Prayer can be classified in many ways 1) Public or Private 2) constant or closest 3)
devotional, intercessory warfare 4)Prayer, supplication with thankings giving. Though most
of these are self-explanatory, let me add a thought about "constant and closet". The
bible teachers that we are to pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17) that we are to continue
instant in prayer ( Romans 12:12). Prayer is the breath of the soul. and just as we
breathe without ceasing, we are to pray without ceasing. This does not mean that we
must spend 24 hours on our knees. but it does mean that whatever else we are doing we
should be praying. We should pray as we work, as we walk and as we drive as we witness
and as we preach. The spirit of prayer should under grid all that we do through this kind f
praying in vital and necessary it is not enough. if we are to have power with God, we must
spend time in His presence. We must learn to listen to His voice. we must shut out the
world and we must be shut in with Him. Men who have done for God have been early on their
knees. It is not enough to talk about prayer, to preach about prayer to write about
prayer, we must pray. We learn to pray by praying. if a pianist is to be proficient he
must spend much time at the keyboard and if we are to prevail in prayer, we must lean
to spend time with God.
It takes time to pray, We sing take time to be holy. We will never the time to pray; we
must take the time to pray. When we realize that prayer takes time and when we believe
that it is important to pray. We will set aside time for prayer. We will make an
appointment with God and keep it Some people think that they are too busy to pray, we are
too busy. All of us operate on a priority basis. we take time to do the things we think
are important and if we think that prayer is important we will take time to pray.
Incentives to prayer.
If we are to pray we must believe in prayer. Every true Christian would say that he believes
in pryer and yet most Christians do very little praying. There are at least two reasons for
this (1) We do not give prayer the place of top priority (2) we are hindered in our
praying by satanic opposition.
If we are to pray, we must believe that prayer is important, that it is necessary. We
must believe that God answers prayer, and we must have the joy of seeing Him answer our
prayers.
Say what you will I most of us do things that we like to do, and we will never do much
praying unless we enjoy it. Very often preachers emphasize that prayer is hard work, but
such teaching is not likely to encourage most of us to pray! we will begin to spend time
with the Lord when we discover that in His presence there is fullness of Joy (Psalms 16:11)
What to pray for.
There is much that needs to be prayed for, we can pray for ourselves and for our
families, but if we are not careful, we will discover that we are spending all our time
praying selfishly. I am sure that you have heard of the farmer who prayer, "Lord bless me
and my wife and my son John and his wife, us four and no more" Though we may smile at
such a saying it is very easy for us to slip into the rut of praying selfishly. "Lord
bless me, my family, my church, my word, my...... all for self, 'The Lord turned the
the captivity of Job, When he prayed for his friends (Job 49:10) we should pray for the
churches, servant of God, for public Officials, for Christians in other lands.
A Knowledge of Geography is of great held in praying. Visualize the world as you pray,
and pray around the world and by this, I do not mean the prayer that we heard so often.
"Lord bless the missionaries are the world".
Better than visualizing the worship, is to pray with the map of the world. The spirit of
God will direct your attention to areas and places that you have overlooked before.
devotional, intercessory warfare 4)Prayer, supplication with thankings giving. Though most
of these are self-explanatory, let me add a thought about "constant and closet". The
bible teachers that we are to pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17) that we are to continue
instant in prayer ( Romans 12:12). Prayer is the breath of the soul. and just as we
breathe without ceasing, we are to pray without ceasing. This does not mean that we
must spend 24 hours on our knees. but it does mean that whatever else we are doing we
should be praying. We should pray as we work, as we walk and as we drive as we witness
and as we preach. The spirit of prayer should under grid all that we do through this kind f
praying in vital and necessary it is not enough. if we are to have power with God, we must
spend time in His presence. We must learn to listen to His voice. we must shut out the
world and we must be shut in with Him. Men who have done for God have been early on their
knees. It is not enough to talk about prayer, to preach about prayer to write about
prayer, we must pray. We learn to pray by praying. if a pianist is to be proficient he
must spend much time at the keyboard and if we are to prevail in prayer, we must lean
to spend time with God.
It takes time to pray, We sing take time to be holy. We will never the time to pray; we
must take the time to pray. When we realize that prayer takes time and when we believe
that it is important to pray. We will set aside time for prayer. We will make an
appointment with God and keep it Some people think that they are too busy to pray, we are
too busy. All of us operate on a priority basis. we take time to do the things we think
are important and if we think that prayer is important we will take time to pray.
Incentives to prayer.
If we are to pray we must believe in prayer. Every true Christian would say that he believes
in pryer and yet most Christians do very little praying. There are at least two reasons for
this (1) We do not give prayer the place of top priority (2) we are hindered in our
praying by satanic opposition.
If we are to pray, we must believe that prayer is important, that it is necessary. We
must believe that God answers prayer, and we must have the joy of seeing Him answer our
prayers.
Say what you will I most of us do things that we like to do, and we will never do much
praying unless we enjoy it. Very often preachers emphasize that prayer is hard work, but
such teaching is not likely to encourage most of us to pray! we will begin to spend time
with the Lord when we discover that in His presence there is fullness of Joy (Psalms 16:11)
What to pray for.
There is much that needs to be prayed for, we can pray for ourselves and for our
families, but if we are not careful, we will discover that we are spending all our time
praying selfishly. I am sure that you have heard of the farmer who prayer, "Lord bless me
and my wife and my son John and his wife, us four and no more" Though we may smile at
such a saying it is very easy for us to slip into the rut of praying selfishly. "Lord
bless me, my family, my church, my word, my...... all for self, 'The Lord turned the
the captivity of Job, When he prayed for his friends (Job 49:10) we should pray for the
churches, servant of God, for public Officials, for Christians in other lands.
A Knowledge of Geography is of great held in praying. Visualize the world as you pray,
and pray around the world and by this, I do not mean the prayer that we heard so often.
"Lord bless the missionaries are the world".
Better than visualizing the worship, is to pray with the map of the world. The spirit of
God will direct your attention to areas and places that you have overlooked before.
