Prayer; a foundation of Christian Faith.
By: Rev. Steven B. Smethers DD

Pray: v. 1. petition or worship a divinity, 2. implore, 3. ask earnestly for.

Prayer is our communication with God. Through our salvation in Christ we are given the privilege of communicating with God through Jesus Christ. God wants our communication. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 it tells us to "Pray without ceasing." This means to stay in contact always with God. It does not mean to repeat the same prayer over and over. It does not mean to pray that others may see us and think of us as reverent people. Christian prayer is a two way communication with God. We may receive answers both in the wisdom God gives us to guide us in situations that do not change, as well as the intercessory power of God to change things in our lives. How does the Bible tell us to communicate our prayers to our Heavenly Father?

Matthew 6:5-7,
"And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen [do]: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. "

We are to ask, and pray in Jesus' name. (See John 14:13-14, 15:16, 16:23-24) He has paid the price for us to have a relationship with our Father. Jesus Christ has made the believer fit to be recognized, and heard, by God. In Him we a been given sonship, and the privilege to talk to God as His child, to say "Abba, Father". (Romans 8:15) We are reborn creatures in Christ. We are of the same blood as Christ. We are disciples of our Lord. Christ never ceased in praying. Prayers gave Him strength and confidence in all things. We as Christian have the same avenue of communication with God and He will grant us all power in His promise if we will ask it in the name of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 4:6
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

In this scripture it says "Be careful for nothing". This means that we will not have any cares or worries. We need not worry because God will provide our needs as they arise. The scripture says to have "thanksgiving" for the blessings we have received. It also says "by prayer and supplication" which means to implore or plead our cause; to ask Him for the needs of others as well as our own. We are to offer full submission of ourselves to the will of God. We can pray with confidence that our Heavenly Father will hear and answer us according to His will.

1 John 5:14-15,
"And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us: And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him. "

There are some simple tools that we can use to help us pray better. One of these is a memory aid called ACTS. It helps us to remember four of the aspects of effective prayer.

A.C.T.S.

A = Adoration, or praise for our loving God and His power.
C = Confession of our sin and need of forgiveness.
T = Thanksgiving for His provision past and present.
S = Supplication, asking for our and others needs to be met.

When we pray we can remember to include the four aspects of ACTS in our prayer. It will help us to be right with God and not become overwhelmed by our needs. God will answer our prayers according to His will. We need to accept the will of the Lord. It may not always be what we expected, however God knows our needs better than we do and will act by giving us what is best for us. The Bible supports the answering of our prayers and states it many times. One such statement is from the book of Matthew:

Matthew 7:7-8,
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. "

Notice that in this verse we are directed to act. It does not say to sit on your fanny and wait for God to drop it into your lap. It says to actively "seek" and God will provide it unto you. It also says to ask (to pray). If you will not ask it will not be provided to you. I hear a lot of Christians say that they would never ask anything for themselves. This is utter nonsense. God said to ask and He would provide our needs. Additionally, God will provide the desires of our hearts. The desires of our hearts - did you get that? Let us refer to the scriptures again.

Psalms 37:4-5,
"Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring [it] to pass."

God does not only want to fulfill our needs but also the desires of our hearts. It is God's desire to grant us all the things we have use for. This would mean that you might need and pray for a car. God would be willing to fill your need. In your heart you really desire a red Camero. You may be surprised to find that God will find a car for you and it may just happen to be a red Camero. This would be the fulfilling of the desire of your heart. God will willingly surpass the needs we ask of Him. Remember that God is the creator of all things. Through Him all things are made possible.

I would like to show you an example of how lax most Christians can be about prayer. Many people do not bother to say a blessing at mealtime. This is a very foolish thing to do. The food we eat should be blessed before we partake of it. If you grew the food and cared for it, you could be fairly sure of its nutritional value and the safety of eating it. Most people today eat foods that come from a grocery store. This is food that has been processed with every chemical known to mankind and handled by many people and stored for who knows how long. You would put this into your mouth and think nothing of it? God has the ability to make all foods safe for us to ingest. It is a foolish pathology to side step this most important prayer yet many today think nothing about it. The mealtime prayer also gives us a chance to thank God for the provision of the food. The mealtime prayer is a good habit to form so that we are sure to pray to our Heavenly Father regularly, every day.

To properly structure our prayers is also important. First and foremost is the knowledge that it is because of the shed blood of Christ that we are even allowed to communicate with our Heavenly Father. We must always pray and ask all things in the name of Jesus Christ. Second is to be humble before the Lord. We cannot be any other way in the presence of our almighty creator. Third, we are to give thanks for the blessings we have already received. Fourth, we can know, in all confidence, that God will hear and answer our prayers according to His will.

Just as it is always better to get a map before we start a journey, it is better to pray before we begin a task. Otherwise we get into the unenviable position of begging God to enable us to finish the job, or extract us from it. This is a real problem when God didn't have the idea in the first place, and we are left to our own devices. We forget that God sometimes says "No." We pray to Him as our heavenly Father, and like wise human fathers, he often says "No," not from whim or caprice, but from wisdom and from love, and knowing what is best for us. Even when all conditions are met, it sometimes appears as if God is not answering prayer. But remember that "No" and "Wait" are as much of an answer as "Yes".

Remember that God is the one who knows you the best and that loves you the most. Share your life with Him and know the pure joy of walking with God. He is after all, the best friend you ever had. Talk to Him!


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Written by: Rev. Steven B. Smethers DD
Senior Pastor / Administrator - UCMI