The Nature of Prayer (Part 1)

#1 · February 29, 2004, 9:50 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on February 29, 2004, 9:50 pm
Posted by: biblenotes <biblenotes@...>

The Nature of Prayer

Matthew 6:9, 10 "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."

  With so many verses in the Bible dealing with many aspects of prayer, I felt this one would be one of the more appropriate to introduce this more general subject. I intend to deal with prayer more specifically in up-coming Bible Notes.

    These words of Christ, at the beginning of what we often call "The Lord's Prayer", suggest that there is much more to prayer than just repeating some memorized words or pleading to get something from God just because we want it. And, the "Lord's Prayer", which might better be considered the "Disciple's Prayer", is far more than some shopping list we give to God or some secret formula to make God do things.

    Prayer is more about a relationship with God than a method for getting things. It has to do with real communication between the heart of man and the heart of God. It is the means by which a child of God talks to his heavenly Father. It is the conduit, or channel, of contact between earth and Heaven, or we might say between the mundane and the spiritual realm. Furthermore, prayer is the humble expression of a subject's submission and petitioning before the great King of all kings.

I. Heart to Heart -- "pray ye"

    In studying prayer, and attempting to practice it as God would have me to, I have found that it very much requires whole-heartedness, sincerity, and complete honesty.  Though it is helpful to the words we form in prayer to have some knowledge and mental ability, it is far more important that we seek God with our hearts. He can hear and properly understand the cry of our hearts even when words fail us. Again, it is in prayer and Bible study that we become better acquainted with the very heart of God. This is what enables us to pray in a manner that will please Him.

II. Child to Father -- "pray ye: Our Father"

Many are the people who talk about praying to God, but who know very little about a right relationship with Him. When Jesus spoke with Nicodemus (a religious leader) about the need to be "born again" or born from above, Nicodemus did not even understand that Jesus spoke about spiritual things. You see, Nicodemus needed to be born again in order to understand what it was about. Jesus said to him, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). The little word see here shows us that to understand, to perceive, and to experience this spiritual kingdom one MUST be "born again".

How well I remember that I had a "born again", conversion experience at the age of fourteen and a half years. I knew that God had supernaturally made me His child. If you do NOT know that you have become a child of God at some point in time, then you are not in a position to truly pray to God. Once you become His child, you will then know that you can talk directly to your Father and He will listen and talk to your heart.

Someone, may ask, "If I cannot truly pray until I am "born again", then how do I become "born again" or God's child?" I intend to deal with this issue as it relates to prayer later, but a brief answer is that if you truly want to become God's child, God will hear and answer your prayer. (Rom:10:13: "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.")

Points III and IV to come in Part 2

III. Earth to Heaven -- "which art in heaven . . Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."

IV. Subject to King -- "Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done . ."

Yours In Christ,
Martin Overfield

Please pass this Bible Note to others who may be interested or helped by it. To subscribe to FREE Bible Notes just send an empty e-mail to
[email protected]

To read Bible Notes on the Internet, go to:
http://welovegod.org/groups/bible_notes/

To contact me by e-mail please send to the following address:
[email protected]

Posted by: biblenotes <biblenotes@...>

The Nature of Prayer

Matthew 6:9, 10 "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."

With so many verses in the Bible dealing with many aspects of prayer, I felt this one would be one of the more appropriate to introduce this more general subject. I intend to deal with prayer more specifically in up-coming Bible Notes.

These words of Christ, at the beginning of what we often call "The Lord's Prayer", suggest that there is much more to prayer than just repeating some memorized words or pleading to get something from God just because we want it. And, the "Lord's Prayer", which might better be considered the "Disciple's Prayer", is far more than some shopping list we give to God or some secret formula to make God do things.

Prayer is more about a relationship with God than a method for getting things. It has to do with real communication between the heart of man and the heart of God. It is the means by which a child of God talks to his heavenly Father. It is the conduit, or channel, of contact between earth and Heaven, or we might say between the mundane and the spiritual realm. Furthermore, prayer is the humble expression of a subject's submission and petitioning before the great King of all kings.

I. Heart to Heart -- "pray ye"

In studying prayer, and attempting to practice it as God would have me to, I have found that it very much requires whole-heartedness, sincerity, and complete honesty. Though it is helpful to the words we form in prayer to have some knowledge and mental ability, it is far more important that we seek God with our hearts. He can hear and properly understand the cry of our hearts even when words fail us. Again, it is in prayer and Bible study that we become better acquainted with the very heart of God. This is what enables us to pray in a manner that will please Him.

II. Child to Father -- "pray ye: Our Father"

Many are the people who talk about praying to God, but who know very little about a right relationship with Him. When Jesus spoke with Nicodemus (a religious leader) about the need to be "born again" or born from above, Nicodemus did not even understand that Jesus spoke about spiritual things. You see, Nicodemus needed to be born again in order to understand what it was about. Jesus said to him, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). The little word see here shows us that to understand, to perceive, and to experience this spiritual kingdom one MUST be "born again".

How well I remember that I had a "born again", conversion experience at the age of fourteen and a half years. I knew that God had supernaturally made me His child. If you do NOT know that you have become a child of God at some point in time, then you are not in a position to truly pray to God. Once you become His child, you will then know that you can talk directly to your Father and He will listen and talk to your heart.

Someone, may ask, "If I cannot truly pray until I am "born again", then how do I become "born again" or God's child?" I intend to deal with this issue as it relates to prayer later, but a brief answer is that if you truly want to become God's child, God will hear and answer your prayer. (Rom:10:13: "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.")

Points III and IV to come in Part 2

III. Earth to Heaven -- "which art in heaven . . Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."

IV. Subject to King -- "Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done . ."

Yours In Christ,
Martin Overfield

Please pass this Bible Note to others who may be interested or helped by it. To subscribe to FREE Bible Notes just send an empty e-mail to
[email protected]

To read Bible Notes on the Internet, go to:
http://welovegod.org/groups/bible_notes/

To contact me by e-mail please send to the following address:
[email protected]