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CLAIMING
GOD’S RESOURCES |
| Prayer and the reading of
God’s Word are two subjects that appear repeatedly in
these lessons. There is good reason for this. As you carefully
read the Bible, you begin to know the mind of God. When
you pray according to His Word, you will discover God accomplishing
things in and through you. Admittedly, your early efforts
in prayer may not be as polished as you might like. But
that’s okay. God looks at the heart. As you
learn to make prayer a part of your life, you will come to fill
a real place in God’s program and see more and more answers
to petitions which He has laid on your heart (1 John 5:14,15). |
| Basis of Prayer |
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We have no merits of our own which give us the right to come
to God. The way into His presence is through Christ Jesus,
who was crucified and raised again from the dead for us (Hebrews
10:20). That is why we pray in Jesus’ name.
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| Prerequisites to
Answered Prayer |
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Peter tells us: “For the eyes of the Lord are
on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers:
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil”
(1 Peter 3:12). The Psalmist says God will not hear us if
we harbor sin in our lives (Psalm 66:18). Sin breaks fellowship
between God and us. The Christian who has not confessed his
or her wrongdoing and repented of this sin, hinders God from
answering that person’s prayers. Paul raises God’s
standard in these words: “Therefore I desire that the
men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath
and doubting” (1 Timothy 2:8). A person must “ask
in faith, with no doubting” (James 1:6). James continues:
“For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything
from the Lord; he is a double minded [fickle] man, unstable
in all his ways” (James 1:7,8). A believing heart
is a necessity for answered prayer. God will not honor
unbelief.
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| Purpose
in Prayer |
| The Christian’s life
should be motivated by one great purpose—the glory of
God. “And whatever you ask in my name,” the
Lord said, “that I will do, that the Father may be glorified
in the Son” (John 14:13). God is glorified as we pray
according to His will. He desires to guide our prayer
through His Word and through the Holy Spirit. That means we
need to keep His Word always before us in our thinking and praying,
so we will not miss His plan. “Now this is the confidence
that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His
will, He hears us: and if we know Now this is the confidence
that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His
will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever
we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked
of Him”. (1 John 5:14-15) |
| Practice of Prayer |
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As discussed, the Christian’s quiet
time should be an important part of the day. Although we need
to pray often with others, our prayer life will mature most
as we faithfully maintain our own personal time before the
Lord. Because we are likely to neglect something if we don’t
make specific plans, a place and a definite time should be
set-aside for prayer. We should come with a heart prepared
and an expectancy that God will meet us (Psalm 62:5). David
set aside special times of the day for prayer (Psalm 55:17).
Daniel did also (Daniel 6: 10). The best time for many
people is the early morning.
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True fellowship is God talking to us through
His Word and our talking to Him through prayer. The best way
to begin your time is to read a portion of the Word and then
pause to pray over the truths that you could apply. Prayer
during your quiet time might follow along the thoughts outlined
in the next two paragraphs.
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| Elements of
Prayer |
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There are several elements in prayer. Some
people find it helpful to follow the acronym: ACTS. “A”
stands for adoration. This is a time to focus on the character
of God (who He is). It is a time to express your recognition
of His awesome power, His holy purity, His unfathomable wisdom,
etc. “C” stands for confession. You need to admit
those things that you have done that are displeasing to the
Lord. Confession is important early in your prayer so that
anything blocking your communication with God can be removed.
“T” reminds us to be thankful. Give
thanks to God for all He has done in your life. “S”
is for supplication. You have the tremendous privilege of
bringing the needs of others before the Lord and requesting
His help for them.
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This acronym is not something to be followed
slavishly. Depending on the situation, certain of these elements
might be more important than others. For example, praise and
petition are predominate in such Bible prayers as Colossians
1:9-14 and the model prayer given by our Lord in Matthew 6:9-13.
In Psalm 51, on the other hand, confession takes up a greater
part of the prayer, showing us that we should pray according
to our need and as the Lord leads us. In all of these prayers
dependence is the keynote; the requests themselves indicate
that neither the person praying nor the person prayed for
is able to meet the needs expressed.
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Outreach of Prayer
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Intercessory prayer (praying for the needs
of others) is the believer’s opportunity
for an outreach that is worldwide. Intercession should include
God’s servants
(2 Thessalonians 3:1, 2), all who are in authority (1 Timothy
2:2), and a lost world
(1 Timothy 2: 1) which includes those who hate God’s
people and injure them (Matthew 5:44). One characteristic
of a Christian is that he or she has a heart-felt burden for
the world like God does.
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Study Questions
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What is prayer? Why is it important in the life of the
believer?
If we talk to God through prayer, how does He talk to
us?
________________________________________________________________
- List the four elements of prayer discussed
in the lesson. Why is confession an important part
of prayer?
_________________________________________________________________
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In your own personal prayer life, which elements of prayer
receive most of your time and attention? Does this emphasis
on one or two elements reflect your present needs? If
not, what can you do to develop a more balanced prayer
life?
__________________________________________________________________
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This lesson mentions several prerequisites for answered
prayer. If your
prayers seem to go unanswered, what might be interfering
with your prayer life? What can you do about it?
__________________________________________________________________
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