Prayer 4

Our motivation to intercede for others is one of love and concern...

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone". (1_Timothy_2:1)

"I looked for a man (woman) among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none." (Ezekiel_22:30)

To whom...

To God, the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit.

Not to...
. other people, including anyone who may be listening to our prayers in a group setting;
. angels;
. the dead;
. any animal, object or thing;
. any spiritual entity.

For whom...

Those God places on our heart!

When.....

Whenever the Holy Spirit calls us to prayer, sometimes it's wait.

How......

By the inward motivation of the Holy Spirit and our working with Him - waiting for His word on how to pray, with humility.

Wearing our spiritual "L" plates:
Listening, Learning, Loving...

A variety of ways to pray

As appropriate to the circumstances:

Agony of identification (eg: Ezra_9:5_-_10:4)

Joy and celebration (Acts_13:52).

Waiting patiently and watching (Matthew_26:38).

Being persistent, not giving up (Luke_18:1-8), without vain repetition.

Praising Him for who He is, before we see the answer.

A variety of forms of prayer

Conversational, eg: walking on the road to Emmaus with Jesus (Luke_24:36);

Listening to God;

With groans too deep for words (Romans_8:26);

Vicarious: on behalf of, or in the place of another;

In tongues / in our normal language;

In silence / out loud;

In a group / alone;

In words / in pictures;

With eyes closed / with eyes open;

With logic / with emotions.

In song, music, movement and dance.

We don't give up or rely on our feelings (Luke_18:1). If we're unsure, chat about it with the Lord, ask Him about it... eg: 'Lord what about this, I'm not sure' etc.

We pray, searching out His will, seeking to find out what the father is doing - and falling in line with that. We continue (or return to) our prayer until He tells us it's OK to stop. This may be extended over a short or long time. If we make mistakes, we learn from them and go on. Sometimes our prayers are being heard and we don't know it (eg: Daniel_9:23). We need to seek that peace in our prayers which leads to real expectancy (Mark_11:22-25). Prayer is amazing, bringing together both authority and humility!

There are many mysteries which we can't know about. Prayer involves learning new listening skills, to discern the still small voice of the Spirit. It is a great privilege, to be able to pray and do kingdom work (eg: Matthew_18:18).

Being with Jesus in his school of prayer.