Prayer. Comprised
from Easton's
Bible Dictionary
1).Prayer
is.converse
with God; intercourse
with God by means of one's connection with the Soul, not strictly contemplation
or meditation, but a direct address
to him. Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant, instantly
expressive
or formal
as in being led in prayer while in church.
Prayer is:
a) "beseeching
the Lord":.Exodus
32:11.
b) "pouring out the heart to the Lord":.1Samuel
1:15.
c) "praying and crying to heaven":.2Chronicles
32:20.
d) "seeking unto God and making supplication":.Job
8:5.
e) "drawing near to God":.Psalms
73:28.
f).."bowing
the knees":.Ephesians
3:14.
2) Prayer presupposes
a belief in the personality of God, his ability and willingness to hold
intercourse with us, his personal control of all things and of all his
creatures and all their actions.
Acceptable prayer comes from a true heart:.Hebrews
10:22. All prayers are talking to this invisible being you know is
there. Not sure? We grow in favor with
God.(become more like God, how?):.Luke
2:52.
3) Prayer is offered in the faith that God is.(Hebrews
11:6).and is the hearer and answerer
of prayer and that he will fulfil his word.(Luke
21:33):."Ask
and you shall receive":.Matthew
7:7,8; 21:22; Mark
11:24; John 14:13,14. If things
are not going well for a person, they may not feel like praying at all.
If things are not going well, maybe it's God's fault, so
tell God about this.
In the name of Christ:.John
16:23,24; 15:16; Ephesians
2:18; 5:20; Colossians
3:17; 1Peter 2:5.
4) Prayer is of different
kinds:
a) secret: Matthew
6:6
b) social, as family prayers and in social worship
and public, in being led in prayer in church.
c) intercessory
prayer is enjoined:.Numbers
6:23-27; Job 42:8; Isaiah
62:6; 1Timothy 2:1; James
5:14.
5) There are many instances on record of answers
having been given to such prayers, for example:
a) of Abraham:.Genesis
17:18,20; 18:23-33; 20:7,17,18.
b) of Moses for Pharaoh:.Exodus
8:12,13,30,31; 9:33.
c) for the Israelites:.Exodus
17:11; 32:11-14,31-34;
Numbers
21:7,8; Deuteronomy
9:18,19,25.
d) for Miriam:.Numbers
12:13.
e) for Aaron:.Deuteronomy
9:20.
f) of Samuel:.1Samuel
7:5-12.
g) Elijah:.1Kings
17:17-24.
h) Elisha:.2Kings
4:32-37.
i) Isaiah.
j) Peter.
k) the church:.Acts
12:5-11.
l) Paul:.Acts
28:8,9.
And the list goes on today with healings
and resurrections.
For healings type 'Gregg Braden, China' into YouTube
for one and for others, type 'healings'. And here's
one and here's another and another.
And, see the subject on healing for more.
6) No rules are anywhere
in Scripture laid down for the manner of prayer or
the attitude to be assumed by the suppliant.
There is mention made of:
a) kneeling in prayer:.1Kings
8:54; Psalms 95:6; Luke
22:41; Acts 9:40; etc.;
b) of bowing and falling prostrate:.Matthew
26:39; Mark 14:35; etc.;
c) of spreading out the hands:.1Kings
8:22,38,54; Psalms 3:4; 63:4;
1Timothy
2:8; etc.;
d) moving lips only:.1Samuel
1:12,13;
e) of standing:.Mark
11:25,26; Luke 18:11-14.
7) If we except the 'Lord's Prayer' Matthew
6:9-13 which is, however, rather a model or pattern of prayer than
a set prayer to be offered up, we have no special form of prayer for general
use given us in Scripture.
8).Prayers
are answered.and in different
ways for each of us:
a) Abraham's servant prayed to God and God directed
him to the person who should be wife to his master's son and heir:.Genesis
24:10-20.
b) Samson prayed to God and God showed him a well
where he quenched his burning thirst and so lived to be a judge in Israel:.Judges
15:18,19.
c) David prayed and God defeated the counsel of
Ahithophel:.2Samuel
15:31 with 17:23.
d) Daniel prayed and God enabled him both to tell
Nebuchadnezzar his dream and to give the interpretation of it:.Daniel
2:16-23.
e) Nehemiah prayed and God inclined the heart
of the king of Persia to grant him leave of absence to visit and rebuild
Jerusalem:.Nehemiah
1:1 to 2:1-6.
f) Esther and Mordecai prayed and God defeated
the purpose of Haman and saved the Jews from destruction:.Esther
4:15-17 - 5:1-3.
g) The believers in Jerusalem prayed and God opened
the prison doors and set Peter at liberty, when Herod
had resolved upon his death:.Acts
12:5-10.
"Prayer is like the dove
that Noah sent forth, which blessed him not only when it returned with
an olive leaf in its mouth, but later when it never returned at all."....Robinsons
Job.
