And to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD, and likewise at even;
1 Chronicles 23:30, KJV

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
John 4:24, KJV

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
Psalms 100:4, KJV

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful
Colossians 3:15, KJV

This was the duty of the priests of God when they roamed the desert. It showed that praise should be done in the morning and at night, so as saints of God having the priesthood completed in Jesus Christ, we should likewise praise Him in the morning and at night. Not just ask for His help, but also to praise Him for all He has done for us. Praise is just as important a part of prayer as our requests are. It also says to thank the Lord – a thankful attitude is what God wants from His people. It says that peace shall rule in our hearts if we are a thankful people. So in our prayers, we should tell God about how thankful we are to him.

We have three elements which should be in our prayer life besides our requests: praise, worship and thankfulness. Just waking up in the morning is a reason to thank the Lord.

We should also take time to delight in the Lord for without Him, we would have nothing; indeed we would not even exist. The law of the Lord should make us happy. Though we now live under grace, we should still rejoice in both his law and grace.

Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.
Psalms 119:92, KJV

And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee.
Deuteronomy 12:7, KJV

Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.
1 Chronicles 16:10, KJV

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13, KJV

We see in the above verses that we should rejoice in all the blessings that we have been given by God. If ever you think that you’re not blessed, remember those who live in dirt huts and are dying daily because they can’t afford food or health care. Rejoicing is an important part of prayer. Remembering his blessing is how we can rejoice in troubled times. It also shows in the second verse that we are to seek the Lord, as seeking God is also an important part of prayer. It is important to note that seeking God isn’t a half-hearted effort. We are commanded to seek Him with all our hearts and then we shall find Him.

Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Philippians 4:6, KJV

Requests are also a part of prayer. It is important to note that the above verse says that our requests are to be made with thanksgiving, so we must come with a thankful heart to God when we are going through trials and need His help. There will always be something to be thankful for.

To sum it all up, we pray by praising God, worshiping God, being thankful to God, being delighted in God, rejoicing in God, making our requests known to God and seeking God with all our hearts. This is how we are to pray, by putting all these things in our prayer life. Prayer should also be a daily thing. For God desires time with us, as any parent would want time with their children.

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Keep in mind that all these answers depend on qualifiers that need to met. The first answer is: yes, God does answer prayer. We will talk about the qualifiers after I show that God answers some prayers with a yes answer.

Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
John 16:24, KJV

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 14:13, KJV

And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
John 16:23, KJV

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Mt 7:7, KJV

And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Lu 11:9, KJV

Clearly the scriptures are showing that God is a God who answers prayer. In fact, he longs to answer our prayers; He delights in giving good gifts to his children.

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Mt 7:11, KJV

So we see here that God does at times answer prayer with a yes, but what about the qualifiers to the “yes” answer?

And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Mt 21:22, KJV

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
John 15:16, KJV

If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
John 14:14, KJV

You have to do more than just ask; you must honestly believe that God will answer your prayer. It isn’t mentioned as often as the verses that say that you will receive, but you must take the whole bible in account when it comes to prayer. So, to get an answer requires that you absolutely believe you will get an answer. That doesn’t mean that you will get a “yes” though.

We are also told to ask in Jesus’ name – that’s very important. Jesus died for us that we might have life, so we need to go to him and in his name ask for the things we need.

There is also a qualifier that gives you a “no” answer.

Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
James 4:3, KJV

Whenever you ask for something that will allow you to look down on your Christian brothers, or worse yet on unbelievers, or when you ask for something you can boast in, or use it for you own glory, then God says, “NO!”

So believing isn’t enough, for we must still ask with the right motives in mind, and sometimes, God commands us to wait:

And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
Acts 1:4-5

Here God made the disciples wait for the promise of the father that he would send the comforter to be with them for all times. This was the promise of the Holy Spirit. If you study it, they waited ten days to get that promise. He didn’t make them wait because he wanted to toy with them, but so that they would be ready to receive what God had in store for them. Sometimes, God makes us wait so that he can purify us to be ready for what God has prepared for us to receive.

So we see that God doesn’t always answer as we expect, but he answers according to his will. However, he still always provides an answer. Whether it is yes, no, or wait, there is always an answer. God promised to provide all our needs as promised in the bible, but nowhere does he promise to meet our wants.

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Php 4:19

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Like so many other parents, I have a child not following the Lord in the way I would like, so I was praying fervently for him.

“God would you send your Spirit to draw him to you. Father, wrap your arms of love around him and never let him go. Spirit, bind him to you with cords that cannot be broken.”

As I prayed, the Spirit gave me a picture.

I saw our son plodding away from both us, and God the Father, with his head down, his feet dug in; he was straining to get away. What he couldn’t see, was that there were two broad, elastic bands wrapped around him, stretching back from him, to God and us. The more my son pulled and the farther away he went, the tighter and stronger the pull of the bands became. Suddenly, in a moment of weakness, he lost his resolve, and his grip, and his feet slipped, snapping him back to the Father’s heart, and back into our arms of love. He was right back where he belonged.

This was a beautiful picture to me, that the farther he went from God, the stronger the pull of the Spirit on his life became; a comfort in times of sorrow and pain; a hope for restoration of relationship. God is faithful, so let’s continue to pray for our wandering children with faith, hope and love. They WILL return.

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Of the points listed above, I will start with prayer being answered according to God’s will.

“A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.” Acts 10:2-4, KJV

Here, God is showing Cornelius in a vision that he was happy with the prayers of his servant. He tells him that his prayers and alms (giving to the poor) have come up before God as a record of his memorial before God. This proves that God was pleased with his servant.

“But withal prepare me also a lodging: for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you. ” Philemon 1:22, KJV

“In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answers me.” Psalms 86:7, KJV

Philemon was so sure it was God’s will that he be at a certain place that he told them to prepare him a room to stay in. That’s faith in praying God’s will. God also hears the prayers of those who ask him to hear them. King David was also sure of an answer from God . Both men had faith in God’s ability to answer prayer.

“O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.” Nehemiah 1:11, KJV

This shows how Nehemiah sought the Lord to listen to his prayers and the Lord listened. God listens to the prayers of all his servants, but sometimes there are qualifiers to getting our prayers answered. Here is an important one:

“Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.” 1 Peter 3:7, KJV

If you do not treat you wife properly, then it can actually hinder your prayers to God. It isn’t that God doesn’t hear, it is that he isn’t willing to answer those prayers of people who mistreat his children. That can be for wives mistreating their husbands or for parents mistreating their children  as well.

Below shows that when God’s anointed turn from him to false Gods, he no longer hears the prayers. Indeed, when they tried to pray, there was no answer from God, because of their sin. The verse goes so far as to say that God will hide his face from them. The prophets were telling people what they wanted to hear instead of what God had commanded them to tell, so God turned is face away from them.

“Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings. Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him. Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.” Micah 3:4-7, KJV

The best way to hear from God is to humble yourself before God and admit that He alone can answer your prayers. This is supported in the verse below and also has qualifiers in it. In addition to being humble, we must turn from our sins.

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14, KJV

When a certain King of Judah was brought a book of Moses, he read about all the plagues written in it for those who did not serve the true God. He was humble and God said to him that because of his humbleness, his prayers were heard and the king wouldn’t see the plagues that were to come – all because the King was humble before God. It was the king’s humility that caused God to hear his prayer.

“Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.“ 2 Chronicles 34:27, KJV

To sum it all up, if we  choose to humble ourselves and turn from our sins to serve the Lord with all out hearts, we have assurance that God will hear our prayers and not turn his face away us. That doesn’t mean that will always get what we pray for, though; God sometimes answers with a “no” or “wait” answer. However, He will definitely answer your prayers when you are committed to him.

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It is important for Christians to practice intercessory prayer. Jesus is our ultimate example, and the One whom we aspire to be like. Jesus intercedes on our behalf, and we should follow His example by also interceding on behalf of one another.

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy, 2:5

“Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Romans 8:34

“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25

Intercessory prayer is the earnest heart-wrenching prayer that you pray for a certain length of time until God prompts you to stop. It takes time out of your life to intercede on behalf of those God lays on your heart. It is a heavy burden that calls you to prayer. It is a weight on your heart that says prayer is needed now before it is too late. It can happen at any moment and ends only at God’s releasing. As an example, if it is for a person, that person might be going through some personal problems that threaten to overwhelm him/her, and your intercessory prayer might just be what’s necessary to get them through it. Intercessory prayer is stepping into that person’s place on their behalf and pleading the blood of Christ upon those who can’t do it themselves. It is asking God to take their burden and put it on your shoulders until He has stepped in and brought a solution to whatever they are facing. One needs to be willing to prayerfully help them out of whatever situation they are in. Time must not be a factor in one’s prayer, but one must also be willing to work within God’s timing and pray until he/she feels the burden lifted or a release from God for one’s part to pray. One may not even know who or what he/she is praying for, but a sense of urgency for prayer is felt strongly.

Now comes the hard part: Warfare prayer. This is perhaps the hardest part of prayer. If your prayer life is simple and about five minutes a day, then the enemy doesn’t fear you. You are not actively fighting the enemy but are just praying to ease your conscience. But when you truly start to intercede for someone, then the enemy takes notice. He will then attack you in every way he can, and he will use any means necessary. He will remind you of how you have sinned, therefore you are not worthy to pray for someone now because, after all, the Bible says, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23, KJV. Knowing that all have sinned, you can ignore him when he tries this tactic, and get back to praying for the purposes that God set out for you. At this point, the enemy may get personal and bring up your most recent sins to stop your praying; he may even try to get you to doubt your own salvation! When he reminds you of your past, you can and should remind him of his future, then get back to praying. If he continues, and he will sometimes, rebuke him in Jesus’ name and go back to the prayers God laid on your heart. Do not waste time with the enemy for this is another trick that he uses. He will take you from your prayer to focus on battling him. Stick to the prayer put on your heart. Resist the devil and eventually he will flee.

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7, KJV

It is important to not get sidetracked concerning the subject you’re praying about to battle the devil. Ignore him and just pray for what is laid on your heart. In doing this, you will win the warfare prayer battle.

Warfare prayer will be tough, and the enemy’s attacks will be catered to your own weaknesses. Remember that the Lord is our strength, shield, and protector, and as hard as it may seem, fight the good fight, and pray for the Lord to always help you to be the Overcomer.

The post Warfare Prayer – Part 2 appeared first on BibleTalk.Life.

The Lord’s Prayer is often misused. When the Lord Jesus taught us how to pray, He didn’t mean that we were to repeat the prayer over and over again until we thought we had said it enough times; it was meant to be a guide for our prayer life.

“But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” Matthew 6:7, KJV

Let’s break it down: the first part of the prayer is, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” Think about the second part of that line: “hallowed be thy name.” To hallow something is to lift it up in your hearts; to make it sacred to yourself. It is an act of worship and adoration where we admit that He is our all in all. We praise His name and put it where it belongs, as the name above all other names.

The second part is, ”Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.” Now let’s break this part down as there are several points to it. First, “Thy kingdom come”: we should be praying with an expectation that His kingdom will indeed come; we should seek it with all our souls that the day of Lord’s return comes quickly; we should seek to see His kingdom be restored on Earth. Next, ”Thy will be done”: when was the last time you actually prayed that, in spite of all your desires, you wanted His will to be done in your life? When was the last time you meant it to be true when you prayed it? We should earnestly desire to have His will be put in place of our own wills. He knows what is best for us and his church, and when we pray for ourselves, or for the church, we should be thinking and praying according to God’s divine will, and not just stating our own wills and desires. How do we know God’s will? Well, we don’t always know what God’s will is, so we should pray as Jesus prayed,

“Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” Luke 22:42, KJV

Here we see Jesus putting the Father’s will above His own. This is what we should be doing in a daily prayer. Where should it be done? It is already being done in heaven, so we need His will to be done on Earth.  But in what part of Earth should it be done? We would say, “In all the Earth,” but God has a more intimate place in mind. In our own hearts is where God wants His will to be done. It is when we allow God’s will to be done in our hearts that we can make a difference in the world around us. He wants to write His own words on our hearts, so that we can be a light to all men.

“Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men.” 2 Corinthians 3:2

Let’s move on: “Give us this day our daily bread,” is the first place in the prayer that a request comes in; not at the beginning of the prayer, but in the middle of it. We should first glorify God and seek His will on Earth, then we will be ready to make our requests known to God. Then, when we ask God for our food, we would have prepared our own hearts to ask humbly for it, and not as children hounding a parent for something to eat because they are hungry.

The next part: “Forgive us our debt as we forgive our debtors,” some translations use the word trespasses. This is the first time a qualifier is to be used in our prayer life, and we are to use it ourselves as a regular part of our prayer life. By God’s own words, we are to seek only the amount of forgiveness that we are willing to forgive others who have hurt us. God will not forgive us more than we are willing to forgive.

“So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.” Matthew 18:35, KJV

By brother, here in context, God is meaning any and all who have sinned against us and not just family members. If we do not forgive we shall not be forgiven ourselves.

“And when you stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which isin heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” Mark 11:25, KJV

According to this verse, we must be able to forgive so that our Father in heaven can forgive us. God’s forgiveness depends on how much we are willing to forgive others. Christ may have died to forgive our sins, but we must accept the sacrifice He made; and since we are to be Christ-like, and He forgave all, then so should we.

The next part of the Lord’s prayer is, ”Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Does this mean that God will lead us to sin? No! It means that the earnest heart should pray for the Lord to not lead us where we would face our own weaknesses. We should seek to not be led where we were once weak. Nevertheless, trust in God for He will never let us have more temptation than we can handle. He also promised to deliver us from evil, so He will always make a way for us to overcome our sin.

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a wayto escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13, KJV

The next part is, “For thine is the kingdom, the power and glory forever, Amen.” This is an important part of our prayer life. We acknowledge His kingdom as the everlasting kingdom, full of glory and great power. Saying “amen” means saying “so be it.” It means that we want it to be so, and we are willing to live the life it takes to make it so.

The Lord’s prayer isn’t a bunch of words to just guide our prayer life, but it is a way of living for God’s glory. Our lifestyle should reflect the Lord’s Prayer to all who see us, and we should be living it daily. This is prayer in its simplest form.

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