Prayer

How should we pray?  What should we pray for?  Does God hear our prayers?  How does God answer our prayers?  Prayer is essential to a healthy relationship with God, so a proper understanding of prayer is an important part of the life of any Christian.

A critical aspect of prayer is approaching God with a proper attitude.  Too often, we only think of calling upon God when we need something.  God, however, is not some sort of cosmic Santa Claus.  He is our Heavenly Father, deserving our praise, our gratitude and our love as well as our petitions.  Of course, as our Father in heaven, He wants us to ask Him for help when we are in need.  He expects us to cry out to Him for relief when we are in pain and to ask Him for sustenance when we lack necessities.  But we should always strive to keep everything in balance when we pray.

The acronym “ACTS” has been used to remind Christians of four things to include in their prayers.  “A” is for adoration:  We should always remember to praise and honor our God when we pray.  “C” is for confession:  We should confess the specific sins for which we have not already asked to be forgiven.  “T” is for thanks:  We should remember to give thanks to God for all He has done for us.  Finally, “S” is for supplication:  This is the point in our prayer that we may ask God for help with our needs.  We should never allow our requests, however, to overshadow the other aspects of our prayer lives.

Here then are a number of affirmations concerning the subject of prayer:

1. In ancient times, men communicated with God through human mediators.
2. The mediators between men and God in ancient times were priests, prophets and special leaders like Moses, who were chosen by God.
3. In ancient times, God spoke to men chiefly through the prophets, special men selected by God for that purpose.
4. In ancient times, men spoke to God chiefly through priests, men appointed specifically to act as intermediaries between men and God.
5. Today, we speak to God directly by praying, and we may do so without the assistance of a priest, minister or pastor.
6. Jesus is the mediator between men and God the Father.
7. Jesus intercedes with the Father on our behalf.
8. We typically pray to God the Father in Jesus’ name as our advocate.
9. God the Father hears our prayers, but only if they are offered in a manner acceptable to Him.
10. God hears the prayers of those who believe in him, but not the prayers of those who do not.
11. God does not answer prayers by whispering in our ears.
12. God may answer prayer by satisfying a need or by nudging us in the right direction through the power of The Holy Spirit.
13. God may answer prayer by altering circumstances, limiting the alternatives available to us or by presenting new opportunities.
14. God may answer prayer through the words of Scripture, made plain by The Holy Spirit.
15. For God to speak to us through Scripture, we must spend time with the Bible.
16. God may or may not answer prayer.
17. Considerable time may pass between a prayer and God’s answer to it.
18. Prayers that are insincere or inconsistent with His plans are unlikely to be answered.
19. God does not answer every prayer in the affirmative.
20. Sometimes Christians have believed that their prayers were not answered when they actually were answered, but God’s answer was “no” instead of “yes.”
21. One may pray to God at any time, in any place and for as long as he wishes.
22. To be acceptable to God, prayer must show respect.
23. It is an immense honor and privilege to have a direct, personal audience with the Creator of the universe any time we wish.
24. We must remember to whom it is we are talking when we speak to God in prayer.
25. If we wish God to hear our prayers, we must approach Him with humility.
26. We must never be flippant with God, speak carelessly, or be presumptuous in prayer.
27. It is better not to pray at all than to insult almighty God with careless or arrogant prayer.
28. When we pray we may express adoration, confess sin, ask for forgiveness, give thanks and make requests.
29. When a believer asks God to forgive a particular sin, God is faithful to forgive it.
30. Once having asked God to forgive a particular sin, we should trust God’s promise to forgive it, take comfort in the knowledge that it has been forgiven and resolve to sin no more.
31. Believers need not and should not ask God repeatedly to forgive a sin He has already forgiven.
32. When we pray, we often spend too much time asking God for help or favors and not enough time acknowledging our particular sins, asking for forgiveness, thanking Him in detail for His many blessings and expressing our affection for Him.
33. We must be mindful that God does not grant our every request.
34. We cannot know in advance whether God will honor our wishes or not, but we know that He will not grant a request that is inconsistent with His will.
35. We must never try to bargain with God, saying, “If you’ll do this, I’ll do that.”
36. We must never pray to impress others.
37. It is acceptable to lead others in prayer, but never in an effort to win the admiration of those around us.
38. Private prayer has an advantage over group prayer in that it allows us to concentrate entirely upon Him without distractions. 
39. Prayer need not be eloquent, but it must be thoughtful.
40. Memorizing words and mindlessly repeating them over and over again in prayer is not pleasing to God.
41. Prayer may be long, if necessary, but it doesn’t have to be.
42. God does not need many words and long explanations to get the message.
43. Redundancy in prayer is not helpful.  Needless repetition is unproductive and should be avoided.
44. It is perfectly all right to include language from the Bible in our prayers.
45. Any words we use in prayer should be spoken with understanding and with purpose.
46. Jesus gave us The Lord’s Prayer when his disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray.
47. The Lord’s Prayer is a sample or a template for us to follow.
48. We need not follow the Lord’s Prayer word for word, but reciting it word for word is acceptable, provided we pray thoughtfully, pondering the meaning of the words we use while we pray.
49. The Lord’s Prayer begins with the words, “Our Father.”
50. It is a privilege to be allowed to address God as our Father and illustrative of the relationship we enjoy with Him once we are saved.
51. Prayer, properly offered, is pleasing to God, but it is mainly we who benefit from prayer.
52. God does not need our advice.
53. God knows what is best for us.
54. God knows our thoughts before we think them.
55. God knows our words before we speak them.
56. God knows our needs before we express them.
57. Prayer is an essential part of worship.
58. There is mystery in prayer.
59. God assures us that prayer has great value.
60. We know prayer has great value because God assures us that prayer has great value.
61. Prayer has great value despite the fact that God is immutable.
62. We cannot talk God out of what He has planned or persuade Him to change His mind through prayer.
63. We typically address prayer to God The Father in the name of Jesus, but it is also acceptable to address prayer to Jesus or to The Holy Ghost.
64. The Holy Ghost assists us when we pray, helping us to convey our deepest thoughts to God, even when we have trouble finding the right words to say.
65. We must never pray to any creature, living or dead.
66. We should pray only to the living God.
67. Jesus Christ is the only mediator between men and God The Father.