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Prayer

clayclay
edited December 1969 in Faith Issues
What does Scripture teach us about prayer? Cite references, please.

I thought this might be an interesting topic?

Comments

  • abkarino22abkarino22
    Luke 12:31 should answer your question.

    But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

  • clayclay
    Perhaps I should have endeavored to make my intentions clearer. This thread could be a study session on the prayers in the Bible and direct references to prayer, so we can make a holistic picture of prayer.

    For instance, the 'Our Father' prayer? The Prayer of Christ in Gethsemane? The prayer of Jabez? The prayer of Elijah? The prayer of Nehemiah? etc.

    What have you learned from them?

    Abkarino22, has brought to the discussion that prayers should be aimed at seeking God, rather than worrying and making God assist us in chasing us after pagan, vain, materialistic goals. The reference also seems to hint that when we align our priorities, with God at the top of the list, our needs will be met.
  • abflab91abflab91
    what we shoull pray for is our salvation and not the worldly and materialstic things. God doesnt give us the worldly things always because it can lead us to laziness and lives on pride and luxury. thats  st. James says "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures." (James 4:3)

    hope that answers ur question
  • gigglyshygigglyshy
    Jesus taught us the best form of prayer by the Lord's prayer. If you look at what is said within every line, you get a clear picture of how we are to go about our prayers:

    "Our Father who art in Heaven
    Hallowed by Thy name"

    First we acknowledge His place within our lives, and praise and show our adoration for Him. Notice how we say OUR Father and not MY Father. He's not only my father, but your Father, your friend's Father, your stranger's Father... He's everyone's Father. We acknowledge how holy He and where He stands, helping us to understand where we stand when speaking and praying to Him. He is our Father, and a relationship between a father and son/daughter is what we have with GOd, giving us the opportunity to approach Him the way a child approaches their mother or father.

    "Thy Kingdom come
    Thy will be done
    On earth as it is in heaven"

    God's kingdom. Jesus often said that God's power would appear and renew all creation. God like a mighty king would rule over the earth according to a plan that unfolds from the beginning of the world. God's kingdom would be marked by peace and justice. Good would be rewarded and evil punished. The kingdom, according to Jesus, is not far off, but already present in our midst, though not yet revealed. (http://www.cptryon.org/prayer/teach.html)

    In the Lord's prayer we pray that God's kingdom come, that God's will, which is for our good, be done on earth as it is in heaven.
    we want to live in His kingdom, not ours. We ask Him for His will be done within our lives as it already is in heaven.

    "Give us this day our daily bread
    and forgive us our trespasses
    as we forgive those who trespass against us"

    Asking Him not only for physical bread but also for our daily spiritual bread. We ask Him to provide for us all that we need. He provides food and shelter for the birds who don't ask, so how much more will He provide for us when we ask Him?
    We ask God to forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Remember from the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy...."

    "And lead us not into temptation
    but deliver us from the evil one,
    through Christ Jesus our Lord"

    We need help with combatting every struggle and hardship throughout the day. We ask Him to help us, through Christ Jesus our Lord, who trampled down death by His own death and resurrection.

    "For Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory
    forever and ever, Amen."

    It's always best to end prayers like this; acknowledging what makes Him God, giving praise to Him.

    If you look at the order of everything said in the Lord's prayer, you see that if you want to pray, the best form is the form that Jesus gave us through this prayer.

    -praise and give adoration to God
    -ask Him to let His kingdom come and help us to seek it
    -ask Him to make His will done within our lives just as His will is done in heaven-and remind ourselves to let Him do His will in our life
    -request that He supplies us with "bread" for our physical, spiritual, and psychological/mental needs too
    -plead that He has mercy upon us, just as we have mercy upon others
    -request that He protects us from temptations, struggles, and sins, and saves us/bring us out from the holes and traps that we have already fallen into
    -end prayer with giving glory and honor to God.

    if we really pray everything in that prayer from our hearts, then there isn't much else to say afterwards, because everything we need to say to God is summed up within this short prayer. That doesn't mean that other prayers are useless but this prayer is very important, since Jesus gave it to us...

    Jasmine
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