6. THE NECESSITY

6. THE NECESSITY

No matter how long we’ve known Christ or how much we’ve prayed, we still seem to cycle back to the sobering reality that we know very little about prayer. We find ourselves in the same position as Christ’s closest companions who wisely came to Him and said, "Lord, teach us to pray."

Prayer is surely one of the most humbling practices of the Christian faith.

Why are we unlikely to ever feel like experts in prayer? Just a few reasons:

• Prayer is about relationships. And relationships are subject to change.

Psalm 42:1-8 – The change in our relationships that will come from time to time; we will think we finally have this thing together, and circumstances seem to change. God never changes, but we do, and we sometimes, find ourselves starting at the scrambling block again.

• Prayer is the basis of a relationship we share with Someone we cannot fully know or understand. No matter how high we think, God’s ways are still higher.

Isaiah 55:8-9; 1 Corinthians 13:12 – For now we are in a relationship with someone who will often blow our mind. Just as you think you have got Him figured out, He will transfigure Himself before us.

• The return on prayer will fluctuate and even leave us baffled at times.

Romans 11:33-36 – Prayer is not about what we ask; it’s about who we ask. With some of us, our practice of prayer is based on results. God wants to break the habit that we have of expecting, and somehow wanting to experience an entire result-oriented prayer life. Our prayer life is to be centered on Him, and trusting the One who knows every detail of our need.

What can we do?

When we are baffled and none of the old rules seem to “work,” ask Jesus again and again to teach us how to pray!

Concepts of Prayer

1. The place (verse 1). As often as possible try to choose an environment conducive to the practice of prayer.

Prayer develops over time. Give God consistent opportunity. When you choose to meet God through prayer, that certain place becomes the Holy of Holies to you. You are covered by a cloudy pillar you cannot even see.

2. The position (verse 2). At the very inception of every prayer, remember your position: God is your Father and you are His child.

At no time God can be unbiased about you. At no time can He set His parenting heart aside to make a decision about you that is without emotion.

Psalm 51:1 – “Father, do not look at me any other way, than with your unfailing love.” You go to a Father who cannot set aside His lovingkindness for a single moment. He never forgets that he is your “Abba.”

3. The perspective (verse 2). The One we address in prayer is King. He occupies the throne of heaven and His name is hallowed.

Hallowed is the Greek word “hagioso” which means “to treat as holy.”

Psalm 47:1-9 – Our Father is King and Sovereign Authority over all creation. God is our Father, but God is very much God. His name is holy and we treat Him as the Hallowed One.

4. The priority (verse 2). God seeks to mature us in prayer to the point that we understand the ultimate goal in every situation: For His will to be accomplished on the soil of earth just as it is on the floor of Heaven.

Matthew 6:9-10 – All of existence is all about God; where He is the central focus.

Psalm 37:4 – We need to truly surrender ourselves to come to a place where He will be our delight; where He entirely changes the desires of our hearts. Then we will pray in the will of the Father. When we lose our life in Him, we pick up the life He has for us. It is the life of Christ in us!

John 15:7-8 – When we literally take up residency in everything that is Christ, He becomes our existence and His Word abides in us (activating the mind of Christ, 1 Corinthians 2). Then Christ says “You start asking, and I’ll start giving,” because you will be praying in His will.

John 15:11 – There is delight in seeking the will of the Father through prayer, and joy in obedience to Him; there is bearing much fruit.

John 15:13-14 – Friends, pray in His will and act in His Name. Friendship with God is one of the most special relationships the Word of God ever gives us:

A. Moses

B.  Abraham

C.  John, the Baptist

Two priority kinds of love:

A. Agape love. A love of a divine nature; a love that is in our best interest.

God loves us with agape love.

B. Phileo love. A love based on a common interest

We are only in friendship with God when we take up His interest. God wants us to love people in the world with agape love. Friendship is about taking up His interest, and where we take up His interest most is in the closet of prayer.

5. The petition (verse 3). God desires for us to develop a day-by-day mentality in prayer.

Grace given according to the demand; He sets aside enough mercy for the absolute reality of our agenda; to last us through reality. He is enforcing that we develop some kind of dependency and consistency upon Him, in a daily kind of routine and relationship. He knows what we need and what we can handle. We desperately, emotionally, and mentally, need a day-by-day perspective of life. He knows our needs.

6. The pardon (verse 4). God graciously forces the issue of forgiveness by giving us a serious incentive to forgive others.

God is forcing the issue of us forgiving others, because He knows that we have got to have it in order to be free.

2 Corinthians 2:11 – There is nothing like unforgiveness to give the enemy a way to outwit or take advantage of us.

7. The preparation (verse 4). Prepare for the day’s temptations by directly approaching the seriousness of the matter with God in advance.

We have to learn to be proactive in matters of temptation, instead of being reactive; to be prepared in advance in prayer. It is going to come. Be aggressive in prayer when it comes to matters of temptation.

8. The persistence (verses 5-13). As long as you keep the prayer burden, keep praying!

Boldness means “without shame” (verse 8). It means the person comes shamelessly to God.

Luke 11:13 – Doctor Luke saw the Holy Spirit as the greatest gift that could ever be given. God will always answer our prayers sooner or later, but He doesn’t always answer them exactly how we were expecting. We always need more of the Holy Spirit.

Genesis 32 – Jacob’s persistence. We need to have persistence in prayer.

Matthew 6:9-13