Foundations (Track 1) Lesson 5: Prayer

BANGALORE, India - April 16, 2013 - PRLog -- I. Prayer Is Communion With God
Prayer is simply communion with God – You talking to God, expressing your heart to God and God revealing His heart to you. It’s a two way communication.

1  Prayer Is God's Invitation To A Place of Intimacy With Him
2. God Hears Us When We Pray
3. God Promises To Answer When We Pray
4.  Prayer Changes Us
5.  Prayer is Partnering With God In Shaping The World Around Us And Creating History

II. What Can I Do In Prayer?
Why pray?

       Pray to commune with Him : Our Father in heaven
       Pray to adore, worship and honor Him : Hallowed be Your name.
       Pray His rule and dominion on the earth : Your kingdom come.
       Pray His will, purpose, plan to be established : Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
       Pray for all needs - spiritual, emotional, physical, financial, etc. : Give us this day our daily bread.
       Pray for forgiveness and cleansing : And forgive us our debts,
       Pray to forgive others : As we forgive our debtors.
       Pray to overcome temptation : And do not lead us into temptation,
       Pray to overcome and triumph over demonic opposition : But deliver us from the evil one.
       Pray to give God all the glory and praise : For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

III. Different Types of Prayer

Some of the kinds of prayer we see in Scripture:

1.    Prayer of Asking & Receiving
2.    Prayer of Thanksgiving
3.    Prayer of Consecration
4.    Prayer of Agreement
5.    Prayer of Repentance/Confession
6.    Prayer of Intercession
7.    Prayer in the Spirit
8.    Prayer of Faith for Healing
9.    Prayer of Commissioning
10.  Prayer of Communion/Fellowship

IV Foundations For Prayer
There are 3 key foundations for prayer:

       Knowing who God is - knowing the nature of God.
       Knowing who you are in Christ - the privileges and authority you have in Christ
       Faith - knowing how to receive by faith in God

V.  How to Pray the "Prayer of Asking And Receiving"
We now discuss the "how to" or guidelines of the most common kind of praying we will all normally do.


1.  Pray To The Father in Jesus’ Name.
2.  Pray According to God’s Revealed Will
3.   Pray With a Clear Conscience
4.   Pray With Faith - Believe That You Have Received
5.  Continue in Faith With Patience And Thanksgiving

Hebrews 6:12
12  that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Hebrews 10:35,36
35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.
36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

Philippians 4:6,7
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

We may not see things happen instantly in the natural realm, all the time. This is when we have to continue with faith and patience, all the while being thankful and rejoicing in the outcome, even though we have not seen the result yet.

Sometimes it could be demonic hindrances that delay the answers (Daniel 10:12,13).

Sometimes God is getting us, our circumstances, people around us, etc. ready (prepared) to receive the answer for our prayer, and this preparation may take some time.

6.  Be Fervent - Not Flippant In Your Asking
James 5:16-18, 1 Kings 18:1,41-46

Even though it was God who said that He was going to send rain, and hence sent Elijah to announce the arrival of rain - Elijah still had to go to Mount Carmel - and pray earnestly, fervently, until he saw the signs of the coming rain. Similarly, although God reveals to us, what His will is, and what He intends to accomplish, we must pray through with faith, until we see the answer released on the earth.

7.  Developing A Consistent Prayer Life

       Set aside regular times for prayer
       Pray throughout the day – walk in communion with the Lord. “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks...” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
       Take “time out” - one or more days set aside for seeking God
       Meet with others to join in group or corporate prayer, e.g. cell groups, all night prayer, etc.

In FOUNDATIONS (Track 2) We have a course on "Intercessory Prayer", learning how to engage in the prayer of intercession.

Additional Reading: APC Publication "The Wonderful Benefits of Praying In Tongues".
6. Application
1, Pray with confidence - knowing God hears you when you pray.

2, Exercise the prayer of asking and receiving - follow through to see if your answers have come? If not, reflect, learn and keep developing yourself in this area.

3, Develop your personal prayer life, by setting aside consistent times of being alone with God.
7. Reflection
1, What are some of the insights you have gained on prayer from this lesson?

2, Discuss the other "kinds" of prayer and how and when you would use those kinds of praying.

3, What are some of the things that hinder you from "praying without ceasing"? What changes can you make, to stay in communion

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