Prayer BasicsSample

Yesterday we said that we live in an extremely self-centred world and that the starting point in Prayer should actually be an outward focus toward God, instead of an inward-focus towards our own needs. However, God is caring, He is not only King and Maker of the universe, but He is also a Father; a loving Father who wants to give His children what they need. Now obviously God knows what we need and what we want. Why should we then communicate our desires to Him? Once again it’s all about worship. When telling God what we need, we are actually saying to Him: “Father, I am not good enough or strong enough to provide this myself, I need You, You are greater than I am, You have all the resources needed, I don’t; I need you.” 

Asking God for something is a statement of our dependence on him.

1 Timothy 2 speaks of praying by using four distinct words for prayer, one of the words he uses is ‘intercession’ (requests). This word was originally used when a slave went into the throne room of a king to ask for something to be supplied out of the king’s storehouses. For us, this term is used for going to our Father as a King who has everything we need. We only need to ask.

Petitioning God for breakthrough, miracles or even the everyday basics can have 3 answers:

1. God can give us a green light: sometimes prayers are answered instantaneously. 

2. Sometimes God tells us to wait. We know God’s will but the breakthrough is still in the making. Perseverance and consistency in prayer is the key here. Can you imagine how many miracles never happened because we grew weary in prayer?

3. Sometimes we get a red letter NO: this is often the most difficult, especially when it comes to illness or suffering. We don’t always understand why God says no and it can hurt, but all we can do is trust God and dig deeper into His love. He knows best. He knows when a gift will actually be harmful to us, and in His wisdom, He then chooses to withhold what we ask for. 

Dig in:

Write down all the things you are petitioning God for: Are they in line with God’s purposes for your life? Do you have scripture to stand on when you grow weary in prayer? Do you have any testimonies of answered prayers? When done writing these things down, boldly go to your Heavenly Father in prayer and approach Him as the King who has a claim to everything and tell Him your desires. Trust that in His wisdom, He will decide what to do.