Right now, I feel grateful inside for what God has done at Calvary and is still doing in my life. Lord, You are so good. Am grateful for You goin' to that lonely Cross for me -- danke Herr!
We can thank Him during the good times, as well as in the bad times, “giving thanks always for all things..” (Ephesians 5:20). We’re also to make our requests known to God “with thanksgiving” (Philippians 4:6). Pray and thanks pair well. They go good together. |
| Photo by Samuel Martins |
- Longest prayer in Bible - 7 minutes by Nehemiah- Longest NT prayer - 5 minutes.- The High priestly prayer - 3 minutes.- Moses' prayer = 4 verses.- Elijah taunted the false doctrine and prayers to Baal back then. he offered up a 2 verse prayer and God's fire fell.- All of Paul's recorded prayers are pretty simple and short huh! Go check em out in the Bible.
Thanksgiving is almost here — let’s express some frank honesty and gratitude! I challenge you to!
Types of Prayer?
1. Prayer of Thanksgiving
Got another day to know and serve the Lord! So let’s express vertical gratitude when God answers a prayer, gives deliverance, or there’s a recognition of how GOOD He is and has been to you.
“for he is good; his love endures forever. Cry out, ‘Save us, God our Savior; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, and glory in your praise’” (1 Chronicles 16:34–35).
“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, And into his courts with praise: Be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; And his truth endureth to all generations.” (Psalms 100:4–5).
2. Prayer of Adoration
This is focusing on worshiping Jesus the Lord out of deep love, respect, and simple admiration.
“Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens” (Psalm 148:13).
3. Prayer of Confession
Calling sin what it really is for repentance (cleansing)-sake and specifically confessing our sins is important. This keeps the lines of loving fellowship open, believer. We ignore the overly tolerant world that says “Calling sin.. sin.. is the worst sin imaginable.”
“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin” (Psalm 32:5).
4. Prayer of Vows
We always want to keep our promises to God and people! It’s a good witness. We want to underpromise and over-deliver on those, but praying an honest promise to the Lord is indeed a prayer.
“In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. And she made a vow, saying, ‘Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head’” (1 Samuel 1:10–11).
5. Prayer of Quiet Meditation with Reflection
Let’s learn to hear from our “Lord of all” and allow Him to guide our steps. Meditation in the world is about emptying minds, but we believers meditate filling our minds with solid truth. Prayers of stillness with listening and silence draw us away from prayers filled with our own words and human opinions as we call God’s Word and promises to mind.
“On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night” (Psalm 63:6).
6. Simple Prayer for Healing
When you hurt, are sick, or diseased you ask for healing — you go to the right Source (to God in Jesus’ Powerful Name). You don't need some religious televangelist on telethon-Tuesday who asks you to dig deep for your credit cards. All of God's blessings (including salvation) are totally free. And He knows all of you (physically too) better than you do. Too many run in stupid, wrong directions for a lame solution.
“Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise” (Jeremiah 17:14).
7. Prayer and Praise for Deliverance and Help
Do you have some challenges, hardships, unfair unrighteous opposition, hurts, or oppression and need a breakthrough?
“Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress” (Psalm 107:6).
8. Prayer of Intercession
This is for others in need. Jesus often prayed for others. The Bible instructs us believers to pray for one another and to intercede on someone else’s behalf. JOY = Jesus first, Others second, and then Self
“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:9–12).
“Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16).
“Jesus said, ‘For where two or three gather together in my name, I am there with them’” (Matthew 18:20).
“[Jesus said,] ‘This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one’” (Matthew 6:9–13).
“Devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4).
Let’s talk some more about prayer. It is not some type of “energy” that can heal us in and of itself. We never need any crystals or religious beads to work in this respect. Rather, prayer is the means of heart-to-heart candid communication whereby we receive what we need from God.. whereby we express ourselves and hear from the Lord. Having Jesus, being close is better than having everything else. God Almighty can still speak and He keeps all His promises with perfect timing. Do you ever remind him of His Bible promises?
A person who has spent some time alone with Jesus Christ will be a person of prayer -- YES, and regarding God's promises. How can we not become like that?
How can any two persons here on earth be best friends unless they spend a lot of time together.. unless they share what's on their hearts and minds together?
It's just like that with the Person of Jesus Christ. It's about close relationships this Christianity, not religion. I don't need to earn anything--I don't need any beads.
"Prayer is not informing God; prayer is inviting God. When I call out to the Lord in prayer and offer my petition, I’m not informing God of something He doesn’t already know. I’m inviting God into my situation, into my challenges, and into my problems." ~ Greg Laurie
“Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?” ~ Corrie Ten Boom
“Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach, but only how to pray.” ~ D.L. Moody
“Prayer is the idea of wishing for something from the depth of our hearts and bringing that desire forward to the throne of God.” ~ Greg Laurie
Can we learn how to do both better? We can prayerfully learn allowing Jesus to be Lord by His Spirit. They are praying Persons. With the Trinity we learn by doing. I say we let this God of love pray and preach through us!
Does Jesus really pray for us? Yes.
Believer, Jesus is our “Advocate with the Father” (1 John 2:1). An advocate is one who pleads a case for another. Jesus is now at the right hand of the Father and He is interceding for us.” See how in John 17, Jesus prayed for His followers, and from that prayer we can learn the kinds of things Jesus might be praying for us now. Jesus prays for us that we would do and be these things:
• Know God and His Son, Jesus Christ (verse 3)• Be protected from apostasy (verse 11)• Be one in spirit as the Father and Son are one (verse 11)• Be filled with His joy (verse 13)• Be kept from the evil one (verse 15)• Be sanctified through God’s Word (verse 17)• Remain unified in Christ throughout the generations (verses 20–21)• Let our love convey Christ’s message to the world (verse 23)• Join Him in heaven for all eternity (verse 24)• Experience the same kind of love for each other that the Father and Son share (verse 26)
Hebrews 4:14–16 describes Jesus as our great High Priest. It's because of His intercession for us, we have access to the Father ourselves: “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Does the Holy Spirit pray for us too? The Bible says, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.mAnd he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people by the will of God." Romans 8:26-27 niv
I don’t know if people in heaven can or cannot look down on us. I won’t be dogmatic. None of us can biblically know for sure if they can see us. However, it is unlikely that they can see us. People in heaven are likely preoccupied with other important things such as worshiping God and enjoying the glories of heaven. I don’t want them feeling sad about all the sin going on down here in my city.
We are not running our race for them to make them happy. I hope they are happy with me later when I arrive there. We are not hoping for their approval or listening for ..or living for their applause. We want the applause of One — Jesus. (Focus on the Lord. Hebrews 12:2)
When we pray, we admit our need for God and our utter dependence on Him. Only through a relationship with Jesus Christ do we have access to God (see 1 Timothy 2:5). We approach God in Jesus’ name, not our own.
Prayer is not a means of trying to get from God what we want, but rather a means by which we enable God to give us what He wants.
We pray to connect with the most powerful Person in the universe! We’re to pray because God commands it (see 2 Chronicles 7:14; Luke 18:1). Through prayer, we receive things (see James 4:2), experience fullness of joy (see John 16:24), and find help in times of trouble. Prayer is the cure for worry (see Philippians 4:6) and also helps us resist temptation (see Matthew 26:41).
“Let your prayer be completely simple. For both the publican and the prodigal son were reconciled to God by a single phrase.” ~ John Climacus
How often pray.. when do we do this? We are to pray always (see Ephesians 6:18). The Bible instructs us to “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
There are 651 prayers recorded from Genesis to Revelation.
2,451 Psalms -- 28% of the Psalms are laments (prayers). Yup, 60 chapters.
Psalm 119 -- that is the language of prayer.
Long one? See that 5 minutes is thee LONGEST New Testament prayer prayed. See John 17-26 verses.
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