Loving God by Knowing God 3:Through Prayer

Loving God By knowing God 3: Prayer

Prayer is our 3rd point in knowing God, but the points go together -As we have accepted the Lord Jesus and submitted to Him as the Lord of our life; when we get up in the morning, we read the word of God and pray committing our day into the hand of God and ask Him to guide us throughout the day by His Spirit. 1 John 4:1 “By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.†

As we take these steps towards knowing God, we must understand that it is a gradual process. But once we are consistent, we will continue to grow in our knowledge of God. However, our desire and actions towards knowing God is not just a function of our human will power but is rooted in the deep work of God in us, directing and encouraging us to continue in Him by the Holy Spirit. 

Prayer is a very important step in knowing God just like the previous two steps. However, I love this part so much because we get to enjoy the presence of God our heavenly father just as children enjoy the presence of a loving father and the father enjoys it too-God our father is also delighted to be with us. Sometimes, we feel that God is not present when we are praying but He says in James 4: 8b, draw near to God and He will draw near to you thereby encouraging us that He is with us while we pray. Please do not take this time for granted but honor God when you come before His presence. 

Through prayer, we praise God for His goodness, beauty, holiness, compassion and love to us and the world. We also thank Him for his kindness, protection, and provision. We let Him know what is going on in our lives, make requests and seek guidance from him. I like prayer so much because through it, I get guidance on different requests I bring to God and actions that I want to take. Through prayer, we communicate our desires, fears, emotions, and concerns to God, and He listens, guides, and directs us like a loving father that He is. He also shares His concerns with us and gets to tell us what He wants to see happen and as we lean on him, he will direct our paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

As we continue to seek God and walk with Him through the different phases of our lives, praying to Him in faith and receiving answers and directions from Him, our experience with God and our trust in Him grow. Subsequently, we develop an enduring, loving, fruitful personal relationship with God that strengthens our faith in Him, deepens our knowledge and love for Him because we have seen the manifestations of His different characteristic like His love for us and Mankind, patience towards us, gentle loving correction, protection, provision, compassion, wisdom and faithfulness. From this experience we form a worldview of God born not out of things we were told but from our personal experience and it becomes difficult for our faith to be shaken very easily because now, we let God who never fails hold us and he sure knows how to hold the hand of His own children and lead them.

  How to Pray:

You can pray silently in your heart. You can pray audibly too. Prayer can be done in private, in public and can be formal, and informal according to the circumstances and especially as the spirit of God leads us.

It is better to pray first thing in the morning after reading the word of God and commit yourself into the hand of God before you step out of the house irrespective of how busy your day is or will be. It is through that devotion that God will help and guide you throughout the day. I am not saying that God cannot help you when you don’t have your devotion, but it is recommended that you make your devotion a habit and you will see the difference. Also, the Bible encourages us to pray without ceasing which 1 Thessalonians 5:17 which entails lifting your daily moments before the Lord in your heart knowing that God is always with you.

We pray to God in faith in the name of our Lord Jesus. John 14:13-14 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. Come to God in confidence because of what the Lord Jesus has done on the cross not because of your good deeds. 1 John 5:14-15 14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

Come to God in Prayer with a humble and repentant heart: Confess, repent of your sin, forsake them, and ask God for forgiveness. 1stJohn 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness†Search your heart to forgive anyone that has sinned against you or you have anything against. Mathew 5:24. If it is hard to do, ask God in sincerity to give you the grace to forgive others and step away from your sins that do not please God. For instance, if you are someone who constantly enjoys gossiping and destroying other people’s character, ask God to help you detest it. And when you ask in sincerity, you will see that you start hating the idea of gossiping about people. That is the power God at work through prayer.

Ask in faith and according to the will of God

Our faith is in the character of God who is a faithful and loving father that wants to bless and comfort his children. The Lord Jesus in Mathew chapter 6 25 -34 shows us that it is God’s will to provide for our needs because if he can take care of the birds, lilies that can be readily cut down, then God is more willing to take even more care of us His children and answer our prayers. But He encourages us to develop a loving relationship with God which is the bedrock of getting our prayers answered.  When we pray, we should have faith that He hears us and will grant every request that is in line with His will for us. 1 John 5:14-15- 14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. When we ask according to our own selfish desires, God will not hear our prayers. James 4:3 says, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.†

Know your spiritual authority in Christ through studying the scriptures:

Study and know the scripture because that will help you know the spiritual authority we have in the Lord Jesus Christ over circumstances and in prayer. Pray using the word of God, especially when the Holy Spirit gives you a word (Bible verse or bible passage) regarding a situation. Pray with that scripture passage and God will answer you. The word of God saved me when I passed through a troubling time where I felt that I might die, and I was crying out to God. He dropped this word in my spirit- The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe-Proverbs 18:10. Then I did not know this scripture and I searched and found it and started praying with it and placed my faith in God and the word He gave me believing that God will deliver me, and He did. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing the word of God Romans 10:17. Remember that the lord Jesus used the scriptures as a weapon against the devil during the temptation in the wilderness. And He also told us in John 15:7.  â€œIf you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you†It is important therefore that we abide in Christ so that whatever we ask is in accordance with His will and He will do it for us. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus-Philippians 4:19

Summary of Intent of Prayer

Matthew 6:33 directs our hearts to know what God wants from us in relation to all the list that we always bring to our prayer closet. It states; 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. When you seek God, his righteousness and holiness first, God will be delighted in you and will answer your prayers according to his will in a way that will make you the instrument of his righteousness. You make God the solid foundation on which you stand, the center of your world. Your world does not depend on stuff but on God. Things can be taken away, but you will still stand. But if you make things the center of your world, when things are taken away your world will shatter. -Food for Thought. 

Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name

We are praying to God our heavenly father and worshiping and adoring Him. We worship God and this focuses on who God is. We can sing praise and worship songs declaring all the different attributes of God-His omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence; the creator of heaven and earth and his intelligence, brilliance and artistry in creation of nature and man; ancient of days, alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ; the lover of mankind; loving, kind, just, immortal, invisible, only wise God. Glory, power honor majesty adoration belongs to our God and our King. Amen.

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 

As believers in the Lord Jesus, we believe that the Almighty God is our King. Therefore, we pray Thy Kingdom come, to request that He will rule over our lives here on earth, as we submit and yield to His Kingly authority over every aspect of our lives. We pray that His Sovereignty will rule the world in this present time and in the future generation to come and into eternity.

We pray for God’s will to be done here on earth starting with us where we search our heart first to see if we are doing the will of God that we learn from the scriptures by the assistance of the Holy Spirit before pointing that finger at other people who we think are not doing it. Mathew 7:5

Give us this day our daily bread
Here we pray for our needs and the needs of others. God satisfies our needs from physical to spiritual because He knows what we need. When we ask the following my happen: 

He might want us to wait because the time is not ripe- just like a father will not allow his child who is just learning how to crawl to start riding a bicycle, so God withholds certain things from us because we are not ready for them. 

Sometimes He says No because that thing is not good for us-There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Proverbs 14:12

Sometimes He says Yes and grants our request when what we are asking is according to His will. It is God’s desire to see us prosper and flourish 

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. -Jeremiah 29:11

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us

We come to God in humility to confess and receive forgiveness. Our sins are done against God because sin entails our going against His ways. Confession and repentance bring forgiveness and restoration. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” John 1:9

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
Here we ask God to grant us the grace to overcome and triumph over sin in our lives.

For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen.
God is the possessor of heaven and earth, all powerful, all knowing, the Only Wise God and His kingdom has no end. Therefore, He has every capacity to answer all our prayers in His wisdom.

Thanksgiving

Finally, Paul the apostle encourages us to thank God when we pray. We thank God for what He has done- giving us access to Him in prayer through the Lord Jesus, keeping us alive, protection, preservation, provision  and other good things that He has done. 

We thank Him for the prayer we have rendered because we know that He will answer in His wisdom which is for our own good.

Our prayer today 2/21/2021;

Father we pray that you direct our hearts to seek first your kingdom and your righteousness and as we ask for our daily bread  according to your will, that you will grant our request in the Mighty Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Amen. 

A green book with a cross on it.