RiverTigress
Moderator
A new series from BackToTheBible.org
Part 1: Daniel: Praying for our sinful nation
Part 2: Stephen: Praying for forgiveness
Part 3: Solomon: Praying for God's blessing
Part 4: Habukkuk: Praying for revival
Part 5: The Tax Collector: Praying for mercy
This is a great study giving many practical and scriptural ideas for making your prayers more effective. I will probably go through it a couple times more to glean all I can from it, but here are some of the points I've taken from it so far (some related to church rather than prayer, but still good to think about):
- Prayer is more than just words. "Just like any relationship, you can't offer empty words and call your relationship with that person good. And likewise, our prayers need to include our heart and our attitude as well."
- Prayer has to be about God, not you. "If your prayer to God is for your benefit and not for God's, think about how selfish that prayer must seem to God. Prayer needs to be about God because it is to God. And when you ask God to bless your nation, it's not because you want your nation to be the greatest nation on the face of the earth. You want it to be a nation that bows before the Lord God so He is the greatest God on the face of the earth."
- You don't have to understand how God will answer to ask. "He prays not understanding. He prays believing. He says, 'Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O LORD my God, and listen.' I don't understand how you can inhabit this house because you're too big, but I'm gonna pray anyway....It's faith that drives you to ask, right? Not understanding how God will answer prayer. It doesn't take understanding; it takes faith."
- God's house should be a house of revival and prayer. "We don't go to church to enjoy a service. We go to church to be revived. All the ministry of the church in the New Testament took place when they left the church, not while they were in the church. Now, I know, the twenty-first century, we do things a lot differently today. My question is, Do we do them biblically today? Do we get the same results if we do them differently from the way they did them in God's Word? And I'm not sure that we do. And in the Bible, when people came to church, they came to church to be revived. They didn't come because, Oh, it's that time of week again. I guess I have to go. God's house is to be a house of prayer; God's house is to be a house of revival. You expect the Spirit to fill the house."
- Service to God is something that needs to be done in the present, not just planned for the future. "When I was a boy growing up, I believed God wanted me to serve Him somehow. But I didn't know how. I just felt God wanted me to serve Him; He wanted to use me somehow. And a very bright, older person came to me and he said, 'Look, if you want to serve the Lord some day, find a place to serve Him today.' And I started in my church being an usher, helping park cars, whatever I could do. And then, in our youth group, I did whatever they asked me to do. And you know what? I learned almost everything I know about serving the Lord, not in university, not in seminary; I learned it in my youth group. I learned it in high school, serving the Lord in my local church. Don't go to church to watch. Go to church to serve. Find a way to help out because God's house needs to be a house of service."
- Church should be a place filled with happiness. "You know there are people who believe you shouldn't have fun in church? Now, maybe you've met them. They aren't right, you know? Church should be the most enjoyable place for you. Why? It's because you're among others who are going to spend eternity with you. You're learning there how to serve the Lord. You're getting the opportunity to sacrifice to the Lord. You can praise Him there. You're worshipping Him there. You're being revived in your spirit there. You're praying to Him there. I mean, this ought to be the best place on the face of the earth to you. And it's the place where you have fellowship with other people. And then, the final thing he says is down in verse 10. 'On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the goodness that the LORD had done for David, for Solomon, and for His people, Israel.'....When you go away from church, you ought to go away with gladness of heart, the way these people did--not glad because you're getting out of church but glad because you've been in church."
- The less we say, probably the more we worship. "Have you ever begun a prayer this way? 'O LORD, I have heard your speech and was afraid.' I don't ever remember praying to God and the first thing coming out of my mouth was how afraid I was. And yet, this is the opening statement of his prayer. What was it that God said? What is it God could have done that would cause Habakkuk to be afraid just before he said in verse 2 of chapter 3, 'O LORD, I have heard your speech and was afraid'? In chapter 2:20, the last verse of chapter 2 it says, 'But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.' What is it that would cause Habakkuk to be afraid? It's this awesome understanding of the fact that the Lord is in His holy temple. And oh, by the way, when we come to understand the awesomeness of God, we will make less noise not more. Just another thing we ought to stick on the sticky side of our minds when we're worshipping God."
- Be prepared to rejoice whether God answers your prayer or not. "'Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock be cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.' You see, we have a tendency to thank God for answering prayer. And if He doesn't, we say, 'Well, I'm not going to try that again.' But, you see, answered prayer is not the key to God's character. God's character is unchanged whether He answers your prayer or not."
Part 1: Daniel: Praying for our sinful nation
Part 2: Stephen: Praying for forgiveness
Part 3: Solomon: Praying for God's blessing
Part 4: Habukkuk: Praying for revival
Part 5: The Tax Collector: Praying for mercy
This is a great study giving many practical and scriptural ideas for making your prayers more effective. I will probably go through it a couple times more to glean all I can from it, but here are some of the points I've taken from it so far (some related to church rather than prayer, but still good to think about):
- Prayer is more than just words. "Just like any relationship, you can't offer empty words and call your relationship with that person good. And likewise, our prayers need to include our heart and our attitude as well."
- Prayer has to be about God, not you. "If your prayer to God is for your benefit and not for God's, think about how selfish that prayer must seem to God. Prayer needs to be about God because it is to God. And when you ask God to bless your nation, it's not because you want your nation to be the greatest nation on the face of the earth. You want it to be a nation that bows before the Lord God so He is the greatest God on the face of the earth."
- You don't have to understand how God will answer to ask. "He prays not understanding. He prays believing. He says, 'Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O LORD my God, and listen.' I don't understand how you can inhabit this house because you're too big, but I'm gonna pray anyway....It's faith that drives you to ask, right? Not understanding how God will answer prayer. It doesn't take understanding; it takes faith."
- God's house should be a house of revival and prayer. "We don't go to church to enjoy a service. We go to church to be revived. All the ministry of the church in the New Testament took place when they left the church, not while they were in the church. Now, I know, the twenty-first century, we do things a lot differently today. My question is, Do we do them biblically today? Do we get the same results if we do them differently from the way they did them in God's Word? And I'm not sure that we do. And in the Bible, when people came to church, they came to church to be revived. They didn't come because, Oh, it's that time of week again. I guess I have to go. God's house is to be a house of prayer; God's house is to be a house of revival. You expect the Spirit to fill the house."
- Service to God is something that needs to be done in the present, not just planned for the future. "When I was a boy growing up, I believed God wanted me to serve Him somehow. But I didn't know how. I just felt God wanted me to serve Him; He wanted to use me somehow. And a very bright, older person came to me and he said, 'Look, if you want to serve the Lord some day, find a place to serve Him today.' And I started in my church being an usher, helping park cars, whatever I could do. And then, in our youth group, I did whatever they asked me to do. And you know what? I learned almost everything I know about serving the Lord, not in university, not in seminary; I learned it in my youth group. I learned it in high school, serving the Lord in my local church. Don't go to church to watch. Go to church to serve. Find a way to help out because God's house needs to be a house of service."
- Church should be a place filled with happiness. "You know there are people who believe you shouldn't have fun in church? Now, maybe you've met them. They aren't right, you know? Church should be the most enjoyable place for you. Why? It's because you're among others who are going to spend eternity with you. You're learning there how to serve the Lord. You're getting the opportunity to sacrifice to the Lord. You can praise Him there. You're worshipping Him there. You're being revived in your spirit there. You're praying to Him there. I mean, this ought to be the best place on the face of the earth to you. And it's the place where you have fellowship with other people. And then, the final thing he says is down in verse 10. 'On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the goodness that the LORD had done for David, for Solomon, and for His people, Israel.'....When you go away from church, you ought to go away with gladness of heart, the way these people did--not glad because you're getting out of church but glad because you've been in church."
- The less we say, probably the more we worship. "Have you ever begun a prayer this way? 'O LORD, I have heard your speech and was afraid.' I don't ever remember praying to God and the first thing coming out of my mouth was how afraid I was. And yet, this is the opening statement of his prayer. What was it that God said? What is it God could have done that would cause Habakkuk to be afraid just before he said in verse 2 of chapter 3, 'O LORD, I have heard your speech and was afraid'? In chapter 2:20, the last verse of chapter 2 it says, 'But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.' What is it that would cause Habakkuk to be afraid? It's this awesome understanding of the fact that the Lord is in His holy temple. And oh, by the way, when we come to understand the awesomeness of God, we will make less noise not more. Just another thing we ought to stick on the sticky side of our minds when we're worshipping God."
- Be prepared to rejoice whether God answers your prayer or not. "'Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock be cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.' You see, we have a tendency to thank God for answering prayer. And if He doesn't, we say, 'Well, I'm not going to try that again.' But, you see, answered prayer is not the key to God's character. God's character is unchanged whether He answers your prayer or not."