Continuing on our series on
prayer, we'll look at some examples in the New Testamen that we can
apply. But it's important to mention that to first approach God we must
be in a reconciled relationship with Him. Else, it says in
Isaiah 59:1,2 "Surely the arm of the LORD is not too
short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have
separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear." But if you have trusted in the Lord
Jesus to reconcile you with God, you have no such barrier to be
concerned about. For as Paul wrote in
Romans 5:1,2 "Since we have been justified through faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have
gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we
rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." For
"God presented him as a
sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood." Rom 3:25 Thus John speaks of the
status of those of us who are Christians saying,
"To him who loves us
and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a
kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father— to him be glory and
power for ever and ever! Amen" Rev
1:6,7
And it's in that capacity in the priesthood of all believers we
have the priviledge of praying on behalf of others in cooperation with
the Spirit of God to accomplish God's purposes,
"who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth." 1Tim 2:4
But if you have not yet come to put your faith in Christ personally, it
is written that
"Everyone who
calls on the name of theLord will be saved." Rom 10:13 We enter into the
kingdom by praying in faith, and we live in the kingdom faithfully
praying. But in the New Testament letters we don't find the authors
praying that the Christians would be saved. Because the Christians are
already saved.
Part
of what it means to put your faith in Jesus as your Savior
is to not worry about your salvation status. Thus the prayers in the
New Testament letters are focussed more on
issues of growing in spiritual maturity and one's effectiveness and
fruitfulness in this life
"while we wait for the
blessed hope— the
glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave
himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for
himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."
Tit 2:14
In fact, speaking of worry, it's written,
"Do
not
be
anxious
about
anything,
but
in
everything,
by
prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to
God. And
the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your
hearts
and your minds in Christ Jesus." Php 4:6,7 So the first thing to pray
about are the things that you're worried about. And you can keep
praying about those things until you gain peaced of mind. For God
doesn't want us to be worried about stuff, as I mentioned previously
, "Cast all your anxiety on him because
he cares for you." 1Pet 5:7
And if you're experiencing suffering it says
James 5:13a "Is
anyone
among
you
suffering?
Let
him
pray."
God cares about how you're feeling.
Though suffering can also bring its benefits in affecting our
character. Peter prays,
"May the God of all
grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you
have
suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you." 1Peter 5:10 But the apostle
John writes to his Christian friend saying,
"Dear friend, I pray that you
may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your
soul is getting along well." 3John 1:2
Howver, most of the Christian prayers
in the Bible are not about materials things but about spiritual things.
For the physical is temporary, but the spiritual eternal. Thus for
example Paul prays for the Colossians saying, "We do not cease to pray
for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His
will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk
worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good
work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all
might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and
longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified
us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light." Col 1:9-12 And this I will now pray
also for you.
And to Thessalonians he writes,
"We
constantly
pray
for
you,
that
our
God
may count you worthy
of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose
of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the
name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him,
according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." 2Thess 1:11,12 And this I will not
also pray for you. And as Paul also wrotel,
"May our
Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his
grace gave
us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and
strengthen
you in every good deed and word." 2Thess
2:16,17
The early Christians were also commended for their active participation
in the ministry of the gospel. To the Philippians he writes,
"I thank my God
upon
every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request
for you
all with joy, for your
fellowship in the gospel from
the first
day until
now." Php 1:3-5 And I
found Paul's prayer for Philemon particularly interesting. For he said,
"I
pray that you may be active in sharing your faith,
so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have
in
Christ." Phm 1:6 For
when
we
are
active
in
sharing
our
faith, not only does it benefit
others, but also we ourselves grow in our understanding and convictions
concerning every good thing we have in Christ.
And if not personally sharing your faith, you can all be active in the
mission which should be on the mind and in the heart of every
Christian, the purpose God has given us as Christians to propagate the
gospel of Christ so that people might be saved.
1Tim 2:4 Pray for Society along
these lines, as Paul instructed Timothy,
"I
exhort first of all that supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for
kings and
all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life
in
all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in
the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to
come to
the knowledge of the truth."
1Tim 2:1-4 And apart from the knowledge of the gospel people
cannot be saved. Therefore as Paul writes to the Colossians,
"Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping
alert in it
with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as
well, that God will open up
to us a door for the
word, so that we may speak
forth the mystery of Christ, for which I
have
also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to
speak." Col 4:2-4
So pray for open doors, pray for the swift and safe propagation of the
gospel. For while this country offers perhaps the least hostile
environment to the gospel due to the constitutional right of the
freedom of speech, most of the rest of the world, particularly Islamic
areas are extremely hostile to the gospel. Paul asked the Thessalonians
to pray for his ministry team. He says,
"Brethren, pray for us that the word
of the Lord will spread rapidly
and be glorified, just as it did also with you;and that we will be
rescued from perverse and
evil men; for not all have faith." 2Thess 3:1,2 And pray
that the gospel may be preached with boldness. Paul advises the
Ephesians to
"pray
always with all prayer and supplication
in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and
supplication
for all the saints—— and for me, that utterance may be given to me,
that
I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for
which I
am an ambassador in chains; that
in
it
I
may
speak
boldly, as I
ought to
speak." Eph 6:18-20
Also just before he died Jesus prayed an extensive prayer found in John
chapter 17. Among the things he prayer about were his accomplishments.
John 17:
vs 4 I glorified you on the earth
vs 4 I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do.
vs 6 I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out
of the
world.
vs 9 I pray for them.
vs 12 I protected them and kept them safe
vs 14 I have given them your word
vs 18 I have sent them into the world
vs 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me
vs 26 I have made known to them your name
Before we die we might want to prayerfully review our lives with
respect to what you have accomplished for the Lord in anticipation of
that day when the Lord will say to us,
"Well done, good and faithful servant! You
have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many
things.
Come and share your master’s happiness!" Mt 25:21