Loyal, OK

 
Pastor Leon Seaton

Prayer -- Time With God

Prayer is one of the greatest privileges available to us. People of all faiths use it – people that go to church all the time pray, people that seldom if ever attend church pray, and people that doubt the very existence of God pray at times.

The question is can we be more effective when we pray? The obvious answer is “yes.”

Colossians 1:3-14

There are 5 types of prayer:

1. Worship and Praise
2. Commitment
3. Petition
4. Confession and Repentance
5. Intercessory

While we are to “pray without ceasing” we should also set aside a period of time to pray. It’s like visiting with a close friend or your spouse or children. Sometimes they want our complete and undivided attention. God feels the same way.

During this special time I seek to use the 5 types of prayer. It helps me keep a right perspective on who I am and what God has called me to do… to serve God, my church and my fellow man.

I am also convinced that prayers are more powerful when we plan before we start praying. That is why most of us have prayer lists. Of course this does not apply when we receive an urgent call from someone or when the Holy Spirit impresses us to pray about something that is urgent. Requesting specific answers or interventions by God comes under the category of petition. For instance in 1 Chronicles 16: 4 “He (David) appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to make petition, to give thanks, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel.”

Random conversations with God certainly have their place, but I have to admit that my mind wanders when I just start talking.

Ephesians 6:18, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”

1. WORSHIP AND PRAISE:

When we enter into a prayer session we should invite God's presence with worship and praise: “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise; be thankful unto Him, and bless His Name.” Psalm 100:4

To worship God is to give God honor and devotion. Through praise we open our hearts to God, honoring Him for who He is as well as what He does for us.

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." John 4:23-24
True worship is based on the revealed Word of God, not on our feelings, our desires, or our imaginations. We worship God in Spirit through the power of the Holy Spirit, from our innermost being, and magnify His Holy Name. That means that we put God first above all others.

True worship in spirit means that we get lost in focusing on God. This is a spiritual experience, but let me give you an earthly experience. Let’s say that you are deeply involved in watching a TV program. Basically you have tuned out your environment. You are more alert, your heart may be beating faster, and you are totally immersed in the story. If someone walked into the room and spoke your name it would startle you.
That is what true, spirit worship is. If you are Pentecostal you would probably start praying in your prayer language, or “other tongues."

2. COMMITMENT:

A true prayer of commitment comes after we have spent time with God and we sense that God has asked us to do something special. (This is different than prayers prayed in fox holes)
Commitment may include a call to ministry, to teaching, the mission field, or children’s work. In this prayer you commit your life and your will to God.

3. PETITION:

A prayer of petition is a request for God to take action. These requests must be made according to the will of God as revealed in His written Word. Petitions can be asking, seeking, or knocking. This type of prayer is also called supplication, which means “beseeching God or strongly appealing to Him in behalf of a need.”

Plan your prayer of petition. Martin Luther said, “The fewer the words, the better the prayer. To have prayed well is to have studied well.”

4. CONFESSION AND REPENTANCE:

You probably prayed a prayer of confession and repentance when you were saved.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9

5. INTERCESSION:

A prayer of Intercession is a prayer for someone else. Intercessors take the place of another and/or plead the other person's cause.

Our congregation is praying for healing from cancer for two women that mean a lot to us. Their continued illness is the energy behind a new series on prayer that I am preparing.

We asked for healing. It has not occurred, although we have seen some positive things. As we continue to pray I have done some seeking to find the scriptures that promise healing for them. I have also been knocking on heaven’s door. Without doubt, many of you feel the same way and are going through the same process.

Praying for these two ladies is consuming a lot of my energy these days; for I believe that we can learn something from the experience. Rick Warren wrote in a recent e-mail that his family is going through a severe trial related to the sickness of his daughter-in-law.

St. Paul was so totally committed to building the churches that God had called him to establish, that intercessory prayer was a common form of prayer for him.

Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon all start with an intercessory prayer for his churches. Perhaps Paul began his prayers with an attitude of gratitude. Perhaps he meditated on the strengths of the people he was going to pray for before he began writing.

Then he thanked God for that person. In this particular scripture he was thankful for the members of the church at Colosse. He rejoiced in their love for all the saints; he rejoiced because they were on fire for God and looking forward to an eternity spent with God.

He also rejoiced in the good news of the gospel and the fact that the gospel was being spread around the world.

What did he request God to do for them?

• That they be filled with the knowledge of God’s will

• That they have ALL spiritual wisdom and understanding

• That they bear good fruit for God.

• That they face their problems with endurance and patience

• That they rejoice in God’s goodness

That they had been rescued from the dominion of darkness and had been brought into the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

It is difficult to receive from God if we have a wrong mental/spiritual image of what God is like. For instance, some people have been taught that God is the source of our problems. When they are sick they assume that God sent the sickness to punish them or correct them.

Jesus corrected that by teaching us, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10

Good shepherds do not try to hurt their sheep! The hired help may have not been quick to defend the helpless animals, not the owner. Good shepherds do not cut and run. Jesus Christ does not run when we have problems!

The Old Testament character David is a type of Christ as a Shepherd. When David told King Saul that he could take care of Goliath, David based his promise on the fact that he had protected his sheep from the bear and the lion.
Killing bears and lions is dangerous work, but David did what he had to do. Jesus will do that for us!

Jesus protected us from the penalty of sin by dying on a cross. Matthew Henry notes that our Lord did not lay down His life for His doctrine, but for His sheep.

Colossians 1:9-14 is an excellent example of intercessory prayer. They did not have a need for healings to save their lives or money to stave of bankruptcy. He just wanted them to have a close relationship with God.

Intercessory prayer is loving people in the Spirit. It is godly love in action. Romans 8:26 states, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”

When we pray intercessory prayers we do not have to know the person for whom we are praying. This involves a pure motive. The person(s) we are praying for may never know that we have prayed. Intercessory prayer is hard work, for we are taking on spiritual forces and powers…evil spiritual forces and powers.

You may be praying for someone bound by evil spirits, for healing, or any other area of deliverance. If you have been praying about something and suddenly feel like walking away from the prayer you may have bumped into a spiritual resistance.

If you have received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues you have received a prayer language. This prayer is the most powerful kind of prayer because it is a pure prayer – your spirit speaking directly to God through the power of the Holy Spirit. Develop this powerful relationship with God through consistent practice. St. Paul observed to the Corinthian church, “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than ye all.” That was quite a statement because they took pride in how much they prayed in the Spirit! When he corrected them he was not saying they should not pray in tongues… he just wanted them to keep order during the worship services.

Listen to yourself as you pray this week. This will help you understand your innermost thoughts and motives. Allow God to teach you how to pray – just as the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray.

Healing Scriptures:

To the Centurion whose servant was dying Jesus said, “I will go and heal him." Matthew 8:7

“He called His twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” Matthew 10:1

“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." Matthew 10:8

"This is why I speak to them in parables: 'Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them." ' "  Matthew 13:13-15

“I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him."
"O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to Me."
Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17-20

Jesus left there and went to His hometown, accompanied by His disciples.
When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were amazed. "Where did this Man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given Him that He even does miracles!
Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's Son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't His Sisters here with us?" And they took offense at Him.
Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor."
He could not do any miracles there, except lay His hands on a few sick people and heal them.  Mark 6:1-5