When Should You Pray?


Prayer is the method that a Christian uses to communicate with God. It is defined as a humble sincere request. The scriptures tell us that prayer if offered in the correct manner can accomplish great things.( Mt 21:22 ) James 5:16 explains that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. This is to say that a person in a pleasing relationship with God ( righteous ) asking things according to God's will, will have much success in their effort. Many people misuse prayer because of a lack of understanding of what God has said about it. Let us briefly explore some things about prayer.

1. Only prayers of righteous individuals are heard and acted upon by God.

Jn 9:31 " Now we know that God heareth not sinners..." This doesn't mean a sinner can not possibly communicate with God, but instead until the sinner repents of sin, his/her prayer can not be attended to by God. Certainly we all have sinned and need God's forgiveness ( Rom 3:23 ) but until we repent our prayers are empty to God.

2. Prayer must be more than just an, " I need this or that occasion."

Think how you react to a neighbor who only calls you when they need something from you. Soon when you hear the phone ringing you hope it is not them. Sometimes we only pray when we need God. We are commanded in 1 Thess 5:17 to pray without ceasing. This carries the idea of a continual attitude of prayerfulness, in good times and bad. Our prayer needs to reflect thanksgiving to God for his bountiful blessings which occur much more often than the bad times which provide most of our prayer occasions. (Phil 4:6)

3. Prayer is not a way to get attention.

Sometimes prayer is used to publicly show others that we are religious. The Pharisees were condemned in prayer for this very reason. They would offer long memorized prayers or stand on a street corner or some other widely visible place so all around them might see and be impressed (Mt 6:1-8). If we pray so that others might see us we need to ask ourselves what is this prayer for ? Because certainly God knows our motives and our needs even before we fully do ( Heb 4:12-13 ).

4. Prayer is essential for anyone hoping to reach Heaven.

Acts 8:9-24 Reveals a man named Simon who sinned as we all do( Rom 3:23 ) and in order to be forgiven was told by Peter to repent and pray God that he might be forgiven. Hebrews 4:16 Shows that prayer is the way we approach God and his throne of mercy to receive help in our times of need. Since temptation affects us all the only hope we have of pleasing God and reaching Heaven is continually communicating with our source of guidance through prayer. A few areas where prayer might be possible are: When we are sad ,when we are happy , when we are tempted ( Mt 6:13), when we are worried ( Phil 4:6 ), before an important decision ( Lk 6:12-13 ) , to ask for wisdom ( Jas 1:5 ) , when discouraged ( Lk. 18:1 ) , when we have evil thoughts ( you can't keep birds from flying overhead but you can shoo them from your hair. ) , when we sin ( 1 Jn 1:7-9 ; Acts 8:22 ) Prayer is a very powerful and essential tool, but for prayer to be accepted of God we must be righteous( Jn 9:31 ), sincere ( James 5:16
) ,and motivated from the proper sources. If you have any concerns about prayer we will be glad to study further with you.

Steve Foutty


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