What the Bible Says About Prayer
Prayer is the most powerful expression of communication we have to commune with the LORD God. There are different types of prayers we use to fellowship with the LORD God. There are examples of prayer of adoration given by some of the Biblical Greats. There are personal requirements and general requirements for prayers. The Bible gives reasons for prayers to be refused. There are even postures and times and places for prayers.
What the Bible Says:
According to the Strong Concordance of the Bible, which is a concordance of the King James Bible and is a cross reference of every word in the KJV Bible, are different types of prayers. Strong has given numbers to every word or the King James Version of the Bible for example there is intercession, supplication, or prayer to intercede.
Intercessions, supplication; by implication, a hymn: prayer. (#08605 Strong 2001)
To judge (officially or mentally); by extension, to intercede, pray: (#08605 intercessions Strong 2001)
Properly, a wish, expressed as a petition to God, or in votive obligation (#2171 Strong 2001)
To wish; by implication, to pray to God (#2172 Strong 2001)
TYPES OF PRAYERS TO THE LORD GOD Fellowship with God:
Confession: If we confess our sins and forsake them, the LORD God who is faithful and just will have mercy and forgive us our sins, and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9; Proverb 28:13). Whosoever confesses Jesus before men, Jesus will confess also before His Father which is in heaven and before the angels of God. (Matthew 10:32; Luke 12:8). It is with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:10). We are freely justified by God’s grace through the redemption (ransom in full, that is riddance, or salvation, deliverance) that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:24). We are saved by grace through faith, and not of ourselves; it is the gift of the LORD God. (Ephesians 2:8). Confess your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual (effective) fervent (supplication) prayer of a righteous man avails much. (James 5:16).
Intercession: Pray for those that are afflicted (suffering). The sick should call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. (James 5:13-15). Jesus Christ justified many because He bared their iniquities. The LORD God divides Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because Jesus has poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. It is Christ that died, and has risen again, Who sits at the right hand of the LORD God and makes intercession of us all. (Isaiah 53:11-12;Romans 8:34). The Holy Spirit makes intercession for the saints according to the will of the LORD God. The Holy Spirit helps our infirmities (weakness) and searches the hearts and knows what is the mind, and the Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered, because we do not know what we should pray for as we ought to. (Romans 8:26-27). The LORD God calls for repentance. Amend your ways and your doings, and He will cause you to dwell in the promised land. Do not pray for people, nor lift up cry’s, nor prayers, neither make intercession to the LORD God for people who: use lying words that cannot profit, who oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed innocent blood, those who walk after other gods you do not know, those who steal, murder, commit adultery, and swear falsely, or those who burn incense to baal, for the LORD God will not hear you. (Jeremiah 7: 1-16).
Adoration S#01288 to kneel; by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration).
The prayer of adoration of Nebuchadnezzar:
And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honored him that lives forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and He does according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? (Daniel 4:34-35).
The Song of Moses in Adoration to the LORD God:
Before the death of Moses so when many evils and troubles are befallen the children of Israel , that his song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for Moses knew their imagination. Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.
And the LORD God gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which the LORD God swore unto them: and would be with them. And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,
Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against you. For I (Moses) know your rebellion, and your stiff neck: behold, while I (Moses) am yet alive with you this day, you have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death? Gather unto me (Moses) all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I (Moses) may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them. For I (Moses) know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I (Moses) have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands. And Moses spoke in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended. Give ear, O you heavens, and I (Moses) will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: Because I (Moses) will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our GOD. He (the LORD God) is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgments: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He. They have corrupted themselves; their spot is not the spot of His children: they are a perverse and crooked generation. Do you thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not He your Father that has bought you? Hath He not made you, and established you? Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you. When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the LORD’S portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirs up her nest, flutters over her young, spread abroad her wings, takes them, bears them on her wings: So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they Him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to GOD; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Of the Rock that begat you your art unmindful, and has forgotten GOD that formed you. And when the LORD saw it, He abhorred them, because of the provoking of His sons, and of His daughters. And He said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very forward generation, children in whom is no faith.
They have moved Me (the LORD GOD) to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked Me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them. They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust. The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs. I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men: Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the LORD has not done all this. For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them. O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?
For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter: Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps .Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures? To me belongs vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. For the LORD shall judge His people, and repent Himself for His servants, when He sees that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left. And He shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted, Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection. See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god with Me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of My hand. For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live forever. If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.
Rejoice, O you nations, with His people: for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and will render vengeance to His adversaries, and will be merciful unto His land, and to His people. And Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Joshua the son of Nun. And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel: (Deuteronomy 32:1-43).
David’s Prayer of Adoration to the LORD God:
And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the LORD your God. And all the congregation blessed the LORD God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the LORD, and the king. (1 Chronicles 29:20 ). I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. (Psalms 16:7).
My foot stands in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the LORD. (Psalms 26:12). I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. (Psalms 34:1-4). A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies; Who satisfies your mouth with good things; so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The LORD executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul. (Psalms 103:1-6,20,22 ).
Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; you are clothed with honor and majesty. (Psalms 104:1). But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the LORD. (Psalms 115:18). Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD. (Psalms 134:2).
Supplication: S#08467 graciousness; causatively, entreaty: favor, grace, supplication.
Paul exhorted (desire), that all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; (1 Timothy 2:1-3).
The Solomon’s prayer of supplication to the LORD GOD to dedicate the temple:
The prayer of Solomon as he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven: and he said, LORD GOD of Israel, there is no GOD like You, in heaven above, or on the earth beneath, who keeps covenant and mercy with your servants that walk before You with all their heart: hearken unto the cry and to the prayer and, which your servant prays before You today regard the prayer of your servant, and of Your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear You in heaven Your dwelling place: and when You hear, forgive. When Your people Israel are smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against You, and shall turn again to You, and confess Your name, and pray, and make supplication unto You in this house: then hear Your people Israel and forgive the sin and bring them again unto the land, which You gave unto their fathers. When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against You; if they pray toward this place, and confess Your name, and turn from their sin, when You afflict them: hear You in heave, and forgive the sin of Your servants, and of Your people Israel, and You taught them the good way they should walk, and give rain upon Your land, which You have given to Your people for an inheritance. What prayer and supplication so ever be made by any man, or by all Your people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: Then hear You in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart You know (for You, even You know the hearts of all the children of men;) that they may fear You, all the days they live in the land which You gave unto our fathers. And the stranger, that is not of Your people Israel, but comes out of a far country for Your name’s sake (For they will hear of Your Great Name, and of Your strong hand, and of Your stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house; Hear You in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calls to You for; that all people of the earth may know Your name, to fear You, as do Your people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I (Solomon) built is called by Your name. If Your people go out to battle against their enemy, there You shall send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which You have chosen, and toward the house that Solomon built to the Name of the LORD GOD. Then hear You in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. If they sin against You (for there is no man that does not sin) and You be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near. Yet if they shall bring back to their heart in the land where they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto You in saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; and return unto You with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, Then hear You their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people that have sinned against You, and all their transgressions they have transgressed toward You, and have compassion before those who have carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them: They are Your people and Your inheritance, which You brought out of Egypt form the midst of the furnace of iron: That Your eyes may be open unto the supplication of Your servant, and unto the supplication of Your people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto You. And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our GOD day and night, that He maintain the cause of His servant, and the cause of His people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require. (1 Kings 8:22-59). And the LORD said unto Him, I have heard your prayer and your supplication, that you have made before Me: I have hallowed this house, which you have built, to put My name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. (1 Kings 9:3; 2 Chronicles 6:19-35).
The LORD God hears prayers of supplication and all enemies will be greatly troubled and ashamed. (Psalms 6:9-10). The anger of the LORD God endures but a moment; in His favor is life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy (singing) comes in the morning. I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication. (Psalms 30:5-8). Present supplication before the LORD God and return for your evil ways and the great anger and the fury that the LORD has pronounced against the people. (Jeremiah 36:7).
Take the whole armor of GOD, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. (Ephesians 6:13-18). Rejoice in the Lord always and let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto GOD. (Philippians 4:4-6).
Thanksgiving: Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto GOD. (Philippians 4:6). When you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will. (Leviticus 22:29).
Prayers of Thanksgiving of David:
Judge me, O LORD; for I (David) have walled in my integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide. Examine me, O LORD, and prove me, try my reins and my heart. For your loving-kindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in truth. I have not sat with vain persons; neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evildoers; and will not sit with the wicked. I will wash mine hands in innocence: so will I compass your altar, O LORD: That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works. (Psalms 26:1-7). Offer unto GOD thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: (Psalms 50:14).
I will praise the name of GOD with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving. (Psalms 69:30). Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms. (Psalms 95:2). Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD He is GOD: it is He that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations. (Psalms 100:1-5). I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. (Psalms 116:17). Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our GOD: (Psalms 147:7).
Prayer of Thanksgiving of Jonah:
Jonah prayed to the LORD God out of the belly of a fish, he cried by reason of his affliction unto the LORD God. The LORD God cast Jonah into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed him, the billows and waves passed over him. Jonah cried: “I am cast out of your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever; yet has you brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my GOD. When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto you, into your holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. “ (Jonah 2:1-9).
Hearken to the LORD GOD, those that follow after righteousness, you that seek the LORD: look unto the rock where you are hewn, and to the hole of the pit where you are dug. For the LORD shall comfort Zion: He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. (Isaiah 51:1-3; Jeremiah 30:19). Be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto GOD. And “the peace of GOD, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7 ).
PERSONAL REQUIREMENTS:
Purity of heart: If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. (Psalm 66: 18-19).
Believing: Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If you have faith, and doubt not, you shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if you shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive. (Matthew 21:22).
In Christ’s name: And whatsoever you shall ask in the name of Christ, that will He do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask any thing in the name Jesus, He will do it. If you love Jesus Christ, keep His commandments. Jesus will pray to the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; (John 14:13-15).
According to God’s will: Those that believe on the name of the Son of God; may know they have eternal life, and this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He hears us: And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him. (1 John 5:13-15).
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF PRAYER:
Forgiving spirit: For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: (Matthew 6:14).
Simplicity: And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly. (Matthew 6:5-6).
Humility and repentance: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee (Typology: A sanctimonious, hypocritical, self-righteous heretic who practices and advocates strict observance of external forms and ceremonies of religion or conduct without regard to the spirit. He makes a hypocritical show of religious devotion, piety, and righteousness. He is confident of his own righteousness, and is smugly moralistic and intolerant of the opinion and behavior of others. He pretends to have moral, religious beliefs and principles, that he does not possess.), and the other a publican (a tax-farmer, i.e. collector of public revenue). The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, GOD, I thank you, that I am not as other men are, extortionists, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican (a tax-farmer, i.e. collector of public revenue). I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican (a tax-farmer, i.e. collector of public revenue), standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:10-14).
Unity of believers: Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:19-20).
Tenacity (1. Very determined or stubborn: tending to stick firmly to any decision, plan or opinion without changing or doubting it. 2. Tightly held: difficult to loosen, shake off, or pull away from. ). Jesus spoke a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which did not fear GOD, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I do not fear GOD, nor regard man; Because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall not GOD avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:1-8).
Importunity (wearisome persistence: the fact of being troublesomely demanding or insistent. 2. Persistent demand: a demand made repeatedly or insistently). Jesus asked:Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needs. (Luke 11:5-8).
Intensity (1. Quality of being intense: the strength, power, force, or concentration of something 2. Intense manner: a passionate and serious attitude or quality). Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him? (Matthew 7:7-11).
Confident expectation: Jesus said: What things so ever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them. (Mark 11:24).
Without many words: But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. (Matthew 6:7).
Unceasingly: Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of GOD in Christ Jesus concerning you. (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
PRAYERS REFUSED BECAUSE OF:
Sin: If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: (Psalm 66:18).
Selfishness: You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts. (James 4:3).
Doubt: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of GOD, that gives to all men liberally, and up braids not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. (James 1:5-7).
Disobedience: He that turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination. (Proverbs 28:9).
Inhumanity: Whoso stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard. (Proverbs 21:13).
Pride: The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, GOD, I thank you, that I am not as other men are, extortionists, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican (a tax-farmer, i.e. collector of public revenue). I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican (a tax-farmer, i.e. collector of public revenue), standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, GOD be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:10-14).
Posture
Confession of sins – Bowed knee to the Lord Jesus, with tongue confessing to GOD For it is written, As I live, said the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to GOD. (Romans 14:1).
Reading book of law – Stand up in place: And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their GOD one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their GOD. (Nehemiah 9:3).
Priests crying with a loud voice unto the LORD GOD – Stand up upon the stairs Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their GOD. (Nehemiah 9:4).
Blessing the LORD GOD and His glorious Name – Stand up and kneel Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the LORD your GOD for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. (Nehemiah 9:5).
And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honored him that lives for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: (Daniel 4:34).
Following blessing of the LORD – All people answer Amen, Amen with lifting up their hands And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great GOD. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground. (Nehemiah 8:6).
Worshipping the LORD – Bowed heads and faces to the ground And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground. (Nehemiah 8:6).
Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped. (2 Chronicles 29:30).
And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD. (2 Chronicles 20:18).
Cry into LORD GOD for affliction (such as sword, judgment, pestilence or famine) – Stand before the LORD GOD’S Temple and in His Presence If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in your presence, (for your name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then You wilt hear and help. (2 Chronicles 20:9).
To receive the Spirit of the LORD GOD – Stand before the LORD (If in group, with families together) And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. (2 Chronicles 20:13).
Witnessing the salvation of the LORD GOD – Set yourselves, stand still. Do not fear nor be dismayed Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you. (2 Chronicles 20:17).
Praise the LORD GOD – Stand up with a loud voice on high And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high. (2 Chronicles 20:19).
Making a covenant with the LORD GOD – Stand in place And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book. And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of GOD, the GOD of their fathers. (2 Chronicles 34:31-32).
Chosen to serve the LORD GOD – Stand before the LORD GOD My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that you should minister unto him, and burn incense. (2 Chronicles 29:11).
Minister unto the LORD GOD – Stand before the LORD GOD My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that you should minister unto him, and burn incense. (2 Chronicles 29:11).
PRAYERS OF CHRIST:
Intercession: These words spoke Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You: As You have given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is life eternal, that they might know You the only true GOD, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth: I have finished the work which You gave Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify You Me with Your own self with the glory which I had with You before the world was. I have manifested Your name unto the men which You gave Me out of the world: Yours they were, and You gave them Me; and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever You have given me are of You. For I have given unto them the words which You gave Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from You, and they have believed that You did send Me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which You have given Me; for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your own name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one, as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name: those that You gave Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to You; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through Your truth: Your word is truth. As You have sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as You, Father, art in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that You have sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which You have given Me: for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world has not known You: but I have known You, and these have known that You have sent Me. And I have declared unto them Your name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:1-26).
Adoration: At that time the seventy returned Jesus said, I thank You, O Father, LORD of heaven and earth, because You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and has revealed them unto babes (a simple-minded person, an immature Christian). Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things are delivered unto Me of My Father: and no man knows the Son, but the Father; neither knows any man the Father, except the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. (Matthew 11:25-27; Luke 10:21-22).
Thanksgiving: The resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus told Martha to take away the stone. Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead Lazarus was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I knew that You hear Me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that You have sent Me. (John 11:41-42).
At His Baptism: ; Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased. (Luke 3: 21-22).
Before selecting the apostles: Jesus went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called unto Him His disciples: and of them He chose twelve, whom also he named apostles; Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor. (Luke 6:12-16).
At His transfiguration: Jesus took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as He prayed, the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and glistering. (Luke 9:28-29).
In Gethsemane: Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane told the disciples to sit while He went to pray. He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then Jesus said unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry you here, and watch with Me. And He went a little further, and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as You will. And He cometh unto the disciples, and found them asleep, and Jesus said unto Peter, What, could you not watch with Me one hour?
Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, thy will be done. (Matthew 26:36-42).
For teaching: After this manner therefore pray you: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13).
TIMES AND PLACES:
In secret: And Jesus withdrew Himself into the wilderness, and prayed. And it came to pass, as He was alone praying, His disciples were with Him: and He asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am? (Luke 9:16-18).
Early in morning: And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, Jesus went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. (Mark 1:35).
With others: And it came to pass, that, as Jesus was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. (Luke 11:1).
On mountain: And when Jesus had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, He was there alone. (Matthew 14:23).
Matthew 7:7 tells us “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:”
Both Jesus (Luke 18:1) and Paul (1 Timothy 2:1) emphasized the importance of prayer, noting that people ought always to pray. Prayer includes asking and getting answers from the LORD God. But it is more than just asking; it is confession, adoration, thanksgiving, and fellowship with GOD. It is by its very nature that prayer is talking with the LORD God. It is the basis of the successful Christian life, and is so important that not praying is considered a sin (1 Samuel 12:23). When we pray, we should follow the model prayer Jesus gave His disciples and address it to our heavenly Father – beginning with adoration, including thanksgiving and confession of sins, making reconciliation with others, praying for our needs and the needs of others, and concluding in Jesus’ name (6:9-15; John 14:14). Jesus pointed out that LORD God heard the prayer of a humble publican rather than that of a proud Pharisee (Luke 18:14). God will answer our prayer when we obey Him (1 John 3:22), confess sin (Psalm 66:18), abide in Christ (John 15:7), ask according to the will of GOD (1 John 5:14), ask in faith (Mark 11:24), have pure motives (James 4:3), and live peaceable with our mate (1 Peter 3:7). (Genesis 3:8-13; Matthew 7:7; John 5:14-15).
Hannah was consumed with the desire to have a child. So she prayed on her knees with her soul she prayed to the LORD God. I can understand this great desire to pray. I would like to share with you a prayer and desire I had that only the LORD God could solve.
Reference:
Strong, James. (2001). The New Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “What the Bible Says About Prayer:.” Becker Bible Studies Library Dec 2014.< https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1794 ,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2014, December) “What the Bible Says About Prayer:.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1794 ,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2014) “What the Bible Says About Prayer:.” Becker Bible Studies Library (December), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1794 , (accessed).
Joanne B. Holstein is a Becker Bible Studies teacher and author of Guided Bible Studies for Hungry Christians. She has received her Master of Science degree in Psychology/Christian Counseling with honors from Liberty University. She is well-known as a counselor to Christian faithful who are struggling with tremendous burden in these difficult times. She is a leading authority on the history of development of the Christian churches and the practices and beliefs of world religions and cults.
