Prayer

Everything I've been reading lately has to do with praying. The importance of prayer. Now I know God is up to something. Hubby has been real restless lately, as have I. So I decided to devote a post to prayer.

First off, Charles Stanley under "Life Principle #14 of What the Bible Says About: The Many Faces of Prayer". His message came from Colossians 1:9-12

9 For this reason we also, since the day we
heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His
will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully
pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according
to His glorious
power; for all patience and long-suffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Psalm 32:6 For this cause everyone who is godly
shall pray to You.

Matthew 6:5-13

5 "And when you pray, you shall not be like
the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the
corners of the streets, that they may be seen by many. Assuredly, I say to you,
they have their reward."
6 "But you,
when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your
Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will
reward you openly."
7 And when you
pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they
will be heard for their many words."
8
"Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need
of before you ask Him."
9 "in this
manner, therefore, pray: (Also Luke 11:1-4)
Our Father in
heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth
as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day
our daily bread,
12 And forgive us our
debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the
evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever.
Amen."

Matthew 26:41 & Mark 14:38 "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Mark 11:24 "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."

Mark 11:25 "And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses."

Mark 13:33 "Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is."

Luke 6:28 "bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you."

Luke 18:1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,

Luke 22:40 When He came to the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."

Acts 8:22 "Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you."

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning's which cannot be uttered.

1 Corinthians 14:13-19

13Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue
pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I praying a tongue, my
spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.
15 What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the
spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the
spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.
16 Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he
who occupies the place of the uninformed say "Amen" at your giving thanks, since
he does not understand what you say? 17 For
indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified. 18 I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; 19 yet in the church I would rather speak
five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten
thousand words in tongue.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray without ceasing.

1 Timothy 2:8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

James 5:13-16

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him
pray. Is anyone cheerful? Le him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders
of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name
of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith
will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed
sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray
for the one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a
righteous man avails much.

Matthew 21:22 "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

There is a lot of instruction about praying and how to pray. As we can see through all the scriptures, that it is important that we follow what God has laid out for us. If taken lightly, our prayers are basically null and void. The best way to pray is in silence, in a private room, on our knees. I love that we stand tallest when on our knees.

Elijah from 1 Kings 18:20-40 is a good example of how well a prayer prayed with authority works.

Ahab had gathered the children of Israel and the prophets to Mount Carmel. This is where Elijah asked them if Baal was their God or if the Lord was God. No one answered him. He then told them to have the supposed prophets of Baal supply two bulls; one for them, and one for Elijah. The prophets of Baal were to prepare their bull, lay it upon wood without lighting a fire and call upon their god to burn the sacrifice.

They tried all day, even cut themselves, calling out to their god. Nothing happened. When the time came for the evening sacrifice, Elijah repaired the alter, encircled the altar with a trench and had the people drench the wood with 3 pots of water. The water saturated the offering wood and all around the altar. Then at the time the sacrifice was to be made; Elijah called out, v. 36, "Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. v. 37 "Here me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again."

Then the Lord lit the fire, took the bull, wood, stones, and water. v. 39 The people then fell on their faces and cried out; "The Lord, He is our God, The Lord, He is our God!" That is when Elijah told the people to seize "all" the prophets of Baal and then led them to the Brook of Kishon where he executed them.

A lesson well learned here. We should never stray from the Lord. The consequences can be mighty. Never honor another God nor idol. Always pray to the Lord our God. When we doubt, we open ourselves up to the enemy.

And last but not least. I like this one. Of course I like them all. To maintain our life with God Jude 20-21 reads:
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Now I know this is a lengthy post, but felt it was a good one. I felt the need to do this even though it took me all day to do this. I stopped off and on to do other things that needed my attention, then would come back to this and research some more. There is plenty more in the Bible about prayer. If anyone has more to share and you don't mind, when you comment I will add them to a separate post of those with added scripture or words of your own. Now go pray! :)

Reference

Stanley, C. 2005. "The Charles Stanley Life Principle Bible." New King James Version. Life
principle 14, What the Bible says about the many faces of prayer. p. 1399. Thomas Nelson
Inc.

Other pages used were: Ps 32:6 p. 644; Mat 6:5-13 pp. 1118 & 1120; Lk 11:14 p. 1203; Mat 26:41 p. 1150; Mk 14:38 p. 1178; Mk 11:24, 24 p. 1173; Mk 13:33 p. 1176; Lk 6:28 p. 1194; Lk 18:1 p. 1214; Lk 22:40 p. 1223; Acts 8:22 p. 1276; Rom 8:26 p 1319; 1 Cor 14:13-16 p. 1421; 1 Thes 5:17 p. 1409; 1 Tim 5:13-16 p. 1421; Mat 21:22 p. 1142; 1 King 18:20-40 pp. 417 & 419; Jude 20-21 p. 1489.