We pray because it is a way of communicating our needs to God and to others. The Apostle Paul instructed the Philippian church,
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;”
Philippians 4:6
We pray because Jesus said,
“Without Me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5b
We pray because it connects us to Christ and His witness
“That they may know Me and the power of My resurrection.”
See Philippians 3:10
We pray because God asks us to seek Him first.
“But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Matthew 6:33
The Apostle Paul tells us, we are to,
"Pray without ceasing."
1 Thessalonians 5:17
“Keep on praying for all the saints.”Ephesians 6:18b NIV
“Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”Ephesians 6:18a NIV
Praying in the Spirit
Praying in the Spirit is important for us to remember, because the Holy Spirit intercedes and prays for; in; and through us, in accordance with the will of God, even when we don’t know what to pray. The Apostle Paul explains it this way.
“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He Who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
Romans 8:26&27
Likewise, when we pray in spiritual tongues through the power of the Holy Spirit, we edify, build ourselves up and strengthen ourselves in the Lord. We begin to speak mysteries in the Spirit to God, as the Spirit of truth pervades, or fills every part of our hearts. Concerning this Biblical spiritual gift of speaking tongues, Paul explains,
“For He who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.”
1 Corinthians 14:2
“He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.”
1 Corinthians 14:4
These are spiritual truths in spiritual words. He gives us the mind of the Spirit so we can pray as we ought.
“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory.”
1 Corinthians 2:7
“But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit Who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in Spiritual words.”
1 Corinthians 2:10 - 13 NIV
Jesus Christ is our Example
Jesus didn’t seek guidance from others. He prayed to His Father in Heaven and teaches us to do the same. If Christ Jesus, Who is God’s Son, prayed to the Father, how much more so should we?
He prayed before making important decisions.
“Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles.”
Luke 6:12 & 13
He prayed for comfort when going through various trials.
"Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."
Luke 22:32
He prayed for the forgiveness of others.
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
Luke 23:34a
He prayed for Peter, that his faith would not fail.
“I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
Luke 22:32
Fully knowing that in three days He would be raised from the dead, He prayed to commit His Spirit into His Heavenly Father’s hands.
“And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ Having said this, He breathed His last.”
Luke 23:46
- He prayed to redeem the lost! — See John Chapter 17
Jesus Teaches us How and What to Pray
- We need His instruction to help us to learn.
Jesus teaches us to pray to our Father in heaven. When speaking of the time to come after His resurrection, Jesus said,
“And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
John 16:23 & 24
“In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray to the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.”
John 16: 26 & 27
He gives us confidence to ask the Father in His name, that the Father may be glorified in Him.
“And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
John 14:13 & 14
He teaches us that as His words remain in us, we will ask what we desire and it shall be done for us. This brings glory to the Father in heaven, producing much good fruit on the earth, revealing that we are His disciples.
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”
John 15:7 & 8
Jesus teaches us to pray for workers to be sent out into the field.
“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.”
Matthew 9:37 & 38 NIV
He teaches us to pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, saying,
“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Matthew 6:9 – 13
He teaches us to watch and pray, so that we will not enter into temptation.
“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Matthew 26:41
Jesus gives instructions concerning sin, offences, and prayer in the body of Christ.
“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
Matthew 18:15 – 20
“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
Mark 11:25 & 26
Jesus also teaches us to bless and pray for our enemies.
“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;”
Matthew 5:44 & 45a
Pray in Faith Nothing Doubting
Christ Jesus teaches us to pray in faith, believing, without doubting.
“So Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.’”
Mark 11:22-24
James the apostle teaches us to ask in faith, for wisdom, with no doubting.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
James 1:5-8
James reminds us to pray in faith for those who are suffering and/or sick.
“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”
James 5:13-15
Confession is Made unto Salvation
The Apostle Paul teaches on the importance of prayers of confession.
“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Romans 10:9 & 10
- We can Trust in the Lord to Receive us.
“For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.’”
Romans 10: 11 – 13 (See God’s promise in Joel 2:32).
Christ Jesus promises us,
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”
John 6:37
The writer of Hebrews reminds us He is a safe Heavenly Father, Who works only for our good.
“Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?”
Hebrews 12:9
Likewise, the Apostle James instructs us to confess our sins and to pray for one another in the Body of Christ so that we may be healed; the prayer of the righteous availing much.
“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
James 5:16
Ask God for the Things That you Need
Jesus teaches us to be persistent. To continue to ask Him for the things that we need.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Matthew 7:7 & 8
“If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
Matthew 7:11
He tells the parable of the unrelenting widow, likewise instructing us, to always pray and not lose heart, saying,
“And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
Luke 18:7 & 8
But James reminds us to ask of God with pure motives.
“You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
James 4:2 & 3 NIV
So why do we Pray?
We Pray to Come into Agreement with God’s Will
“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
1 John 5:14 & 15
We pray in humility to give glory to the Father.
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”
Matthew 6:5-8 — See also the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9 - 14
We Pray to see the Lost Redeemed
Jesus said to the woman at the well, a Samaritan,
“’Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When He comes, He will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He.’”
John 4:21 - 26
“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
Romans 5:5 – 10
