A Study on Prayer - #1

Prayer – A Partnership with God

1 Samuel 12:23 says, “But as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you in the way that is good and right.”

Samuel says that failing or ceasing to pray is a sin against God. Why? Because God has chosen to work with His children through faith and prayer. God says to us, “I have many things I want to do in and through you. If you pray, then I will work. But if you fail to pray, you are hindering what I want to do.” Failure to pray blocks the work of God in and through us. Therefore, it is a great sin against God himself!

Prayer is not a substitute for work; prayer is the work for which there is no substitute!

There are some things the Lord wants to do and will do through us IF WE PRAY.

There are some things the Lord wants to do but will NOT do through us IF WE DO NOT PRAY.

A good illustration of this prayer principle is found in Matthew 13:53-58. When Jesus and the 12 disciples went to Nazareth, the Bible says that Jesus could do very few mighty works (like healing the sick), because the people of Nazareth did not ask Him. Why didn’t they ASK?  They did not ask because they did not have faith that He could or would do miracles. So the peoples of Nazareth missed out on great blessings that day. Jesus WANTED to help them, but He could not because they had no faith in Him.

“Ask of me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3

In Luke 11:1-13, these verses teach us much about faith and prayer.  Jesus spent much time in prayer. One day his disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. He started with a short version of “the Lord’s Prayer” but soon began giving illustrations about how to pray. He was telling us that God loves to do good for His children (that’s US) who come to Him in faith and who keep on asking God for those things on our hearts.

First illustration:  3 friends at midnight.  A man’s friend on a journey came to visit him at midnight. In Middle Eastern culture you always feed people when they come to your house. Hospitality is very important. But the man had no food to feed his house guests, so he went and kept asking his neighbor (friend) for bread. “HEY, JOHN!  HEY JOHN!!! I need some bread to feed my guests!” The neighbor resisted at first but finally got up and gave him the 3 loaves of bread because the man kept on asking – he did not stop asking. PERSISTENT ASKING.

Jesus says that in prayer, we too are to keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking (at God’s door).  Be persistent.

Second illustration:  A father and his son. The son asks his loving father for a fish. Will the father give him a serpent (snake) instead? The son asks for an egg. Will a loving father give the son a scorpion? The boy asks for good things. A loving father is not going to give the son things that are harmful to him. Even though people are sinful, yet we still love our children and seek to give and do good for them.

Jesus says that God, who is sinless and loving, not only wants to do good for us, and He wants to give us the best thing – Himself! But God requires us to ASK – by praying.

In these two illustrations Jesus is telling us to pray – to ASK God, because we know He loves us and wants to do good for us. He also emphasizes the need for us to be persistent in asking. Ten times in these verses Jesus says this:

(1)                 “Friend, lend me 3 loaves of bread”

(2)                 Ask (twice)

(3)                 Seek (twice)

(4)                 Knock (twice)

(5)                 Son asks for a fish

(6)                 Son asks for an egg

(7)                 Heavenly Father gives to those who ASK Him.

In Psalm 2:8, before Jesus came into the world, God the Father said to His only Son, the Christ, “ASK of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.”

God the Father sent His only Son into the world SO THAT every tongue, every tribe, every people, every ethnic group would hear the Gospel and believe. YET the Father requires even the Son to ASK for that very thing!

Jesus was in constant contact with the Father through prayer. Jesus did not say or do anything but that which the Father revealed to him in prayer.

The Father and the Son were in partnership and communicated through prayer.

THAT IS THE NATURE OF OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH GOD.