1 John 1:3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. What deep fellowship we see here in this verse, and in such deep fellowship there is an easy path to prayer.
Category Archives: How to Pray
Men Began to Call Upon the Name of the Lord…
This prayer is maybe one the the earliest prayers in the Bible, before Abraham, before Samuel, before Noah, before David, before the Psalms is this simple but profound prayer in Genesis 4:26 And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the LORD.
Notice that the psalmist mentions this much in the Psalms, and also Paul mentions calling on the Lord in Romans 10:13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” 14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
Prayer – Abraham Strengthened In Faith
These verses on Abraham are packed with faith and encouragement.
Romans 4:17 … God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; 18who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
Consider the seven sections of these verses that add encouragement and faith to our daily experience of prayer.
1. gives life to the dead – what is not working, God can make it work.
2. calls those things which do not exist as though they did – what we cannot find or do or does not seem to be there, God can create out of nothing.
3. in hope believed – this is compounded faith, in the middle of hope there is also more faith.
4. not being weak in faith – Abraham’s faith was very strong just because God spoke to Him. God’s speaking was enough to trigger faith and belief in Abraham.
5. did not waver at the promise of God – because his faith was strong there was not a shadow of doubt or consideration that God could not fulfill the very thing God promised to Abraham and Sarah – a baby boy, a son – Isaac.
6. strengthened in faith – Abraham’s faith got even more strengthened every day while he did not see the fulfillment, but just believed God according to what God had spoken.
7. being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform – Where did Abraham get all this faith and belief in God that what God had spoken, He, that is God, could and would do.
Prayer – You Need to Touch Him
In prayer, one just needs to touch the edge of Jesus.
Matthew 14:35 And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, 36 and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.
Touch is big, love is expressed with touch. Touch is connection and identification. Today in your prayer life be connected to Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus who is fully God and fully man (what a mystery). He can be touched, we can be connected with Jesus in prayer.
Prayer – By My Spirit
Zechariah 4:6 So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,‘ Says the LORD of hosts.
Prayer is not what we can do, but what God by His Spirit can do. It is hard sometime to just trust God to work on something by His Spirit without our might and ability. All we have to do is get in touch with Him and keep in communion with Him, then just let Him do the work by His Spirit. He is full of energy and ability and power and might. Its not by our power and ability, its just all Him that answers prayer in His time and by His Spirit.
Stand Still, and See
In Exodus 14:13 it says: And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. There is something about just standing with God, sometime doing nothing but just believing God in the midst of a rough situation. Just a quiet prayer to have faith in God and in what He will eventually do.
Kingdom Prayer – Part 2
Consider these Kingdom prayer verses in Matthew. Matthew 12:25-29 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 “And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast [them] out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 28″But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 “Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. 30 “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.
So in this passage in Matthew, Jesus, the Son of God, the redeemer, the savior, that is, King Lord Jesus encountered a little opposition. To the Lord, it was just a little struggle between the powers of light and darkness. He was not worried, Jesus knew the final end of the Devil, He knew the final end of the earth was to be under God’s full control. Just look at Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”
The Kingdom and Prayer
The gospel of Matthew, the first book of the New Testament presents Jesus as the King. Because of the Kingdom, there is much struggle between the Lord Jesus Christ as the King, and the king (lower case ‘k’) of this world (Satan and his little defeated angels). When one considers prayer in this book, it is Kingdom prayer to bring in God’s Kingdom. After all, God created the earth and also owns it. See Psalms 2:1 Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, [saying,] 3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The LORD shall hold them in derision. He (God) Laughs! Well, how can a created being (kings of the earth) stand again the creator, eventually the creator will win. Look at the end of the Bible, where Satan, the anti-Christ and the false prophet all find their place in the lake of fire, and not in heaven. p.s. don’t follow the devil to that place.
So when we pray against evil, like it says at the end of the Lord’s prayer “deliver us from evil” expect a little opposition, but eventually God, the creator and owner of the universe will win. Just stay on His side.