Warren D. Carter

Wien, Österreich

19.1.97

Principles of Prayer – from: Anatomy of the Christian Life – Prayer

1) Prayer reflects and helps refine our image of God

Ps 86 [excerpts] Hear O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.

Guard my life, for I am devoted to You. …

Bring joy to Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

You are kind and forgiving, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to You. …

Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; no deeds can compare with Yours.

All the nations You have made will come and worship before You, O Lord; …

For You are great and … You alone are God.

Teach me Your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth;

give me an undivided heart, that I may [reverence] Your name.

I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever.

For great is Your love toward me; You have delivered my soul from the depths of the grave. …

You, O Lord, are a compassionate & gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

You, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

2) If we need to know the Lord’s will, we can determine it in prayer

James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault

3) The Holy Spirit often uses prayer to guide and direct us

Neh 2:4-5 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”

Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king,

“If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me

to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.”

4) When life seems dreary or depressing, a Godly response is to pray

Neh 1:4 When I heard these things [the desolation of Jerusalem – v.3] I sat down and wept.

For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven

5) If you need help in what to say to God, His Word can teach us how to pray

Matt 6:9-13 the “Lord’s prayer”

Ps 69:30 I will praise God’s name in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving

6) We draw near to the Lord in prayer … and He will always listen

I Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their prayer

7) It’s almost unbelievable that the God of the entire universe listens to each one of our prayers … but even more remarkable is that He answers each prayer!

Ps 81:6-7 [God is speaking, and] says, “I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket. In your distress you called [to Me,] and I rescued you,

I answered you out of a thundercloud; …”

8) God enjoys it when we pray

Pr 15:8b the prayer of the upright pleases Him

9) But to really please Him, we must try to come clean before Him …

Ps 66:18-20 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;

but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.

Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me!

10) We can speak to the Lord without fear and trembling – He is your friend

Phil 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything,

by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God

11) In fact, prayer can be God’s vehicle for over-coming fear or for combatting spiritual attack

Neh 6:9 + 16b They were trying to frighten us, thinking,

“Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.”

But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.” …

[v 16b] our enemies lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.

12) God’s peace is available thru prayer

Phil 4:7 [when you present your requests to the Lord – in v.6] … the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus

Ps 94:18b-19 Your love, O Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me,

Your consolation brought joy to my soul.

13) It is through prayer that we express our devotion to the Lord … much of Psalms is devoted to this type of worship

Ps 63:1-8 O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You

my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

I have seen You in the sanctuary, and beheld Your power and Your glory.

Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You.

I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise You.

On my bed I remember You; I think of You through the watches of the night.

Because You are my help, I sing in the shadow of Your wings. I stay close to You; Your right hand upholds me.

14) We humans are rather forgetful though, and need to develop a discipline of prayer;

just like an athlete or body-builder needs to develop a discipline of exercise and proper diet.

Rom 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer

The body-builder’s discipline in not an occasional work-out … but a commitment to regular exercise.

15) Paul reminds us to be in an attitude of prayer all the time … especially ready to pray for others.

Eph 6:18 Pray in the Spirit on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests …

be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints

16) We can encourage others with our prayers too, & we can figure out new ways to encourage people through prayer

II Tim 1:3-7 [excerpts] I thank God, … as. night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.

Recalling your tears, I long to see you, … I have been reminded of your sincere faith, …

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you …

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.

I’m sure Timothy’s breast was beating with excitement and encouragement as he read the words of Paul in this letter, but one of the key words here is self discipline. We all need to take caution, however, since it would be very easy to fall into a legalistic, dry, empty prayer habit.

17) The Lord wants you to be joyful in your prayer life – Life is just that – living, alive, dynamic – prayer is not dull!!

Eph 5:18b-20 be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything,

Ps 67:3a + 4a May the peoples praise You, O God …May the nations be glad and sing for joy

PrayerPrinciples

19.1.97