Some questions I asked myself were:
- Do I truly pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17)?
- Is it my first response always to turn to the Lord in prayer and thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6)?
I then wondered how I could make these things the focus in my daily life.
As we think about this, perhaps there are some more basic questions to address first.
Why is prayer essential?
When we are saved, we are adopted into God’s family, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry out, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15 LSB), and, “. . . He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him in love, by predestining us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He graciously bestowed on us in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:4-6 LSB).
We become one of God’s children, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13 LSB).
As those who are in relationship with our heavenly Father, we communicate with Him through prayer. I know that there have been times in my life when I have neglected to pray, and the enjoyment of my relationship with God has suffered. Prayer is certainly essential to a healthy Christian life.
What is the main purpose of prayer?
At times, my prayers have been focussed on my own needs rather than being focussed on God, and making Him central, but the purpose of prayer is to spend time with God, our heavenly Father. Through prayer, our relationship with God is strengthened and we are reminded of our total dependence on Him. Prayer should focus us on the Lord, not on ourselves.
How should we pray?
I remember that, when I was young, we used to pray what is often called “the Lord’s prayer” at the start of the school day. This is the example prayer given by Jesus in Matthew 6:9-13.
In this perfect model prayer, Jesus taught His disciples to pray to their Father who is in heaven. First they were to show reverence for God in all His holiness. Then they were to pray that, rather than their desires being fulfilled, the sovereign will of God be done on earth as in heaven. They were to pray for daily sustenance, recognising that God was able to supply this. They were to request forgiveness from God but at the same time to be sure to forgive those who had sinned against them. Then they were to pray to be kept from temptation and delivered from evil.
Thinking about using this as our model, we can categorise prayer into four key areas:
(1) Praising God for who He is.
(2) Giving thanks to God for what He has done.
(3) Confessing our sins to God.
(4) Making requests and telling all to God.
We also learn from other Scriptures that the usual practice is to pray to the Father (Matthew 6:9), in the name of the Son (John 14:13-14), and in the power of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 6:18).
How does prayer help us?
As children of God, we should be comforted by knowing that we can take all of our worries, fears and anxieties to the Lord. The Apostle Paul tells us to “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7 LSB).
We are not promised that our circumstances will change, but we are told that the peace of God will be with us and guard our hearts and minds in Christ – what an amazing and incredible promise in a world riddled with anxiety and fear.
How often should we pray?
Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica: “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 LSB).
We are told first to “rejoice always”; this is an imperative, a command from the Lord. The only way to have constant joy that transcends our earthly circumstances is through prayer to our Father in heaven.
Unceasing prayer doesn’t mean praying non-stop, but it implies ongoing recurrent prayer; it means constantly having an attitude of prayer and dependence on our Lord. Prayer should be both a consistent and a spontaneous practice in our lives as Christians and in our walk with the Lord. Paul models this to us throughout his writings (for example: 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13; 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17). We may struggle sometimes to understand but we ought to give thanks in “all circumstances” because we can trust that God is sovereign in all things, and knows what is best, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28 LSB).
Praying according to God’s will
Scriptures about prayer are often quoted out of context, so it is important that we accurately handle the Word of God. To understand what a verse means, we must first see it in its context, then look at other Scriptures on the subject. This is a basic principle in studying the Bible.
One verse frequently misapplied, notably by preachers of the “prosperity gospel”, who suggest that all who trust in Christ will prosper materially, is Mark 11:24 (LSB): “For this reason I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.”
God is not a genie in a bottle, nor is He subject to our human wants and desires. The Apostle John gives some clarification to the meaning of that verse here: “And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him” (1 John 5:14-15 LSB). John is telling us that the requests that will be granted are those asked in accordance with God’s will. This is also explained in his Gospel: “Whatever you ask in My name, this will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:13-14 LSB). When we pray in alignment with the will of God, our prayer will be answered and bring glory to God.
So how can we know that what we ask is in accordance with the will of the Father? We should pray for wisdom to know His will (and read the Bible to ascertain what His will is), and pray that we will stay close to the Lord. John clarifies this further in John 15:7 (LSB) “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” He goes on to say that God the Father is glorified in this (v.8). When we abide in Christ and follow Him, we will become aligned with Him. If His words abide in us, what we ask will be using His words and in line with His will, and therefore will be granted to the glory of God the Father.
There are many prayers we are promised will always be answered because they are in accordance with the will of God. They include praying for:
- salvation (Romans 10:9,13);
- that God’s will may be done (Matthew 6:10);
- wisdom (James 1:5);
- instruction about how to do God’s will (Psalm 143:10);
- enjoyment of the peace of God (Philippians 4:6-7).
Unanswered prayers
We are told by James that prayer made with wrong motives or for selfish reasoning may not be answered, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:3 LSB). This doesn’t mean that every unanswered prayer is due to selfish ambition; it may just be that our requests are not aligned with the Lord’s will. However, if we do ask with selfish ambition, it is for our good when God does not answer.
Our prayers do not change God’s mind, but Scripture is clear that when we are praying in alignment with His will, our prayers will be answered. We should not call on the Lord to align with us and our desires, but we should want to align with His desires. This ought to be the heart desire of every one of us as children of God. “Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4 NASB).
An unchanging God
We know that God is unchanging : “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6 ESV) and that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8 LSB).
We therefore know that God will uphold the many promises in Scripture: we can fully rely on Him to honour His Word and this should give us total assurance. James 1:17 (LSB) tells us, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”
How amazing! We can be secure in the Word of the Lord, whether in relation to our salvation or to any and all of His promises.
Let us, then, follow the advice of the Apostle Paul already referred to: “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 LSB).
