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Pastor Scott L. Harris
Grace Bible Church, NY
Revised October 11, 2026
* Defining Prayer
Selected Scriptures
Introduction
I have considered for many years what Biblical books and subjects I wanted to preach on before retirement and moving into a Pastor Emeritus position and step aside for younger men to lead this church. I have been able to do all of those except a final series on prayer. While I believe we as a church do well overall in the area of prayer since that is an important element in our worship services and I know many of our people are diligent in their prayer life, yet I still believe it is one of our weaker areas. One evidence of that is how easy it is to get people to come out for a special event that involves eating compared to how difficult it is to get people to come out for a prayer service. In addition, prayer is one of those areas in which even when you are doing well, you can still do better even as Proverbs 4:18 points out, “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.” My desire is to see us as individuals and as a church excel still more – shine brighter and brighter – in the area of prayer.
* The proper motivation to pray arises from your relationship with the Lord which should produce a vibrant love for Him, but if that does not exist or has diminished then you need to remember, repent and redo. * Remember what your love for Jesus was like when you were first saved. Repent of your departure from that, and then redo the things you did back then. (See: A Foundation for Prayer)
This morning my focus will be presenting a proper understanding of prayer for there are many misconceptions as well as blatantly false ideas about prayer. You cannot pray properly if you do not properly understand it. To illustrate this point I want you to consider how you might respond to the following situations.
* I. Problems in Prayer
A missionary in the middle east prays daily that the Lord would grant salvation to the souls caught in the bondage of Islam, yet years go by and he does not see anyone come to saving faith in Christ.
A missionary in Africa is praying that the Lord will protect the many new converts from the cult groups that are present, yet many seem only too quick to follow the errors of the cults.
A pastor has spent everything he has to build up a ministry. He has poured into it his time, his energy and what little money he had, yet, there are so few results. He goes home to his cramped little apartment where his wife and children are waiting for him. They sit down to a dinner of beans and rice (generic brand). He looks at his second hand suit. His wife and children wear garage sale specials. He looks at the furniture given to them – a mixture of Early American, French Provincial, Mediterranean, – well actually, it is more of Early Goodwill and Late Salvation Army. Then he considers the cult group down the street that is booming. Their leader drives a Mercedes and has a huge house in the suburbs. He cries out, “God, You are the king, and I am your child. Should your servant live is such squalor?” But there seems to be no answer.
Other faithful men and women of God who are busy serving the Lord are suddenly struck down with crippling diseases or terminal illnesses. We cry out, “Lord, heal them. They are your servants. They are vital to church ministries, and what about the children?” Yet, the disease progresses and a faithful church worker is lost and a family is left without one of the parents.
Why? * Why do our prayers so often seem ineffectual? Why does God seem to turn a deaf ear to us? What about all those Scriptural promises? Are they true? Does God really answer prayer? Such are the questions and doubts that arise when immature and untested faith hits the wall of reality we call daily life. * The questions and doubts arise because there are so many misunderstandings about prayer.
Yes, God really does answer prayer, but contrary to what John R. Rice wrote in his book, Prayer – Asking & Receiving, * prayer is not simply coming to God with a list of requests. God is neither Santa Claus nor a benevolent grandfather and to treat Him as such is to distort who He is and is therefore sin.
Prayer is * neither a magical force of positive thinking nor a means to force either God or spirits to do our bidding, yet that has been a common teaching within the Charismatic movement. Dr. Paul Yonggi Cho, pastor of the Full Gospel Central Church in Seoul, Korea, the largest church in that nation in the 1980’s, wrote a book entitled, * The Fourth Dimension in 1979. The concept of prayer he presents in that book swept through churches worldwide even though there is little difference between Cho’s concept of prayer and what he learned in Buddhism. I point to it now more than 40 years later because that concept took root in a lot of places.
* Cho taught that the fourth dimension of the human (the spirit) can control the third dimension (the physical) when it is in agreement with one of the entities that works in the fourth dimension which could be either God or Satan for both can work similar miracles for the same reason. Cho’s method of prayer also relies on visualization of the things desired. These things then “grow inside you,” or as he further explains, “It just takes time, as a mother takes time to give birth to a child. It takes time for you, too, you become pregnant with all of your clear-cut objectives.” Cho says, “So men, by exploring their spiritual sphere of the fourth dimension through the development of concentrated vision and dreams in their imaginations, can brood over and incubate the third dimension, influencing and changing it. This is what the Holy Spirit taught me.” He supposedly bases this teaching on Genesis 1:2 in that the Spirit of God “brooded” over the waters.
According to Cho, praying in this manner has power for both good or evil which explains why non-Christian religions could do the same “miracles” as Christians. Cho recounted, “Then the Holy Spirit said to me, ‘Look at the Sokagakkai. They belong to Satan; the human spirit joins up with the spirit of the evil fourth dimension, and with the evil fourth dimension they carry out dominion over their bodies and circumstances.'”
This concept of prayer came to Cho when he first began his ministry in a slum area. He prayed that God would provide him a desk, a chair and a bicycle. Time passed and the request was not granted. Cho says that the Holy Spirit revealed to him one night that the reason for this was, “they (people who pray) beg me, demanding every kind of request, but they ask in such vague terms that I can’t answer. Don’t you know that there are dozens of kinds of desks, chairs and bicycles? But you’ve simply asked me for a desk, chair and bicycle. You never ordered a specific desk, chair or bicycle.”
For Cho and many others prayer becomes your ability to imagine what you want and bring it into existence through the fourth dimension. This method of supposed prayer is no longer petitioning God to move and work, but rather for you to accomplish results with God through the fourth dimension. This concept of prayer has infiltrated many evangelical churches and especially those that are charismatic. This and related concepts are often generally referred to as “name it, claim it” praying.
Is this what Jesus did as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane just prior to His crucifixion? Is this the response of Daniel when he risked his life by continuing to pray daily to the Lord God even though there was a decree by the King against such practice? Is this concept to be found in any of the recorded prayers of the Godly men and women recorded in Scripture – Abraham, Moses, David, the prophets, the apostles? Absolutely not!
* What then is prayer? It is certainly not Cho’s concept or any others of similar nature which strives to manipulate God in some fashion in order get what you want, as if a creature could manipulate its creator.
Prayer (eujchv / Eux and its cognates) in its most simple definition is simply talking to God, but there are many particular elements in prayer depending on what you are talking to God about. These include: Confession (oJmologevw / Homologe ) – agreeing with God about your sins (1 John 1:9); Thanksgiving (eujcaristiva / eucharistia) – expressing gratitude to God for what He has done (Eph. 5:20); Supplication (dehsiV / de sis) – specific petitions or pleas to God for specific benefits usually with urgency (Phil. 1:19); Requests (a[ithma / ait ma) – specific requests regarding a specific thing (Phil. 4:6); Praise (ejxomologevomai / exomologeomai) – express honor and glorify God for specific attributes or actions (Luke 10:21), and all of these are to be done with a humble attitude of worship (John 4:24). I will expand on each of these in the weeks to come, but today I want to present to you one of the best comprehensive definitions for prayer that I have found which was given by John Bunyan, the great puritan preacher of the 1600’s, and author of Pilgrim’s Progress. He defined prayer in this way: *
A. Sincere
B. Sensible
C. An affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God
D. Through Christ, in the strength & assistance of the Holy Spirit.
E. According to What God has promised, according to His Word
F. For the good of the Church
G. With Submission in faith to the will of God.
* A. Prayer Is Sincere: Jeremiah 29:12–13; Psalm 66:17-18
The word, “sincere,” comes from the Latin and means “without wax.” Idols were part of everyday life in ancient Rome. Cheap ones would have the cracks and flaws in the marble filled with wax. They would look great in the shop, but once they were exposed to the heat of the sun, the wax would melt and the flaws would be exposed.
* Jeremiah 29:12–13, “Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.’”
A person who is sincere comes to God with an open heart earnestly seeking Him. Nothing is hidden. All is exposed before God.
The human heart before God must come without wax. There is nothing hidden. All the flaws are exposed. Do you think you can hide something from God? * Man looks at the outside, but God looks at the heart (1 Sam. 16:7). The man or woman who is going to come to God must come sincerely, otherwise Psalm 66:17-18 warns, “I cried unto God with My mouth and He was extolled with my tongue. If I hide iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” The Psalmist then continues on with his praise that the Lord did hear him. * Prayer must be sincere and that means confession is usually one of the first elements within it for the exposure of our sin motivates us to seek God’s forgiveness and cleansing that comes through confession – 1 John 1:9.
* B. Prayer Is Sensible.
To be sensible is to be wise and prudent, having or showing common sense. It is practical and functional rather than decorative. The mind is active in prayer and properly approaches God. That means that prayer is not mindless gibberish, idle speech (prating), or complimentary platitudes.
To say that prayer is sensible is not to say that it is unemotional. In fact there may be strong emotional elements. * In Psalm 38 David expresses great emotion for he mourns, he groans, he is agitated, his heart throbs because he sees his need for mercy from God. Matthew 26:75 records that Peter wept bitterly when he realized that he had failed and denied Jesus. The response of the soul that is aware of its sin will have an emotional element.
The soul that becomes aware of the mercy it has received or is about to receive will also respond with corresponding emotions. David does this in Psalm 103. He blesses, he praises, he extols the Lord; “1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; 3 Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; 4 Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; 5 Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.” Paul’s command in Philippians 4:4 to “Rejoice in the Lord Always, Again I say rejoice” is also reflective of this.
* To say that prayer is sensible is to say that the soul approaches God to pray with both the spirit and the mind as Paul emphasizes in 1 Corinthians 14:15 . That is not an either pray with the mind or pray with the spirit, but prayer that is both with the spirit and with the mind at the same time. Emotions may be present, but because the mind is present and active, the prayer remains reasonable. Sensible prayer may even be so emotional that it is accompanied by loud crying and tears as Hebrews 5:7 sates occurred with Jesus, yet because the prayer is guided by understanding it remains sensible and does not devolve into senseless gibberish. Even when we do not know how to pray about an issue, we can still remain confident and sensible knowing that God has promised that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us (Romans 8:26). Sensible prayer is one of the ways in which you can carry out Jesus’ command to love the Lord God with all your heart, soul and mind (Matt. 22:37).
* C. Prayer Is an Affectionate Pouring out of the Soul to God.
There is a longing of the heart to be in communion with God. To talk with Him personally. * David expresses this in Psalm 42:1-2 “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for Thee, O God. 2 My Soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” Daniel 9:19 records his similar cry to the Lord, “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Thine sake, O my God, do not delay . . .” Jesus Himself, when He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, poured Himself out to His Father with great intensity with Luke 22:44 recording, “And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”
The believer loves God and diligently desires a deep relationship with Him. * For that reason the true Christian comes to God as he would to a loving father and tells Him of all that is on his heart (Romans 8:15). Tragically, that beautiful analogy is confusing to many in our society because they grew up in a fractured home in which there was no dad present, or if physically present, the dad often seemed indifferent or uncaring. Children of such a man will not share their hearts with him. Perhaps that has been your own experience and so the idea of God as your Father is not very comforting. But God is not like that for He is our heavenly Father. He desires us to come to Him and has already proven His love for us in Jesus Christ’s death as the substitute payment for our sins. That is what allows us to come with confidence before His throne of grace (Heb. 4:16).
* God is the one that can fulfill the need that each of us has for someone who truly cares and will listen to what is on our hearts. People, even parents, friends and your spouse will fail you, but God never fails. He always cares and He is always ready to listen. As 1 Peter 5:7 states, you can cast “all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.” Sadly, there are also too many Christians that take God for granted and end up neglecting to even come to Him. How about you? Do you have a heartfelt, affectionate desire to come to God and pour out your soul to Him?
* D. Prayer Is Accomplished Through Christ, by the Strength or Assistance of the Holy Spirit.
This truth is repeated throughout scripture.
1. You cannot come to the Father except through the Son – John 14:6. “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me.‘” John 14:13 – “And whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” The name of Christ refers to all that He is. It is Jesus who is at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us according to Hebrew 7:25. Again, it is because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that we can come “draw near . . . to the throne of grace, that we might receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). You can pray, “Our Father” only after you have been made a fellow heir with Christ by faith in Him the work of redemption He has done for you on the cross.
* 2. Prayer is also by the strength or assistance of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that teaches us all things including how to pray and what to pray for (1 John 2:27). I can tell you lots of things and show you a lot of Bible verses, but unless the Holy Spirit moves upon you to enlighten your mind and convict you about those things you will not learn and you will not change. Thankfully, the Christian is assured of the Holy Spirit as stated in Romans 8:26–27, 26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Prayer that is apart from Christ and apart from the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit cannot be effectual. You must pray through Christ by the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit.
* E. Prayer Is for Such Things as God Has Promised, According to the Word of God – the Bible.
Bunyan said, “Prayer is only true when it is within the compass of God’s Word; it is blasphemy, or at best vain babbling, when the petition is unrelated to the Book.” * Why are many prayers seemingly unanswered? Because they are requests that are in no way related to what the Bible states.
The prayers recorded in the Psalms flow out of an understanding of the Scriptures. * Psalm 119 is a good example as the Psalmist recounts the great benefits he has received in knowing God by His word. *Psalm 73 is also a good example but from a different perspective. Asaph lamented that the wicked were prospering while he was stricken and chastened so perhaps it was in vain that he kept his heart pure and washed his hands in innocence. Asaph then states that it was not until he entered God’s sanctuary and considered their end, which he understood from Scripture, that he understood both that justice would still be done and the Lord would remain the strength of his heart, his portion and his refuge.
*An understanding of the Bible will prompt us to pray even as it did Daniel. Daniel 9 records that as he studied the prophecies of Jeremiah, Daniel understood that the time of the captivity was to end soon. This in turn drove him to his knees to pray to God concerning the fulfillment of that prophecy.
*The better your understanding of the Bible the more your prayers will actually be according to and limited by God’s will. Jesus said in Matthew 26:53,54 that He could pray to the Father and have 12 legions of angels at His disposal “but how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled that it must happen this way?” Jesus Himself was obedient to and prayed according to what the Scriptures said.
* Of course, to pray according to God’s promises, according to His Word, means that you must accurately understand and correctly interpret what the word of God teaches. Without that you can end up believing what is not true resulting in foolishness that is not honoring to God.
An example of this foolishness is seen in Don Gossett’s book, What You Say is What You Get! (1976). Listen to the twisted logic Gossett must resort to as he tries to hold to his concept of prayer which is a form of positive confession – i.e. if I believe it enough it will happen so I will say it already did. He has an erroneous understanding of divine healing and tries to avoid making bald-face lies.
“When I preach that if God’s Word says you’re healed, then you are healed, some people take that as a license to say anything at all, just as long as it’s positive – even if it isn’t true.
“If you fall down the stairs, and your ankle is black and blue and extremely sore and swollen, what are you supposed to say about it? You can say, ‘I Believe I’m healed,’ because God’s Word says, ‘with His stripes we are healed’ (Isaiah 53:5). God can’t lie. If He says you are healed, then you are healed. You can believe what God says. You can say what God says. But you can’t say your ankle isn’t swollen, black and blue, and sore. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of Truth.
“Well, what should you do during the waiting period between what you say and what you get? If your ankle is sore, you can say, “I am healed because God’s Word says I’m healed.” Or you can say, “My ankle hurts, but I believe I’m healed because God’s Word says I’m healed and God’s Word can’t lie.” Or you can say, “I’m not looking to the way my ankle feels, I’m looking to what God’s Word says about it, and God’s Word says it’s healed.” Obviously, you can’t say your ankle doesn’t hurt if it does hurt. So since you can’t say it doesn’t hurt if it does hurt, you don’t need to say anything at all about it (other than that God’s Word says it’s healed), unless someone insists on hearing how it feels. God doesn’t want us to lie about anything, no matter what our motives are.”
I am glad that Gossett is committed to believing Scripture and not lying, but his interpretation is erroneous, so he is stuck. He believes a lie, but does not want to tell a lie. God’s Word does not say the ankle is healed. If Isaiah 53:5, “By His stripes we are healed,” meant physical healing of our bodies in this age then no Christian should get sick, and more importantly, no Christian should die. Physical death occurs as part of the curse of sin, but unless the Lord returns soon then every person in this room will one day experience physical death. Physical disease is also a part of the curse of sin. To say that we are now healed of physical diseases and yet not be healed of physical death is incongruent, inconsistent and contradictory!
* James 4:2-3 tells us, “You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” This is still the reason so much prayer is seemingly unanswered. People pray without following the Scriptural guidelines for prayer, and they pray without a correct understanding of the Scriptures. They take verses out of context and twist them so that they think they are properly praying according to the Scriptures, but they are not and are instead praying for selfish gain. That is the opposite of our next element within prayer.
* F. Prayer Is for the Good of the Church
This refers to the good of the whole church in that the prayer is honoring to God, advances the cause of Christ, or is for the benefit of His people. * This is equivalent to praying for “Thy Kingdom Come” as stated in the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6. True prayer is not for “my kingdom,” but for the work of God to be done in His people throughout the world.
* You see this in Jesus’ prayer in John 17. He did not pray for the ease and comfort of His disciples and those who would follow them. Instead, He prayed for what would be the best for them even if that meant hardship. Jesus stated in verses 14-15, “I have given them Thy word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.” Jesus also prayed that they would be sanctified and perfected in unity.
The same is true about Paul’s prayers. Paul is not concerned about his own glory, but only for what is best for the kingdom of God. * In Philippians 1:12-19 Paul even wrote that he rejoiced that Christ was being preached even if it was by those who thought that by doing so they would add to Paul’s distress in his imprisonment. In other words, it did not matter to Paul what people thought about or said about him. What was important to him was that the Gospel of Christ was going forward. Do you have the same humble attitude in desiring the good of the cause of Christ and the church?
* G. Prayer Is Made with Submission in Faith to the Will of God.
True Prayer is based on, “Thy Will Be Done.” It is not my will, but Thy will, yet so often, even for those who believe this, this element of true prayer turns out to be lip-service. People tend to pray for what they want and then tack on “according to Your will” but not actually wanting that. For that reason if it is not God’s will and the answer He gives is “no,” such people think God is not paying attention to them. * Which in a sense is true because 1 John 5:14,15 states, “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.” If you are not actually praying according to God’s will, then He is not obliged to pay attention to your prayer.
The health, wealth and prosperity preachers do not teach submission to God’s will. * Instead they teach that prayer is a means to get your will done. Oral Roberts, in his book, Attack Your Lack (1985), writes that prayer is a means to tap into the resources of God – AND command them to do your bidding. He writes:
“Once we make Jesus our personal Savior, give Him our best seed and look only to Him as our Lord and as our Source, then we have a divine right in times of lack to say, “Lord, I’ve given up everything to serve You and trust You, what’s in it for me?” He lovingly tells you what’s in it for you. He authorizes you to speak to your lack: “Lack, you be gone!” He authorizes you to speak to His spiritual resources; “Spiritual power, you come into my life.” He authorizes you to speak to His healing resources, “Health, you come into my physical and mortal being.” He authorizes you to speak to His financial resources, backed by all the riches in heaven, “Money, you come to me.” He authorizes you to speak to His angels, “Ministering spirits, bring these things into my life.”
For Oral Roberts and those who have followed in his footsteps, prayer is commanding the spiritual resources of God.
* How different that is from the concept of prayer given by D.L. Moody who said, “After we have made our requests known to Him, our language should be, ‘Thy will be done.’ I would a thousand times rather that God’s will should be done than my own. I cannot see into the future as God can; therefore, it is a good deal better to let Him choose for me than to choose for myself. I know His mind about spiritual things, His will is that I should be sanctified; so I can with confidence pray to God for that, and expect an answer to my prayers. But when it comes to temporal matters, it is different; what I ask for may not be God’s purpose concerning me.”
Tell me which of these men actually prayed “according to Thy will” and meant it?
* What is prayer? John Bunyan’s definition is good. May each of us learn to pray with it in mind.
Sermon Notes – October 11, 2026
Defining Prayer? – Selected Scriptures
Introduction
The Proper motivation for prayer arises out of a proper relationship with ________
Remember, Repent, Redo _________________________________________________________________
Problems in Prayer
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Questions & doubts about prayer arise because there are so many ________________________about prayer
Prayer is not coming to God with a list of requests ______________________________________________
Prayer is neither a _________force of positive thinking nor a means of forcing God or spirits to do your will
Prayer is not a fourth dimension that can be _________________by man as claimed by Yonggi Cho
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Definition: “Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God has promised, or according to His Word, for the good of the church, with submission in faith to the will of God.” – John Bunyan
A. Prayer is Sincere = “without wax”
Jeremiah 29:12-13 _______________________________________________________________________
God knows your heart – 1 Samuel 16:7 _____________________________________________________
Without sincerity the Lord will ____________________– Psalm 66:17-18
Confess sins & be forgiven & cleansed – 1 John 1:9 ____________________________________________
B. Prayer Is Sensible = wise, prudent, having common sense; it is practical & functional rather than decorative
Prayer can be __________________– Ps. 38, Mt. 26:75; Psalm 103; Philippians 4:4
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Prayer is done with __________ spirit & mind together – 1 Cor. 14:15 ______________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
C. Prayer is An affectionate pouring out of the heart to God
Psalm 42:1; Daniel 9:19; Luke 22:44 _____________________________________________________
We come to God as to a loving Father – Rom. 8:15 _____________________________________________
God cares, provides, listens and never fails – 1 Peter 5:7 _________________________________________
D. Prayer is Through Christ, by the assistance of the Holy Spirit
Through Christ – John 14:6, 13; Hebrews 7:25; 4:16 ____________________________________________
By the strength or assistance of the _____________________ – 1 John 2:27; Romans 8:26
E. Prayer is for Such Things God has Promised, according to the Word of God – The Bible
Why unanswered prayer? – The prayer requests are not related to what the ___________________________
Psalm 119 – The Bible reveals God and directs how to live life in ___________________ to Him
Psalm 73 – Asaph’s lament ________________________________________________________________
Daniel 9 – Daniel prompted to pray by reading the __________________ of Jeremiah
Matt. 26:53-54 – Jesus _______________ His prayer to be in agreement with God’s will
Must accurately understand & interpret _____________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
James 4:2-3 – You must ask with ___________ motives _________________________________________
F. Prayer is for the Good of the Church
It is for “____________________________ come” – Matthew 6:10
John 17:14-15 – Jesus prayed for what would be ________ for the disciples __________________________
Philippians 1:12-19 – Paul rejoiced that Christ was proclaimed even if with ___________ motives
G. Prayer is made with Submission in faith to the will of God.
True prayer is for “Thy will be done” – which is not to be a tack on phrase ___________________________
1 John 5:14-15 – Confidence comes from praying according to ________ will
Prayer does not try to manipulate God to get _________ will done – such as Oral Roberts, etc.
D.L. Moody wanted God’s will to be done over his own will ______________________________________
KIDS KORNER
Parents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help. Young Children – draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents at lunch. Older Children – Do one or more of the following: 1) Count the references to prayer in the sermon. 2) Talk with your parents about what it means to pray.
THINK ABOUT IT!
Questions to consider in discussing the sermon with others. What is the relationship between your love for Jesus Christ and having a proper motivation for prayer? What should you do if your love for Jesus is not what it should be? Have you ever had any doubts about God and the Bible? If so, how were they overcome? Have you ever felt like God was distant and not listening? What was the cause of it? Why is prayer not just “asking and receiving” as some believe? Why is it wrong to treat prayer as a magical force that will make things happen? Can God be manipulated by prayer? Why or why not? Can prayer manipulate spirits? Why or why not? What is the importance of sincerity in prayer? How is sincerity manifested in prayer? If you seek to hide your sin from God, what will be God’s reaction toward you? What does it mean that “prayer is sensible”? What is the relationship between emotion and sensibility? Can there be proper prayer without also being sensibility? Explain. What does it mean that God is our “heavenly Father“and how does that affect our prayers? Can a non-Christian properly pray to God? Why or why not? Can proper prayer be made apart from the work of the Holy Spirit? Why or why not? Why are so many prayers seemingly unanswered? Support your reasons with Scripture. How can we use the Bible to help our prayers? What is the Lord’s response to selfish prayers? What should we pray for? Explain what it means to pray for God’s kingdom to come? His will to be done? Do you really pray for those? How do the health/wealth/prosperity teachers pray? How have you seen their influence manifested in the evangelical church? What can you do to ensure that your prayers actually are in submission to God’s will?
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