Week 3: Prayer
Blessed be the name of the Lord. You are a child of God forever by faith in Yeshua Messiah. You have eternal life and an eternal relationship with the God of Isra’el through His Messiah. As with all children and relationships, there needs to be growth and maturity. As you spiritually mature in your faith, you will develop an even more intimate and fulfilling relationship with the Lord. How does a believer spiritually grow in the faith? There are four essential areas that need to become more and more a vital part of our daily lives: prayer, reading the Scriptures (Week Four), fellowship (Week Ten), and sharing our faith (Week Twelve).
These four areas will cover the two basic directions of your spiritual growth: the vertical (with God) and the horizontal (with people). Prayer and reading the Scriptures will address the vertical relationship between you and the Lord. Fellowship and sharing your faith will focus on the horizontal relationships between your and other people.
Spiritual growth and balance come from prioritizing all four of these values. Those missing any of these habits can become like spiritual loners, having a “specialty,” but without balance or maturity. None of these four areas can be outgrown, but rather we grow deeper in them as we walk more closely with the Lord.
The goal of this lesson is to help you develop a prayer life: a daily, ongoing, intimate time to speak with your heavenly Father. Prayer is essentially and most importantly “talking with God.” Setting aside even five minutes a day to talk with Abba (Father) can make all the difference in the world.
The Psalms are actually prayers and praise to God. “I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill His purpose for me” (Psalm 57:2 NLT). King David authorized 73 of the 150 psalms. David was thankful that he could “cry out” to God. In Hebrew, karah actually means, “to cry or call out loudly.” This teaches us that private prayer is not to be a mere formality, but sincere, or with purpose and meaning.
We can genuinely express to God our feelings, thoughts, frustrations, will, or concerns about anything. God can take it; He won’t be offended or shocked. He actually desires and expects an open relationship with us. When we are real with God, we receive real help from God: comfort for our pain, encouragement in our disappointments, power for our weakness, renewed love when we are resentful, and forgiveness when we stumble. The Bible reiterates this truth: casting all your worries upon Him, for He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).
God cares about our lives and can help us in the midst of difficulty. Because of our relationship with God, we have freedom in our prayer life to totally give all our burdens to the One who really loves us.
In Psalm 57:2, David’s confidence was not only that God would not only hear his deepest cry, but also that God would accomplish all things for him. All believers in the Messiah can have this same confidence. Yeshua said, “If you ask for anything in My name (in My will), I will do it” (John 14:14). Asking in His name is not some magical phrase, where we can get anything we want. It means aligning our will with His. When we do this we are asking in His authority, for His reputation and honor, and in light of His purposes and will as revealed in the Bible. If we seek to align our will with His, God will fulfill His purpose for you. All things that are good, profitable, wholesome and wise.
God always answers prayer; however, His answer may be . . .
* “Yes” (because it is appropriate for you now)
* “Not at this time” or “Wait” (because it may only be appropriate for you in the future)
* “No” (because it is inappropriate for you at any time, or may harm you)
We trust in God’s power to provide, but also in His wisdom to provide that which is in our eternal best interests. Please read these verses: Now this is the confidence we have before Him – that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have the requests we have asked from Him (First John 5:14-15). What does it mean that He hears us? John means that God does not ignore us; if we ask according to what is His will for us, He will fulfill our request. So according to these verses, how can you be confident that He hears you?___________________________________________________________________________________
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The key to our prayer life and our requests of God is to know His _______. But how can we know His will? God’s Word, the Scriptures, is the revealed will of God. As we come to know His Word, we learn His will, desires, and concerns for us. We better understand God’s character, values, priorities, and His perspective on life.
Please read First John 5:14-15 again, this time replacing we and us with “I” and “me.” Now this is the confidence ___ have before Him – that if ___ ask anything according to His will, He hears ___. And if ___ know that He hears ___ – whatever ___ ask – ___ know that ___ have the requests ___ have asked from Him.
Now please read this verse, “If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear” (Psalm 66:18). Since God knows all things (this is called omniscience), we know He always hears us. In this verse, the phrase will not hear refers to the Lord not responding positively to our requests. The Hebrew word for regard is rayiti, which means to consider or gaze at. If we consider something evil or improper for ourselves, or others, it is just plain wrong. The Lord will not hear or respond to evil.
According to Psalm 66:18, where do you regard good or evil? ___ ___ _______.
Yes, in your heart. Let us understand the internal priorities of prayer. Regardless of what we say with our lips, it is the inner person that spiritually communicates with the Lord. External expressions of prayer are so others can join with us in prayer and praise to God.
What specific sins or wickedness may possibly be in your heart in the following areas?
* Your personal life?
* Your family life?
* Your financial or business life?
* Your community life?
After thinking about these areas, did you find some that you are not pleased with? What can you do about the sins or wickedness in your heart? Consider First John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Confess in the original Greek language is homologeo, meaning to agree with another or speak the same, in this case to agree with God. In other words, when we admit or confess our sins to God we are finally agreeing with Him about what He already knows – that our sinful thoughts, attitudes, or deeds are unjustifiable, but not unforgivable.
What is done in the heart only is a sin against God and must be confessed. If you sin outwardly, you are sinning against God and others. You need to confess your sins in either case: often to the person against whom you have sinned, as well as the Lord, as all sin is rebellion against Him (Matt 5:22-25, 18:15; James 5:16).
Rather than the sin being clever, cute or a matter of “she started it,” sin is contrary to God’s character and His revealed will in the Bible. We can truly praise God, because when we admit our sinful thoughts and deeds, He forgives and cleanses us as a result of Messiah’s shed blood on the cross as payment for our sins.
Personalize First John 1:9 using “I”, “my” and “me”. If __ confess ___ sins, [God] is faithful and just to forgive ___ sins and to cleanse ___ from all unrighteousness.
For further reading on prayer, read Exodus 33:12-19, the Psalms, and John 17.
Please memorize First John 1:9.
Please commit yourself to begin a minimum of five minuets of prayer daily. Make it a time when you are awake, alone, and able to quiet your thoughts before God. If you are not sure how to structure your prayer time, a help for many believers is the acronym PTA.
Praise God for His attributes, love and goodness. Then, in the light of Who He is,
Thank Him for His forgiveness, cleansing, and the many blessings of Yeshua in your life.
Ask Him to supply your needs as well as the needs of others.
Take time each day also to be quiet before the Lord. That way, He gets to minister to your heart as the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to remind you of His great love for you! Prayer is the means believers have to talk to the Holy One of Isra’el. What a privilege!
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