The Basics of Prayer

• "Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving." (Col 4:2)

     God communicates with us through His written Word, and we communicate with Him through our prayers. When we pray, it immediately connects us with God, allowing us to confess our sin, express thankfulness, intercede for others, or request something for ourselves. Prayer is motivated by different causes and takes different forms. The most common words in the Bible translated prayer are תְּפִלָּה tephillah (Job 16:17; Psa 65:2) and προσευχή proseuche (Luke 19:46; Acts 12:5), which simply speak of the act of prayer.[1] According to Unger, “Prayer is the expression of man’s dependence upon God for all things. What habitual reverence is to praise, the habitual sense of dependence is to prayer.”[2] And according to Liefeld, prayer is “communion with God, usually comprising petition, adoration, praise, confession, and thanksgiving. The ultimate object of prayer in both OT and NT is not merely the good of the petitioner but the honor of God’s name.”[3]

     There is no inherent power in prayer to change things. Biblically, the power lies in the One who answers the prayer, and He alone reserves the right to change things if He wills. God answers prayer, but He does so according to His sovereign will (Psa 135:6; Dan 4:35; Isa 46:9-10). Sometimes He says yes, sometimes no, and sometimes wait. It is good to remember that a prayer delayed is not necessarily a prayer denied. Sometimes we just need patience.

     Some of the different types of prayer found in Scripture include: request for supply (Psa 116:1-2; Phil 4:6; Eph 6:18), thanksgiving (John 11:41; Col 4:2; Phil 4:6), submission (Luke 22:41-42), and intercession (Acts 12:1-5; Eph 6:18-19). The best prayers seek to glorify God above all else (John 14:13).[4] The Old Testament mentions imprecatory prayers, where Israelite believers prayed for God to destroy their enemies (Psa 58:6-8; 69:23-28). Imprecatory prayers were valid under the Mosaic Law where obedient Israelites could expect God to dispense justice on their enemies (Deut 28:7). Imprecatory prayers are not valid for Christians because we are not under the Mosaic Law (Rom 6:14). We are commanded to pray for our enemies that God will bless them (Matt 5:44-45; Luke 6:28, 35; cf. Rom 12:17-21; 1 Th 5:15; 1 Pet 3:9). If God dispenses judgment upon our enemies, He will do so at His discretion and not ours (Rom 12:17-19; 2 Th 1:6).

     Prayer should be ongoing. Jesus taught His disciples “that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart” (Luke 18:1). As Christians, we are to “pray without ceasing” (1 Th 5:17). This means our prayer life should never end, but should be ongoing, day by day, moment by moment. Life can be stressful, but we are to “be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Phil 4:6). As Christians, we are to “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16).

     Most often prayer is an appeal to God to change a difficult or helpless situation. Sometimes God changes our situations as we request (i.e., concerning employment, health, finances, family matters, etc.), and sometimes He leaves the difficult situation and seeks to change our attitude. When God does not remove a difficult situation as we request, then He intends for us to deal with it by faith (Jam 1:2-4). God uses difficult situations to remove pride (Dan 4:37; 2 Cor 12:7-10), and to develop our Christian character (Rom 5:3-5). It’s almost always the case that we prefer God change our circumstances rather than our attitude; and yet, it seems both biblically and experientially that God prefers to do the opposite. Though the Lord is concerned about our difficult situations, He’s more concerned with developing our Christian character than relieving our discomfort. However God chooses to answer, He has His reasons and they always glorify Him. A challenge for us is to trust that His plan is better than ours, wherever it happens to lead us, or however difficult the journey becomes.

     Prayer is for believers, for one can address God as Father only as a member of the family of God (John 1:12; Gal 3:26). The general agreement among theologians is that God does not hear the prayers of unbelievers, for they are not God’s children but belong to Satan. Jesus said of unbelieving Jews, “You are of your father the devil” (John 8:44). Logically, we cannot call God our Father if He is not.[5]

     Jesus prayed often, both publicly and privately (Matt 11:25-26; 14:23; 19:13; 26:36; Mark 6:46; Luke 5:16; 6:12; 9:28; 10:21; 22:41-42; John 11:41-42; 12:27-28; 17:1-26), and His prayer life was so noticeable, that His disciples asked Him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1-4; cf. Matt 6:9-13). For the Christian, prayer should be directed to God the Father (Matt 6:6; Luke 11:2; Eph 5:20; 1 Pet 1:17),[6]in the name of Jesus (John 14:13; 15:16), and in the Holy Spirit (Eph 6:18; Jude 1:20). Praying in the name of Jesus is not a magic formula that makes our prayers acceptable to God; rather, it means our request is consistent with Jesus’ character and will (1 John 5:14-15). Praying in the Spirit means we pray as the Spirit leads according to Scripture.[7] According to Ryrie, “Though we may address any Person of the Trinity, ordinarily, according to the biblical precedent, we address the Father in the name of Christ as the Spirit directs us (John 14:14; Eph. 1:6; 2:18; 6:18).”[8] It is interesting to note that both God the Holy Spirit and God the Son offer intercessory prayers for us to God the Father (Rom 8:26; Heb 7:24-25).

When God Does Not Hear Our Prayers

     There are some things in life that God conditions on prayer (Jam 4:2), but praying is no guarantee He’ll grant our request. Being a righteous God, He only hears the prayers of those who seek to know Him and do His will. The apostle Peter writes, “For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the Lord’s face is against those who do evil” (1 Pet 3:12). The apostle John writes, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him” (1 John 5:14-15).

     Biblically, there are several reasons why God does not answer the prayer of believers: lack of faith (Jam 1:5-8), worship of other gods (Jer 11:12-14), failure to take in Bible teaching (Prov 1:24-31; 28:9; Zech 7:11-13), selfishness (Jam 4:2-3), carnality (Psa 66:18; Mic 3:4; Isa 1:15; 59:1-3), lack of harmony in the home (1 Pet 3:7), pride and self-righteousness (Job 35:12-13), and lack of obedience (Deut 1:43-45; 1 John 3:22; 5:14). All of these failings can be corrected as the believer learns God’s Word and lives obediently by faith. Failure to learn God’s Word and/or apply it results in self-harm, much like a child who will not listen to her parents, but repeatedly keeps reaching for the hot flame because it’s pretty. God’s commands are designed to bring blessing, either by teaching us to avoid that which is harmful, or to pursue that which is helpful.

Summary

     Prayer is a blessing we enjoy as believers as we can come before God’s throne of grace and make requests (Heb 4:16). As Christians, we are to “pray at all times in the Spirit” (Eph 6:18), and to “pray without ceasing” (1 Th 5:17; cf. Luke 18:1; Rom 12:12; Col 4:2). As we advance toward spiritual maturity, God will occupy our thoughts in all matters, and prayer will come more and more naturally, and we will seek His interests above our own and pray according to His will.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Other words include פָּלַל palal – to intervene as a mediator (Gen 20:7; Job 42:8), לַחַשׁ lachash – a whispering prayer (Isa 26:16; 29:4), שָׁאַל shaal – to ask, inquire (Isa 7:11; 45:11), עָתַר athar – a prayer related to sacrifice (Job 33:26), δέησις deesis – an urgent request (Eph 6:18), and ἔντευξις enteuxis – simple prayer, childlike prayer (1 Tim 2:1). The word αἰτέω aiteo is not translated as prayer, but is clearly used when making requests to God (Matt 7:7; John 14:13).

[2] Merrill Frederick Unger et al., “Prayer”, The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1988).

[3] W. L. Liefeld, “Prayer,” ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988), 931.

[4] Moses provides a model prayer in Exodus 32:7-14 where he prayed on behalf of His people, Israel, that God would not pour out His wrath on them because of their idolatry (Ex 32:1-6). Moses’ prayer to God starts by identifying Israel as “Your people” whom He had rescued from Egyptian bondage (Ex 32:11). Israel was not just any people, but God’s chosen nation, who had already tasted of His great grace and compassion.[4] After citing God’s deliverance, Moses then argued with God to withhold His wrath for two reasons: First, if God destroyed Israel, then His reputation among the pagan nations would be tarnished (Ex 32:12). Moses sought to protect God’s reputation in the eyes of others, even unbelievers, and to uphold His glory. Second, if God destroyed Israel, He would be in violation of the promises He’d made to Israel’s forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Ex 32:13). Moses did not want others to see God as one who fails to keep His promises. Moses’ prayer was heard and God relented of the judgment He intended to bring on His people because of their sin (Ex 32:14).

[5] However, there does seem to be at least one occasion in which God heard the prayer of an unbeliever who was seeking Him for salvation (e.g., Acts 10:1-2, 30-31; 11:13-14). It could be that if an unbeliever seeks God for salvation, as Cornelius did, then His prayers for salvation are answered.

[6] Although there is at least one petition in the NT directed to Jesus (Acts 7:59-60).

[7] The Greek preposition ἐν can mean, “in” “by” or “with” the Spirit. Hoehner translates the prepositional phrase ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ ἐν πνεύματι as “at every opportunity or occasion in the Spirit” (Harold Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Baker Academic, 2002, p. 856). Hoehner further states, “In the immediate context [of Eph 6:18], praying in the Spirit may well be connected to the sword of the Spirit. The sword of the Spirit is, on the one hand, God’s spoken word to put His enemies to flight and, on the other hand, the believer’s utterance to God in prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit to aid in the struggle against the evil powers” (p. 857).

[8] Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1999), 68.