Why Pray?
Excerpts from my response to a question that someone left as a comment, on prayer!
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a.) praying is an act of OBEDIENCE. by committing ourselves to prayer, it may seem at first foolish and pointless, since god is omniscient and knows all things right? so why should we tell him anything? well, god Himself laid down prayer as an unseparable part of our Christian lives. (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Matt 7:7, and in the example of Daniel's refusal to NOT pray) in praying, we are acting out of obedience to our God. and do otherwise would be disobedience and rebellion.
b.) prayer performs a pragmatic function of helping us with SUBMISSION to His Lordship. by praying, we take the focus OFF ourselves and the circumstances in our life, and recognise that there IS a higher being and HE is in charge of the world. even when we complain to Him and rant at Him (as some of the Psalmists do, as well as Jeremiah in Lamentations) we recognise His existence and His Lordship in the world. and in doing so, even subconsciously, it helps us deal with our frail humanity. in Philipians 4:6-7, a verse that is often misquoted- the Bible teaches that prayer is promises to be reciprocated with the 'peace that passeth understanding'. this is promised us when we pray- God may not answer all our doubts or grant all our requests immediately- and yet, His peace is guaranteed. try it.
c.) since Christianity is a relationship, and not merely a religious position- how does one sustain a relationship without two COMMUNICATION? the Navigators wheel illustration demonstrates that GOd communicates to us through His Word, and we communicate to Him through prayer. talking to God IS prayer- and we have free access to Him through Jesus- that's why we pray 'in Jesus' name' amen. in the past, the israelites had to consecrate themselves and offer offering after offering in order to access God- today, we have the benefit and the esteemed privilege of coming into His presence directly through Jesus in prayer. what a blessing!
d.) prayer gives us access to His power and allows us to offer requests for others- INTERCESSION. God delights when we make intercessions for others- it gives Him great pleasure, especially when we pray for each other often, because we are loving each other in the most intelligent and wise manner. i believe stephen curtis chapman wrote the song- 'i will carry you to jesus on my knees'. in praying, we may not be able to change God's appointment for some of the things in our lives, but we can submit our requests to Him, and He has promised to listen.
i'm sorry- these are only some of the things i thought of on the spot. =) i apologise if it's too lengthy or too much of a generalisation.>>>
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How should we pray then, I guess it the next question. Jesus taught his disciples to pray the Lord's Prayer which reads,
Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
The key ideas of the Lord's prayer are as follows: a.) the prime focus is on glorifying God and giving Him praise, hence 'hallowed be thy name b.) submitting to His will and His desires, not our own c.) requests and petitions, hence 'give us this day our daily bread' d.) forgiveness- recognising our sinful nature before Him and the need for daily cleansing of our hearts and turning to Him for forgiveness. Yes, our sins have already been cleansed with the blood of Christ once for all, but the act of asking for forgiveness emphasises the real and active relationship we have with Him, and reminds us on a daily basis (since we are forgetful beings,) that we are imperfect and flawed. this includes forgiving others too e.)protection and deliverance from sin and temptation. f.) ascribing praise and glory to Him
ANother way of thinking of prayer is this:
A: Adoration- focusing on the Character of God and Who He is
C: Confession- focusing on the character of man and how flawed we are
T: Thanksgiving- thanking GOd for what He has done
S: Supplication- requests and petition
To those who asked, I hope this was helpful!
<<
a.) praying is an act of OBEDIENCE. by committing ourselves to prayer, it may seem at first foolish and pointless, since god is omniscient and knows all things right? so why should we tell him anything? well, god Himself laid down prayer as an unseparable part of our Christian lives. (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Matt 7:7, and in the example of Daniel's refusal to NOT pray) in praying, we are acting out of obedience to our God. and do otherwise would be disobedience and rebellion.
b.) prayer performs a pragmatic function of helping us with SUBMISSION to His Lordship. by praying, we take the focus OFF ourselves and the circumstances in our life, and recognise that there IS a higher being and HE is in charge of the world. even when we complain to Him and rant at Him (as some of the Psalmists do, as well as Jeremiah in Lamentations) we recognise His existence and His Lordship in the world. and in doing so, even subconsciously, it helps us deal with our frail humanity. in Philipians 4:6-7, a verse that is often misquoted- the Bible teaches that prayer is promises to be reciprocated with the 'peace that passeth understanding'. this is promised us when we pray- God may not answer all our doubts or grant all our requests immediately- and yet, His peace is guaranteed. try it.
c.) since Christianity is a relationship, and not merely a religious position- how does one sustain a relationship without two COMMUNICATION? the Navigators wheel illustration demonstrates that GOd communicates to us through His Word, and we communicate to Him through prayer. talking to God IS prayer- and we have free access to Him through Jesus- that's why we pray 'in Jesus' name' amen. in the past, the israelites had to consecrate themselves and offer offering after offering in order to access God- today, we have the benefit and the esteemed privilege of coming into His presence directly through Jesus in prayer. what a blessing!
d.) prayer gives us access to His power and allows us to offer requests for others- INTERCESSION. God delights when we make intercessions for others- it gives Him great pleasure, especially when we pray for each other often, because we are loving each other in the most intelligent and wise manner. i believe stephen curtis chapman wrote the song- 'i will carry you to jesus on my knees'. in praying, we may not be able to change God's appointment for some of the things in our lives, but we can submit our requests to Him, and He has promised to listen.
i'm sorry- these are only some of the things i thought of on the spot. =) i apologise if it's too lengthy or too much of a generalisation.>>>
-----------------------------------------------------------
How should we pray then, I guess it the next question. Jesus taught his disciples to pray the Lord's Prayer which reads,
Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
The key ideas of the Lord's prayer are as follows: a.) the prime focus is on glorifying God and giving Him praise, hence 'hallowed be thy name b.) submitting to His will and His desires, not our own c.) requests and petitions, hence 'give us this day our daily bread' d.) forgiveness- recognising our sinful nature before Him and the need for daily cleansing of our hearts and turning to Him for forgiveness. Yes, our sins have already been cleansed with the blood of Christ once for all, but the act of asking for forgiveness emphasises the real and active relationship we have with Him, and reminds us on a daily basis (since we are forgetful beings,) that we are imperfect and flawed. this includes forgiving others too e.)protection and deliverance from sin and temptation. f.) ascribing praise and glory to Him
ANother way of thinking of prayer is this:
A: Adoration- focusing on the Character of God and Who He is
C: Confession- focusing on the character of man and how flawed we are
T: Thanksgiving- thanking GOd for what He has done
S: Supplication- requests and petition
To those who asked, I hope this was helpful!
posted by leb at 2:36 PM
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