CHAPTER 18 FIRST OF ALL PRAY
How important is prayer to our walk with the Lord? What part does it play in our total salvation experience? Eph.6:18 told us to "... pray in the Spirit on all occasions ... " (emphasis added). That would seem to indicate that we are to interrupt our prayer life in order to attend to our daily activities, rather then interrupt our daily routine for a few quick moments of prayer. Reread that sentence. The difference between those two thoughts and which one we do goes to the very heart of our knowledge of who we are in Christ Jesus, our commitment to Him, and the victory which we display in our daily life.
I will not again cover what it means to "pray in the Spirit." We went through that in chapter 2. Suffice it to say that when we pray in our prayer language (in another tongue) after we have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we are praying in the Spirit (I Cor.11:14 & I Cor.14:2) And, as we just saw, we are to do so on ALL occasions. Phil.4:6 reemphasizes that when it says "... in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God." How many times have you heard someone say, "How can we know it is God's will?" Well, in regards to prayer we find His will in I Thes.5:16, "Be joyful always; PRAY CONTINUALLY giving thanks in all circumstances. FOR THIS IS GOD'S WILL for you in Christ Jesus" (emphasis added)
In previous chapters we have seen how important praising God was, and the importance He places upon it (in particular see chapter 15). It would seem that a similar emphasis is also placed upon prayer. Look at Matt.21::12-14, which relates Jesus' clearing of the temple. Notice how Jesus describes the temple in vs. 13 " ... My house will be called a house of prayer." (emphasis added) It had been defiled, and Jesus was purifying it. Now look at I Cor.6:19 " ... your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit" and II Cor.6:16 "... we are the temple of the living God" (see also I Cor.3:16). Today we are God's temple, and we are to be a house of prayer. Something very exciting is then found in Matt.22:14. Notice what happens after the house of prayer - temple/body - is purified. "The blind and the lame came to him at the temple and he healed them." Ministering to a broken and hurting world follows on the heels of purification and prayer (Ez.47:12).
Look carefully at Jesus' prayer life and you will see that He put into practice that which has been written. Heb.5:7 says that "During the days of Jesus' life on earth He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears..." In fact, His very ministry began with prayer. According to Lk.3:21 Jesus was in prayer while being baptized, and it was during prayer that the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove. Further more, we see from Mark 1:35 and Luke 5:16 that Jesus often separated Himself from the disciples and entered into solitary prayer. Lk.6:12 then shows us that prior to the healings and the manifestations of power which took place in vs. 17-19, Jesus "...spent the night praying to God."
This is not to say that He asked the Father the same thing over and over again. His teaching is contrary to that. Matt.6:7 tells us not to keep on babbling like the pagans who think that they will be heard simply because of their many words. Elijah even taunted the prophets of Baal when they thought that they would be heard by shouting louder and longer (I Ki.18:27). We do not talk God into things because of our repetition. Nor do we wear Him down by continuously begging.
Look at the parable of the neighbor in Lk.11:5-8. The word translated 'persistence' in vs. 8 does not mean that the man kept coming to his neighbor until the neighbor gave in and came to the door. The word means boldly or with importunity. Not persistence in terms of repetition, but persistence in terms of not backing down or going away once having asked. Jesus prayed with boldness and assurance. He knew He was heard when He prayed (John 11:41). Likewise, with an attitude of reverence, we also are to be bold (Heb.4:16), knowing we are heard when we pray (I John 5:14).
The parable of the widow and the unjust judge is not there to show us that we must, like the widow, keep coming back to the Lord until He gives in. In Lk.18:7-8 Jesus says "will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you He will see that they get justice and quickly." God does not put us off. He wants us to "pray continually" (I Thes.5:16), but not the same request over and over. How can we follow Mk.11:24 which says "...whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours," if we repeatedly ask God for the same thing over and over? (see chapter 4 ) The point is, we are to offer up prayers to our God both day and night.
In Acts 1:14 we see the believers in "constant" prayer before the Holy Spirit came upon them. Needless to say, their devotion to prayer also continued after their baptism. In I Tim.2:1 Paul places prime importance upon prayer being made for all people. This is intercessory prayer, and we will cover that in a moment. In vs. 8 he gives the unequivocal direction for "men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer." The direction is clear, God wants us to be in communication with Him. Indeed, we are to devote ourselves to prayer (Col.4:2). If we will only do as He directs, we will find that we are the ones who end up being blessed. The very quality of our lives will improve beyond comprehension.
I Tim.2:1-2 directs us to pray for everyone, and then promises a blessing for the one doing the praying. Therein we are commanded to pray "...for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." (emphasis added) Even the command in Eph.6:18 to "Pray in the Spirit on all occasions ... for all the saints" brings a blessing to the one who adheres to it. On the surface, what we see is another command for intercessory prayer. Such prayer is of course important in and of itself; however, we should not forget that according to I Cor.14:14 we pray in the spirit when we pray in tongues, and praying in tongues has the secondary benefit of edifying (building up) the one who is doing the praying. Therefore, as we pray in the Spirit for all the saints, we get built up also. (Note, how else could we pray for all the saints, even those who we do not know, unless the spirit prays?)
Our circumstances, our very existence is important to God, but prayer is often times required before He can act. We are told in Ja.4:2 that we do not receive because we do not ask God. We must go to God in prayer. John 16:23 tells us that the Father will give us whatever we ask in Jesus' name. I am not trying to equate praying with using God as a 'wishing well'- such a thought is an abomination. We will cover that concept in chapters 6 and 7 of A Closer Walk." We receive when we obey His commands and do what pleases Him (I John 3:21), ask according to His will (I John 5:14), remain in Him and have His words remain in us (John 15:7), ask in Jesus' name (John 16:23) and ask, believing that we receive when we ask (Mk.11:24). The point is, we must ask - we must pray.
Through prayer we also receive wisdom (James 1:5), grace (Heb.4:16) and most importantly - forgiveness (I John 1:9). Note, in I John 1:9 we are told to confess our sin and God will forgive. No where does it say that born again Christians are to beg for forgiveness. While we should feel sorry that we have sinned, all that God requires for forgiveness is that we confess the transgression as sin, and He will automatically forgive. Remember, Jesus has already paid the price.
We cannot ignore the topic of sin when we discuss prayer, However, I do not want to leave the impression that you must "go down to the altar" every week to get saved or forgiven. The blockage to answered prayer which sin represents is easily eliminated by doing as directed in I John 1:9 - confess and He will forgive. No matter what the sin, all we need do is confess and God will forgive us. Sometimes we run away from God when we have sinned. He wants us to run towards Him. With this in mind, let's now examine in further detail the hindrance to answered prayer which sin can represent.
In Ps.66:17-20 David says: "I cried out to Him with my mouth His praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my prayer. Praise be to God who has not rejected my prayer ..." (emphasis added) David realized that sin, active participation in sin, or failure to do that which he should have done would have had the effect of closing the Lord's ears to his prayer From I John 5:15 we know that we will not receive what we have asked for if in fact God does not hear our petitions.
Ja.4:3 tells us that if we ask with wrong motives we also will not receive. That verse does not say that it is wrong to ask God for things for ourselves. It does however say that it is wrong to ask for things to spend on "your pleasures" when your pleasures are contrary to God's will. (Remember, God's will can be found in His word, because the two are synonymous.) However, when "your pleasures" line up with "His pleasure" then there is no problem. (In regards to the relationship which His pleasure for us has to the material realm, see Chapter 8.) At this point we should also note that in addition to receiving forgiveness for our own sins we must forgive those who have wronged us (Mk.11:25).
Our attitude is also important. In the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee, Jesus showed us that we are to be humble before our God (Lk.18:9-14). We know from Heb.4:16 that we can go boldly to the throne, and from Ro.8:15 that we cry out to 'Abba Father', which means "daddy"; yet, we are still to be humble. There can be no question that without Him we are nothing and with out the blood of Jesus we are lost, but neither of these facts mean that we are to come before the throne as sniveling beggars. Nor do we sit down and plan out in advance every word we are going to utter. This is not the way we talk to our Father. Remember, in addition to being God, He is our 'daddy.'
James 4:10 says "Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up." But this is not a conflict with the verse which told us to come boldly to the throne. Jesus was exalted by the Father because He had humbled Himself, yet His prayers were bold (Phil.2:8-9). We should also follow Jesus' example of solitary prayer. Matt.6:6 notes that Jesus often times withdrew from the crowds, entering into his `prayer closet' as it were, for a private time with the Father. Just as we are to follow His lead on private prayer, so also should we follow the Scriptural guide for group prayer. Acts 1:14 shows us that the believers "joined together" in prayer (see also Acts 4:24 & Acts 10:1-4 as example of family prayer). Matt.18:19 tells us that where two or more agree in prayer, their prayer will be fulfilled by the Father.
The thief on the cross hadn't spent days in preparation before he turned to Jesus in Lk.23:42 and said "... remember me when you come into your kingdom." In fact, Matt.27:31 shows us that only a short time before, this same man who now accepted Jesus, had also mocked Him, yet his simple prayer was now honored by Jesus. Ps.50:15 says "call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you will honor me..." During emergencies we often simply cry "Help!!!" God honors that.
The literal Greek rendering of Matt.18:18 says that we are to loose on earth that which has been loosed in heaven and bind on earth that which has been bound in heaven. We do not bind something here, and thereby cause it to be bound in heaven. The only thing we can cause to be bound on earth in that way, is God's ability to help us. Remember, if we pray against, or outside of His will, or are engaged in sin, how can we expect Him to go against His Word and answer our requests. The power of God is loose in heaven, and we are to be the instruments He can use to loose it here on earth. satan is bound in heaven, and is to be bound here by the power of God flowing through His Church (Rev.12 :10&13 & Matt.12:29). We are to pray together, in agreement, standing on God's Word. (Side note - Make sure you can agree with the prayers you are to be in agreement with, or you could be preventing the very thing from happening which you need.)
Prayer as a weapon should not be underestimated. Ja.5:16 says that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. From previous studies we have seen that righteousness comes from Christ - through faith (Gal.3:6, Ro.4:21 & Phil.4:9). Ja.5:15 specifically says that the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. That is power, but what else will do it? We have seen that prayer in general and intercessory prayer in particular, is closely related to, and in fact is inseparable from, the armor of God listed in Eph.6:10-18.
h.6:12 tells us that our struggle is not against men, but against the authorities and powers of this dark world. Now turn to II Cor.10:3-4, "... we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds." (emphasis added) Our prayers are powerful. Why else would God direct us to pray continually for all the saints, if they were useless? Look at the power of intercession as seen in Abraham for Lot. Look at the beautiful intercessory prayer Jesus prayed for us in John 17. That is powerful prayer.
God said it, that's it. Prayer is a powerful weapon which can demolish strongholds. It is to be prayer offered in righteousness, faith, humility, and yet boldly brought before the throne. Through prayer we can change the circumstances which not only surround us, but those for whom we are praying. Ro.12:12 tells us to be faithful in prayer; prayers which we see from II Cor.1:11 are not only helpful, but are answered.
When we pray as directed, we are to expect the manifestation of the answer as did Paul in Philemon 22. There he told Philemon to prepare a guest room for him that he could come in answer to Philemon's prayers. We are to be prepared for our answers, not surprised. Then, after the answer, we are to be like David in Ps.50:15 and honor God.