Habits of Effective Disciples: Prayer

Disciples persistently offer faithful prayers to God.

Jesus taught His disciples a model prayer and with. it He showed them the power of taking our hopes directly to the Lord.

Prayer is not completely an action we take but is also an attitude we take which is to accept an attitude of dependency on the Lord.

Prayer is the means by which we are to confess to Him our sense of need and that we are in submission to Him to meet those needs.

This effort is our communion with God so that there will be common thoughts between His divine mind and our mortal mind.

The object of prayer is not to get our will done in Heaven, but rather to arrange the Lord's will done on earth through us. Romans 8:28 teaches that we are called according to His purpose.

We must remember that prayer defined the ministry of Jesus at His baptism (Luke 3:21), when he withdrew to lonely places alone and prayed (5:16), when He spent the night praying (6:12), and when He sought to hear who people thought Him to be (9:18), and on the Mount of Transfiguration as he was praying when He displayed His glorified Self (9:28-29).

His disciples learned the lesson well and continued the life of prayer after Jesus had departed (Acts 1:14). So as we grow in Christ and take on the role of stronger disciples we should recall that we come from a long line of faithful disciples, all of whom learned this lesson.

DISCIPLES FOLLOW THE PATTERN JESUS TAUGHT

Luke 11:1-4

This prayerful scripture is similar to the Lord's prayer taught in Matthew 6 with only a few differences. This prayer is shorter and simpler.

But in both cases, it begins with God the Father. This teaches us that He is to be approached in reverence and that His position is primary and most holy.

The example prayer is meant to show us that we are to ask the Lord for our daily bread. We remember that God provided such sustenance to the Hebrews in the wilderness and commanded that they only take what they needed for one day (except on the day before the Sabbath). The reason is that He wishes each day for those who love Him to ask again for that day's bread. We should follow that example.

Just as we need bread (physical & spiritual) for daily life, we also need to be forgiven for our daily sins against Him and His precious Word. As we confess and repent in prayer the Lord provides this need as well. But we need to go one step further and in that same prayer, we are to forgive others who have wronged us. Finally, we are to beg the Father to help us to avoid temptation. We know (and He knows) we are prone to sin. We find strength to be unyielding ONLY through His strength. Jesus made this point clearly to Paul by teaching him that it was in his weakness that the strength of Jesus prevailed. This request aligns us properly in His will before the temptation arrives.

DISCIPLES ASK STRONGLY AND SECURELY

Luke 11:11-13

Prayer to Jesus was about a relationship. He prayed consistently using the word "Abba" (meaning Father) and each prayer he made began that way until He was on the cross when He quoted Psalm 22 ("My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?")

But at His end he again addressed the Father as we see in Luke 23:46: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit"

So His practice should be our practice as well

Jesus gave a powerful lesson on this matter in Luke 11:13 when He taught that the heavenly Father gives more than an earthly father and gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. Such a prayer gift is more powerful than any other gift possible.

The writer of Hebrews echoed this lesson in 4:16: "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need".

Are we following the example Jesus gave and taught?

Are we asking for more of the Holy Spirit, inviting Him into our heart daily?

His presence and power stand in waiting for our hearts to open and make the request.

Acts 1:24 teaches us that the original disciples were much in prayer to replace Judas before the Holy Spirit arrived.

DISCIPLES ASK PERSISTENTLY BECAUSE GOD IS GREATER AND KINDER THAN ANY JUDGE.

Luke 18:1-8

Jesus later told another parable about prayer. When the Pharisees asked Him about the kingdom of God coming, He told them it was already in their midst.

A persistent widow refused to relent in her efforts to ask a judge for legal relief and only after she pestered him did he finally grant it.

This parable is given as a contrast. If even a wicked judge will relent. How much more will our loving God give to us through His justice granted to those who sincerely and openly ask?

Are our hearts ready to receive the grace, the fellowship, the power, and the gifts God gives to those who come to Him in prayer showing a contrite heart and broken spirit?

The contrite heart and broken spirit was the evidence David brought to the Lord in his great confession Psalm 51 (verse 17).

Finally, we must always remember that there are three possible answers to each prayer:

• YES

• NO

• WAIT

Baptists seem less than happy with the last two. In some cases we later are thankful for the NO answer (sometimes called "The Blessing of Unanswered Prayer"). If we trust the Lord to know best all things, we must honor Him by accepting that He knows not only WHAT is best but also WHEN it is best.

The last two answers test our willingness to submit and fully trust.

DO WE?

PURITY

WHAT DOES IT CONSIST OF?

IST TIMOTHY 1:5

NOW THE END OF THE COMMANDMENT IS CHARITY (LOVE) OUT OF A PURE HEART, AND OF A GOOD CONSCIENCE…

JAMES 4:8

CLEANSE YOUR HANDS, YE SINNERS. AND PURIFY YOUR HEARTS…

HOW DO WE GET THERE?

IST PETER 1:22

SEEING YE HAVE PURIFIED YOUR SOULS IN YOUR OBEDIENCE TO THE TRUTH UNTO UNFEIGNED LOVE OF THE BRETHREN, LOVE ONE ANOTHER FROM THE HEART FERVENTLY.

HOW CAN OUR RELIGION BECOME PURE?

JAMES 1:27

PURE RELIGION AND UNDEFILED BEFORE OUR GOD AND FATHER IS THIS. TO VISIT THE FATHERLESS AND WIDOWS IN THEIR AFFLICTION, AND TO KEEP ONESELF UNSPOTTED FROM THE WORLD.

DO WE ACCEPT THE WORD AS PURE?

PSALM 119:14

THY WORD IS VERY PURE; THEREFORE THY SERVANT LOVETH IT.

WHAT WAS THE VISION OF JESUS OF THE PURIFIED?

MATTHEW 5:8

BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART: FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD.