What Is Prayer?
- c. 2018 John N. Jeffries
- Jul 7, 2018
- 2 min read
What Is Prayer to the One True God?
Prayer consists of:
Praise
Worship
Thanksgiving
Sharing
Asking for yourself or others
What are wrong prayers?
Praying for show (unnecessarily long or repetitious) to impress others. Those who do have all the reward they will ever get.
Praying against the known will of God given in His Word (example, it is useless to pray for someone else's spouse: in the Bible that is clearly a "no-no.")
Asking Him to do what He's told you to do (directly or in the Word). It is incorrect to make the blanket statement "God is in control." Over the long run yes, He is. However, He will not do what in the Bible He has committed to men (see Genesis) unless they give Him an opening to do so.
Praying without believing what you ask will come to pass (on again - off again faith is a result inhibitor)
Praying while in knowing, willful disobedience (sin on your conscience is a faith-blocker)
Praying while not in a relationship with Him
Praying to the harm of someone else
Praying with a wrong motive (ask yourself really, why do I want this?)
Prayer replaces anxiety, in that a believer never needs to beg the Lord. Others can pray FOR you; they can pray WITH you; but they cannot effectively pray INSTEAD of you. Prayer results in provision: it allows God to change things.
Do not glorify prayer itself, lest you wind up glorifying the pray-er. Glorify only God.
Do not play "Let's Make a Deal" with the Lord. That dog won't hunt.
Never agree to pray in faith with another unless they are willing to tell you what they are praying for. Why? See the second "wrong prayer" above.
Essentially all things can be changed, so do not give up. Read the book of Acts. It is full of examples where people prayed, then God moved.
James 1:6-8 "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."
Additional References: 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:6; James 5:13; Philippians 1:19; Acts 12:1; Mark 1:35; Luke 6:12; 1 John 2:20 and the verses following those passages.
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