UNDERSTANDING PRAYER IN THE NEW TESTAMENT


by

For the New Testament believer, prayer is not just a means of religious communication with God; it’s a fellowship. Some people pray because they’ve been brought up to think it’s a religious obligation they must fulfill. True, the Lord Jesus said, “…men ought always to pray and not to faint” (Luke 18:1), letting us know prayer is a spiritual obligation for every believer. But that’s not all that God intended prayer to be.

In Luke 18:1, the Master said we ought to pray. So we know one of the reasons we pray is that the Lord Jesus said we should. Beyond that, however, we need to understand the subject of prayer; the things to pray about and how to pray about them. Prayer is more than merely talking to God. Many people pray and yet many don’t, but among the many that pray, a lot don’t have answers to their prayers because they pray without understanding. We need to understand that when we pray, we’re making contact with the divine essence within us. This contact strengthens our relationship with God. Prayer is one sure way of getting yourself fo￾cused on God and getting a “rub-off” in His presence. Prayer also has its place in bringing God’s Word to pass in our lives. There are certain things we see provided for us in God’s Word, but we need to do more than merely confessing to possess them.

Someone may say, “I’m full of the spirit of wisdom and revelation,” but it doesn’t come just by confessing it, otherwise Paul wouldn’t have prayed for the Ephesian church that God would grant them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (Ephesians 1:17). You’ve got to pray for that Word to take root in your life. To order a copy please visit Christ Embassy online Store; http://goo.gl/lHf6xl

Praying the right way

extracts from Praying the right way

Share

%d bloggers like this: