• What is Prayer?

Prayer is a living Communion and a real fellowship with the Lord through our personal conversation with God.

The Holy Bible commands us to ‘Pray without ceasing.’ Dr. O. Hallesly said, "Prayer is simply confessing our helplessness to God." God speaks to us through His Words, the Messages and we can talk to him in Prayer. Some one has said "Prayer is one weapon that Satan can not duplicate." "Prayer is the key of the morning and bolt of the night" But let us not expect an answer for what we are not doing on our knees and mouth. "Prayer is a mighty weapon of the mouth." Some one said this "Don’t expect a million rupee answer to a ten paise Prayer."

• The Different Forms of Prayers. As we express our feelings and burdens in conversation with God, it can be of any of these forms.

1. Praise. In Psa 42:5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior. In Psa 69:30 I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. In Psa 135:3 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant. In Psa 150:1 – 6, Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.
2. Adoration. {The Act of giving Honor and Worship to God}

In Psa. 34:1 – 4, Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left. I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together. I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

3. Confession. {The Act of Admitting our Sins} In 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. In Prov 28:13 He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. Isa 6:5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Job 42:6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."
4. Gratitude. {The state of being thankful to the Lord for what he has done to us}. In Psa 30:12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever. In Psa 95:2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. In Psa 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. In Eph 5:4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.

5. Petition and request. {To ask or seek God for Something} In Mat 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

• The Hurdles & Problems for our Prayer.

• Our Personal Sin & Iniquity. In Isa. 59:1 & 2, "Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

• Wrong motives and reasons. In James 4:3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

• Idols in the Heart. In Ezek 14:3 "Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all?

• Not respecting the word of God. In Prov 28:9 If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.
  
  
• Bible tells us Four things about Prayer.

Without Faith we cannot Pray to God. Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Call unto God at all times and present all your needs be known to Him. But God answers in three ways to all our Prayers. 1. Yes, 2. No, 3. Wait. In Jer 33:3 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unreachable things you do not know.

He cares for you. That is the main reason we pray to God. In 1 Pet 5:7 "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

We can’t do anything without him. John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I Pin him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

• The Right way to Pray. (We must practice the following ways to be effective in Prayer.

1. Pray to God the Father.

Acts 12:5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

Mat 6:9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name

2. Pray in the name of Jesus.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.

John 14:14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

3. Pray in the Spirit.

Eph 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.

Jude 1:20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.

4. Pray as per the Will of God.

1 John 5:14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

1 John 5:15 And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him.

We must remember two things if we want to Pray in the Will of God.

1. Know God’s Will.

1 Th 4:3 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality

2. Put ourselves under God’s Will.

Mat 26:42 He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."

5. Pray in Faith and Believe.

James 1:6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

Eph 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us

6. Pray Truly from the Heart.

Luke 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

7. Do not Pray as an outward show.

Mat 6:5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

• The God’s Promises for all those who Pray.
  

1. God answers the Prayer of his Children. In Rom 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father.
2. God has Promised us an answer. In Psa 91:15 ‘He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.’
3. God has given us many examples in the Bible for His answers.

1. 1 Ki 3:6 Solomon answered, "You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

1 Ki 3:7 "Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.

1 Ki 3:8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.

1 Ki 3:9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"

1 Ki 3:10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.

1 Ki 3:11 So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice,

1 Ki 3:12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.

1 Ki 3:13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for--both riches and honor--so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.

1 Ki 3:14 And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life."

2. 2 Ki 19:14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.

2 Ki 19:15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: "O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

2 Ki 19:16 Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.

2 Ki 19:17 "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands.

2 Ki 19:18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men's hands.

2 Ki 19:19 Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God."

2 Ki 19:20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: " This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.

2 Ki 19:21 This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: " 'The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you. The Daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee.

2 Ki 19:22 Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!

2 Ki 19:23 By your messengers you have heaped insults on the Lord. And you have said, "With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its pines. I have reached its remotest parts, the finest of its forests.

2 Ki 19:24 I have dug wells in foreign lands and drunk the water there. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt."

2 Ki 19:25 "'Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone.

2 Ki 19:26 Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched before it grows up.

2 Ki 19:27 "'But I know where you stay and when you come and go and how you rage against me.

2 Ki 19:28 Because you rage against me and your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.'

2 Ki 19:29 "This will be the sign for you, O Hezekiah: "This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

2 Ki 19:30 Once more a remnant of the house of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.

2 Ki 19:31 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

2 Ki 19:32 "Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: "He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it.

2 Ki 19:33 By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the LORD.

2 Ki 19:34 I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant."

2 Ki 19:35 That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning--there were all the dead bodies!

2 Ki 19:36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.

3. 2 Cor 12:7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

• A Model Prayer Given by our Lord Jesus Christ to all to follow. (This prayer is also known as " The Lord’s prayer." Since, it is thought by our Lord Jesus Christ, as a model of prayer to all His disciples.)

1. 'Our Father in heaven, {so, we have to Pray always to the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only mediator} In Mat 7:11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
2. ‘hallowed be your name’, Always start your prayer with thanks giving as in Phil 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. If we are not giving Praise to God, as in Acts 12:23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. Paul says in 2 Cor 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
3. Mat 6:10 your kingdom come, (We where earlier belong to the kingdom of this world and Satan but now we are being purchased by the blood of the lamb.) First, we have to remember that we are not of this world. Though we are living in this world, it is not belongs to us. So every day, our longing must be like this let your kingdom come. Second, Some how through our efforts many must come to this God’s kingdom every day for this we have to witness to others. Third, Waiting for the second coming of the saviour, and getting ready for that because he has promised us to come and take us to that kingdom.
4. your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Now, we belong to the kingdom of God in that case, we have to do the will of God, not to do any thing as this world does. Jesus told, in Mat 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
5. Mat 6:11 Give us today our daily bread. We must have a living hope on God and must live only by faith. As Paul said in Phil 4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Jesus told us not to worry about any need but present all your needs before God. Since he is our heavenly Father, in Mat 6:8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. In Mat 6:32 & Luke 12:30; ‘For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.’
6. Mat 6:12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. To get forgiveness from God we must also learn to forgive others. If we are not forgiving anybody their sins God also will not forgive us. Sin ruins human fellowship. Fellowship on the human level is restored through forgiveness. Refusal to forgive and be reconciled to other humans is sin which bars us from God's forgiveness.In Mat 6:14 & 15, For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Jesus told in Mark 11:25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

7. Mat 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, Jesus told his disciples to pray at least one hour that they may not fall in to temptation. Our prayer fellowship with God alone can help us to overcome the temptations brought to us by the tempter. In Mat 26:41; "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." Also in Mark 14:38 & Luke 22:40 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." In Luke 22:46 "Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation." Paul says in 1 Cor 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
8. but deliver us from the evil one. Jesus came to deliver us from the devil. He has given us the authority to drive out demons in his name. So in order to be a over comer, we need the help and power of our Lord Jesus. We have to totally depend on him. In John 15:5 "… apart from me you can do nothing. Apostle Paul says in 2 Cor 1:10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, Jesus told us in John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.