectual gifts, any athletic talent or computer skill, all capacity for delight, every good thing that has your fingerprints on it - take all this, says Jesus and refer it to God.  Take your longing, and long for God, take your creatively riches, and endow God’ take your eye for beauty and appreciate God. With our heart and soul and mind, with all your needs and splendors, make a full turn toward God.  

Resuming the Conversation 

We’ve talked a lot about the mystery of prayer.  Why are some prayers answered and others not, why do we have to wait why, why, why.  With all the whys there are a couple of things that we can count on. God loves us and He is faithful.  

Here is what Philip writes starting on page 326 “I pray and I breathe - because I can’t help it.  Prayer is hardly a perfect form of communication, for I, an imperfect, material being who lives on an imperfect, material planet am reaching out for a perfect, spiritual Being. Some prayers go unanswered, a sense of God’s presence ebbs and flows, and often I sense more mystery than resolution.  Nevertheless I keep at it, believing with Paul that “ now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
                
 For a time, Adam and Eve walked with God in perfection, uninhibited, freely communicating with Him, free of fear, no sin, no sickness, no evil and no distractions.  The conversation won’t become a perfect form of communication until the return of Jesus and all things are made new.   Then there will be no more need for praying of peace, or healing, or resources, or mercy because we will be in God’s presence.    On that day we will finally get it like Paul envisioned when he said.  

1 Corinthians 13:12-13 (NKJV)12  For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.13  And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 

Yes prayer does make a difference!
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Bible Study Audio

The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is going through the book Prayer Does It Make A Difference? by Philip Yancey.   In his book Philip explores the intimate place where God and humans meet in Prayer. Polls reveal that 90 percent of people pray. Yet prayer, which should be the most nourishing and uplifting time of the believer’s day, can also be frustrating, confusing, and fraught with mystery. Writing as a fellow pilgrim, Yancey probes such questions as: Is God listening?; Why should God care about me?; If God knows everything, what’s the point of prayer?; Why do answers to prayer seem so inconsistent?; Why does God sometimes seem close and sometimes seem far away?; How can I make prayer more satisfying?  In Session 14 we talk about prayer for others.l

We often approach intercession as if we are going to talk God into something that He might otherwise not want to do. We need to change our view from our perspective to God’s perspective.   

To purchase a copy of the book click this LINK or the one in the notes.  ​
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To hear the audio of the session click on the YouTube link.
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Strength in Waiting
 
Isaiah 40:28-31
 
God has a purpose and plan for your life, and His timing is perfect. Sometimes He answers our prayers with "yes" or "no." But at other times, He says "not now"--when that is the case, we can avail ourselves of the rich rewards that come when we wait.
 
One very practical blessing is that God strengthens us as we lean on Him during delays. Isaiah 40:31 tells us that "those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength." We are given the metaphor of an eagle with wind beneath his wings. It is interesting to note that the words "wind" and "spirit" come from the same Greek word--pneuma. The spirit of God lifts us up, and His energy and strength sustain us as we abide in Him.
 
When we are facing a difficult decision, the real key is learning to wait. There is no verse of Scripture that tells us to take control and fight our own battles. God is the one who fights them on our behalf 
 
2 Chronicles 20:15 NLT     He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.


We are to be patient and trust in Him. When David faced his greatest battles, he waited upon the Lord. God delivered him from destruction and set his feet on solid ground.
 
Psalms 40:1‭-‬3 NLT I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord .

He will do the same for you. When you abide in Him, He gives supernatural energy to accomplish the things He requires of you--His Spirit does for you what you cannot do for yourself.
 
In reading through the Scriptures, we see that every time one of God's saints gains a victory, he or she is waiting and trusting in the Lord. You can likewise experience triumph in your life. When you have the omnipotent Creator of the universe acting on your behalf, you can't lose. 

Do You Pray?
Kelly Givens
 
Editor’s Note: The following devotional is based on J.C. Ryle’s A Call to Prayer (Banner of Truth, 2002).
 
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  Luke 11:9, NIV
 
Do you pray? 
 
In J.C. Ryle’s small but important book, A Call to Prayer, he challenges readers with this simple question. Ryle asserts “there is no duty in religion so neglected as private prayer.” I’m sure many of us would agree; of all the spiritual disciplines, prayer is often the hardest habit to form and one that is most quickly broken. However, we should strive to pray often, because prayer is an incredibly important element of our faith.
 
Here are a few reasons Ryle gives for why prayer is so important:
 
1. A habit of prayer is one of the surest marks of a true Christian. The greatest heroes and heroines of the Bible often shared a similar attribute- they were men and women of prayer. To take your frustrations, challenges, joys, hopes and dreams to God on a regular basis requires a great deal of faith - you are essentially relinquishing control and telling God, “I trust you will work on my behalf in this situation.” Do you have this kind of faith? Do you pray?
 
2. A habit of prayer brings great encouragement to the one who prays. In the Bible, we see that prayer moved God to raise the dead, heal the sick, save souls, draw water from a rock and send bread from heaven. Prayer even made the sun stand still! The fact that prayer moves God to action should be a great encouragement to us. Are you encouraged by God’s provision and power? Do you pray?
 
3. A habit of prayer creates holy men and women. The more we seek God out in prayer, the more our hearts are aligned with what God desires for us and we become holier men and women in the process. Are you growing closer to God? Do you pray?
 
4. If we do not pray, we run the risk of backsliding in our faith. Let’s be clear - Ryle doesn’t mean we should fear losing our salvation. However, without prayer we run the risk of becoming stagnant in our faith, if not falling back into sinful habits and temptations we had once overcome through prayer. When a relationship turns sour, often a main cause is poor communication. So too with us and God. Do you feel stagnant in your faith or distant from God? Do you pray?
 
5. A habit of prayer brings peace and contentment. We live in a sin-filled world. Sorrows and troubles abound. So how do we combat sadness, disappointments, fears, slanders, and hurt? When we cry out to our Father, he offers us peace that transcends our understanding. This is one of the richest blessings.  Are you experiencing this blessing? Do you pray?
 
Intersecting Faith and Life:  Ryle says, “In every journey there must be a first step.” If you desire to become a more prayerful person, take time today and go somewhere quiet, shut the door and pray aloud that God would give you the grace and strength you need to develop a habit of prayer. Then be encouraged- God greatly desires you to be in regular prayer with him- if we ask, seek and knock, he will open the door for us to a richer prayer life. 
 
 
Last Week
 
Last week Session 14 was Prayer and Me.  We talked about the fact that we often pray because of fear  because we are afraid of the unknown, and have no control. .   Through prayer we transfer our fear to love because God’s love casts out fear.

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.  

1 John 4:18 (NKJV)  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 

We pray because we become anxious.  The solution is found in scripture.  

Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV)6  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;7  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

1 Peter 5:6-7 (NKJV)6  Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,7  casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Prayer is the way to transfer your anxiety to God.

Jesus’ solution was to create a God-space and pray.  A God space is somewhere to go where it's just you and God.  Jesus would go off by Himself to pray.  

Luke 5:15‭-‬16 CEV News about Jesus kept spreading. Large crowds came to listen to him teach and to be healed of their diseases. But Jesus would often go to some place where he could be alone and pray.

The Garden of Gethsemane is another example.  

Mark 14:32‭-‬36‭, ‬39 CEV Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he told them, “Sit here while I pray.”  Jesus took along Peter, James, and John. He was sad and troubled and told them, “I am so sad that I feel as if I am dying. Stay here and keep awake with me.”  Jesus walked on a little way. Then he knelt down on the ground and prayed, “Father, if it is possible, don't let this happen to me! Father, you can do anything. Don't make me suffer by drinking from this cup. But do what you want, and not what I want.”  Jesus went back and prayed the same prayer.




We are often impatient in prayer.  We want everything right now. We are impatient and so are our prayers.  We want God to act now.   

Impatience is a sign of selfishness.  We want God to do it our way not His. We want to get God to help us accomplish what we want to accomplish regardless of His will.   The solution for impatience in prayer is to keep praying. Be persistent. One of the sources Philip Yancey quotes said that healthy prayer should be humble, reverent, loving, confident, and persevering - in other words, the exact opposite of impatient.  

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​Prayer And Others                       

This Week we talk about prayer and others.  We’ll be talking mostly about intercessory prayer today.

The purest form of love is given with no expectation of return.  Measured by this standard, earnest prayer of others is a magnificent act of love.  - David Hubbard  

Those of us who are on social media often see posts where someone is asking that all their friends, and their friends pray for a friend, or relative, or for them.  In the olden days, before social media, you use to see chain emails, and before that chain letters asking for everybody to pray. The question that this raises is if the number of people praying for someone or something makes God answer faster or at all.  Here are the questions Philip asked on page 301. “Does prayer operate like a pyramid scheme - the more people who pray, the more likely the answer” ? Does a sick woman who happens to have praying friends stand a better chance for recovery than an equally deserving person who does not?  Exactly how does prayer benefit someone other than the pray-er? And how can something I pray have an impact on another person without infringing on his or her free will?  

The quandary is made more mysterious when you think about the millions of people who prayed for the end of apartheid in South Africa, or during the Civil Rights struggle.  Those prayers were answered. On the other hand when an entire church prays for healing of one of their members, or a church program and what they prayed for does not happen. It appears that prayer doesn’t operate according to a mathematical formula where God calculates the amount or prayers before making a decision on the answer.

As God Sees

That brings us to a discussion of intercession which is praying for others.  We often approach intercession as if we are going to talk God into something that He might otherwise not want to do. We need to change our view from our perspective to God’s perspective.   

We do that by looking at Jesus as our example of how we should pray.  He wanted everybody to experience the love of God, meaning that we too should desire health, both physical and spiritual health for everybody. Jesus healing never refused anybody who asked for healing.  He also talked about our not worrying about anything, trusting God. So we should want that for our friends, family, and church family. God is love and wants the best for everybody.

Since we are the body of Christ then we are to do what Jesus would do in caring for others.  The way we start to do that is to pray for them. However as we have said in this study prayer also causes us to act.  God designated the church as the vehicle that He would use to preach the gospel and bring others to Christ so we have become His partners or ambassadors.    We have experienced God’s grace so we should give grace to others sharing the grace that we have received.  

Ephesians 2:8-10 (NLT)8  God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.9  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.10  For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. 

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (NLT)18  And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.19  For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.20  So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 

I use to, until reading this chapter, look at intercession the way Philip described his early view about it on page 301.  He looked at intercession as bringing requests to God that God may not have thought of, then talking God into granting them.  

Now, like him, I see intercession as an increase in my awareness for the person that I’m interceding for.  A way to look at it is asking God to open our eyes so that we can see that person as God does, and then enter into the stream of love that God already directs toward that person.  We see them as Jesus sees them as brothers and sisters loved by God. We know that God loves them, and wants the best for them in every aspect of their lives. When we are able to change our perspective we are praying for what God desires for them not just  what we desire. 

Widening Circle in Intercession 

When we intercede for others we know that because God is omnipresent He’s there with us as well as with the people we are praying for.  Especially in the case of the unsaved or rebellious God’s presence is important because as much as we might care for that person God cares more.  

I talked a few minutes ago about intercession actually changing our view to God’s perspective, and while interceding for a specific person God may bring to mind things in our past that are connected with that person that we need to deal with.  

On page 305 Philip recounts the story of a lady whose practice of prayer included a time  after praying then listening to God. In our last study of prayer, “Prayer Begins With Relationship”  and the study that we did of the Holy Spirit we talked about the several ways that the Spirit communicates with us.   He communicates through His Word, through circumstances, through our heart or as we describe it that still small voice, and through others.

He spoke through this lady somehow in her sleep through a past memory.  Have you ever had old things that you’ve forgotten about pop up and cause you to ask forgiveness?  I have. It can cause us to intercede for others that we might have not even thought about. We talked about that in discussing our God-space.  Often when we pray we are prompted to do something more than just pray.  

Intercessory prayer can have a real impact on the person for which we are praying.  There is the example of Philip telling another author that he would pray for her. Her response, probably was a surprise, because she responded that nobody had ever told her that they were praying for her and that caused her to work harder to be worthy of his praying for her.  In my sermon, on Father’s Day, I said that fathers should pray for their children because they may be the only people doing it.  

He tells the story on page 307 of a reader of one of his books on prayer when her three-year-old daughter underwent surgery.  She started a Prayer Journal in which she had everyday, for a year, prayed for him. That Prayer Journal is a source of encouragement to him.  That’s the kind of impact intercession can have..

Paul provides an example for us as intercessors.  Paul constantly interceded for others.

Individuals

2 Timothy 1:3 (NLT)3  Timothy, I thank God for you—the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.  

Philemon 1:4-7 (NLT)4  I always thank my God when I pray for you, Philemon,5  because I keep hearing about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people.6  And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ.7  Your love has given me much joy and comfort, my brother, for your kindness has often refreshed the hearts of God’s people. 

The Church 

Ephesians 1:15-23 (NLT)15  Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere,16  I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly,17  asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.18  I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.19  I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power20  that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.21  Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.22  God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.23  And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.  

Ephesians 3:14-19 (NLT)14  When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,15  the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.16  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.17  Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.18  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.19  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 

Philippians 1:9-11 (NLT)9  I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.10  For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.11  May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God. 

Colossians 1:9-14 (NLT)9  So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.10  Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.11  We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,12  always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.13  For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,14  who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.  

The Jews

Romans 10:1 (NLT)1  Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 

He mentions others by name in his letters.

Romans 16:1-16 (NLT)1  I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deacon in the church in Cenchrea.2  Welcome her in the Lord as one who is worthy of honor among God’s people. Help her in whatever she needs, for she has been helpful to many, and especially to me.3  Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in the ministry of Christ Jesus.4  In fact, they once risked their lives for me. I am thankful to them, and so are all the Gentile churches.5  Also give my greetings to the church that meets in their home. Greet my dear friend Epenetus. He was the first person from the province of Asia to become a follower of Christ.6  Give my greetings to Mary, who has worked so hard for your benefit.7  Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews, who were in prison with me. They are highly respected among the apostles and became followers of Christ before I did.8  Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.9  Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.10  Greet Apelles, a good man whom Christ approves. And give my greetings to the believers from the household of Aristobulus.11  Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew. Greet the Lord’s people from the household of Narcissus.12  Give my greetings to Tryphena and Tryphosa, the Lord’s workers, and to dear Persis, who has worked so hard for the Lord.13  Greet Rufus, whom the Lord picked out to be his very own; and also his dear mother, who has been a mother to me.14  Give my greetings to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters who meet with them.15  Give my greetings to Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and to Olympas and all the believers who meet with them.16  Greet each other in Christian love. All the churches of Christ send you their greetings.  

He tells us to pray for our leaders

1 Timothy 2:1-5 (NLT)1  I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.2  Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.3  This is good and pleases God our Savior,4  who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.5  For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.  

Philip says on page 309 that prayer for leaders summons an invisible spiritual force that can have real effects - not by persuading God to try harder, but by persuading the leaders to try harder.  Then he gives the example of of something that Ben Franklin said during an impasse at the initial Constitutional Convention. It’s on page 309. He said “The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of the truth, that God governs in the affairs of men.  Without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel” Then he made the following motion; “That henceforth prayers, imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning.”  That practice continues today in the U.S. Congress.  

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Jesus told us that we are to intercede for our enemies.  

 Matthew 5:43-48 (NLT)43  “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy.44  But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!45  In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.46  If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much.47  If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.48  But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

He didn’t give us any exceptions.  For us today that includes the North Koreans, the Chinese, the Russians, ISIS, Iran.

The author C. S. Lewis, in a letter to his brother, this is on page 311, says that he prayed, every night, for the people he was most tempted to hate, with Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini heading the list.  In another letter he wrote that as he prayed for them, he meditated on how his own cruelty might have blossomed into something like theirs. He remembered that Christ died for them as much as for him, and that he himself was not “so different from these ghastly creatures. 

One reason that we should pray for our enemies is that we can live in peace and worship without fear.  We need to show the love of God to them too because if we don’t nobody will.  Through prayer for our enemies we plead to God on their behalf because they can’t do it themselves. We defeat our enemies by loving them and prayer activates that love, and who knows the may end up surrendering to Christ.

Through prayer we give God the harm that our enemies have or may inflict on us and we give the enemy to God because we can’t do this on our own.  Jesus asked God to forgive those who crucified Him. He didn’t say I forgive you, but He asked God to forgive them.  Same thing with Stephen.  

Luke 23:34 (NLT)34  Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. 

Acts 7:59-60 (NLT)59  As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”60  He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.

You remember the response of the families of those murdered in Charleston? 

When aChristian magazine asked its readers to reflect on their most difficult prayers, it received the following response from a woman in Arkansas:
                   
 Several years ago, when my daughter married, she revealed to me that my brother-in-law had repeatedly molested her when she was four. My first response was to pray for her healing from this man’s evil. But the more I read about sexual abuse, the more I learnedmany abusers have been victims of abuse as well. I felt compelled to pray for my brother-in-law.
Where I got the strength to pray this prayer, only God knows. It’s not natural for a mother to pray for those who hurt her children. But I realized he’d never change without God healing what probably were very old wounds in his life. I struggle daily to forgive him, and worry that by doing so, I’ll minimize the pain and suffering he's caused — but who else is going to pray for this man?

Praying for the Miracle

As I sat in church one Sunday, my pastor preached a convicting message on forgiveness, explaining how we should release those who’ve wronged us. As he read the words from Scripture commanding me to forgive, everything in me screamed, No! I don’t want to forgive Max! I refuse to release him!
         
My pastor preached on. And God ever-so-slowly chipped away at the rough edges of my heart. As church neared its end, I walked alone to the altar to ask God for his help to forgive. I remember telling God that I knew I should forgive this man I hated, but I didn’t want to. And even if I did want to, I wouldn’t know how to forgive such a wrong.

The next week, in my personal Bible study, I came across a verse that helped to soften my heart a bit more. In Luke 6:28, Jesus teaches us to “bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” I’m supposed to pray for those who mistreat me? Sure, I’ll pray for Max. I’ll askGod to give him a case of eternal hemorrhoids. I certainly wasn’t ready to pray for anything good.
         
Later I stumbled across another one of Jesus’ annoying commands. This one is found in Matthew 5:43 – 44, where Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” There it was again—love and pray for your enemies!
         
         
         
Knowing I couldn’t ignore this command any longer, I tried to pray for Max. In all honesty, I didn’t pray that God would bless him in every way. I didn’t ask that Godwould shower his love upon Max with a godly wife, healthy children, and a long and prosperous life. At the same time, I didn’t ask God to torture him eternally in hell.

In sheer obedience to God, I simply prayed a grudging but obedient three-second. prayer: “God, I pray you work in his life.”
         
Over the weeks and months, I continued uttering those same words. At first it was as painful as walking barefoot on burning coals. But eventually it became more bearable.  Then I actually started to mean what I was praying. God, work in his life.
         
When we’re told to pray for those who’ve hurt us, I’m convinced our prayers are as much for ourselves as they are for the offender. As God has helped me move beyond my Christian Atheist doubts about prayer, now I see an added value of praying for those who hurt me. My prayers for others may or may not change them. But my prayers always change me.
         
Praying for Max over time changed me. It made me a different person, so different that I began to contemplate the impossible: asking God to help me forgive Max.
         
Reluctant Forgiveness

I knew I was supposed to forgive Max for what he did to my sister, but I honestly didn't have a clue how to do it. God had convicted me and convinced me to begin—God, I pray you work in his life—but Max’s actions still seemed unforgivable. How can a responsible grown man knowinglyand repeatedly lure young girls into sexual abuse? How can he strip away their innocence?
And how can I forgive that?
         
The answer is simple, but the farthest thing from easy. Colossians 3:13 teaches us to “forgive as the Lord forgave you.” God has forgiven us freely and completely, without any strings attached. And that's how we’re supposed to forgive others. In what’s now known as the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus Taught us to pray, “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us” (Luke 11:4).
         
I was torn between wanting to obey God and wanting just as much to continue hating.  I wrestled mightily in prayer with these verses. Still swimming in a pool of pain and bitterness, I decided it was time to try to forgive Max. Notice I used the word “decided.” This was a decision based on my choice to obey Scripture, not a decision based on whether I felt like forgiving. Nothing in me felt like forgiving, but I still make the choice to try.
         
         
By faith, I asked God to help me forgive Max for what he’d done to my sister. By faith, I told God that I released Max from his sin. My prayer didn't feel sincere, but atleast I was trying. Daily I bounced between wanting to forgive and wanting revenge.  By nothing short of the power of God, I finally started to believe forgiveness is possible.
         
I can’t overstate what God had to do in my heart to get me to this point. A grown man had maliciously abused my little sister—a sixth-grade girl. He cruelly groomed and preyed on other innocent children. This predator never apologized. He never attempted to right his wrongs. He never begged for our forgiveness.
         
 My heart was stone hard. And only God could soften it to the point that I could even consider forgiving this molester. Miraculously, that’s what God did. To this day, I don’t know exactly how or when it happened. But it did. By God’s grace, I had forgiven Max for his sin and abuse. With God’s help I’d done the humanly impossible, and I felt as though a spiritual weight had been lifted. The Bible became clearer. God seemed nearer.
 My heart was purer.
         
 One Christmas, when I was visiting my parents, I decided to write Max a letter expressing my forgiveness. The task wasn’t easy, but that’s often par for the course. In the letter, I explained how much God had forgiven me. I told Max the story of Jesus and his love for us. I explained that I had forgiven him and that God could as well. Included a short prayer he might pray, asking Jesus to heal his heart and forgive his sins.
         
         
I didn’t realize that Max’s sickness had advanced. He was losing the battle with muscular dystrophy. In fact, at the time he received the letter, Max was under the care of a hospice nurse, waiting for inevitable death.
         
 Months after Max passed away, his nurse sent us a letter asking if she could talk to us. When we agreed, she told us about the last days of Max’s life, believing we needed to know. The caregiver explained that Max’s eyesight had deteriorated and that he had asked her to read him my note. Although she wasn’t aware of what he had done (and I never told her), it was obvious to her that he had done something grievously wrong. According to the nurse, he listened with tears streaming down his face. He asked her to pray the prayer with him. She recalled that his whole countenance changed as he asked Christ to forgive him and make him new. He died a few days later.
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Bible Study Audio

The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is going through the book Prayer Does It Make A Difference? by Philip Yancey.   In his book Philip explores the intimate place where God and humans meet in Prayer. Polls reveal that 90 percent of people pray. Yet prayer, which should be the most nourishing and uplifting time of the believer’s day, can also be frustrating, confusing, and fraught with mystery. Writing as a fellow pilgrim, Yancey probes such questions as: Is God listening?; Why should God care about me?; If God knows everything, what’s the point of prayer?; Why do answers to prayer seem so inconsistent?; Why does God sometimes seem close and sometimes seem far away?; How can I make prayer more satisfying?  In Session 13 we start looking at the practice of prayer and we start with ourselves.   

“Prayer offers a time to set aside that list of concerns - or rather to present them to God - to relax, to let the mind roam freely, to drink deeply, to insert a pause in the day, to trust”.  Create your own "God Space" and "stop time".

To purchase a copy of the book click this LINK or the one in the notes.  ​​

​​To hear an audio of Session 13 click on the YouTube link below.
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The last section of our book is the Practice of Prayer

Having an awesome prayer life is not the goal. Connecting with God and growing in our intimacy with Him is.

Maybe this scenario is familiar: We start praying when life is hard. Then life gets easier, and we don’t pray as much because we don’t need God as much. But, something difficult comes across our path and we know we need to pray about it. We feel guilty about it because we haven’t prayed in a while and we assume that God is mad at us. 

It’s time to rethink prayer. 

Let’s think of prayer in light of our closest relationships. It could be a sibling, our spouse, or a best friend. Our communication with them is easy and natural. We might send a text message, make a phone call, or visit with them in person. Sometimes we have long visits and other times, the messages are brief. We usually don’t begin our conversation with this person like this: “Dear Jenny, thank you for answering my call today. I am excited to talk to you. Let’s discuss...” Instead, we have this ongoing conversation that tends to just carry on to the next one. 

If we treat prayer like we treat that relationship with those closest to us, prayer will intertwine throughout all areas of our lives. It will connect the parts that we have disconnected from God. It will be an ongoing conversation we have with Him—filled with moments of gratitude, praying for others, and even sharing our frustrations. And if this conversation is ongoing, then truly, is there even a need to ever say “amen”?

This doesn’t mean that we don’t show Him the honor He is worthy of. We don’t address Him with, “Hey dude...sup.” No, we live our lives where He is honored and worshiped and in doing so, our encounters with Him are far more genuine. He cares less about our words to Him and more about the place where the words came from.

Our relationship with God will grow as we strive to have an ongoing conversation with Him. Both short and long prayers have their place. But we can’t just expect to get to know him in a five-minute segment each morning. We have to bring Him into our daily lives and allow Him to breathe His peace, hope, comfort, and guidance into every aspect of it.

It’s time to rethink prayer.

Always Pray In Faith    

Philip believes that the Bible provides examples of two different kinds of faith.  Now the dictionary definition of faith is;

1.  complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
2. strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.

The Bible definition is:

Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 

Faith is trust in the unseen. It is not trust in the unknown, for we may know by faith what we cannot see with the eye.  Faith is the ultimate assurance and the ultimate evidence that things not seen are realities (pragmata). - The Wycliffe Bible Commentary.

The two kinds of faith that Philip sees are bold child-like faith and fidelity or a hang-on-by-the-fingernails faith

Bold childlike faith is the belief that God can and will do anything no questions asked.  God will heal every disease no matter what. He will provide no matter what. Just like a child not questioning a parent this is the kind of faith that doesn’t question God.   That is the kind of faith that Jesus says that we should have.  

Matthew 18:2-5 (NKJV)2  Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them,3  and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.4  Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.5  Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.

Matthew 8:10 (NKJV)10  When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 

Luke 7:9 (NKJV)9  When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, "I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!" 

But he believes that you can take childlike faith too far.  Here are his examples. If you have the faith that God is going to handle it like your parents handled it when you were a child, and you wait until you are well or employed or married or whatever new state you are asking for, you may never get there.  


Fidelity faith is the kind of faith that Abraham, Joseph, Job, and the heroes of faith in Hebrews had.  

No matter what the obstacles God will do what He said He would do.  

That kind of faith will allow you to withstand even if you don’t get the answer that you desire.   There’s the story of a man who had Crohn's disease for more that 20 years. Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characterized by inflammation of the digestive, or GI tract.  

Over time, your symptoms may change in severity, or change altogether. You may go through periods of remission—when you have few or no symptoms. Or your symptoms may come on suddenly, without warning.

He knew that he was not going to get any better after twenty three years.  He had stopped asking God for a miracle and had resigned himself that he was going to have Crohn’s disease until he died or some not medical insight or drug was discovered.  He had to learn to live with it. So now his prayer was for strength to endure, for meaning in his suffering, for faith to believe in a good and loving God even when he has to go in for a painful surgical procedure.   

Paul is our example of a man with fidelity faith.  A level of faith that realized difficulty but withstands.  

Philippians 4:11-13 (NKJV)11  Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:12  I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.13  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NKJV)7  And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.8  Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.9  And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 

The Practice of Prayer

Ultimately prayer proves its power by producing changes in us the prayers. “Prayer Is taking time to let God recreate us, play with us, touch us as an artist who is making a sculpture, a painting, or a piece of music with our lives,”

Fear

We often pray out of fear,  because we are afraid of the unknown.  We are afraid because we have no control. 

Fear is:
 

• an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.
• be afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening.

Fear is not always bad when it causes us to be careful in dangerous situations,but the antidote to fear is trust.

We should certainly not be afraid of God that He is going to smack us down when we sin.  God is, as Philip says not “a stern, judgmental cosmic Enforcer”. 

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.  

1 John 4:18 (NKJV)  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not made perfect in love. 

Doubt and fear usually go hand in hand.  When we recognize doubt and fear, it’s a signal to ask ourselves if we are failing to trust God.  Are we failing to truly love Him, are we failing to allow His love to be made perfect in our lives?

With perfect love we don’t have to doubt or fear the past, present, or future. Perfect love causes us to have boldness. It is the love which God, who is love, has produced in us through the Holy Spirit.  That boldness comes about because we know that we can approach God’s presence boldly, without any shame. 
Hebrews 4:14-16 (HCSB)14  Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to the confession.15  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin.16  Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time. 
In the end we should transfer our fears to God.  

Psalm 23:4 (NKJV)4  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 

Prayer can help us overcome fear.  Prayer causes us to see everything from God’s view and not ours.  Our faith in a good loving God overcomes all circumstances and can eliminate fear.  

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Anxiety

On page 293 Philip introduces a term that I had never heard or seen before, Spiritua vertiginis which is something like vertigo, a sinking feeling, caused by anxiety.  Here’s Paul’s solution to it 

Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV)6  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;7  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

1 Peter 5:6-7 (NKJV)6  Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,7  casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Jesus’ solution was to create a God-space and pray.  

Matthew 14:22-23 (NKJV)22  Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.23  And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. 

Luke 6:12-16 (NKJV)12  Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.13  And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles:14  Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew;15  Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot;16  Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor. 

Mark 1:35 (NKJV)  Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. 

Matthew 26:36-46 (NKJV)36  Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there."37  And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.38  Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me."39  He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."40  Then He came to the disciples and found them asleep, and said to Peter, "What? Could you not watch with Me one hour?41  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."42  Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done."43  And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.44  So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.45  Then He came to His disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.46  Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand."

Prayer is the way to transfer your anxiety to God.

Philip goes on to say that “Prayer offers a time to set aside that list of concerns - or rather to present them to God - to relax, to let the mind roam freely, to drink deeply, to insert a pause in the day, to trust”.  

In another section of this chapter, Stopping Time”, starting on page 297 Philip talks about a surgeon, Anthony Bloom, who after his conversion to Christianity, and many years as a surgeon, became a priest.  He describes in his book “Beginning to Pray” , about a technique that he used for creating his God-space. He calls “stopping time”. Here is what he says on page 299. “The practice of stopping time gradually transformed Bloom’s life with God.  He concentrated on living in the present, recognizing that the past is irremediably gone and the future is irrelevant, because who knows whether it will happen or not.  

He started by just stopping everything that he was doing for short periods of time during the day.  One minute, two minutes, five minutes, ten minutes. He just shut out everything. Just a short time of quietness.   It could be in prayer or just being quiet. The first thing that he noticed, and we should take note of this ourselves, the world didn’t stop.  His medical practice didn’t fall apart. For us whatever it is that is waiting to be done will wait. After these quiet times he was more efficient when he went back to the tasks at hand. 

He began to realize that each moment, each second, was a gift from God, something that had never existed before.  If you start the day creating a God-space, it’s a chance for a new start. This is my second favorite scripture 

Psalm 118:24 (NKJV)  This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. When we hear to pray without ceasing we think of lots of things.  I’ve talked about it a lot and have even written about it but the comment on page 299 sums is up “Prayer is a state as much as an act…”.

Impatience

We live in a microwave society.  We want everything right now. Products and services are marketed in a way that say if you don’t get or buy right now you are going to miss out and you won’t get that job, that man or woman, you will be looked at as a loser so you must get it now.  

We are impatient and so are our prayers.  We want God to act now. Yes David said that same thing in many Psalms but what we forget is that when we read the entire Psalm David praises God because he knows that God is good.  

Psalm 13:1-6 (NKJV)1  How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?2  How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?3  Consider and hear me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, Lest I sleep the sleep of death;4  Lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed against him"; Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.5  But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.6  I will sing to the LORD, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Psalm 70:1-5 (NKJV)1  Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me, O LORD!
2  Let them be ashamed and confounded Who seek my life; Let them be turned back and confused Who desire my hurt.3  Let them be turned back because of their shame, Who say, "Aha, aha!"4  Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And let those who love Your salvation say continually, "Let God be magnified!"5  But I am poor and needy; Make haste to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.

Impatience is a sign of selfishness.  We want God to do it our way not His. Philip says on page 296 that we want to get God to help us accomplish your ends and we are not concerned that we are not the only person in the world.  We are not an only child. His solution for impatience in prayer is to keep praying. Be persistent. We’ve talked about that. He mentions a Jean Nicolas Grou, who he describes as a mystic, so I did some research and found that he was really a Jesuit priest.  Grou said that healthy prayer should be humble, reverent, loving, confident, and persevering - in other words, the exact opposite of impatient.  

Sometimes we just have to wait.  We don’t want to but we have to.   On page 297 Philip gives us some biblical examples of people we consider super saints, who had to wait. “Abraham and Sarah waiting for just one child, Jacob waiting seven years for a wife and then seven more years after being tricked by his uncle.   The Israelites waiting four centuries for deliverance, and Moses waiting four decades for the call to lead them, then four more decades for a Promised Land he would not enter. David waiting in caves for his promised coronation. Prophets waiting for the fulfillment of their own strange predictions.  Mary and Joseph, Elizabeth and Zechariah, Anna, Simeon waiting like most Jews for a Messiah. The disciples waiting impatiently for Jesus to act like the power-Messiah they longed for.”  

  Hebrews 11:13-16, 39-40 (NKJV)13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.14  For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.15  And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.16  But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. 39  And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,40  God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. 

If we need to we should also pray for patience 

Psalm 130:5-6 (NKJV)5  I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope.
6  My soul waits for the Lord More than those who watch for the morning-- Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.

Psalm 119:82-84 (NKJV)82  My eyes fail from searching Your word, Saying, "When will You comfort me?"83  For I have become like a wineskin in smoke, Yet I do not forget Your statutes.
84  How many are the days of Your servant? When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me?

We need patience to endure, to keep looking for God’s answer.  We need to keep hope alive and to keep believing. We need to pray for the patience to be patient.  

The greatest tragedy in life is not unanswered prayer but unoffered prayer - F. B. Meyer.

Matthew 6:5-6 (NLT)5  “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.6  But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

I don’t think that Jesus was talking about a literal closet but a place where it was just you and God.  It could be a literal closet, or a place in your home where it is quiet with no major distractions. It doesn’t have to be a literal place if you are able to “create space in which God can act.”  Philip calls it a God-space to prevent our lives from filling up with other things.  

When we create that God-space and we are able to sit, or kneel, or stand, or lay down, however we create that God-space we may have a very real supernatural experience.  I’ve told you about the time that I heard an audible voice and that it has only happened once. There’s the account it our book on page 288 of a person’s supernatural experience of speaking in tongues and it was the first and last times that he was able to do it although he had prayed to speak in tongues.  The point is that we shouldn’t look for a supernatural revelation of God everytime that we create our God-space, but to thank Him when it does happen if it only happens once. Also let me say that if it has never happened to you it has nothing to do with your salvation. The Holy Spirit dwells in you and is always guiding and urging you and that in itself in supernatural.  I’m talking about an outward manifestation that you can see or feel.  

If we can create that God-space we can hear God better.  We’ve talked, in our last study about God sometimes, in fact quite often speaking in that still, small voice.  When we are able to create that God-space, memories, scripture, urges to pray for specific, or specific situations will often happen.  Sometimes when we are praying and we can’t think of anything to say then as the scripture says the Spirit speaks for us 

Romans 8:26-27 (NLT)26  And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.27  And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. 

Sometimes it’s just good to spend time with God for no other reason than you love Him.  That is not a waste of time. It’s like spending time with a loved one or a friend, somebody that you love.  That time is never wasted you always get something from it.  

Prayer as Therapy

Prayer can actually be a kind of therapy.  It helps us to get away from all the stuff that’s going on in our lives and in the world.  All the crime, hate, constant pressure to buy this, go here, do that. When in our time with God we go to and read and study the scriptures we learn what God’s like, and if we keep being filled with the Spirit we start becoming more like Him.  We start letting the fruit of the Spirit develop in us. 

Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)22  But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23  gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! 

We start to look like God. You know that God’s purpose is for us to be conformed to the image of Jesus.  That’s why He works everything together for good as Romans 8:28-29 says.

Romans 8:28-29 (NLT)28  And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.29  For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 

On page 288 there are two paragraphs about the therapeutic aspects of prayer.  I want to caution you that the guy who wrote it was probably not a Christian but non-Christians often use the principles that God has given us in scripture for their benefit.  The only problem with them is that the benefits are temporary while ours are permanent and eternal.  

Anyway on page 288; Dr. Alexis Carrel, a French physician, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in Medicine, published a book in 1936 extolling the therapeutic value of prayer.  Pray regularly, he advised, and you will find your life improved.  

The bodily poster itself - relaxing, joining hands, bending knees - has health benefits.  Prayer helps us resolve emotional conflicts, purge guilt, and overcome negativism. And by verbalizing what goes on inside, the pray-er practices a kind of self-induced therapy.  Now we know that it’s the Holy Spirit who actually does the therapy but the point is that prayer gets us into the position for the Holy Spirit to do this.  

Any therapeutic value to prayer comes as an outgrowth, not the goal of prayer.  When you spend time with God it’s like the example that Jesus gave the disciples of the vine and the branches.  

John 15:5-8 (NLT)5  “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.6  Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.7  But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!8  When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

If you stay attached to the vine the fruit will grow, so it’s our job to stay attached and abide.

Bible Study Audio

The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is going through the book Prayer Does It Make A Difference? by Philip Yancey.   In his book Philip explores the intimate place where God and humans meet in Prayer. Polls reveal that 90 percent of people pray. Yet prayer, which should be the most nourishing and uplifting time of the believer’s day, can also be frustrating, confusing, and fraught with mystery. Writing as a fellow pilgrim, Yancey probes such questions as: Is God listening?; Why should God care about me?; If God knows everything, what’s the point of prayer?; Why do answers to prayer seem so inconsistent?; Why does God sometimes seem close and sometimes seem far away?; How can I make prayer more satisfying?  In Session 11 we talk about  the mystery of unanswered prayer.

Some, but not all, unanswered prayers trace back to a fault in the one who prays. Some, but not all, trace back to God’s mystifying respect for human freedom and refusal to coerce. Some, but not all, trace back to dark powers contending against God’s rule. Some, but not all, trace back to a planet marred with disease, violence, and the potential for tragic accident. How, then, can we make sense of any single experience of unanswered prayer?

Whether our prayers are answered the way we want them answered or answered at all we can always count on the fact that God can make use of whatever happens.
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To purchase a copy of the book click this LINK or the one in the notes.  ​​

​​To hear an audio of Session 11 click on the YouTube link below.​

Last week in our discussion we decided that we really can’t explain why some prayers are answered and others not answered.  We said that we know why some of them may not be answered, become some are frivolous, others are selfish, sometimes sin blocks communication.  Those unanswered prayers are on us. Some unanswered prayers are because we live in a lost world with violence and the potential for tragic accident.   Like our prayer in the morning before leaving the house for safety of our family and there’s a tragic accident or they get caught in a crossfire, or like the kids in Manchester they are the victims of a terrorist attack.   
 
Some, but not all, unanswered prayers trace back to a fault in the one who prays. Some, but not all, trace back to God’s mystifying respect for human freedom and refusal to coerce. Some, but not all, trace back to dark powers contending against God’s rule. Some, but not all, trace back to a planet marred with disease, violence, and the potential for tragic accident. How, then, can we make sense of any single experience of unanswered prayer?
 
The reason for other unanswered prayer is quite frankly a mystery.  

I take odd comfort in the fact that the Bible itself includes numerous prayers that went unanswered.

Here are some mysterious unanswered prayers from the Bible:

Moses’ asking to go into the Promised Land was not answered, while on the other hand He answered Moses prayers of intercession for the people.  Moses was being disciplined because of his outburst at the rock, but God had relented in disciplining the people in answer to Moses’ prayers.

David’s prayer for Bathsheba’s and his first son was not answered and the child died but on the other hand they later had a son, Solomon, who became king after David.

2 Samuel 12:15-16 (NLT)15  After Nathan returned to his home, the LORD sent a deadly illness to the child of David and Uriah’s wife.16  David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground. 

2 Samuel 12:18 (NLT)18  Then on the seventh day the child died. David’s advisers were afraid to tell him. “He wouldn’t listen to reason while the child was ill,” they said. “What drastic thing will he do when we tell him the child is dead?” 

1 Kings 1:28-30 (NLT)28  King David responded, “Call Bathsheba!” So she came back in and stood before the king.29  And the king repeated his vow: “As surely as the LORD lives, who has rescued me from every danger,30  your son Solomon will be the next king and will sit on my throne this very day, just as I vowed to you before the LORD, the God of Israel.” 

God didn’t answer Moses, Job, Jonah, and Elijah’s prayers to die.

Jonah 4:8-9 (NKJV)8  And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live."9  Then God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "It is right for me to be angry, even to death!"  

1 Kings 19:4 (NKJV)4  But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!" 

Paul is an example of somebody actually telling us how he dealt with the disappointment of not having his thorn in the flesh removed in answer to his prayer. 

 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NKJV)7  And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.8  Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.9  And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 

We’ve also talked a little about what might have resulted if all prayers were answered the way that we wanted them to.  We can each think of our own experiences but let’s look and some biblical prayers that were unanswered.  

Jesus prayed, three times, that He not have to drink the cup prepared for Him that would have meant a horrible death by crucifixion.  

Matthew 26:39 (NKJV)39  He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." 

What if that prayer had been answered?

What about David’s prayer that Bathsheba’s and his son live;

Had he lived Solomon may not have become king, the temple built, etc.  

What if Paul had been healed of his thorn in the flesh?

It looks like Paul himself thought that he would have had a problem with pride which could have completely changed his ministry.

 Beginning on page 201 is the story of a former Air Force lieutenant colonel who  a chaplain in a long-term care home. He was or is a paraplegic after a bicycle accident.  
 
The man whose name is Karl told Philip  “I must say, though, there has been one change more difficult than any of those adjustments  even more difficult than the ‘Why?’ questions that I can’t help asking. God’s presence has withdrawn. Just when I need God most, I can no longer sense him. I keep on praying, and believing, but it’s as if I’m praying to the ceiling. I get no response.”  I don't lay the accident at God’s feet
— I don’t believe God micromanages the planet. I believeGod is present in the midst of our brokenness. I just wish I could feel that presence.”
             
Since the accident, Karl said, he has turned for comfort to portions of the Bible He had previously overlooked. When life was going well, he had paid little attention to the psalms of lament. Now he lives there. They give him permission to speak his own laments.
 
On page 202
                
 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?  How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?  Psalm 13:1-2 

But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;  when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.  Job 23:8-9
                
O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,  by night, and am not silent. Psalm 22:2   
           
my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”  Psalm 42:10 

I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Psalm 142:6

For some, like Karl, the dark night begins with a terrible accident that changes everything, or with an illness that ravages the body as prayers go unanswered. For others the cloud descends as a marriage gets worse, not better, despite all prayers, or hoversover the wasteland that follows a divorce. Sometimes it descends with no apparent reason, a freak storm on a bright summer day. Why would God hide?
                
 Instinctively we blame ourselves, assuming we have done something to offend God. A Voice inside whispers that I am unworthy of God’s presence, that God would not possibly respond to someone whose mind has been filled with such impure thoughts. I counter that voice with the reality that I am praying because of the pollution of my mind. I am praying for cleansing, for help.
                
I know a woman who did not pray for more than a year, because she thought that she must have committed the unpardonable sin.  
 
For people who feel that way there's a prayer on page 203:                
               
Lord, you care for me more than I care for myself. I cannot believe that you are playing guessing games with me. If the dryness I experience is due to some failing of mine,  you make it clear to me and I will try to remedy it. But I will not entertain vague doubts; unless and until you make my failing clear to me, I will assume that is not the reason for the dryness.
 
The only final solution to unanswered prayer is Paul’s explanation to the Corinthians: “ For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” No human being, no matter how wise or how spiritual, can interpret the ways of God, explain why one miracle and not another, why an apparent intervention here and not there. Along with the apostle Paul, we can only wait, and trust.
​

​Unanswered Prayer - Living With The Mystery 

Something I Read This Past Week

I heard about a little boy who went to his dad and said, “I want a little brother.” His dad looked up from his newspaper. “Well, son,” he said, “maybe you ought to pray about that.” So the little guy prayed every night for one month. And nothing happened. He went on praying for two months. Still nothing. He continued to pray for three months, but no brother came, so he finally just quit praying.

Some six months after that, the little boy’s dad took him to the hospital, pulled back the curtain a little bit, and there was a baby brother. “But hold on,” the father said with a smile.

He pulled back the curtain a little bit farther — and there was another baby brother. But he wasn’t finished yet. He pulled it back even farther, and there was a third baby brother!

“Now,” the dad said, “aren’t you glad you prayed?”

“Yes,” the boy replied. “But aren’t you glad I stopped after three months?”


We May Need To Take Another Look At how we See The Promises Of The Bible 

Here are some:

Mark 11:22-24 (NKJV)22  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God.23  For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.24  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

Matthew 18:19 (NKJV)19  Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 

John 14:12-14 (NKJV)12  "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.13  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.14  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

There are some qualifiers to some promises.


John 15:7 (NLT)7  But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 

The one we just read in John 14:12, “he who believes in Me”...

1 John 5:14-15 (NLT)14  And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.15  And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for. 

Am I remaining in Christ?

Am I making requests according to His will?

Am I obeying His commands?

Remaining, His will, and His commands all speak to our companionship with God.  The more we know Him the more likely our prayers will align with His will. 

How do we know His will?

This is something from a post that I wrote in a post “How Do I Know God’s Will for Me?”

1. God leads us through His written Word.
 
Psalm 119:105 (NKJV) 105  Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
 
Whenever you see the phrase "This is the will of God" in Scripture, you can count on it: that's God's will. You also know that to disobey is to reject His Word. Other clear indications of His leading are the precepts and principles in Scripture.
 
Precepts are clearly marked statements, such as "Abstain from sexual immorality." That's like saying, "Speed Limit 35." What is speeding? Anything over 35 miles an hour. That's a precept.
 
You will never, ever go wrong in consulting Scripture. Just be sure you pay close attention to the context. Don't use the "open-window method," letting the wind blow across the pages of your Bible and then closing your eyes and pointing to a verse and saying, "This is God's leading on that." If you do that, you could end up with "Judas went away and hanged himself" as your verse for the day! Don't go there.
 
2.  God leads us through the inner prompting of the Holy Spirit.
 
 
Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV) 9  A man's heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.
 
That inner prompting is crucial, because much of the time we just can't figure it out.
 
Proverbs 20:24 (NKJV) 24  A man's steps are of the LORD; How then can a man understand his own way?

John 14:15-17, 26 (NKJV)15  "If you love Me, keep My commandments.16  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--17  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 26  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 

3. God leads us through the counsel of wise, qualified, trustworthy people.
 
This does not mean some guru in Tibet or a serious-looking stranger at the bus stop. This refers to an individual who has proven himself or herself wise and trustworthy and, therefore, qualified to counsel on a given matter. Usually, such individuals are older and more mature than we are. Furthermore, they have nothing to gain or lose. This also means that they are often not in our immediate family. (Immediate family members usually don't want us to do something that will take us away from them or cause us or them discomfort or worry.)
 
4. God leads us into His will by giving us an inner assurance of peace.
 
Colossians 3:15 (NKJV) 15  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
 
The will of God for our lives is not some high-sounding theory; it is reality. We have looked at some of the ways God leads us into His will. Now comes the bottom line: we have to live out His will in the real world.
 
Doing God's will demands a decision. And that decision requires faith and action. You can't see the end, so you have to trust Him in faith and then step out. You have to act. Faith and obedience are like twins; they go together.
 
Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV) 6  But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
 
Remember that one of the things I always talk about is context, context, context, 

A lot of people believe that everything that Jesus said was to and for everybody including believers today and I’m not sure that’s true.  

Luke 10:17-20 (NKJV)17  Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."18  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.19  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.20  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

Matthew 10:1 (NKJV)1  And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.. 

Although we know that nothing is impossible for God that He is sovereign and will do what He wants or allows not us.  For example on page 237 Philip appears to be saying that it’s foolish to pray that God would shift the orbit of planet Earth to counteract global warming.  You may think that comment is extreme but let me share something. Here is what a member of Congress said:

In this and other things we pray about maybe we should be asking God what we can do to help end crime, or addressing environmental concerns.   We’ve mentioned a couple of times in the study that prayer causes us to see what God wants us to do in His kingdom to bring His objectives, not ours to pass.
​

Sometimes We Just Have To Wait
Lamentations 3:25-26 (NLT)25  The LORD is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.26  So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD.

Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV)31  But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. 

Galatians 6:9 (NLT)9  So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. 

Daniel waited three weeks for an answer to his prayer.  Remember when we studied the book of Daniel?

Daniel 10:12-14 (NLT)12  Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer.13  But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia.14  Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come.” 

Jeremiah waited ten days before receiving an answer.

Jeremiah 42:4-7 (NLT)4  “All right,” Jeremiah replied. “I will pray to the LORD your God, as you have asked, and I will tell you everything he says. I will hide nothing from you.”5  Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD your God be a faithful witness against us if we refuse to obey whatever he tells us to do!6  Whether we like it or not, we will obey the LORD our God to whom we are sending you with our plea. For if we obey him, everything will turn out well for us.”7  Ten days later the LORD gave his reply to Jeremiah.  

Moses waited six days before God spoke when he went up on Mount Sinai and received the Ten Commandments.

Exodus 24:15-16 (NLT)15  Then Moses climbed up the mountain, and the cloud covered it.
16  And the glory of the LORD settled down on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from inside the cloud. 

If we think about it God often acts slowly to accomplish His purposes the way the He wants to complete them:

2 Peter 3:8-10 (NLT)8  But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.9  The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.10  But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. 

Why Are Some Prayers Answered Miraculously and Others Not At All?

Whether our prayers are answered the way we want them answered or answered at all we can always count on the fact that God can make use of whatever happens. 

​

Bible Study Audio

The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is going through the book Prayer Does It Make A Difference? by Philip Yancey.   In his book Philip explores the intimate place where God and humans meet in Prayer. Polls reveal that 90 percent of people pray. Yet prayer, which should be the most nourishing and uplifting time of the believer’s day, can also be frustrating, confusing, and fraught with mystery. Writing as a fellow pilgrim, Yancey probes such questions as: Is God listening?; Why should God care about me?; If God knows everything, what’s the point of prayer?; Why do answers to prayer seem so inconsistent?; Why does God sometimes seem close and sometimes seem far away?; How can I make prayer more satisfying?  In Session 10 we begin our discussion of prayer dilemmas by asking whose fault is it when prayers go unanswered.  

No matter how we spin it it’s hard, if not impossible to answer someone whose prayer doesn’t get answered.  Saying that he always answers with either yes, or no, or wait, doesn’t really fly. A No is an unanswered prayer and wait is really not an answer either.  ​

To purchase a copy of the book click this LINK or the one in the notes.  ​​

​​To hear an audio of Session 10 click on the YouTube link below.​
​

Crazy Faith
by Mark Batterson, from Draw the Circle
 
“This woman is driving me crazy.” Luke 18:5 NLT
 
I love the parable of the persistent widow. I don’t mean any disrespect, but I think persistent is a nice word for crazy. This woman is crazy, but when the cause is a righteous one, it’s a holy crazy!
 
We aren’t told what injustice took place, but she was on a mission. Maybe her son was falsely imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. Maybe the man who molested her daughter was still on the streets. We don’t know for sure. But whatever it was, she wouldn’t take no for an answer. And the judge knew it. The judge knew she would circle his house until the day she got justice or the day she died. The judge knew there was no quit in the crazy woman.
 
Does the Judge know that about you?
 
How desperate are you for the blessing, the breakthrough, the miracle? Desperate enough to pray through the night? How many times are you willing to circle the promise? Until the day you die? How long will you knock on the door of opportunity? Until your knuckles are raw? Until you knock the door down?
 
God couldn’t care less about protocol. If He did, Jesus would have chosen the Pharisees as His disciples. But that isn’t who Jesus honored.
 
Jesus honored the prostitute who crashed a party at a Pharisee’s home to anoint His feet. Jesus honored the tax collector who climbed a tree in his three-piece suit just to get a glimpse of Him. Jesus honored the four friends who cut in line and cut a hole in someone’s ceiling to help their friend. And in this parable, Jesus honored the crazy woman who drove a judge crazy because she wouldn’t stop knocking.
 
The common denominator in each of these stories is crazy faith.
 
People took desperate measures to get to God, and God honored them for it. Nothing has changed. God is still honoring spiritual desperadoes who crash parties and climb trees. God is still honoring those who defy protocol with their bold prayers. God is still honoring those who pray with audacity and tenacity. And the crazy woman is selected as the gold standard when it comes to praying hard. Her unrelenting persistence was the only difference between justice and injustice.
 
The viability of our prayers is not contingent on scrabbling the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet into the right combinations like abracadabra. God already knows the last punctuation mark before we pronounce the first syllable. The viability of our prayers has more to do with intensity than vocabulary. It has more to do with what we do than what we say.
 
Don’t just pray about it; act on it.
 
There are defining moments in life when we need to prove to God that we mean business — and I don’t mean “business as usual.” In fact, it’s only when “business as usual” goes out of business that we’re in business — the Father’s business. That’s when we’re on the verge of a spiritual breakthrough.
 
Crazy Is Normal
 
Josh Sexton pastors a church plant in North Carolina called Relevant Truth Church. God is doing amazing things at RTC. People who wouldn’t darken the doorway of a church are finding a relationship with Jesus Christ at an indoor skate park that has been converted into a sanctuary. But like many church plants, there is more vision than money. RTC was facing the termination of their lease if they couldn’t come up with the $3,500 rent when Josh got an idea while reading The Circle Maker. One of the leaders at RTC relayed what happened.
 
Josh asked me to come to the front during a worship service. He handed me a can of spray paint and asked me to paint a circle on stage. That’s when Josh told us he wasn’t going to leave the circle until God made provision for the church. With his wife’s blessing, he brought in a bed and ordered a Port-a-John. All he had was his Bible and his prayer journal. Three times a day, his wife brings him meals. My wife and I live down the street, so we’re helping with the kids. I think Josh came to the place of desperation. If this thing was going to work, God was going to have to show up and show off. I really think he is planning on staying in that circle until God does something huge. Crazy huh?
 
Crazy?
 
Or maybe it’s not crazy!
 
Maybe our normal is so subnormal that normal seems abnormal. Maybe we need a new normal. Bold prayers and big dreams are normal. Anything less is subnormal. And when bold prayers become the norm, so do the miraculous breakthroughs that follow.
 
I know there are naysayers who find fault with Josh’s approach, but sometimes you need to do something crazy, something risky, something dramatic. That’s what Honi the circle maker did when he drew a circle in the sand and declared that he wouldn’t come out until it rained. The Sanhedrin almost excommunicated him because they thought his prayer was too bold. But you cannot argue with a miracle, can you? His radical prayer resulted in rain. And Honi was ultimately honored for “the prayer that saved a generation.”
 
For the record, the Sanhedrin still exists in every organization, every denomination, and every church. But don’t let the nitpickers and naysayers keep you from doing something crazy if you know God has called you to do it. For the record, RTC didn’t just get a new lease on their building; they got a new lease on their faith!
 
There is a pattern repeated in Scripture: crazy miracles are the offspring of crazy faith. Normal begets normal. Crazy begets crazy. If we want to see God do crazy miracles, sometimes we need to pray crazy prayers.
 
Bold prayers honor God and God honors bold prayers.
 
Excerpted with permission from Draw the Circle by Mark Batterson, copyright Mark Batterson 
​

The Dilemma of Unanswered Prayer - Whose Fault Is It?

When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers - Oscar Wilde
 
For many people unanswered prayer forms a barrier that blocks any desire to keep company with God. What kind of companion who has the power to save a life or heal a disease would sit on the sidelines despite urgent pleas for help? In a sense, every war, every epidemic or drought, every premature death or birth defect stands as an accusation against the teasing promise of prayer.
 
No matter how we spin it it’s hard, if not impossible to answer someone whose prayer doesn’t get answered.  Saying that he always answers with either yes, or no, or wait, doesn’t really fly. A No is an unanswered prayer and wait is really not an answer either.  When you pray for a relative or friend and what you prayed for doesn’t happen, as far as you were concerned your prayer wasn’t answered. We always pray that God’s will be done, but that doesn’t help somebody who hasn’t studied as we have, or a new Christian who has been told that God always answers prayer and then something they pray for doesn’t happen.  It also doesn’t help when somebody that we are talking to about salvation that asks why what something that a Christian, that they know prayed for something went unanswered. We have to be careful when we throw things around from the Bible, without realizing or knowing what it really means. For example:
 
Matthew 21:22 (NKJV)  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." 
 
John 14:13-14 (NKJV)13  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.14  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
 
Mark 11:24 (NKJV)24  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.  
 
We all know people who have prayed for extraordinary things and those things came to pass.  We may even have some things that we have prayed for and when they happened, we have no doubt that it was the answer to prayer.  I’ve told you about the time I got an audible answer to a question. I can also tell you about times that there was no way I would have survived financially if a prayer hadn’t been answered.    But we can also give examples of prayers that were not answered either ours or people that we know. I have prayed and am still praying for some things that have not been and may never be answered.  
 
The example of the man with the clubfoot that is in Philip’s book, beginning on page 216,  who really was talking about his own experience of grabbing the scripture we just read in Mark.  He was so crushed when after praying he still had his club foot He lost all faith. That may not be as much of an exaggeration as you think.  I’ve told you about Ruth and her anger with God, but I didn’t tell you how different her response to God was after our son died. I could have just as easily clammed up after Ruth died because our prayers weren't answered.   
 
Some people blame themselves for unanswered prayer.  We hear, especially from the word of faith, or prosperity movements that all you need is to have enough faith and every prayer that you pray will be answered and if it isn’t it’s your fault for not having enough faith.  They use scriptures like.
 
Mark 9:23 (NKJV) Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  
 
Mark 11:20-24 (NKJV)20  Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.21  And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away."22  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God.23  For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.24  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
 
The problem is not in believing that God answers prayer, we know that he does.  The problem is that He doesn’t answer every prayer. He heals some people and not others.  He blesses some people with great opportunities in answer to prayer but does not answer the same prayer for others.  Another question is why when several people are praying for the same thing only one person gets the answer and the other doesn’t.  Examples include Christians on opposing sports teams praying for victory but only one team wins. Does that mean that God likes Lakers over Clippers, of course not.  God seems to be inconsistent doesn’t He?
​

There Are Some Things That We Do Wrong When Approaching Prayer.
 
Some of our prayers are just frivolous like wanting our sports team to win, or for a parking space, especially when someone older or with a disability is also looking for a parking space near the door.  I have heard people pray that it will not rain on the day of their wedding, while at the same time the reservoirs that supply the city are running dry. Or we pray because we haven’t done what we should have done.  We blow our money on buying lottery tickets and then pray give us this day our daily bread. James addressed this
 
 James 4:3 (NKJV) You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 
 
We sometimes pray for something that is totally outside God’s will or totally against a specific commandment.  I know of some men and women that have prayed that couples split us so that they can have their spouse. I have also heard of people praying that somebody gets sick so they can have their position or job.  I’ve also heard of people praying that other’s die. If God is who He says that He is those prayers will not be answered.  
 
The bible records some requests that were not answered because they were totally outside the will of God or were selfish.  
 
Mark 10:35-40 (NKJV)35  Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask."36  And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?"37  They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory."38  But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"39  They said to Him, "We are able." So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized;40  but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared."
 
Luke 9:51-56 (NKJV)51  Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem,52  and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.53  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.54  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"55  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.56  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them." And they went to another village.
 
Self serving prayers put the focus on us and the things that we want, not on the things of God.
 
Sin disrupts communication with God and blocks God hearing us.  
 
David talks about sin disrupting communication 
 
Psalm 66:18 (NKJV)18  If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.  
 
So does Isaiah in delivering God’s message to Israel:
 
Isaiah 1:15-17 (NKJV)15  When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.16  "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil,17  Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.
 
Phillip also believes that how we respond to those in need also helps in how God receives our prayers.  I’m not sure about that but he does point to a couple of scriptures that seem to indicate that it does.  
 
Malachi 2:13‭-‬17 NKJV And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, With weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant. But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. “For the Lord God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.” You have wearied the Lord with your words; Yet you say, “In what way have we wearied Him? ” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil Is good in the sight of the Lord , And He delights in them,” Or, “Where is the God of justice?”
 
1 Peter 3:7 (NKJV)7  Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. 
 
Proverbs 21:13 (NKJV)13  Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor Will also cry himself and not be heard. 
 
His point is that how you treat your neighbor, who was created by God, will have some effect on how God receives your prayers and worship.  
​

Sometimes It’s Best That Our Prayers Are Not Answered
 
A very important observation.  If God answered every prayer of every Christian every time He would in effect be turning the world over to us to run.  He would be turning His sovereignty over to man and that would not be a good thing. No matter how good we think we are or how much we think we are asking in God’s will.  We have to remember that man operates in time and space and God operates outside of time and space. We don’t know everything and God is Omniscient.   
 
God is not a genie.  
 
 
During days of the Crusades I’m sure that those who wanted to take the Holy Land back from the Muslims prayed and thought they were doing God’s will.   George Bush as much said that the Gulf War was a Holy War but he forgot about the Christians in Iraq.  
 
What if General Robert E Lee’s prayers were answered?  Lee was a devout Christian but Grant was the opposite. All of us have examples of our own prayers that if answered our lives could have taken another turn which we would not have liked.   There’s the line in a Garth Brooks song, which I would have never know if I hadn’t read this book because I don’t necessarily like or listen to Country-Western music:
 
“Just because he doesn’t answer doesn’t mean he don’t care.  Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.”
 
Yes we know that some prayers go unanswered and often to our dismay.  It’s impossible for us to say why in all cases and therefore hard for us to convince others to continue to pray and sometimes it’s hard for us to continue.   What we hang on to is the faithfulness of God who has told us that no matter what is going on He is always with us, and that He has our best in mind.  
 
Deuteronomy 31:6 (NKJV)6  Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." 
 
Hebrews 13:5 (NKJV)5  Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." 
 
Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV)11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 
 
It may not look like it at the time but a time will come when there will be no need to pray because we will be with God and won’t need to ask Him anything.  Until then He’s with us and everything that happens He is going to work together for good in that we are being conformed to the image of His son.
 
Romans 8:28-30 (NKJV)28  And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.29  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.30  Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. 
 
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (NKJV)16  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.17  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.18  Therefore comfort one another with these words. 
 
Revelation 21:1-8 (NKJV)1  Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.2  Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.3  And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.4  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."5  Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."6  And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.7  He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.8  But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."  

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Bible Study Audio

The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is going through the book Prayer Does It Make A Difference? by Philip Yancey.   In his book Philip explores the intimate place where God and humans meet in Prayer. Polls reveal that 90 percent of people pray. Yet prayer, which should be the most nourishing and uplifting time of the believer’s day, can also be frustrating, confusing, and fraught with mystery. Writing as a fellow pilgrim, Yancey probes such questions as: Is God listening?; Why should God care about me?; If God knows everything, what’s the point of prayer?; Why do answers to prayer seem so inconsistent?; Why does God sometimes seem close and sometimes seem far away?; How can I make prayer more satisfying?  In Session 7 begin to learn the language of prayer, so that we can become fluent as we learn the grammar of prayer

​You beg, You whimper.  You load God down with empty praise.  You tell him sins that he already knows full well.  You seek to change his changeless will...And sometimes, by God's grace, a prayer is heard. - Frederick Buechner

The paradox of prayer is that it asks for a serious effort while it can only be received as a gift.  We cannot plan, organize or manipulate God but without a careful discipline, we cannot receive him either. - Henri Nouwen.

To hear an audio of Session 6 click on the YouTube link below.

​To purchase a copy of the book click this LINK or the picture at the end of the notes.  
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Last week we asked the question does prayer change God?  I think we agreed that God does not change and because He doesn't it sometimes looks like prayer or our actions cause Him to change His mind.  Because He's merciful we don't get what we deserve. He doesn't change the experience changes. So because He doesn't change we should never stop praying as Jesus told us to keep asking, seeking, and knocking.  

The language of prayer, yearning for fluency, and the grammar of prayer

You beg, You whimper.  You load God down with empty praise.  You tell him sins that he already knows full well.  You seek to change his changeless will...And sometimes, by God's grace, a prayer is heard. - Frederick Buechner

The paradox of prayer is that it asks for a serious effort while it can only be received as a gift.  We cannot plan, organize or manipulate God but without a careful discipline, we cannot receive him either. - Henri Nouwen.

Many if not most Christians have always been taught that  we need to pray. We talk about pray without ceasing. We should pray about any and everything.  Your parents may have even made you pray at night or a dinner even when you didn’t want to. My grandmother did that with me with reading the Bible every day.  Often prayer becomes just an exercise that we think we have to do in order to be a good Christian, to make sure that God doesn’t get upset with us and when we are in trouble we pray for relief.  There is nothing wrong with any of that but if it is just an exercise does it have any value?

Have you ever tried to get into a routine of praying at a certain time every day either morning or evening and found yourself making excuses for not doing it?  I’m late for work, or I have a lot to do today, or I had a very long day and I’m really too tired to do a half-hour in prayer. Even if we do force ourselves to get into a routine how many times have you fallen asleep praying? 

If you were made to pray you might find yourself like the two guys at Bible college who were told that they had to spend a quiet time every day from 6:00 to 6:30 during which time they were to read the Bible and pray.    The story was that once a dean went into a room and when he turned on the light one of the fellows was on his knees and the other sitting on the bad with his Bible open but both of them were sleep.

Sometimes when we are trying to impress someone or fool them about our prayer life and our lives in general we will actually embellish our prayers.  I have the spiritual gift of discernment and sometimes I can tell that when a person is praying that they are not sincere, telling the truth, or being phoney.  There are some examples in our book.  

At one of the prayer and testimony services, Philip’s roommate confessed a a series of wild escapades that he knew he was embellishing.  People often get sympathy, or praise through dramatic public confession and repentance. Another student asked prayer for his girlfriend, critically injured in an auto accident while driving to see him.  This guy was gay and didn’t even have a girlfriend. I’m sure that we have all heard prayers or prayer requests which are nothing but a way to get attention and sympathy. We have to be careful that we don’t do the same things.  

It was interesting that Philip admitted that there was a time of about a year when he couldn’t even come up with the things to say in prayer.  During that year he read prayers and asked God to accept them as his prayers. Throughout the Psalms there are many of them that we can read as prayers and that’s fine but we shouldn’t just do this and not open up to God.  I think the reason people do this is we are afraid to really open up. We have a personal relationship with God who wants us to realize that He is our friend and that we can talk to Him any time about anything.  

LIke Philip I wonder how some people can spend an hour or more in prayer.   I honestly don’t think that I have ever spent a solid hour in prayer. I like to think I pray without ceasing but never spending a solid hour in prayer.  Like him I strain to spend 15 minutes. I get distracted and lose concentration.  

So We He To Adjust our Expectations

What really are our expectation from prayer?  Do we expect God to answer every prayer? Do we expect to hear from Him while we are praying?  Do we think anybody is listening? If nothing happens we often blame ourselves thinking that we are not praying right.  I’ve heard that from Christians. They say when their prayers aren't answered right away, "maybe I’m not praying right or maybe I don’t know how to pray."

If we are honest we would probably say that prayer is not easy or rewarding.  One of Philip’s friend’s compared prayer to sex in the book. 

“I think prayer is analogous to sex.  Most people would complain about their sex lives and few do really well.  Sex and prayer are intimate and over-glamorized relationships. We all are led to believe that we should be in the stratosphere in sex and in prayer.  It sets up a false expectation. And breaks down intimacy.

In order to have great intimacy in sex you need to be relaxed.  You can’t be all tensed up from the day and worry about tomorrow.  That may be why so many women tell their husbands, “I have a headache”.  Same thing with prayer you need to get into a quiet position not stressed or tensed up which could be a problem sometimes, because we often don’t pray until we are in a situation that causes anxiety.  

LIke sex, prayer centers in relationship more than on technique, and the differences between the two parties in prayer are far more profound than the difference between two lovers.  

So the question is how do we learn to speak the same language as God?

John 4:24 (NKJV)24  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." 

Romans 8:26 (NKJV)26  Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 

If you want to get better at anything we have to practice over and over and over. We have to work at it.  When they talk about singing a certain genre in music you have to work on your technique over and over and over.   The same thing is true of prayer. Remember we have said in this study that Jesus encourages us to always pray and be persistent in our praying.  Mother Teresa said “If you want to pray better, you must pray more.”

My experience is the same as the English preacher Leslie Weatherhead;

“I have always found prayer difficult.  So often it seems like a fruitless game of hide and seek in which we seek and God hides.  I know God is very patient with me. Without that patience I should be lost. But frankly I have to be patient with him.  With no other friend would I go on seeking with such scant, conscious response. Yet I cannot leave prayer alone for long.  My need drives me to him. And I have a feeling that he has his own reasons for hiding himself, and that finally my seeking will prove infinitely worthwhile...I long for more satisfaction, but I cannot cease from questing.  Jesus sometimes found prayer difficult. Some of his most agonized prayers were not answered. But he did not give up his praying. I frankly have little to show for all my prayers, but I cannot give up, for “my soul longeth for God,” and I know that outside God there is nothing at all but death.  

The time that we spend with God can be more than just a moment of spiritual ecstasy, just like sex, but it can equip you for the rest of your life, and life is real.  

Prayer invites God into our world and us into His.

Psalms is full of prayers of David and others. Those prayers demonstrate that prayer doesn’t mean closing your eyes to the realities of life.  Those prayers range from dealing with problems, emotions, personality conflicts, and they ask God to deliver them and provide a new perspective on life.  

There is no emotion anyone will experience that is not reflected in the Psalms.” Fear, praise, anxiety, anger, love, sorrow, despair, gratitude, grief,
doubt, suffering, joy, vengeance, repentance — every human emotion and experience surges to the surface in the prayer-poems of Psalms.

Choosing a Routine

If you are going to practice something or work on your technique you need to set up a schedule and a routine so that you do it everyday and hopefully at the same time everyday.  

That takes discipline and the willingness to prioritize things according to their importance.  It doesn't mean that your schedule and routine don’t change because your life changes. So when you have a life change, change the routine, so that you continue to work on your technique.  It is good to look at how somebody else does it but do what works for you. Your routine shouldn’t be like mine or mine yours because we’re different. We just need to be consistent.  

Much of the benefit of prayer comes from consistency.  If we show up God will show up, and when He does we want to make sure that we hear Him.  

Sometimes that means going to a special place to pray.  A lot of us saw the movie War Room where the ladies fixed up a closet with Scripture and some other things.  Now remember those things have no power they just help calm you down and maybe help structure your time of prayer.  

It really doesn’t matter how you do it but consistency in prayer is important although it’s also important to also be free and spontaneous.  Spontaneity is great but not is not regular and the same would hold with prayer if you only do it spontaneously. If you have a regular prayer routine you might find that what happens is that you actually find new things to talk about, but if you don’t have a regular prayer time that may not happen because you feel guilty about not praying and those make up prayers may be more formal and without much passion at all  you will just be doing something because you think that you have to.    

Prayer Grammar

Many people don’t pray because they don’t think they know how to pray.  One of the things that happened early on the Prayerline was that Minister Brenda talked about how to approach prayer.  Philip says, and I agree, that to enjoy spending time in prayer you need help in learning how to pray. Learning to pray is really like learning any new thing you need something or someone to teach or train you.  The disciples likely knew all the Jewish prayers yet they asked Jesus to teach them to pray. 

If you are going to France and really want to enjoy yourself you should learn to speak French.  It’s the same idea that if you want to enjoy your time with God who is spirit that you should learn how to speak His language, so to speak.   

The Bible is a good instruction manual on prayer in that it provides hundreds of examples or illustrations.  There are around 650 prayers in the Bible covering all sorts of circumstances.

 The Lord’s Prayer is a good guide. You can take it and expand the words that Jesus taught and follow the same pattern and thought idea.  There are hundreds of books that use the Lord’s prayer to instruct in how to pray.  

Let’s look at how Philip does that.

Or Father, Who art in heaven - Start prayer with an awareness of the relationship.

Hallowed be your name - Recognize and honor God’s perfection and holiness 

Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven -  Use me in your kingdom use me to bless others just as you used Jesus to show others who you are.

Give us today our daily bread - I’m not promised anything beyond today so I’m asking for nourishment for both body and soul and I’m not worried about the future.

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors - Remind me of my true state so I’m asking and thanking you for forgiving me  and give me the same attitude of forgiveness toward others.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one - Make me alert to temptations and make me strong to resist.

I already mentioned the Psalms.  Every human emotion and experience in included in the Psalms.  There’s fear, praise, anxiety, anger, love, sorrow, despair, gratitude, grief, doubt, suffering, joy, vengeance, repentance, on and on.

You can make a psalm you prayer.  Substitute yourself in the place where the writer refers to himself.  

Defeat My Enemies

Psalm 109:1-31 (NKJV)1  Do not keep silent, O God of my praise!2  For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful Have opened against me; They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.3  They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, And fought against me without a cause.4  In return for my love they are my accusers, But I give myself to prayer.5  Thus they have rewarded me evil for good, And hatred for my love.6  Set a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand.7  When he is judged, let him be found guilty, And let his prayer become sin.8  Let his days be few, And let another take his office.9  Let his children be fatherless, And his wife a widow.10  Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg; Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places.11  Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder his labor.12  Let there be none to extend mercy to him, Nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children.13  Let his posterity be cut off, And in the generation following let their name be blotted out.14  Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.15  Let them be continually before the LORD, That He may cut off the memory of them from the earth;16  Because he did not remember to show mercy, But persecuted the poor and needy man, That he might even slay the broken in heart.17  As he loved cursing, so let it come to him; As he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him.18  As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, So let it enter his body like water, And like oil into his bones.19  Let it be to him like the garment which covers him, And for a belt with which he girds himself continually.20  Let this be the LORD'S reward to my accusers, And to those who speak evil against my person.21  But You, O GOD the Lord, Deal with me for Your name's sake; Because Your mercy is good, deliver me.22  For I am poor and needy, And my heart is wounded within me.
23  I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens; I am shaken off like a locust.24  My knees are weak through fasting, And my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness.25  I also have become a reproach to them; When they look at me, they shake their heads.26  Help me, O LORD my God! Oh, save me according to Your mercy,27  That they may know that this is Your hand-- That You, LORD, have done it!28  Let them curse, but You bless; When they arise, let them be ashamed, But let Your servant rejoice.29  Let my accusers be clothed with shame, And let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle.30  I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; Yes, I will praise Him among the multitude.31  For He shall stand at the right hand of the poor, To save him from those who condemn him.

Prayer of Despair

Psalm 88:1-18 (NLT) O LORD, God of my salvation, I cry out to you by day. I come to you at night.2  Now hear my prayer; listen to my cry.3  For my life is full of troubles, and death draws near.4  I am as good as dead, like a strong man with no strength left.5  They have left me among the dead, and I lie like a corpse in a grave. I am forgotten, cut off from your care.6  You have thrown me into the lowest pit, into the darkest depths.7  Your anger weighs me down; with wave after wave you have engulfed me. Interlude8  You have driven my friends away by making me repulsive to them. I am in a trap with no way of escape.9  My eyes are blinded by my tears. Each day I beg for your help, O LORD; I lift my hands to you for mercy.10  Are your wonderful deeds of any use to the dead? Do the dead rise up and praise you? Interlude11  Can those in the grave declare your unfailing love? Can they proclaim your faithfulness in the place of destruction?12  Can the darkness speak of your wonderful deeds? Can anyone in the land of forgetfulness talk about your righteousness?13  O LORD, I cry out to you. I will keep on pleading day by day.14  O LORD, why do you reject me? Why do you turn your face from me?15  I have been sick and close to death since my youth. I stand helpless and desperate before your terrors.16  Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me. Your terrors have paralyzed me.17  They swirl around me like floodwaters all day long. They have engulfed me completely.18  You have taken away my companions and loved ones. Darkness is my closest friend.

Psalm 51:1-19 (NLT)1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.2  Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.3  For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night.  Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.  For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.6  But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there.7  Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.8  Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice.9  Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt.10  Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.11  Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.12  Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.13  Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you.14  Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.15  Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you.16  You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering.17  The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.18  Look with favor on Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.19  Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit— with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

Gratitude

Psalm 118:1-29 (NLT)1  Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.2  Let all Israel repeat: “His faithful love endures forever.”3  Let Aaron’s descendants, the priests, repeat: “His faithful love endures forever.”4  Let all who fear the LORD repeat: “His faithful love endures forever.”5  In my distress I prayed to the LORD, and the LORD answered me and set me free.6  The LORD is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?7  Yes, the LORD is for me; he will help me. I will look in triumph at those who hate me.8  It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in people.9  It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.10  Though hostile nations surrounded me, I destroyed them all with the authority of the LORD.11  Yes, they surrounded and attacked me, but I destroyed them all with the authority of the LORD.12  They swarmed around me like bees; they blazed against me like a crackling fire. But I destroyed them all with the authority of the LORD.13  My enemies did their best to kill me, but the LORD rescued me.14  The LORD is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.15  Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly. The strong right arm of the LORD has done glorious things!16  The strong right arm of the LORD is raised in triumph. The strong right arm of the LORD has done glorious things!17  I will not die; instead, I will live to tell what the LORD has done.18  The LORD has punished me severely, but he did not let me die.19  Open for me the gates where the righteous enter, and I will go in and thank the LORD.20  These gates lead to the presence of the LORD, and the godly enter there.21  I thank you for answering my prayer and giving me victory!22  The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.23  This is the LORD’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.24  This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.25  Please, LORD, please save us. Please, LORD, please give us success.26  Bless the one who comes in the name of the LORD. We bless you from the house of the LORD.27  The LORD is God, shining upon us. Take the sacrifice and bind it with cords on the altar.28  You are my God, and I will praise you! You are my God, and I will exalt you!29  Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.

Praise

Psalm 150:1-6 (NLT)1  Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heaven!2  Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness!3  Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn; praise him with the lyre and harp!4  Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flutes!5  Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals.6  Let everything that breathes sing praises to the LORD! Praise the LORD!

Paul’s Prayers 

The only one of Paul’s letters that does not have at least one prayer is Titus.  Paul’s prayers are for the most part for others. He prays for the believers . Most of his recorded prayers are for others and their well being although we know that he faced many trials and tribulations.  

Ephesians 3:14-21 (NLT)14  When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,
15  the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.16  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.17  Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.18  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.19  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.20  Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.21  Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.  

Philippians 1:9-11 (NLT)9  I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.10  For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.11  May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God. 

Colossians 1:9-12 (NLT)9  So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.10  Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.11  We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,12  always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.  

2 Timothy 1:16-18 (NLT)16  May the Lord show special kindness to Onesiphorus and all his family because he often visited and encouraged me. He was never ashamed of me because I was in chains.17  When he came to Rome, he searched everywhere until he found me.18  May the Lord show him special kindness on the day of Christ’s return. And you know very well how helpful he was in Ephesus. 

Remember that prayer is talking to God.  Anytime that we talk to God it is prayer so here are some other prayers in the Bible that can give us some instruction in how we can talk to God about anything.

• Genesis 18 - Abraham’s plea for Sodom

 

• Exodus 15 - Moses’ song to the Lord - Exodus 15:1-18 (NLT)1  Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; he has hurled both horse and rider into the sea.2  The LORD is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise him— my father’s God, and I will exalt him!3  The LORD is a warrior; Yahweh is his name!4  Pharaoh’s chariots and army he has hurled into the sea. The finest of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea.5  The deep waters gushed over them; they sank to the bottom like a stone.6  “Your right hand, O LORD, is glorious in power. Your right hand, O LORD, smashes the enemy.7  In the greatness of your majesty, you overthrow those who rise against you. You unleash your blazing fury; it consumes them like straw.8  At the blast of your breath, the waters piled up! The surging waters stood straight like a wall; in the heart of the sea the deep waters became hard.9  “The enemy boasted, ‘I will chase them and catch up with them. I will plunder them and consume them. I will flash my sword; my powerful hand will destroy them.’10  But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.11  “Who is like you among the gods, O LORD— glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, performing great wonders?12  You raised your right hand, and the earth swallowed our enemies.13  “With your unfailing love you lead the people you have redeemed. In your might, you guide them to your sacred home.14  The peoples hear and tremble; anguish grips those who live in Philistia.15  The leaders of Edom are terrified; the nobles of Moab tremble. All who live in Canaan melt away;16  terror and dread fall upon them. The power of your arm makes them lifeless as stone until your people pass by, O LORD, until the people you purchased pass by.17  You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain— the place, O LORD, reserved for your own dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.18  The LORD will reign forever and ever!” 

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Bible​​

• Exodus 33- Moses meets with God -

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• Exodus 33:12-23 (NLT)12  One day Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Take these people up to the Promised Land.’ But you haven’t told me whom you will send with me. You have told me, ‘I know you by name, and I look favorably on you.’13  If it is true that you look favorably on me, let me know your ways so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor. And remember that this nation is your very own people.”14  The LORD replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.”15  Then Moses said, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place.16  How will anyone know that you look favorably on me—on me and on your people—if you don’t go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.”17  The LORD replied to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.”18  Moses responded, “Then show me your glorious presence.”19  The LORD replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh, before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.20  But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live.”21  The LORD continued, “Look, stand near me on this rock.22  As my glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.23  Then I will remove my hand and let you see me from behind. But my face will not be seen.”  

 

• 2 Samuel 7 - David’s response to God’s promises

2 Samuel 7:18-29 (NLT2)18  Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and prayed, “Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?19  And now, Sovereign LORD, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving your servant a lasting dynasty! Do you deal with everyone this way, O Sovereign LORD?20  “What more can I say to you? You know what your servant is really like, Sovereign LORD.21  Because of your promise and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have made them known to your servant.22  “How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you!23  What other nation on earth is like your people Israel? What other nation, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to be your own people? You made a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations and gods that stood in their way.24  You made Israel your very own people forever, and you, O LORD, became their God.25  “And now, O LORD God, I am your servant; do as you have promised concerning me and my family. Confirm it as a promise that will last forever.26  And may your name be honored forever so that everyone will say, ‘The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is God over Israel!’ And may the house of your servant David continue before you forever.27  “O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, God of Israel, I have been bold enough to pray this prayer to you because you have revealed all this to your servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you—a dynasty of kings!’28  For you are God, O Sovereign LORD. Your words are truth, and you have promised these good things to your servant.29  And now, may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you have spoken, and when you grant a blessing to your servant, O Sovereign LORD, it is an eternal blessing!”  

• 1 King 8 - Solomon’s dedication of the temple

1 Kings 8:22-53 (NLT2)22  Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the entire community of Israel. He lifted his hands toward heaven,23  and he prayed, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in all of heaven above or on the earth below. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion.24  You have kept your promise to your servant David, my father. You made that promise with your own mouth, and with your own hands you have fulfilled it today.25  “And now, O LORD, God of Israel, carry out the additional promise you made to your servant David, my father. For you said to him, ‘If your descendants guard their behavior and faithfully follow me as you have done, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’26  Now, O God of Israel, fulfill this promise to your servant David, my father.27  “But will God really live on earth? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built!28  Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and my plea, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making to you today.29  May you watch over this Temple night and day, this place where you have said, ‘My name will be there.’ May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place.30  May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive.31  “If someone wrongs another person and is required to take an oath of innocence in front of your altar in this Temple,32  then hear from heaven and judge between your servants—the accuser and the accused. Punish the guilty as they deserve. Acquit the innocent because of their innocence.33  “If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn to you and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this Temple,34  then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave their ancestors.35  “If the skies are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and if they pray toward this Temple and acknowledge your name and turn from their sins because you have punished them,36  then hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them to follow the right path, and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as their special possession.37  “If there is a famine in the land or a plague or crop disease or attacks of locusts or caterpillars, or if your people’s enemies are in the land besieging their towns—whatever disaster or disease there is--38  and if your people Israel pray about their troubles, raising their hands toward this Temple,39  then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive. Give your people what their actions deserve, for you alone know each human heart.40  Then they will fear you as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors.41  “In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands because of your name,42  for they will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this Temple,43  then hear from heaven where you live, and grant what they ask of you. In this way, all the people of the earth will come to know and fear you, just as your own people Israel do. They, too, will know that this Temple I have built honors your name.44  “If your people go out where you send them to fight their enemies, and if they pray to the LORD by turning toward this city you have chosen and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name,45  then hear their prayers from heaven and uphold their cause.46  “If they sin against you—and who has never sinned?—you might become angry with them and let their enemies conquer them and take them captive to their land far away or near.47  But in that land of exile, they might turn to you in repentance and pray, ‘We have sinned, done evil, and acted wickedly.’48  If they turn to you with their whole heart and soul in the land of their enemies and pray toward the land you gave to their ancestors—toward this city you have chosen, and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name--49  then hear their prayers and their petition from heaven where you live, and uphold their cause.50  Forgive your people who have sinned against you. Forgive all the offenses they have committed against you. Make their captors merciful to them,51  for they are your people—your special possession—whom you brought out of the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt.52  “May your eyes be open to my requests and to the requests of your people Israel. May you hear and answer them whenever they cry out to you.53  For when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, O Sovereign LORD, you told your servant Moses that you had set Israel apart from all the nations of the earth to be your own special possession.”  

• 2 Chronicles 20:5-30 - Jehoshaphat prays for victory

2 Chronicles 20:5-12 (NLT2)5  Jehoshaphat stood before the community of Judah and Jerusalem in front of the new courtyard at the Temple of the LORD.6  He prayed, “O LORD, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you!7  O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people Israel arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham?8  Your people settled here and built this Temple to honor your name.9  They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’10  “And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing. You would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they went around them and did not destroy them.11  Now see how they reward us! For they have come to throw us out of your land, which you gave us as an inheritance.12  O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.” 

• Ezra 9 - Ezra’s prayer for the people’s sins

Ezra 9:6-15 (NLT2)6  I prayed, “O my God, I am utterly ashamed; I blush to lift up my face to you. For our sins are piled higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens.7  From the days of our ancestors until now, we have been steeped in sin. That is why we and our kings and our priests have been at the mercy of the pagan kings of the land. We have been killed, captured, robbed, and disgraced, just as we are today.8  “But now we have been given a brief moment of grace, for the LORD our God has allowed a few of us to survive as a remnant. He has given us security in this holy place. Our God has brightened our eyes and granted us some relief from our slavery.9  For we were slaves, but in his unfailing love our God did not abandon us in our slavery. Instead, he caused the kings of Persia to treat us favorably. He revived us so we could rebuild the Temple of our God and repair its ruins. He has given us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem.10  “And now, O our God, what can we say after all of this? For once again we have abandoned your commands!11  Your servants the prophets warned us when they said, ‘The land you are entering to possess is totally defiled by the detestable practices of the people living there. From one end to the other, the land is filled with corruption.12  Don’t let your daughters marry their sons! Don’t take their daughters as wives for your sons. Don’t ever promote the peace and prosperity of those nations. If you follow these instructions, you will be strong and will enjoy the good things the land produces, and you will leave this prosperity to your children forever.’13  “Now we are being punished because of our wickedness and our great guilt. But we have actually been punished far less than we deserve, for you, our God, have allowed some of us to survive as a remnant.14  But even so, we are again breaking your commands and intermarrying with people who do these detestable things. Won’t your anger be enough to destroy us, so that even this little remnant no longer survives?15  O LORD, God of Israel, you are just. We come before you in our guilt as nothing but an escaped remnant, though in such a condition none of us can stand in your presence.”  

• Psalm 22 - A cry to God of help

Psalm 22:1-31 (NLT2)1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help?2  Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief.3  Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.4  Our ancestors trusted in you, and you rescued them.5  They cried out to you and were saved. They trusted in you and were never disgraced.6  But I am a worm and not a man. I am scorned and despised by all!7  Everyone who sees me mocks me. They sneer and shake their heads, saying,
8  “Is this the one who relies on the LORD? Then let the LORD save him! If the LORD loves him so much, let the LORD rescue him!”9  Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast.10  I was thrust into your arms at my birth. You have been my God from the moment I was born.11  Do not stay so far from me, for trouble is near, and no one else can help me.12  My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls; fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in!13  Like lions they open their jaws against me, roaring and tearing into their prey.14  My life is poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, melting within me.15  My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead.16  My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet.17  I can count all my bones. My enemies stare at me and gloat.18  They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing.19  O LORD, do not stay far away! You are my strength; come quickly to my aid!20  Save me from the sword; spare my precious life from these dogs.21  Snatch me from the lion’s jaws and from the horns of these wild oxen.22  I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters. I will praise you among your assembled people.23  Praise the LORD, all you who fear him! Honor him, all you descendants of Jacob! Show him reverence, all you descendants of Israel!24  For he has not ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy. He has not turned his back on them, but has listened to their cries for help.25  I will praise you in the great assembly. I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who worship you.26  The poor will eat and be satisfied. All who seek the LORD will praise him. Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy.27  The whole earth will acknowledge the LORD and return to him. All the families of the nations will bow down before him.28  For royal power belongs to the LORD. He rules all the nations.29  Let the rich of the earth feast and worship. Bow before him, all who are mortal, all whose lives will end as dust.30  Our children will also serve him. Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord.31  His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done.

• Psalm 104 - A prayer of praise

Psalm 104:1-35 (NLT2)1  Let all that I am praise the LORD. O LORD my God, how great you are! You are robed with honor and majesty.2  You are dressed in a robe of light. You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens;3  you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds. You make the clouds your chariot; you ride upon the wings of the wind.4  The winds are your messengers; flames of fire are your servants.5  You placed the world on its foundation so it would never be moved.6  You clothed the earth with floods of water, water that covered even the mountains.7  At your command, the water fled; at the sound of your thunder, it hurried away.8  Mountains rose and valleys sank to the levels you decreed.9  Then you set a firm boundary for the seas, so they would never again cover the earth.10  You make springs pour water into the ravines, so streams gush down from the mountains.11  They provide water for all the animals, and the wild donkeys quench their thirst.12  The birds nest beside the streams and sing among the branches of the trees.13  You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home, and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor.14  You cause grass to grow for the livestock and plants for people to use. You allow them to produce food from the earth--15  wine to make them glad, olive oil to soothe their skin, and bread to give them strength.16  The trees of the LORD are well cared for— the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.17  There the birds make their nests, and the storks make their homes in the cypresses.18  High in the mountains live the wild goats, and the rocks form a refuge for the hyraxes.19  You made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to set.20  You send the darkness, and it becomes night, when all the forest animals prowl about.21  Then the young lions roar for their prey, stalking the food provided by God.22  At dawn they slink back into their dens to rest.23  Then people go off to their work, where they labor until evening.24  O LORD, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures.25  Here is the ocean, vast and wide, teeming with life of every kind, both large and small.26  See the ships sailing along, and Leviathan, which you made to play in the sea.27  They all depend on you to give them food as they need it.28  When you supply it, they gather it. You open your hand to feed them, and they are richly satisfied.29  But if you turn away from them, they panic. When you take away their breath, they die and turn again to dust.30  When you give them your breath, life is created, and you renew the face of the earth.31  May the glory of the LORD continue forever! The LORD takes pleasure in all he has made!32  The earth trembles at his glance; the mountains smoke at his touch.33  I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. I will praise my God to my last breath!34  May all my thoughts be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.35  Let all sinners vanish from the face of the earth; let the wicked disappear forever. Let all that I am praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

• Daniel 9 - Daniel’s prayer for the salvation of Jerusalem 

Daniel 9:4-19 (NLT2)4  I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: “O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands.5  But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations.6  We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land.7  “Lord, you are in the right; but as you see, our faces are covered with shame. This is true of all of us, including the people of Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel, scattered near and far, wherever you have driven us because of our disloyalty to you.
8  O LORD, we and our kings, princes, and ancestors are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.9  But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him.10  We have not obeyed the LORD our God, for we have not followed the instructions he gave us through his servants the prophets.11  All Israel has disobeyed your instruction and turned away, refusing to listen to your voice. “So now the solemn curses and judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured down on us because of our sin.12  You have kept your word and done to us and our rulers exactly as you warned. Never has there been such a disaster as happened in Jerusalem.13  Every curse written against us in the Law of Moses has come true. Yet we have refused to seek mercy from the LORD our God by turning from our sins and recognizing his truth.14  Therefore, the LORD has brought upon us the disaster he prepared. The LORD our God was right to do all of these things, for we did not obey him.15  “O Lord our God, you brought lasting honor to your name by rescuing your people from Egypt in a great display of power. But we have sinned and are full of wickedness.16  In view of all your faithful mercies, Lord, please turn your furious anger away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. All the neighboring nations mock Jerusalem and your people because of our sins and the sins of our ancestors.17  “O our God, hear your servant’s prayer! Listen as I plead. For your own sake, Lord, smile again on your desolate sanctuary.18  “O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how your city—the city that bears your name—lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy.19  “O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act! For your own sake, do not delay, O my God, for your people and your city bear your name.”   

• Habakkuk 3 - A prophet's prayer of acceptance

Habakkuk 3:1-19 (NLT2)1  This prayer was sung by the prophet Habakkuk:2  I have heard all about you, LORD. I am filled with awe by your amazing works. In this time of our deep need, help us again as you did in years gone by. And in your anger, remember your mercy.3  I see God moving across the deserts from Edom, the Holy One coming from Mount Paran. His brilliant splendor fills the heavens, and the earth is filled with his praise.4  His coming is as brilliant as the sunrise. Rays of light flash from his hands, where his awesome power is hidden.5  Pestilence marches before him; plague follows close behind.6  When he stops, the earth shakes. When he looks, the nations tremble. He shatters the everlasting mountains and levels the eternal hills. He is the Eternal One!7  I see the people of Cushan in distress, and the nation of Midian trembling in terror.8  Was it in anger, LORD, that you struck the rivers and parted the sea? Were you displeased with them? No, you were sending your chariots of salvation!9  You brandished your bow and your quiver of arrows. You split open the earth with flowing rivers.10  The mountains watched and trembled. Onward swept the raging waters. The mighty deep cried out, lifting its hands to the LORD.11  The sun and moon stood still in the sky as your brilliant arrows flew and your glittering spear flashed.12  You marched across the land in anger and trampled the nations in your fury.13  You went out to rescue your chosen people, to save your anointed ones. You crushed the heads of the wicked and stripped their bones from head to toe.14  With his own weapons, you destroyed the chief of those who rushed out like a whirlwind, thinking Israel would be easy prey.15  You trampled the sea with your horses, and the mighty waters piled high.16  I trembled inside when I heard this; my lips quivered with fear. My legs gave way beneath me, and I shook in terror. I will wait quietly for the coming day when disaster will strike the people who invade us.17  Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty,18  yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!19  The Sovereign LORD is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights. (For the choir director: This prayer is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.)

• John 17 - Jesus’ prayer for his disciples

The entire chapter

• Nehemiah has a number of prayers

Once you have looked at these and other prayers in the bible and you want more tools there is the prayer acronym ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication)

Taking the acronym you can simplify it with this.

• Adoration - Jesus is here -  

Matthew 18:19-20 (NLT)19  “I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you.20  For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”

• Confession - Help me Lord - 

James 5:16-17 (NLT)16  Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.17  Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! 

• Thanksgiving - Thank you Lord - 

Philippians 4:4-7 (NLT)4  Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!5  Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.6  Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.7  Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 

• Supplication (the action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly)- 

Matthew 26:39 (NLT2)39  He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” 

The bottom line is not the words or the place or the time the most important thing is remembering to pray.  We have been talking a lot about praying without ceasing and pastor preached a sermon a few weeks ago on how we could do that and this is the kind of  thing that he talked about. Lying awake at night, unable to sleep, taking a shower or bath, driving, waiting for the computer to boot up, waiting for the elevator, standing in line, exercising (I take a long walk on Tuesdays).  Sitting through a long boring speech or sermon lol.  

For next week read chapters 14 and 15, tongue-tied and the sound of silence.  Then we going to try to get through the Prayer Dilemmas section which is chapters `6-19.
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Bible Study Audio

The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is going through the book Prayer Does It Make A Difference? by Philip Yancey.   In his book Philip explores the intimate place where God and humans meet in Prayer. Polls reveal that 90 percent of people pray. Yet prayer, which should be the most nourishing and uplifting time of the believer’s day, can also be frustrating, confusing, and fraught with mystery. Writing as a fellow pilgrim, Yancey probes such questions as: Is God listening?; Why should God care about me?; If God knows everything, what’s the point of prayer?; Why do answers to prayer seem so inconsistent?; Why does God sometimes seem close and sometimes seem far away?; How can I make prayer more satisfying?  In Session 5 we ask what difference does prayer make and we talk about prayer making us partners with God.

​A powerful way to make sure that your spirit is growing into the most robust part of your inner man is to pray without ceasing.  I did not say whine without ceasing - I said pray without ceasing.

To purchase a copy of the book click this LINK or the picture at the end of the notes.
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​A powerful way to make sure that your spirit is growing into the most robust part of your inner man is to pray without ceasing.  I did not say whine without ceasing - I said pray without ceasing.-

So many Christians spend their whole lives whining and complaining to the Lord and then they wonder why their prayers are never answered!  When you pray, pray with joy!  When you pray, come into His presence boldly and with power!  When you pray, leave your emotional soul at the door and take your well-fed spirit into the Throne Room and bask in His wonderful presence!

God loves you when you whine ... but when you join your spirit with His Spirit in a grand symphony of praise that is the moment that heaven and earth begin to move on your behalf.  As Christians, we are not a people group who limits our singing and rejoicing to sunny skies and magnificent circumstances, but we are determined to pray with joy even when our lives are falling apart.  It is part of our DNA to come into His presence with thanksgiving regardless of what awaits us outside the door of His presence.

The three Hebrew boys worshipped in the fiery furnace!  Scripture doesn't specifically say they were worshipping although it does say they were walking around with a fourth person Nebuchadnezzar described as looking like a god. 
 
Daniel 3:25 CEV “But I see four men walking around in the fire,” the king replied. “None of them is tied up or harmed, and the fourth one looks like a god.”
 
Paul and Silas sang at the midnight hour in prison! 
 
Stephen worshipped as he was being stoned!
 
Acts 7:54-56, 59-60 CEV When the council members heard Stephen's speech, they were angry and furious. But Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit. He looked toward heaven, where he saw our glorious God and Jesus standing at his right side.  Then Stephen said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right side of God!”  As Stephen was being stoned to death, he called out, “Lord Jesus, please welcome me!” He knelt down and shouted, “Lord, don't blame them for what they have done.” Then he died.
 
 Hannah worshipped when she was not yet pregnant! 
 
1 Samuel 1:10-13, 15-18 CEV Hannah was heartbroken and was crying as she prayed, “ Lord All-Powerful, I am your servant, but I am so miserable! Please let me have a son. I promise to give him to you for as long as he lives, and his hair will never be cut.”  Hannah prayed silently to the Lord for a long time. But her lips were moving, and Eli thought she was drunk. “Sir, please don't think I'm no good!” Hannah answered. “I'm not drunk, and I haven't been drinking. But I do feel miserable and terribly upset. I've been praying all this time, telling the Lord about my problems.”  Eli replied, “Go home. Everything will be fine. The God of Israel will answer your prayer.”  “Sir, thank you for being so kind to me,” Hannah said. Then she left, and after eating something, she felt much better.
 
Join the throng of believers from every generation in history who has chosen to pray with joy.
 
But What Difference Does It Make?
 
Does prayer have any real impact in the world or is it merely a private conversation with God?
 
Some of the things that make you wonder are:
 
The fact that while people in the Soviet Union prayed the government shutdown 98% of the churches; Hitler murdered 6 million Jews and several million Christians often while in the ovens with other in the camps praying for deliverance.  While on the one hand we can point to the answer of one of our prayers there is a terrorist attack that kills innocent people many of them no doubt Christians that have prayed for protection that day.
 
Prayer is Our Strongest Weapon
 
We often wonder why bad things happen even when we pray that they don’t.  When we look in the Bible there is really no explanation.  Just like when Job wanted God to tell him why all the bad stuff was happening to him when in the beginning of Job God Himself said that Job was a good guy.
 
Job 1:1 (NLT)1  There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. 
 
Job 1:6-8 (NLT)6  One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the LORD, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them.7  “Where have you come from?” the LORD asked Satan. Satan answered the LORD, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”8  Then the LORD asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”
 
We know that Job prayed.  In particular he prayed for his children.
 
Job 1:4-5 (NLT)4  Job’s sons would take turns preparing feasts in their homes, and they would also invite their three sisters to celebrate with them.5  When these celebrations ended—sometimes after several days—Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, “Perhaps my children have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.
 
Well what happened?
 
Job 1:18-19 (NLT)18  While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “Your sons and daughters were feasting in their oldest brother’s home.19  Suddenly, a powerful wind swept in from the wilderness and hit the house on all sides. The house collapsed, and all your children are dead. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
 
The prophets and other writers of scripture knew that bad things happened because we live in a world ruled by powers working to block or pervert God’s will.
 
Ephesians 2:1-2 (NLT)1  Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.
2  You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 
 
Ephesians 6:12 (NLT)12  For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
 
So we pray even though we can’t figure out why bad things happen because that’s our strongest weapon.  We can’t fight with conventional weapons we can however pray.   
 
Ephesians 6:12-18 CEV We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world. So put on all the armor that God gives. Then when that evil day comes, you will be able to defend yourself. And when the battle is over, you will still be standing firm.    Be ready! Let the truth be like a belt around your waist, and let God's justice protect you like armor. Your desire to tell the good news about peace should be like shoes on your feet. Let your faith be like a shield, and you will be able to stop all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Let God's saving power be like a helmet, and for a sword use God's message that comes from the Spirit.  Never stop praying, especially for others. Always pray by the power of the Spirit. Stay alert and keep praying for God's people.
 
Prayer is our lifeline to the only one who is always in control in a world that seems to be out of control.  Prayer reminds us of the truth of the universe:  that no matter how challenging and difficult life is.  God’s mercy, justice and fairness is always in control.  We pray to seek God’s help equip us to counter the forces of evil. 
 
I bet each one of us can think of a time when we thought we were in a place that we would not be able to escape.  It might have been an illness, a financial need, repairing a relationship, whatever and we prayed.  When God answered from that time forward, even though we see bad stuff happening around us and even to us we will still believe that yes prayer does make a difference. 
 
Philip then gives some examples in which prayer did matter and perhaps make a difference.
 
There’s the story about the breakup of the Soviet Union who the writer believes happened because of the power of prayer because it fell apart without a lot of violence. 
 
There are the comments about a white man who worked with Nelson Mandela and Bishop Tutu.  The tells the story of Ray and Bishop Tutu trying to defuse a situation caused by the South African army firing on a crowd of black South African protest marchers.  Bishop Tutu told Ray that he would take care of the marchers but he told Ray to take care of, and calm down the soldiers.   Here is the account from Ray:
 
“I went to them, nervous young boys crouching by their machine guns, backed up by tanks.  You could see the fear in their eyes.  They were, after all, facing 1000,000 chanting black protestors.  Most of the white boys, I knew, were church-going Calvinists:
 
Calvinism (also called the Reformed tradition, Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, or the Reformed faith) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice of John Calvin and other Reformation-eratheologians.
 
Total Depravity (Total Inability)
Total Depravity is probably the most misunderstood tenet of Calvinism. When Calvinists speak of humans as "totally depraved," they are making an extensive, rather than an intensive statement. The effect of the fall upon man is that sin has extended to every part of his personality -- his thinking, his emotions, and his will. Not necessarily that he is intensely sinful, but that sin has extended to his entire being.
 
Unconditional Election
Unconditional Election is the doctrine which states that God chose those whom he was pleased to bring to a knowledge of himself, not based upon any merit shown by the object of his grace and not based upon his looking forward to discover who would "accept" the offer of the gospel. God has elected, based solely upon the counsel of his own will, some for glory and others for damnation (Romans 9:15,21). He has done this act before the foundations of the world (Ephesians 1:4-8).
 
Limited Atonement (Particular Redemption)
Limited Atonement is a doctrine offered in answer to the question, "for whose sins did Christ atone?" The Bible teaches that Christ died for those whom God gave him to save (John 17:9). Christ died, indeed, for many people, but not all (Matthew 26:28). Specifically, Christ died for the invisible Church -- the sum total of all those who would ever rightly bear the name "Christian" (Ephesians 5:25).
Irresistible Grace
The result of God's Irresistible Grace is the certain response by the elect to the inward call of the Holy Spirit, when the outward call is given by the evangelist or minister of the Word of God. Christ, himself, teaches that all whom God has elected will come to a knowledge of him (John 6:37). Men come to Christ in salvation when the Father calls them (John 6:44), and the very Spirit of God leads God's beloved to repentance (Romans 8:14). What a comfort it is to know that the gospel of Christ will penetrate our hard, sinful hearts and wondrously save us through the gracious inward call of the Holy Spirit (I Peter 5:10)!
 
Perseverance of the Saints
Perseverance of the Saints is a doctrine which states that the saints (those whom God has saved) will remain in God's hand until they are glorified and brought to abide with him in heaven. Romans 8:28-39 makes it clear that when a person truly has been regenerated by God, he will remain in God's stead. The work of sanctification which God has brought about in his elect will continue until it reaches its fulfillment in eternal life (Phil. 1:6). Christ assures the elect that he will not lose them and that they will be glorified at the "last day" (John 6:39). The Calvinist stands upon the Word of God and trusts in Christ's promise that he will perfectly fulfill the will of the Father in saving all the elect.
 
I asked if we could pray, and they all respectfully removed their caps and helmets.  I put everything I had into that prayer, and I meant every word.  We spent the entire day there, a whole group of church leaders, and I truly believe that our prayers with both groups helps defuse what could have been a scene of great violence.”
 
Then there is the story of Ray’s experience with the Zulu king who was planning on having his people boycott the first South African election.  Ray prayed for peace the day that he met with the king, at which time he told the king “Oh king, you are a great king, but surely even you would wish to kneel before the King of Kings”  the Zulu king it and Ray prayed and the king told his people to stop fighting so that the election could go on. 
 
An interesting comment was that each of the groups the black South Africans, white South Africans, thought that God was on their side (and He was), so they were willing to yield to the God they thought they served. 
 
●What do we normally expect when we pray and ask that Go d’s will be done about a specific concern?
 
●To what extent do we anticipate that God will accomplish what we ask through our labor and sacrifice?
 
●In what ways might our perspective on praying for God’s will to be done change when we actually become partners with God in accomplishing it?
 
Philip talked about an angle of repose.  That’s the precise angle at which a boulder will rest on the side of a hill, rather than tumble downward.  He thinks of that as the point at which prayer and action meet.  When a boulder breaks loose it often creates a rockslide.  The same kind of thing happens in an avalanche when a very small accumulation of snow breaks loose.   Taking that concept think about our roles in persevering in prayer causing the angle of repose to shift on what God wants accomplished on earth.
 
I gave some examples in South Africa.
 
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NLT)14  Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
 
What have you seen God accomplish through people rather than miraculously “fixing” a situation and what role did praying people play in accomplishing God’s will in those instances?
 
The civil rights struggle of the 60’s.
 
The universe is done, The greater masterpiece, still undone, still in the process of being  created, is history.  For accomplishing, His grand design God needs the help of man.  - Abraham Joshua Heschel
 
Matthew 6:7-8 (NLT)7  “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.8  Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!

​So, why pray?
 
The answer is simple and comforting. God has graciously chosen to give us the privilege of being His partners in both the physical and spiritual areas of life. Through prayer we work with Him in defeating the powers of evil and in bringing about the fulfillment of His loving purposes in the world. Partners with God—what a privilege! What an incentive to pray!
 
In addition to being God’s friends He has also made us His partners.  God established the partnership from the very beginning.
 
Genesis 1:28 (NLT)28  Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
 
Genesis 2:15 (NLT)15  The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.
 
Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)  For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
 
2 Corinthians 5:20 (NLT)20  So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
 
God has always played a direct role in manipulating natural events:  causing a drought or a plague of locusts, reversing the course of disease and disability, even restoring life to a corpse.  Apart from these rare events called miracles, however, the Bible emphasizes an ongoing providence, of God’s will being done through the common course of nature and ordinary human activity:  rain falling and seeds sprouting, farmers planting and harvesting, the strong caring for the weak, the haves giving to the have-nots, the healthy ministering to the sick.  We tend to place God’s activity in a different category from natural or human activity; the Bible tends to draw them together. 
 
Somehow God works in all of creation, all of history, to bring about His ultimate goals.  God has a long history of accomplishing His will through people.  Often having the people who have been doing the praying do the work. 
 
Exodus 3:1-2, 7-10 (NKJV)1  Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.2  And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.   7  And the LORD said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.8  So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.9  Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.10  Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."
 
In this case it wasn’t Moses doing the praying it was the people.
 
Judges 4:1-7, 14-16 (NKJV)1  When Ehud was dead, the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD.2  So the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth Hagoyim.3  And the children of Israel cried out to the LORD; for Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years he harshly oppressed the children of Israel.4  Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time.5  And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.6  Then she sent and called for Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, "Has not the LORD God of Israel commanded, 'Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun;7  and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand'?"   14  Then Deborah said to Barak, "Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone out before you?" So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.15  And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot.16  But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth Hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.
 
The people cried out and God used Deborah and Barak
 
Judges 6:1-6, 11-16  (NKJV)1  Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years,2  and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains.3  So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them.4  Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey.5  For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it.6  So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD. 11  Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites.12  And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, "The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!"13  Gideon said to Him, "O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites."14  Then the LORD turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?"15  So he said to Him, "O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house."16  And the LORD said to him, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man."
 
This time He used Gideon
 
Nehemiah 1:1-4 (NKJV)1  The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel,2  that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.3  And they said to me, "The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire."4  So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 
 
Nehemiah 2:1-6 (NKJV)1  And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before.2  Therefore the king said to me, "Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart." So I became dreadfully afraid,3  and said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?"4  Then the king said to me, "What do you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.5  And I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it."6  Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), "How long will your journey be? And when will you return?" So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. 
 
Nehemiah 6:15-16 (NKJV)15  So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days.16  And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God.
 
Here He used Nehemiah, the king and the people to accomplish His will regarding Jerusalem.
 
Kingdom Partners
 
When Jesus was teaching His disciples, He left no doubt as to whom God would rely on to carry out the work of His kingdom.
 
Luke 10:1-3 (NKJV)1  After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.2  Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.3  Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.
 
God does very little on earth without you.  When we pray “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth”  we are opening ourselves up to being used by God for Him to accomplish just those things.  We all have a role to play and so that we can perform that role we have been given talents and spiritual gifts. 
 
Ephesians 4:11-16 (NKJV)11  And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,12  for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,13  till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;14  that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,15  but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ--16  from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
 
The church is called to be faithful in sharing the gospel through word and deed. The church is to be a “lighthouse” in the community, pointing people toward our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The church is to both promote the gospel and prepare its members to proclaim the gospel
 
Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)18  And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.19  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20  teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. 
 
Acts 1:8 (NKJV)8  But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." 
 
1 Peter 3:15 (NKJV)  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
 
The church is also to teach biblical doctrine so we can be grounded in our faith. The church is to be a place of fellowship, where Christians can; be devoted to one another and honor one another , instruct one another, be kind and compassionate to one another, encourage one another , and most importantly, love one another
 
1 John 3:11 (NKJV)11  For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,
 
John 13:35 (NKJV)35  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
 
How do you relate these examples to you and your prayers for things or for others?. 
 
Since we are in a partnership and we know who the stronger and more dominant partner is we want Him to do the heavy lifting and He does but prayer shows that we want to and are willing to do our part, no matter how small that may be.
 
Philip says that prayer is consenting to cooperate with God.  He works with us He doesn’t overpower us. 
 
God-Incidents
 
We live day to day in a material world.  Yes we know that things happen in the spirit that affect and even cause the things in the material and for us prayer is the way we try to bridge that gap. 
 
Galatians 5:16-26 (NKJV)16  I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.17  For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.18  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.19  Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,20  idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,21  envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.24  And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.26  Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
 
Only in this way can believers rise above the limitations of the flesh and avoid fulfilling its desires. To realize the victory over the flesh, one must put himself under the leadership of the Spirit. - The Wycliffe Bible Commentary.
 
We ask God to intervene but some things He wants us as partners to do.  While God continues to perform miracles the vast amount of times He works though and in creation not despite it.   Philip makes an interesting comment that because God works in and through man and also performs miracles it is really difficult to prove what caused the desired answer to prayer.   Then He quotes from C.S. Lewis’s book “Miracles”.  (Lewis makes a case for the reality of miracles by presenting the position that something more than nature, a supernatural world, may exist, including a benevolent creator likely to intervene in reality after creation.)
 
This impossibility of empirical proof is a spiritual necessity.  A man who knew empirically that an event had been caused by his prayer would feel like a magician.  His head would turn and his heart would be corrupted.  The Christian is not to ask whether this or that event happened because of a prayer.  He is rather to believe that all events without exception are answers to prayer in the sense that whether they are granting or refusals the prayers of all concerned and their needs have all been taken into account.  All prayers are heard, though not all prayers are granted. 
 
He concludes “only faith vouches for the connection.  No empirical proof could establish it.”  We believe a prayer has been answered not because of any scientific criteria proving cause and effect, but because we have faith.  Trusting God’s character, we can see in the relationship between our prayer and an event more than a coincidence.   We see a true partnership, intimate and intertwined. 
 
We say that there are no coincidences.  Everything about us has already been planned.
 
Jeremiah 1:5 (NLT)5  “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”
 
Psalm 139:15-18 (NLT)15  You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.16  You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.17  How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!18  I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!
 
Bishop Desmond Tutu said “When I pray, coincidences happen, when I don’t, they don’t.   So rather than call something a coincidence call it a God-incident.
 
Stages of Prayer
 
There are really no stages of prayer or levels of prayer but we do mature in our prayer life and our relationship with God.  In our book Philip identifies what he calls, for lack of a better word, stages of prayer. 
 
First stage Childlike request: 
 
John 14:12-14 (NKJV)12  "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.13  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.14  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
 
A childlike request for something that we want. Like a child’s Christmas list or a bucket list for an adult.  While it may be a little like approaching God as if He was a Genie, or as some say a “bellhop”, it is still prayer.  Especially when they are made by new Christians.  They pray like little children making requests of their parents because they trust them and are not afraid to ask anything.
 
As we mature we seem to lose our trust and our childlike faith to ask anything.  We become more and more selective and not willing to accept God’s response in any way other than the way we want it.  Philip calls the American pray-er, those of us who think we are mature long time “ace boon coons” with God, those who want it “our way”.  On the other hand a first stage pray-er is like one who thrusts God to answer any way that He wants. 
 
Second stage: Meditation or “keeping company with God”.  
 
Psalm 119:16, 24, 35, 47, 77 (NKJV) 16 I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word. 24 Your testimonies also are my delight And my counselors. 35 Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. 47 And I will delight myself in Your commandments, Which I love. 77 Let Your tender mercies come to me, that I may live; For Your law is my delight.
 
He is not talking about the kind of meditation as the Hindu, or Buddhists do making meditation the goal.  We are not talking about the health club meditation either.  The kind of meditation that emphasizes relaxation and self-improvement.  The emphasis in our meditative prayers puts the emphasis on God.  Our meditation should be in waiting to hear from God and learning His will.  That way we are praying for what God wants for us.  Spending time in meditation allows us to be quiet and listen for the Holy Spirit who as we have learned speaks in many ways.  He speaks through the Bible, through a nudge to our spirits, through a song, through another person, and even sometimes audibly.  Being quite in meditative prayer helps align our desires with God’s.
 
If we seek God more than anything else we will want more of what God wants and less of what we want and we’ll be content with having what He wants for us.
 
The third stage  Not my will but yours be done: 
 
Matthew 6:10 (NKJV)10  Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
 
At this stage we learn what the partnership is all about.  It is at this stage where we submit completely that we learn that prayer is God’s way of getting His will done on earth.  The emphasis is His will not ours.  God takes our requests which we through prayer and meditation become our desires which should match God’s desires for us, and that fits into God’s plans for mankind. 
 
Matthew 26:36-44 (NKJV)36  Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there."37  And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.38  Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me."39  He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."40  Then He came to the disciples and found them asleep, and said to Peter, "What? Could you not watch with Me one hour?41  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."42  Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done."43  And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.44  So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
 
How well do you think we Christians understand and respond to the balance of prayer and action that the Bible mandates for accomplishing God’s will?
 
Praying most often doesn’t get us what we want but what God wants for us.  So Eugene Peterson says “Be slow to pray” because “Praying puts us at risk of getting involved with God’s conditions.  If you’re not ready for that then don’t pray. (Be careful of what you pray for you may get it/
 
Psalm 37:3-4 (NKJV)3  Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.4  Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
 
As our scripture says we are to delight ourselves in the Lord and if we do He will give us the desires of our hearts.  That signifies a mutual relationship.  We delight in the Lord and He gives us our heart’s desires.   Delighting ourselves in the Lord, means that our thoughts are constant towards God and that everything we do is in obedience to Him.
 
Prayer becomes the process of our being available for what God wants to do on earth through us.  God wants to do miracles every day through us, if we only make ourselves available.
 
When we pray we should be asking God what actions He wants us to take as His partners. 

The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is going through the book Prayer Does It Make A Difference? by Philip Yancey.   In his book Philip explores the intimate place where God and humans meet in Prayer. Polls reveal that 90 percent of people pray. Yet prayer, which should be the most nourishing and uplifting time of the believer’s day, can also be frustrating, confusing, and fraught with mystery. Writing as a fellow pilgrim, Yancey probes such questions as: Is God listening?; Why should God care about me?; If God knows everything, what’s the point of prayer?; Why do answers to prayer seem so inconsistent?; Why does God sometimes seem close and sometimes seem far away?; How can I make prayer more satisfying?  In Session 4 we talk about wrestling with God in prayer.

Biblical prayer is impertinent, persistent, shameless, indecorous (improper, not in good taste).  It is more like haggling in an outdoor bazaar than the polite monologue of the church. - Walter Wink

To purchase a copy of the book click this LINK or the picture at the end of the notes.
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Four Ways to Pray Effectively
By Rick Warren
Today I want to talk to you about four ways to pray effectively, based on the life of Nehemiah:

1. Base your request on God’s character. Pray like you know God will answer you: “I’m expecting you to answer this prayer because of who you are. You are a faithful God. You are a great God. You are a loving God. You are a wonderful God. You can handle this problem, God!”

2. Confess the sins of which you’re aware. After Nehemiah based his prayer on who God is, he confessed his sins. He said, “I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us” (Nehemiah 1:6-7 NLT). It wasn’t Nehemiah’s fault that Israel went into captivity. He wasn’t even born when it happened; he was most likely born in captivity. Yet he included himself in the national sins. He said, “I’ve been a part of the problem.”

3. Claim the promises of God. Nehemiah prayed to the Lord, saying, “Please remember what you told your servant Moses” (Nehemiah 1:8 NLT). Can you imagine saying “remember” to God? Nehemiah reminded God of a promise made to the nation of Israel. In effect, Nehemiah prayed, “God, you warned through Moses that if we were unfaithful, we would lose the land of Israel. But you also promised that if we’d repent, you’d give it back to us.”

Does God have to be reminded? No. Does he forget what he’s promised? No. Then why do we do this? Because it helps us remember what God has promised.

4. Be specific in what you ask for. If you want specific answers to prayer, make specific requests. If your prayers consist of general requests, how will you know if they’re answered?

Last week we asked why pray when God already knows what’s going to happen anyway; when the things we pray for don’t happen even though they aren’t bad things; when we see faithful Christians pray for those who have a horrible illness and they pray and all their Christian friends pray and they never recover;  if it’s always got to be God’s will; why pray at all. What we concluded was that if we are to look to Jesus as our example He prayed all the time about everything and He told us to keep praying. It’s all part of changing our perspective to trying to look from above to take a God’s eye view.  
Because God wants us to be in a relationship with Him He doesn’t want us to hide our emotions when we talk to Him. We can even disagree with Him and in many cases wrestle with Him and that’s what we are going to talk about today.
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A Prayer for When Life Gets You Down
By Carrie Lowrance
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“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without fault and it will be given to you.” -James 1:5
 
Sometimes it’s hard to know how to pray and even what to pray when life gets you down. In my own experience, I always pray for three things: wisdom, discernment and for God’s will to be done.

1. Pray for Wisdom

When we are in the midst of a storm and have to make heavy decisions that seem to have no answers, it can seem like wisdom is eluding us. It is always wise to first ask God for wisdom in order to make decisions. We must not lean on our own knowledge and understanding. According to Proverbs 4:7, wisdom and good judgment are some of the most important things to acquire.

2. Pray for Discernment

It is crucial to pray for the ability to discern God’s voice, for it to be amplified beyond a doubt. We all discern His voice in different ways, from hearing His voice in our head to a feeling of utter peace and stillness. For some of us he speaks very loud and clear. Regardless, praying for discernment helps your spirit weed out the deceiver from a spiritually sound answer.

3. Pray for God's Will

We sometimes get caught up in how we want things to work out or how we think things should go. It’s part of being human. When you realize you’re doing this, stop and pray and ask God for his will to be done. Give Him the praise and the glory because you know you are exactly where He wants you in order to teach you something or for you to grow.
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Are things so hard right now that you don’t even know what to pray?  Let these words be your cry.

Dear Lord, times are really hard right now and life has really got me down. I don’t know what to do. I ask that You bestow Your wisdom upon me. I don’t want to lean on my own knowledge anymore, because it has let me down so many times. I need to hear Your voice. Give me the discernment to hear Your voice and Your voice alone. Speak to me in the way You know I will hear you best. I also pray for Your Will, Lord. I give You the praise and the glory in my circumstances because I know that I am exactly where You want me. I know this is to teach me something or to help me to grow. No matter what, I trust you and ask You to show what is best in this situation. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.​

What Does It Mean To Wrestle With God

Biblical prayer is impertinent, persistent, shameless, indecorous (improper, not in good taste).  It is more like haggling in an outdoor bazaar than the polite monologue of the church. - Walter Wink

I like the Sojourner Truth prayer:

“Oh God you know how much I am distressed, for I have told you again and again.  Now, God help me get my son. If you were in trouble, as I am, and I could help your, as you can me, think I wouldn’t do it?  Yes, Tod, you know I would do it”, and the other one “Oh, God, you know I have no money, but you can make the people do for me, and you must make the people do for me.  I will never give you peace till you do, God”

Then the one Nelson Mandela recounted in his autobiography.  Where the minister said “That if the Lord did not show a little more initiative in leading the black man to salvation, the black man would have to take matters into his own two hands”.

God invites us to wrestle with him in prayer:  to persistently present our honest selves; to cling to God in the dark without letting go; to call God to account for his promises and character.  There are people, faithful people, people we look to in the Bible as examples, who stood toe-to-toe and wrestled with God. Here are some examples of those kinds of prayers.

Abraham was bargainer.  In our study “Prayer Beings With Relationship” we called this a debate.  Philip calls it haggling.

Genesis 18:17-19 (NKJV)17  And the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing,18  since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?19  For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him."  22  Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD.23  And Abraham came near and said, "Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?24  Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?25  Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"26  So the LORD said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes."27  Then Abraham answered and said, "Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord:28  Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?" So He said, "If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it."29  And he spoke to Him yet again and said, "Suppose there should be forty found there?" So He said, "I will not do it for the sake of forty."30  Then he said, "Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?" So He said, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."31  And he said, "Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?" So He said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty."32  Then he said, "Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of ten."33  So the LORD went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.   

What is your response to that?

There weren’t 10 righteous in Sodom but Abraham really got what he wanted in saving Lot and his daughters.  He also points out that Abraham quit asking before God stopped granting. It’s obvious that Abraham wasn’t afraid of haggling.  He was very respectful however realizing who he was haggling with. Yes God was his friend but as we have talked about before it’s not a relationship between peers.

Moses had out-and-out arguments with God, starting with the very first meeting..

Exodus 3:7-17 (NKJV)7  And the LORD said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.8  So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.9  Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.10  Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."11  But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?"12  So He said, "I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain."13  Then Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?"14  And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' "15  Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.'16  Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, "I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt;17  and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey." '  

Exodus 4:1-17 (NKJV)1  Then Moses answered and said, "But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, 'The LORD has not appeared to you.' "2  So the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod."3  And He said, "Cast it on the ground." So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.4  Then the LORD said to Moses, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail" (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand),5  "that they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."6  Furthermore the LORD said to him, "Now put your hand in your bosom." And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like snow.7  And He said, "Put your hand in your bosom again." So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his other flesh.8  "Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign.9  And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land. And the water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land."10  Then Moses said to the LORD, "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."11  So the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?12  Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say."13  But he said, "O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send."14  So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and He said: "Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.15  Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do.16  So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God.17  And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs." 

Then he negotiates and it appears that he gets God to change His mind.

Exodus 32:7-14 (NKJV)7  And the LORD said to Moses, "Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.8  They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!' "9  And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people!10  Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation."11  Then Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, and said: "LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?12  Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, 'He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people.13  Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.' "14  So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people. 

This time it’s Moses who has had it and it’s God who settles him down.  

Numbers 11:4-17 (NKJV)4  Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: "Who will give us meat to eat?5  We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;6  but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!"7  Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium.8  The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones or beat it in the mortar, cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil.9  And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.10  Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and the anger of the LORD was greatly aroused; Moses also was displeased.11  So Moses said to the LORD, "Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me?12  Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child,' to the land which You swore to their fathers?13  Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep all over me, saying, 'Give us meat, that we may eat.'14  I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me.15  If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now--if I have found favor in Your sight--and do not let me see my wretchedness!"
16  So the LORD said to Moses: "Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you.17  Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone.  

Numbers 11:21-25 (NKJV)21  And Moses said, "The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, 'I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.'22  Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?"23  And the LORD said to Moses, "Has the LORD'S arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not."24  So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle.
25  Then the LORD came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again. 

He didn’t win every argument with God because as we know he couldn’t convince God to let him go into Canaan

What did Moses do that warranted such a severe penalty from the Lord? First, Moses disobeyed a direct command from God. God had commanded Moses to speak to the rock. Instead, Moses struck the rock with his staff. Second, Moses took the credit for bringing forth the water. Notice how in verse 10 Moses said, "must we (referring to Moses and Aaron) bring you water out of this rock." Moses took credit for the miracle himself, instead of attributing it to God. Third, Moses did this in front of all the Israelites. Such a public example of direct disobedience could not go unpunished. Moses’ punishment was that he would not be allowed to enter the Promised Land (Numbers 20:12).

Numbers 20:7-12 (NKJV)7  Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,8  "Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals."9  So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as He commanded him.10  And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?"11  Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. 12  Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them." ​

What do you think about Moses and his relationship with God?

What about Job?

He really questioned prayer.  

Job 21:15 (NKJV)15  Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?' 

In the end it wasn’t Job that God came down on it was His friends who didn’t confront God but thought they knew Him.  

Job 42:7-9 (NKJV)7  And so it was, after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.8  Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has."9  So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD commanded them; for the LORD had accepted Job. 

There are countless examples in Psalms of the psalmist complaing.  The one Philip uses is Psalm 

Psalm 69:1-3 (NKJV)1  Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.2  I sink in deep mire, Where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, Where the floods overflow me.3  I am weary with my crying; My throat is dry; My eyes fail while I wait for my God.

Like Moses Isaiah was reluctant to accept the task that God wanted him to do.  

Isaiah 6:5 (NKJV)5  So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts." 

Jeremiah was another example of somebody giving excuses and complaining.  
 
Jeremiah 1:6-9 (NKJV)6  Then said I: "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth."7  But the LORD said to me: "Do not say, 'I am a youth,' For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak.8  Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you," says the LORD.9  Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.

Jeremiah 4:10 (NKJV)10  Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, Saying, 'You shall have peace,' Whereas the sword reaches to the heart." 

The Famous Bible Wrestling Match

Then there was the famous wrestling match between Jacob and an angel.  It was apparently and all night contest.  

Genesis 32:22-29 (NKJV)22  And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok.23  He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had.24  Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.25  Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.26  And He said, "Let Me go, for the day breaks." But he said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me!"27  So He said to him, "What is your name?" He said, "Jacob."28  And He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed."29  Then Jacob asked, saying, "Tell me Your name, I pray." And He said, "Why is it that you ask about My name?" And He blessed him there. 

That match resulted in Jacob being given a new name “God-wrestler”

The word Israel can be translated he who striveth with God, or God striveth, or he who persevereth"; or, it may be associated with the word śar, "prince." The "man" declared: Thou hast striven with God... and hast prevailed.  - The Wycliffe Bible Commentary.

Then there’s Jesus struggle in the Garden which is appropriate today since it’s Easter.

Matthew 26:36-42 (NKJV)36  Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there."37  And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.38  Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me."39  He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."40  Then He came to the disciples and found them asleep, and said to Peter, "What? Could you not watch with Me one hour?41  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."42  Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done."

The agony of soul he experienced is depicted by sorrowful, sore troubled (av, very heavy), exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death.  The key to understanding Christ's agony lies in identifying the cup. Although any normal human being would shrink from the horrors of crucifixion, martyrs have often faced cruel death without such extreme distress. Nor can we adopt the view that Christ feared premature death at the hands of Satan, for the cup came from the Father, not from Satan

The most satisfying explanation of the cup refers it to the divine wrath which Christ would incur at the cross as he became man's sin-bearer. This experience during which God for a time was separated from his Son, gave rise to the awful cry of Mt 27:46 (And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?")

If one man's sin can cause him bitter grief when he feels the estrangement of God, how incomparable must have been the anguish of Jesus, who knew what it meant to assume the guilt of all men. From beginning to end, Christ's prayer was perfectly submissive to the Father. And the prayer was answered, not by removal of the cup, but by strength to drink, and ultimately by resurrection "out of death". - The Wycliffe Bible Commentary.

These examples show that God invites argument and struggle, and that it appears that He often yields especially when you call on God’s mercy.  Bishop Trenchan Anglican archbishop and poet.) : Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance it is laying hold of His highest willingness

Does God Ever Change His Mind

People often ask whether prayer can change God’s mind.  If God has determined something do you really think that He is going to change His mind?  If you know that God has not answered a request do you really think you can talk Him into doing it without you doing something different?  If when you change or make a different choice, and the prayer is answered it proves my point that you have made a different choice. God has not changed His mind you are the one that has changed and come into God’s will for you.  God knows everything, and He has known it forever. He’s known the end from the beginning. He never changes and never changes His mind.  

Isaiah 46:10 (NKJV)  Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, 'My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,' 

Let’s end with the end of chapter 7 in our book

The chaplain asked the patient, “What do you think is the opposite of love?”  The man replied, “Hate”. Very wisely, the chaplain replied, “No, the opposite of love is indifference.  You have not been indifferent to God, or you would never have spent the night talking to him, honestly telling him what was in your heart and mind.  Do you know the Christian word that describes what you have been doing? The word is ‘prayer.’ You have spent the night praying.”  
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Bible Study Audio

The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is going through the book Prayer Does It Make A Difference? by Philip Yancey.   In his book Philip explores the intimate place where God and humans meet in Prayer. Polls reveal that 90 percent of people pray. Yet prayer, which should be the most nourishing and uplifting time of the believer’s day, can also be frustrating, confusing, and fraught with mystery. Writing as a fellow pilgrim, Yancey probes such questions as: Is God listening?; Why should God care about me?; If God knows everything, what’s the point of prayer?; Why do answers to prayer seem so inconsistent?; Why does God sometimes seem close and sometimes seem far away?; How can I make prayer more satisfying?  In Session 3 we ask the question, "why pray".

Yancey tackles this and other tough questions and in the process comes up with a fresh new approach to this timeless topic. “I have learned to pray as a privilege, not a duty,” he says, and he invites you to join him on this all-important journey.  

Prayers are like gravel flung at the sky's window, hoping to attract the loved one's attention …   R. S. THOMAS

 To purchase a copy of the book click this LINK or the picture at the end of the notes.

Last week we said that when we take a look at prayer from God’s perspective it is a look from above and we must be willing to expose ourselves.  Since we don’t like to do that prayer helps us when we acknowledge, in prayer that we are guilty, and we confess, we humble ourselves and admit that we are helpless.  It helps when we consider the cross and the sacrifice that Jesus made on it.  

I want to read something by Charles Stanley called “A Believers Journey To The Cross”

We all know that Jesus walked the road to Calvary, but did you know that believers also journey to the cross? We've all been positionally crucified with Christ, but those who hunger for Him participate in a deeper experience of this reality. Jesus lovingly takes their hand and leads them to the cross. Even though this is the last place anyone wants to go, it's the only way to partake of God's best for our lives.

The trip to the cross is not one you take with family and friends. It's a lonely journey with just you and Jesus. He strips away everyone and everything you've depended on so that you'll learn to rely only on Him. While we're at the cross, He uncovers layer after layer of self-deception until we begin to see ourselves as He does. Soon our self-centeredness, inadequacy, and failures are laid bare.

The cross is a place of brokenness, but it's necessary because there's no other way we'll ever bear fruit. If we hang onto our lives and refuse to take this journey, we'll be like a grain of wheat that is never planted and never grows. But those who willingly die to themselves will produce an abundance of spiritual fruit. The only way Christ can live His life through us is if we've allowed ourselves to be crucified.

God doesn't want you to be content with just your salvation. There's so much more He desires to give you and accomplish through you. Are you willing to take the road to the cross with Him? Yes, it's painful, but the rewards in this life and in eternity far outweigh any suffering you will experience.
 
Why Pray?

Now let’s ask ourselves a few questions.

Does God really care about the details of our lives, such as getting a house sold, or finding a lost cat?

If the answer is yes then what about all the tragedies that happen around the world that result in the death of thousands of people?  

Prayers of request or supplication fall into one of two categories:  trouble or trivia.

Examples of prayers of trouble are a parent for a sick child, our when we perceive some danger.  In those instances we don’t usually ask in a formal way it is quite often just “Lord have mercy” or “Lord help me”, Lord heal my child or spouse, or friend”

Example of trivial prayer are “Lord let my favorite sports team win”, “Lord give me the winning lottery numbers”

If God answers trivial prayers then we really have some serious questions don’t we?  Here is a statement from our book about that from one of Philip’s philosophy professors.”If God can influence the course of events, then a God who is willing to cure colds and provide parking spaces but is not willing to prevent Auschwitz and Hiroshima is morally repugnant.  Since Hiroshima and Auschwitz did occur, one must infer that God cannot (or has a policy never to) influence the course of worldly events” Now we reject these extreme conclusions but we still have questions.  

What about examples of sickness, loneliness, heartbreak, that don’t get relief?

​

So Why Pray?

Prayers like gravel flung at the sky's window, hoping to attract the loved one's attention …   R. S. THOMAS

We can look at the example of Jesus getting answers.  Jesus knew how the universe worked. He had lived in heaven and He lived on earth.  He knew that prayer was a way to bring God and us human beings together. So whenever something important happened in Jesus life, you’d find Him at prayer.

The simplest answer to the question “Why pray? Is Jesus prayed”  He obviously considered it important because He spent so much time in prayer.   The Gospels tell us that He frequently prayer. There are more than a dozen specific prayers by Jesus in the Gospels and several other instances where He talks about prayer.  

Luke 22:31-32 (NKJV)31  And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.32  But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."

Luke 23:33-34 (NKJV)33  And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.34  Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." And they divided His garments and cast lots. 

John 11:38-42 (NKJV)38  Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.39  Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days."40  Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?"41  Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.42  And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me."

John 14:16-18 (NKJV)16  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--17  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.18  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

John 17:20-23 (NKJV)20  "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;21  that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.22  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:23  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

Jesus was always praying for others rather than Himself the only time that He may have asked for something for Himself may have been when He asked the Father to “Take this cup from me” but then He immediately said not My will but Your will be done.

Jesus final prayer on the cross was “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”

There were some intense prayers:

At His baptism

Luke 3:21-23 (NLT)21  One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened,22  and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.”23  Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his public ministry. Jesus was known as the son of Joseph. Joseph was the son of Heli.

All night before naming His disciples.

Luke 6:12‭-‬13 CEV About that time Jesus went off to a mountain to pray, and he spent the whole night there. The next morning he called his disciples together and chose twelve of them to be his apostles.

On the Mount of Transfiguration

Luke 9:28-30 (NLT)28  About eight days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on a mountain to pray.29  And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white.30  Then two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus.  

In the Garden of Gethsemane.

Luke 22:39‭, ‬41‭-‬44 CEV Jesus went out to the Mount of Olives, as he often did, and his disciples went with him. Jesus walked on a little way before he knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you will, please don't make me suffer by drinking from this cup. But do what you want, and not what I want.”  Then an angel from heaven came to help him. Jesus was in great pain and prayed so sincerely that his sweat fell to the ground like drops of blood.

He was excited after the disciples came back and reported what happened after He sent them out.  

 Luke 10:1 (NLT)1  The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit.  21  At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way. 

He prayed that the Holy Spirit would come and be with His disciples 

John 14:15‭-‬17 CEV Jesus said to his disciples: If you love me, you will do as I command. Then I will ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit who will help you and always be with you. The Spirit will show you what is true. The people of this world cannot accept the Spirit, because they don't see or know him. But you know the Spirit, who is with you and will keep on living in you.

John Chapter 17 is a prayer.

He prayed for Himself, for the immediate disciples and for all of us throughout history who would believe in him because of their message.

​

​But Does Prayer Matter?

There are three assumptions we have to make.

1.  God does exist;
2. God does hear our prayers
3. God cares about our prayers

One of Philip's friends said;

“None of these three can be proved or disproved,” he said. “They must either be believed or disbelieved.”  

He is right, of course, although for me the example of Jesus offers strong evidence in favor of that belief. 

To discount prayer, to conclude that it does not matter,
 means to view Jesus as deluded.

When we don’t see the answer to our prayers or we see and hear of horrible things happening to people we know and even those we don’t know we can’t answer the "why" question.  We can't tell them why their prayers weren't answered, and it is for sure not because they didn't have enough faith. What we do know is how God feels about you or them.  

We talked about that in our last study in the session "Upgrade Your View Of God".  The Bible tell us certain truths about God:
 
●     He is love - 1 John 4:8-10 (HCSB)8  The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.9  God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him.10  Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
 
●     He is faithful - 1 Corinthians 1:9 (HCSB)9  God is faithful; you were called by Him into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.; 2 Timothy 2:13 (HCSB)13  if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.;  1 John 1:9 (HCSB)9  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
 
●     He is patient - 2 Peter 3:9 (HCSB)9  The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.
 
●     He is forgiving - Isaiah 43:25-26 (HCSB)25  “It is I who sweep away your transgressions for My own sake and remember your sins no more.26  Take Me to court; let us argue our case together. State your ⌊case⌋, so that you may be vindicated.; 1 John 1:9 (HCSB)9  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.; Ephesians 1:7 (HCSB)7  We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

Jesus clung to prayer as a lifeline.  It gave Him guidance and the energy to know, and do His Father’s will.

John 5:19-23 (NKJV)19  Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.20  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.21  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.22  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,23  that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

That is like us saying “Your will be done.  

So the question then is,  if God knows best, what’s the point?  

As one pastor said who Philip quotes said “Should I just stop bothering him with my petty requests for myself and others, and let God get on with the business of running the universe while I do my best to take care of things down here?”

Jesus’ example of praying so frequently, for so long, about everything shows us that He believed that prayer was effective.  He did say “Ask and you will receive”  

Matthew 7:7-12 (NKJV)7  "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.8  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.9  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?10  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?11  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!12  Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

When his disciples couldn’t heal the boy at the foot of Mount of Transfiguration Jesus said their failure included a lack of faith but he said pray.  

Matthew 17:21 (NKJV)21  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." 

What About Jesus’ Unprayed Prayers

Jesus didn’t pray for John the Baptist, that he would be released and delivered,  He didn’t pray that Satan not sift Peter. Instead He prayed that Peter would survive the sifting.  

Luke 22:31-34 (NKJV)31  And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.32  But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."33  But he said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death."34  Then He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me."

The result was that Peter repented and became a great witness for the gospel.  The sifting got rid of Peter’s arrogance, and his propensity to violence. He became humble and submissive to the point that He wanted to be crucified upside down because He didn’t feel worthy of being crucified like Jesus.

John 21:18-19 (NKJV)18  Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish."19  This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."

He didn’t pray that God stop Judas from betraying Him.  The result was that He was crucified and His crucifixion became the sacrifice that saved mankind.

John 13:26-27 (NKJV)26  Jesus answered, "It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it." And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.27  Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly."

He didn’t even prayer for His own rescue.

Matthew 26:52-53 (NKJV)52  But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.53  Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?

That’s 72,000 angels.

Jesus Himself said why He wasn’t going to pray that prayer.

Matthew 26:54 (NKJV)54  How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?" 

One of those scriptures that wouldn't have been fulfilled was this one.

Isaiah 53:1-7 (NKJV)1  Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?2  For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.3  He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.4  Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.5  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.6  All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.7  He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

In struggling with the question why pray consider this.  God does still perform miracles but they are really rare exceptions to the natural things that happen.  

Nobody can promise that prayer will solve all the problems that we have or all the problems of the world.  If that was the case we wouldn’t have the problems and the world wouldn’t be in such a mess. However we are commanded to pray.  

Jesus commanded us to pray and He was certain that it would make a difference.  

Why then does God allow suffering and rarely step in with miracles?  We don’t really know. We say that it is to make us stronger. I’ve said that.  We repeat Romans 8:29 and that's true too but we do often think that the things that are happening are unfair.  

Part of it is that God has given mankind free will and God often allows things to play out naturally.

Jesus told His disciples that although they would have tribulations (trials and trouble) that they shouldn’t give up because He has overcome the world.  The world that Jesus was referring to is the world system which is the state of affairs in the fallen world under the influence and power of the evil one. The evil one exerts an extremely powerful influence indeed, as he is the “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4), and in a sense, the whole world lies in his power (1 John 5:19). Behind the scene, he shapes the trends, values, direction, perspective and approach of fallen men, encouraging them to indulge in the desires of the flesh.  - God and Truth - Meaning of “The World” and two opposing systems

Jesus says He overcame all of that.  

Back to Jesus providing the answer why pray.  We know that prayer matters because Jesus prays for us today.

Hebrews 7:25 (NKJV)25  Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

​Pray because it does matter.  

Our prayers can connect us with God who is accomplishing His great purpose and we can be a part of it.

Ephesians 6:10-12 (NKJV)10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.11  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.12  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (NKJV)4  For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,5  casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,6  and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. 

Mark 14:38 (NKJV)38  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." 

Pray with confidence that God wants to respond to our needs or desires:

Matthew 6:8 (NKJV)8  Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 

Psalm 103:13 (NKJV)13  As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him.  

Pray that God’s will be done;

Matthew 6:9-11 (NKJV)9  In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.10  Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.11  Give us this day our daily bread.

Ask for help:

2 Thessalonians 3:1-3 (NKJV)1  Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you,2  and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.3  But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.  

James 5:13 (NKJV)13  Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 

Psalm 62:1-2 (NKJV)1  Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation.2  He only is my rock and my salvation; *He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.

Prayer accomplishes its work because it connects our heart with the heart of God.  “God doesn’t need the data of my life. What He cares about is my heart. He wants me to spend time with Him so that I can share my passion, my concern, what I really care about.”

For most of us, the entry point to prayer is a need for help. We know we can’t fix or face our troubles alone. Even when we’re scared, unsure, or we convince ourselves for a time that we can handle it, the truth is, God is our only hope. As the psalmist says in Psalm 73:25, “Whom have I in heaven but you?”
Let’s discuss two questions that I think hinder our surrendering to a vulnerable trust in God—one where we are free to cry out without fear or pretense:

1) Does God really hear my cries?

2) Can I really trust Him?”

The Bible tells us because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we are counted righteous before God. We get credit for Jesus’ righteousness in the eyes of God. 

For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
Romans 5:19 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/rom.5.19.NKJV

For He made Him who knew no sin to  be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
II Corinthians 5:21 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/2co.5.21.NKJV

and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
Philippians 3:9 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/php.3.9.NKJV

Does God hear your cries? Yes, He hears the cry of His children, the righteous.

Trust is a tender thing when we’ve been hurt or when we struggle with God’s goodness based on our experiences and our perspectives. 

The entire Bible is the story of God’s love for us, culminating in our rescue with the death and resurrection of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit into each of us, sealing us (Eph. 1:13) for the day when all things will be made right and new. (Rev. 21:5).

Ephesians 1:13 NKJV In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

Revelation 21:5 NKJV Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

How do we know we can trust God? Because He proved He is trustworthy by showing the ultimate display of love for us. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). If we believe He loves us, then we must believe that we can trust Him. His love took Him to the depths, and when we’re in the depths, it is His love that preserves us.

Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord ; Let Your loving kindness and Your truth continually preserve me.
Psalms 40:11 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/psa.40.11.NKJV

Next week Wrestling Match.  Remember Jacob’s wrestling match in Genesis 22:21-32?

Bible Study Audio

The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is going through the book Prayer Does It Make A Difference? by Philip Yancey.   In his book Philip explores the intimate place where God and humans meet in Prayer. Polls reveal that 90 percent of people pray. Yet prayer, which should be the most nourishing and uplifting time of the believer’s day, can also be frustrating, confusing, and fraught with mystery. Writing as a fellow pilgrim, Yancey probes such questions as: Is God listening?; Why should God care about me?; If God knows everything, what’s the point of prayer?; Why do answers to prayer seem so inconsistent?; Why does God sometimes seem close and sometimes seem far away?; How can I make prayer more satisfying?  In Session 2 we talk about how to change our perspective from one limited by time and space to God's eternal perspective.  We need to catch a glimpse of the view from above.

Yancey tackles these tough questions and in the process comes up with a fresh new approach to this timeless topic. “I have learned to pray as a privilege, not a duty,” he says, and he invites you to join him on this all-important journey.  

Who one believes God to be is most accurately revealed not in any credo but in the way one speaks to God when no one else is listening - Nancy Mairs

 To purchase a copy of the book click this LINK or the picture at the end of the notes.

For most of us, much of the time, prayer brings no certain confirmation we have been heard.  We pray in faith that our words somehow cross a bridge between the visible and invisible worlds, penetrating a reality of which we have no proof.  We enter God’s environment, which is the realm of the spirit because God is spirit, which, if we are honest, seems much less real to us that it would have been to Adam, Abraham, or Moses. 

 Rather than looking at things from our perspective we are going to try to look at things from God’s perspective.    We must realize how small we are and how big God is. How short our time of existence compared to eternity.   

Psalm 90:2 (NLT)2  Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.  

2 Peter 3:8 (NLT)8  But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 


Psalm 39:4 (NLT)4  “LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is. 

We tend to rely on our own sufficiency and our own issues but we need to remember how small we are in the universe and how big God is and in order for us to enhance our prayer life we should, as best we can as humans, look at the relationship from God’s perspective.

Here is an example of how big God is compared to us that Philip uses;  “If the Milky Way galaxy were the size of the entire continent of North America, our solar system would fit in a coffee cup.  That’s the size of our solar system in the Milky Way galaxy. Now consider that there are perhaps 100 billion galaxies in the universe.  It would take 15 billion years to send a lightspeed message (100,000 miles per hour) to the edge of the universe.  

Psalm 8:1-9 (NLT)1 O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.2  You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you.3  When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you set in place--4  what are people that you should think about them, mere mortals that you should care for them?5  Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.6  You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority--7  the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals,8  the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.9  O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!  

If I look at prayer in that light I will stop thinking of ways in which God should serve me but I will look for ways to serve Him.  
  
Psalm 39:4 (HCSB)4  “LORD, reveal to me the end of my life and the number of my days. Let me know how short-lived I am. 

Psalm 90:12 (HCSB)12  Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts. 

James 4:13-14 (HCSB)13  Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.”14  You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are ⌊like⌋ smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. 

1 Peter 1:24 (HCSB)24  For All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like a flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 

When Job was having his trouble he questioned some things like we do when we are looking at things from our prospective, and he wanted God to answer him, and he got this response;

Job 38:1-11 (HCSB)1  Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind. He said:2  Who is this who obscures ⌊My⌋ counsel with ignorant words?3  Get ready to answer Me like a man; when I question you, you will inform Me.4  Where were you when I established the earth? Tell ⌊Me⌋, if you have understanding.5  Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?6  What supports its foundations? Or who laid its cornerstone7  while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8  Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst from the womb,9  when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket,10  when I determined its boundaries and put ⌊its⌋ bars and doors in place,11  when I declared: “You may come this far, but no farther; your proud waves stop here”?

Job got the message 

Job 40:3-5 (HCSB)3  Then Job answered the LORD:4  I am so insignificant. How can I answer You? I place my hand over my mouth.5  I have spoken once, and I will not reply; twice, but ⌊now⌋ I can add nothing.

Job's perspective changed.

With these things in mind we might want to consider:

Psalm 46:10 (NKJV)10  Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! 

We are really not in control of the world God is.  We are not really in control of our futures, God is.  The only response to our problems or our condition is to "be stil" and turn them over to God.

The Latin imperative for “be still” is to vacate (from which we get the word vacation), so God is inviting us to take a break and allow him to be God in our daily lives.  In addition the word translated “know” refers not only to intellectual knowledge but also to knowing God through worship and obedience. In your daily life, what might it look like to actually put into practice these definitions of stillness and knowledge.  

Most of us don’t find it easy to be still and "wait on God.”  We keep taking on responsibilities and trying to accomplish more and more in our strength.  Yet many faithful followers of God who have gone before us have learned to live life with a keen awareness of God’s perspective and our human frailty.

We can learn some to the benefits of waiting on God from these scriptures.  

Psalm 37:4-7 (NKJV)4  Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.5  Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.6  He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday.7  Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

1 Peter 5:6-7 (NKJV)6  Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,7  casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 

Matthew 6:31-32 (NKJV)31  Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'32  For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

Isaiah 30:18 (NKJV)18  Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him. 

2 Peter 3:8-9 (NKJV)8  But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.9  The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 

Psalm 145:8-13 (NKJV)8  The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy.9  The LORD is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works.10  All Your works shall praise You, O LORD, And Your saints shall bless You.11  They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, And talk of Your power,12  To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, And the glorious majesty of His kingdom.13  Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

Isaiah 40:31 NKJV But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

We have to realize who we really are in comparison to God in the relationship that we have with Him.  


Guilty

We have to acknowledge that we are guilty.  Many books on prayer emphasize the act of confession.  It’s like David’s prayer of forgiveness after the affair with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah 

Psalm 51:1-10 (NLT)1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.2  Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.3  For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night.4  Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.5  For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.6  But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there.7  Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.8  Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice.9  Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt.10  Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.

When we acknowledge that we are so very small we are in our imperfection, when compared to God who is perfect it establishes the right ground rules of how we relate to God.  Confession makes for good psychology in addition to it being good theology.  

God already knows who we are.  It’s us who have to come to terms with who we really are.  We need God’s help in digging out all the hidden things like selfishness, pride, deceit, unforgiveness, etc., and prayer is a way we can get that guilt out.  

Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT)23  Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.24  Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

We have to come clean and be real not like the hypocrites that Jesus warned His disciples not to pray like. We talked about that in our Sermon on the Mount study.   

He told them that they should go into a closet and pray.  The homes in Jesus' day usually weren’t big enough to have closets because they were only one room so He was probably using a figure of speech for getting into a space, which can even been in a crowded room where we can somehow ensure that our prayers are heartfelt and not a performance.  

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Helpless

We have to admit that we are helpless.  Human beings don’t ordinarily like to admit that we need help.  I have had that problem most of my life. That can become the sin of pride which will short circuit our relationship with God and our ability to talk to Him in prayer.  

James 4:6 (NLT)6  But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but favors the humble.” 

Proverbs 8:13 (NLT)13  All who fear the LORD will hate evil. Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech. 

But Jesus told His disciple that they couldn’t do anything without Him.

John 15:5 (NLT)5  “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 

Truth is that we are not self-reliant.  We rely on DWP for water and electricity, GM to provide transportation, farmers and ranchers for food, pastors, to nourish us spiritually.  

Prayer forces us to really look at our true state.  We never outgrow our dependence on God if we do we are fooling ourselves.  Asking for help lies at the root of prayer. Prayer is a declaration of dependence on God.  The Lord’s prayer is a string of requests.

Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV)9  In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.10  Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.11  Give us this day our daily bread.12  And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.13  And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Psalm 145:14 (NKJV)14  The LORD upholds all who fall, And raises up all who are bowed down. 

Prayer is a declaration of dependence on God.  

Humble
 
having or showing a modest or low estimate of one's own importance.

Prayer forces us to be humble.   Humility doesn’t mean that we grovel before God.  It means that in the presence of God I see my true place in the universe which is so very small and at the same time acknowledges God’s greatness.  

1 Peter 5:6-7 (NKJV)6  Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,7  casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 

Look at the progression from humility, which is the step down, to God lifting you up.

On the other hand Jesus comments about the Pharisee and the tax collector show the contrast between a prayer of superiority and a prayer of desperation.  

Luke 18:13-14 (NKJV)13  And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'14  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 example for us today is that our culture shines the spotlight on a billionaire who takes delight in firing people (who is now our President), on supermodels, conceited entertainers, and boastful athletes.  The theologian Daniel Hawk puts it, “The basic human problem is that everyone believes that there is a God and I am it” Humility in prayer is the way to correct that lie. 

Why should we value humility in our approach to God because our being humble reflects the truth.  We don’t have much control of our live at all. We can’t affect the rotation of the earth, or its orbit around the sun and our place in the universe.  There is a God and I am not it.  

Doubting

In prayer we need to acknowledge that we sometimes doubt.  Doubts about God’s love for man, given the stuff that goes on in the world, and to us.  Why we struggle so much, why there is poverty in world and here. Why is God allowing all this.  We are not the only ones to have doubts and frustrations. One thing about the Bible is that it doesn’t sugar coat life or hide what even those who love and serve God feel when frustrated, and most of these are prayers.

Habakkuk 1:2-4 (NLT)2  How long, O LORD, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save.3  Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight.4  The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted.

Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes (all is vanity), Psalms, and of course Job show anguish, hurt, and betrayal, situations that don’t make sense, even sometimes thinking God doesn’t care or even exist.  There are Psalms like that.

Prayer allows a place for us to bring our doubts and complaints and lay them before God where you realize that you don’t have control and must learn to trust.   Your doubts take on a different flavor when you get to know the Person to bring them to.  

Honest

We have to be honest about how we feel about our prayer life.   Is it just a ritual, are we just repeating words, does God really hear our prayers, should we keep praying even though we’re not even sure that we are doing it right?  God wants us to be real. We all have two sides. One we show to the world the one everybody sees on the outside. Then there is the one we never let anybody see. Well that’s the one that God sees  

1 Samuel 16:7 (NKJV)7  But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 

When we pray we sometimes don’t really say what we feel but God hears that too: 

Psalm 139:4 (NKJV)4  For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.  7  Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8  If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

We have to level with God about bitterness over an unanswered prayer, grief, over loss, guilt over an unforgiving spirit, a baffling sense of God’s absence.  If we don’t do that the relationship with God won’t go any further that a shallow relationship that we have with another person where that person is just a casual friend.  With a casual friend we engage in small talk and don’t get too personal about our lives. If we do that we will only engage in formal prayers and never break through what Philip calls the intimacy barrier.  We have to learn to trust God with what He already knows.  

Exposed

We need to not be afraid to expose ourselves in God’s presence.  When we come to God in prayer we need to ask ourselves if we bare the deepest, most hidden parts of ourselves.  Only when we do will we discover ourselves as we are. God knows the selfish motives behind everything that we do.  Prayer invites us to bring our whole life into God’s presence for cleansing and restoration. It’s not easy to expose ourselves but when we do we give God the opportunity to clean and repair us.  We don’t need to be afraid that God will reject us. Just think about it. Humans represent the only species on earth with whom God can hold a conversation. Only we can articulate praise or lament.  Only we can form words in response to the miracle, and also the tragedy, of life We dare not devalue our unique position.  

David Ford, a professor at Cambridge asked a Catholic priest the most common problem he encountered in twenty years of hearing confession.  With no hesitation the priest replied, “God.” Very few of the parishioners he meets in confession behave as if God is a God of love, forgiveness, gentleness, and compassion.  They see God as someone to cower before, not as someone like Jesus, worthy of our trust. Ford comments, “This is perhaps the hardest truth of any to grasp. Do we wake up every morning amazed that we are loved by God?... Do we allow our day to be shaped by God’s desire to relate to us?

Do we trust God with our exposed self or do we hide our real selves afraid that God will be displeased with it when in fact the hiding may be what displeases God most.  What we think is protecting ourselves God sees as a lack of trust. When we finally acknowledge our need we will find that God is not a tyrant but a lover. Paul prayed that we begin to understand how much he loves us.  

Ephesians 3:14-19 (NKJV)14  For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,15  from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,16  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,17  that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,18  may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height--19  to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 

When we look at it the most important purpose of prayer may be to let our true selves be loved by God.  

Psalm 103:10-14 (NKJV)10  He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.11  For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;12  As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.13  As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him.14  For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.

Knowing the Heart of God - Charles Stanley

Most people long to be understood. We may have many acquaintances, but we all have a deep need to feel truly known by those we love most. This is because we were created in God's image--He also desires to be intimately understood and loved by us.

Just as you don't want to be known for only the superficial details of who you appear to be, it's not enough to know about the Lord. He wants us to learn how He thinks and feels, what's important to Him, and what His purposes are. Of course, it's impossible for man to completely know the mind of the Creator of the universe. In Isaiah 55:9, He tells us, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." The depth and breadth of His mind is so great we will never be able to fully grasp it in this lifetime.

However, we can better understand God's heart and character by seeking Him and learning day by day from His Word. If we genuinely desire to walk in His ways, we must first genuinely know Him. We come to know our friends better by sharing more experiences together. Similarly, we will also understand God better the longer we walk with Him and meditate on what He has revealed about Himself in the Bible.

God wants you to seek Him with all your heart, and He promises that when you do, you will find Him 

Jeremiah 29:13 (NKJV)13  And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.  

So, the next time you're feeling a need to be better understood, turn to the One who understands you perfectly. Even more importantly, ask Him to help you know Him better.

Prayer is not my way of establishing God’s presence, but rather my way of responding to God’s presence that is a fact whether or not I can detect it. To quote Abraham Joshua Heschel, “Contact with Him is not our achievement. It is a gift, coming down to us from on high like a meteor, rather than rising up like a rocket. Before the words of prayer come to the lips, the mind must believe in God’s willingness to draw near to us, and in our ability to clear the path for His apI have learned to see prayer not as my way of establishing God’s presence, ratheras my way of responding to God’s presence that is a fact whether or not I can detectit. To quoteAbraham Joshua Heschel, “Contact with Him is not our achievement. It is a gift, coming down to us from on high like a meteor, rather than rising up like a rocket. Before the words of prayer come to the lips, the mind must believe in God’s willingness to draw near to us, and in our ability to clear the path for His approach. Such belief is the idea that leads us toward prayer.”
                
 My feelings of God’s presence — or God’s absence — are not the presence or the absence. When ever I fixate on techniques, or sink into guilt over my inadequate prayers, or turn away in disappointment when a prayer goes unanswered, I remind myself that prayer means keeping company with God who is already present. 

God is already present in my life and all around me; prayer offers the chance to attend and respondto that presence.

Hearing God

God finds ways to communicate to those who truly seek God, especially when we lower the volume of the surrounding static.  We learn to pray by praying. 

To begin, think more about God than about yourself. Even the Lord’s Prayer centers first in what God wants from us. “ Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done” — God wants us to desire these things, to orient our lives around them.

Prayer that focuses on God, meditative prayer, can serve as a kind of self-forgetfulness. After an extended and uninterrupted time with God, your urgent requests, which had seemed so significant, take on a new light. You began to ask if they are God’s will,and not your own. Although your needs drive you to prayer, in prayer you come face-to-face with my greatest need, which is an encounter with God’s presence.
                
Prayer that is based on relationship and not transaction may be the most freedom-enhancing way of connecting to a God whose vantage point we can never achieve and can hardly imagine.

1 Peter 3:12 NIV For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

He was quoting from Psalm 34:15‭-‬16.

” We don't have to bang a drum or bring animal sacrifices to get God’s full attention; we already have it.
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