In The School Of Prayer With Christ

Let us unite in the school of prayer, with Christ:

This will be an ongoing series of studies.

PRAYER STUDY #1
By DavidTBattler

A."O Thou That Hearest Prayer, unto thee shall ALL flesh come." - Ps. 65:2

1.David had many shortcomings, so do we, but he was a man of prayer:

a. His very life seems to have been an expression of prayer.

b. Most of his Psalms are prayers - Ps. 4:1; 17:1; Ps. 5:3; 6:9; 35:13; 39:12; 42:8; 54:2; 55:1; 61:1; 64:1; 84:8; 86:6; 102:1; 143:1

2. He had a regular time for prayer:

a. "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." - Ps. 5:3

b. "Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray and cry aloud: and he shall hear my
voice." - Ps. 55:17

3.Daniel, too, had a set time for his prayer seasons: Dan. 6:10

B. PRAYER -- What It Is

1.The word "prayer" comes from the Hebrew word "lachas", and the Greek word "proseuche", and signifies "a whisper, a prayer, a request, an expression of adoration":

2.There are, as we have seen, different shades of meaning of prayer:

a.Meditation - Ps. 19:14; 77:12

b.Intercession - 1 Tim. 2:1

c.Supplication - Job 8:5; Ps. 6:9; 119:172

3.The human concept of prayer:

a."Prayer is the soul's sincere desire uttered or unexpressed. The motion of a hidden dire that trembles in the breast." (James Montgomery)

b."Prayer is the world in tune, the spirit-voice, a vocal joy, whose echo is heaven's bliss." (Moors)

c.Prayer is the medium that connects the mind of men,women, and children with that of God.

d.Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a dear friend.

e.Prayer is to the soul what breath is to the body, without either there can be no life.

f.Prayer is the language all people have in common.

C. GOD WANTS US TO PRAY

1."Call on me, and I will answer thee": Jer. 33:3

a."O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come." - Ps. 65:2

b."The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles." -
Ps. 34:17

2.It is a sin not to pray:

a."Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? Who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the Lord." - Ps. 53:4

b."Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name." - Jer. 10:25

c."I will cut off . . . them that are turned back from the Lord; and those that have not sought the Lord, not enquired for him." - Zeph. 1:4-6

3.The Lord Jesus uses a number of effective illustrations to show the importance of prayer:

a.The importunate widow - Luke 18:1-8

b.The man that came to his friend and asked for three loaves of bread - Luke 11:1-8

c.The attitude of the father when his son asked for bread - Luke 11:11-13

4.He gives us an example of the prayer life He lived while on earth:

a."And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed." - Mark 1:35

b."And when he had sent the multitude away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray." - Matt. 14:23

c."And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God." - Luke 6:12

5.The Bible is full of statements showing that God wants us to pray:

a. The patriarchs were men of much prayer.

b. Their altars were markers of the prayer centers in their pilgrimage.

Prophets and apostles were dedicated men of much prayer. Can we be less?

“Satan well knows that all whom he can lead to neglect prayer and the searching of the Scriptures, will be overcome by his attacks. Therefore he invents every possible device to engross the mind. There has ever been a class professing godliness, who, instead of following on to know the truth, make it their religion to seek some fault of character or error of faith in those with whom they do not agree.

Such are Satan's right-hand helpers. Accusers of the brethren are not few, and they are always active when God is at work and His servants are rendering Him true homage. They will put a false coloring upon the words and acts of those who love and obey the truth.

They will represent the most earnest, zealous, self-denying servants of Christ as deceived or deceivers. It is their work to misrepresent the motives of every true and noble deed, to circulate insinuations, and arouse suspicion in the minds of the inexperienced. In every conceivable manner they will seek to cause that which is pure and righteous to be regarded as foul and deceptive.”

[ December 15, 2001: Message edited by: DavidTBattler ]

[ December 23, 2001: Message edited by: DavidTBattler ]

Prayer Study #2

WITH CHRIST IN THE SCHOOL OF PRAYER

LUKE 11:1-6

"And it came to pass, that as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him: ‘Lord, teach us to pray…’”

1.Whatever the faults of the early disciples may have been, this sincere request of one of them shows us an example of progress with Christ in the school of prayer:

a.. The prayer life of Christ made a definite impression upon them.
b. It created a desire in their hearts to learn to pray.

2.The petition indicates further:
a.That John was a man of prayer.
b. And that he taught his disciples how to pray.

3.Best of all, our text shows:
a.That prayer is an art that must be learned from Christ in the school of prayer.
b.For we know not how to pray - Rom. 8:26

JESUS CHRIST, A MAN OF PRAYER

1.He, who was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, was truly a man of prayer:

a. To Him prayer was a channel through which a constant flow of divine power flowed into His life.
b. So it is with those who follow in His steps; they, too, use the prayer life as the great arsenal of their spiritual strength.

2.Let us note, briefly, some of the high points of the prayer life of Christ:

a. His habit and habitat of prayer –

(1)Jesus spent much time in solitude, in prayer to God - Matt. 14:23; Mark 1:35; 6:46; Luke 3:12

(2) Jesus blended thanksgiving and prayer - Matt. 11:25; Luke 10:21;John 11:41

(3)Jesus made prayers of intercession for his friends - Luke 22:32; for his enemies - Luke 23:34

(4)His prayers indicated his complete submission to God - Matt. 26:39; Mark 15:34; Luke 22:42; John 12:27

There is still another inspiring and thought provoking side to the prayer life of the man of prayer -

(1)The Lord's prayer at his baptism and its effect - Luke 3:21
(2) His prayer, preceding the ordination of the apostles; He prayed all night – Luke 14:22, 23
(3)His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane before He made known His passion to His disciples -
Luke 9:18-27
(4)His prayer at his transfiguration - Matt. 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36

LESSON TO APPROPRIATE IN OUR DAILY LIFE

1.We, like the Master, must make prayer our first business of the day:
a."Early will I seek thee" - Ps. 63:1; 78:34
b.That is what the Master did.

2.In this He lived His own teaching:

a."Seek ye first the kingdom of God" - Matt. 6:33

b.There is a special blessing in making prayer our first business of the day -

(1)Our body is rested; our mind is clear.

(2)We are most susceptible to listening to God in prayer - "Lord, speak; for thy servant heareth" -
1 Sam. 3:10

3.Our prayers should always be mixed with prayer and thanksgiving to God:

a.Too many prayers are mixed with too much selfishness; they have too little gratitude; that is why they are not heard from in heaven.
b.There are so many things for which we have good reason to be thankful for, that our hearts should be full of praise and thanksgiving.
c.The art of prayer begins with the impelling desire of reverent thanksgiving to God, the giver of all good gifts.

4."Lord teach us to pray":
a.Help us to better understand the meaning of prayer, what it includes, and what it should not include.
b.Give us the grace to use every opportunity to make prayer our first business of the day.
c.To not only make our petition to thee, but to live our prayers.

7T.274.001
“Pray in faith. And be sure to bring your lives into harmony with your petitions, that you may receive the blessings for which you pray. Let not your faith weaken, for the blessings received are proportionate to the faith exercised. "According to your faith be it unto you." "All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." Matthew 9:29; 21:22.

Pray, believe, rejoice. Sing praises to God because He has answered your prayers. Take Him at His word. "He is faithful that promised." Hebrews 10:23. Not one sincere supplication is lost. The channel is open; the stream is flowing. It carries with it healing properties, pouring forth a restoring current of life and health and salvation.”