PRAYER, PRAISE AND WORSHIP

POSITIONING FOR POWER

MATTHEW 6:9-13; II CHRONICLES 7:13, 14; LUKE 18:1

Prayer—communication with God, and appeal, to supplicate, make petitions known.

By implications, prayer can mean a variety of things or have a diversity of applications, but in this lesson its directives are concerning communing with God in various ways.

There are different kinds of prayers or ways of talking to God.

-Prayer cannot be replaced by devout good works even though it is vitally important to do service to and for others, we must at times turn away from it to God who is distinct from all things and above all things. Neither should prayer be thought of as some mystical experience in which people lose their identity in the infinite reality, (we don’t lose our minds when we pray). (Rom. 7:25)

-Effective prayer must be a scripturally informed response of persons saved by grace to the living God(pray the Word);we should keep in remembrance Christ’s payment of the penalty that sinners deserved.(We shouldn’t pray as though Christ owes us anything. He has already paid the price with His blood).

Prayer involves several aspects:

  1. Faith—the most meaningful prayer comes from a heart that places its trust in God. God speaks to us through the Bible, and we in turn speak to Him in trustful, believing prayer. Sometimes He doesn’t get our attention with His Word because we either don’t read or heed His Word. Then He speaks through our situations. The purpose is for us to seek Him in everything (Heb. 11:6 must first believe that He is….). Assured by scripture, that God is personal, loving, active, all knowing, all wise, and all powerful, we know that God can hear and help us.
  2. Worship—in worship we recognize what is of highest worth—not ourselves, others or our work, but God. Only the highest divine being deserves our highest respect. Guided by scripture, we set our values in accord with God’s will and perfect standards. Before God, angels hide their faces and cry, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts” (Isa 6:3).
  3. Confession—aware of God’s holiness leads to consciousness of our own sinfulness. Like the prophet Isaiah (Isa 6:5).To confess is simply to own or admit to something as being true. Or to declare or acknowledge the truth of a situation. Admission of God’s holiness should cause us to strive to walk in His holiness. Seeing God causes you to be like Him.
  4. Adoration—God is love, and He has demonstrated His love in the gift of His Son. A great desire of God is that we love Him with our whole being (Matt. 22:37). Our love should be expressed, as His has been expressed, in both deeds and words. People sometimes find it difficult to say to others and to God, “I love you.” But when love for God fills our lives, we will express our love in prayer to one who is ultimately responsible for all that we are.
  5. Praise—the natural outflow of faith, worship, confession, and adoration is praise. We speak well of one whom we highly esteem and love. The one whom we respect and love above all others naturally receives our highest commendation. We praise Him for His “mighty acts….according to His excellent greatness”(Ps. 150:2),and for His “righteous judgments”(Ps. 119:164),for God Himself, for His works, and for His words, His people give sincere praise.
  6. Thanksgiving—Ingratitude is a mark of ungodliness, “because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful” (Rom. 1:21). Believers, in contrast, live thankfully. God has been at work on our behalf in countless ways. So in everything, even for the discipline that is unpleasant, we give thanks (Col. 3:17; 1 Thess. 5:18)
  7. Request—Prayer is not only response to God’s grace as brought to us in the life and work of Jesus and the teaching of scripture; it is also request for our needs and the needs of others.

NOTE: For good reasons God’s holy and wise purpose does not permit Him to grant every petition just as it is asked. Several hindrances to answered prayer are:

  1. iniquity in the heart (Psa. 66:18),
  2. refusal to hear God’s law (Prov. 28:9),
  3. an estranged heart (Isa. 29:13),
  4. sinful separation from God (Isa 59:2),
  5. waywardness (Jer. 14:10-12),
  6. Offering unworthy sacrifices (Mal. 1:7-9)
  7. praying to be seen by people (Matt. 6:5, 6),
  8. pride in fasting and tithing (Luke 18:11-14),
  9. lack of faith (Heb. 11:6),
  10. doubting or double mindedness (James 4:3),
  11. disrespecting and dishonoring our wives (1 Peter 3:7)

THERE ARE MANY KINDS OF PRAYER:

1. Prayer of Repentance: (II Chronicles 7:13-15). 13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locus to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; 14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

Eyes opened: God’s (Eyes = Hebrew word, AH-YIN = FOUNTAIN). The flood gates of heaven shall be opened (the dam will break, spilling forth Himself on us without measure). From the fountain of God’s mercy, (forgiveness) and blessing (reward) His favor (approval) pleased.

Ears attentive: Hebrew word, OZEN = Give audience, expand the ears with the hands, to broaden, give good heed to. God will listen to us attentively.

2. Prayer of Devotion: (Eph. 5:19) Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Devotion = Hebrew word, CHARAM (khaw-ram) and Greek word, SEBASMA (seb-as-mah) = to revere, worship, adore, respect esteem above all and to give undivided attention in worship.

3. Prayer of Thanksgiving: Hebrew word, Towdah (to-daw) to extend the hands in humble gratitude, to make known your appreciation by the extension of hands as a sign to surrender. (Psa. 95:2) Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms. Every prayer should have thanksgiving a part of its summation because it indicates the traits of faith that is needed to please God.(Heb. 11:6)but without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

4. Prayer of Declaration: Hebrew word, nagad = naw-gad to boldly announce by word of mouth. To expose or make known the pre-established ruling by a higher official (God). Declare unto yourself what the word says about you. (1 Pet. 2:9) I am a chosen generation!.....a royal priesthood!.....I am an holy nation!.....I am a peculiar person!Declare I am the righteousness of God! Say, wealth and riches are in my house! Exclaim that, my children, my spouse, my family members and my friends are saved! I am an overcomer! I am more than a conqueror! I am the healed of the Lord! (Isa 53:5). We must speak to destiny’s end (Isa 46:10, 11).

5. Prayer of Supplication: (Eph. 6:18) Hebrew word, Techinnah = tekh-in-naw, to entreat or seek favor, mercy, and graciousness in intense humility. Greek word, Deesis=deh-ay-sis; A petition, to beg, to bind oneself in exchange for something. (James 5:16) Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (Effectual)=Greek word, Energeo=en-erg-ek’o; to be active, to be mighty, able, full of energy and vitality-life. (Fervent)=Greek word, Zelos=Dzay’los, to do with zeal, to be hot, boil, intense, relentless.

6. Prayer of Intercession:(1 Tim. 2:1, Rom. 8:34, Heb. 7:25) Greek word, Entugchano, en-toong-khan, =Intermediate between, to intercept, head off, grab and stand in the place of.

Note: We must be spiritually and physically healthy and strong enough to perform this task of prayer, because the intercessor must face what they’re intercepting. There has to be intense warfare done in the spirit. (Example; Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane).

Prayer Stoppers

  1. Lack of Faith

Our prayers become ritualistic and repetitious. We don’t really believe what we’re praying is going to happen, so we just pray to say we prayed. Sometimes we pray to see if it is going to happen. Prayer is fruitless if there is no faith in the prayer. Faith is the propellant that launches our prayers past the temporal realm into the spiritual realm. Our prayers don’t become supernatural until faith is engrafted into the framework of our prayers.

  1. Unbelief on the part of the one being prayed for

God will not force His will upon anyone who doesn’t believe. He created us all free moral agents. We have to choose to believe. If you pray for someone in sin Christ will present them with a way of escape but they have to walk through the door of forgiveness and turn away from their sins. The Word tells us to “seek His face and turn from our wicked ways”.

  1. Our life-style

Our life style doesn’t reflect what we are asking. It doesn’t qualify us to ask. We may not have a prayer life and only pray when we’re in need or in trouble. We use His mercy and grace for occasions. “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).We should pray until something happens in us that cause us to change. We should never use God’s mercy and grace as a scapegoat. Yes God hears our prayers if He lives in us but we“frustrate the grace of God” (Gal. 2:21)when we only seek Him to fix something that we have broken by our riotous lifestyles.

  1. Praying out of Gods will

God is not going to grant any petition out of His will. God loves us too much to give us anything we ask for. Some things we ask for are not wholesome and can be detrimental to our spiritual growth. We should pray “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.

We can pray for something that we aren’t mentally or spiritually ready for and God will not give us something that is not going to give Him glory.

We can pray for God to heal someone when it is His will to take them home.

We can pray for God to ease someone’s suffering when they have bound themselves to a curse.

We can pray for God to change the way someone acts or thinks when God put them in our lives to give us patience.

  1. Unforgiveness

Unforgiveness is an umbrella that keeps your prayers from going past your head and keeps his response from getting to you. If you don’t forgive others He won’t forgive you. Unforgiveness is one of the biggest prayer stoppers because if hinders your prayers from being effective. If you are unable to “Really” forgive someone that has done you wrong then God can’t forgive you. Unforgivenes is like a cancer left untreated. Once it festers it will grow until the whole body is consumed. Unforgiveness cancels or nullifies your love walk because you can’t love someone who you can’t forgive. If you can’t love them then how can you say that you love God?

Unforgiveness can become contagious especially in a local assembly. Members tend to feed off of one another and unforgiveness can rest in the church and unknowingly people will find it harder and harder to forgive and let go of things that happen. When this happens the church reaches a place of stagnation and staleness because God will not move in the midst of their prayers, praises, or problems until the spirit of forgiveness overtakes the unforgiving spirit that has taken a stronghold in the church. (Mt. 6:12, 14, 15; 18:21; 18:35; Mk. 11:25-26; Lk. 6:37).