Hannah’s Prayer: One of the Greatest Examples of Fervent Prayer

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

1 Samuel 1:11 

Then she made a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.”

In Hannah’s prayer, here, we see in verse ten that she was “greatly distressed” and she “wept bitterly” (NASB).  For as it happened every year, she would come with her husband Elkanah, and with his other wife Peninah, and with Peninah’s children to sacrifice to the Lord, and Peninah, who was Hannah’s rival, would relentlessly provoke her to irritate her; for Peninah resented Hannah because Elkanah loved her more, and so, to get back at her, she would constantly remind her that the Lord had closed her womb.

Hence, here we see that while they all were eating together (the meal that Elkanah had prepared from the sacrifice, verse 4), Peninah kept provoking Hannah so that she wept.  Then, when she could eat no more and stay no more in Peninah’s company, she rose from the table and went into the temple to pray.  There she poured out all her grief to God.  Yes, being more righteous then Peninah she did not retaliate, but instead went straight to God in prayer, where she took all her troubles and found peace.

Though she may have prayed over many things concerning how she felt about Peninah, etc., we know for sure what her deepest concern was; it was for a child.  For we see in verse eleven that her prayer was very specific: “If You wilt…give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life…” And the Lord heard and answered her prayer (vv. 19-20).

Here we see a good example of earnest, fervent prayer; for as Hannah was crying out to God in tears, she appeared to Eli as drunk. We can only speculate what Eli saw; perhaps as she expressed her sincere desire to God her body was swaying, her hands were trembling, and her tearful face was contorted.  Verse thirteen tells us that as she prayed her lips moved but her voice was not heard.  So we must conclude that her prayer was deeper, much deeper than words.  It was a prayer of the soul and spirit, a prayer from the agony of heart break and deep sorrow.

The lesson we learn here is that when we feel burdened down with sorrow and in great despair, we should go straight to the Lord in prayer as Hannah did.  Just think of what would have happened if she did not go to prayer.  She no doubt would have, sooner or later, had it out with Peninah and maybe even with her husband Elkanah.  But the greatest tragedy would have been that she probably would not have given birth to the child Samuel—who became one of the greatest prayer warriors of all time.

 

Posted in Part 2, Joshua to Samuel, Prayer A to Z Excerpts, Survey of Prayer | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

How to Find Comfort and Inner Strength

Posted on September 22, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

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2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

May our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, who loved us and in his special favor gave us everlasting comfort and good hope, 17 comfort your hearts and give you strength in every good thing you do and say. NLT

Have you ever had a Bible passage jump out at you?  This one did to me.  I read it again and again.  It says to me that I can find God’s comfort and strength in every good thing I do and in every good thing I say.  It makes sense but it seems too simple—like a formula: good deeds and words = God’s comfort.  But you know what? It’s true.  If we genuinely seek to help others in deeds and words we will be blessed by God!  And haven’t we all experienced it.  I can think of several cases where that has happened to me.

But why do I so easily forget it?  And then when I am in need of comfort I cry out to God for it, as if I have no clue as to how to get it.  Please let this passage (above) be a constant promise to you and a reminder of how to be comforted.  It can always be relied on.

Here in a nutshell is what God is saying to me from the above passage about how to be comforted: God is our source of comfort, and it comes to us when we forget about our own problems and go and look for someone else to comfort; then do something good for them and say something encouraging to them.

Here is another passage that I have always found helpful:

Isaiah 58:10-11

And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:

11 And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. KJV

Posted in 5 Romans to Philemon, Quiet Time Highlights | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Prayer A to Z: A Comprehensive Bible-Based Study of Prayer by Stephen Nielsen: Table of Contents and a Short Excerpt

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen
 
prayer A to Z Book

                        

                              CONTENTS

 PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xvii                         
 
 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  xix
 
1   ANSWERS TO PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
    God Wants Us to Know We Can Receive Answers to Prayer . . . . . . . . .  21
    How to Receive Answers to Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  26
    Why Prayers Aren’t Always Answered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  36
    The Blessings of Answered Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  37 
 
 2   AROMA OF PRAYER  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  39
    The Golden Altar of Incense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  39
    The Brazen Altar  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  40
    Burning the Incense  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   43
    Keeping Our Prayers As Sweet As Incense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   44
 
3   AUTHORITY IN PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   46
    Our Position of Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   46
    Executing Our Authority with Power  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  49
    The Use of Our Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   52
 
4   BURDEN IN PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  55
    The Burden of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  55
    God Calls Us to Be Burden Bearers with Him  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
    How to Recognize a Burden  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
    Preparing for Burdens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
    Carrying Burdens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  60
 
5   CONFIDENCE IN PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
    What Is Confidence? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  62
    Why Do We Need Confidence? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
    What Makes Us Confident? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
 
6   DEFINITION OF PRAYER  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  74
    The Nature and Meaning of Prayer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
    Various Descriptions of Prayer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
    The Forms of Prayer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
 
7    DESIRE IN PRAYER  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  85
    What Is the Biblical Meaning of Desire? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   85
    God’s Desire for Us  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  87
    Our Desire for God  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
    Our Desire to Pray  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
    How to Develop and Deepen Desire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
 
8   EARNESTNESS IN PRAYER   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
    What Does It Mean to Pray with Earnestness? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94
    What Does Earnestness in Prayer Not Mean?   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
    Why Should We Pray with Earnestness?  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
    How to Develop Earnestness in Prayer? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
    Levels of Earnestness  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
 
9   EVANGELISM AND PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  101
    What to Pray for Ourselves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  101
    What to Pray for the Lost  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  106
    A Strategy for Evangelism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  110
 
10   FAILURE IN PRAYER  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
    Failure in Getting to Prayer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  113
    Failure in Prayer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115
 
11   FAITH AND PRAYER  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  121
    What Is Faith? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
    The Different Kinds of Faith  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
    The Growth and Development of Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
    How to Pray with Faith  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
 
12   FASTING AND PRAYER   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
    Jesus Has Taught Us to Fast  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133
    We Have the Examples of Many that Fasted  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
    Our Neglect of Fasting  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  136
    How True Fasting Has Been Described  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  137
    Various Types of Fasts  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  138
    Five Wrong Reasons to Fast  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
    Twelve Right Reasons to Fast  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
    Guidelines for Fasting  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  143
 
13   FORGIVENESS AND PRAYER  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  145
    Being Forgiven by God  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   145
    Forgiving Yourself  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  148
    Forgiving Others  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
 
14   GOD’S IDEA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  155
    Arguments that Prayer Is Not God’s Idea  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
    Proof that Prayer Is God’s Idea  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  156
    God’s Ten Idea’s or Purposes for Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  157
 
15   HOLINESS AND PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  161
    The Meaning of Holiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  161
    The Extent of Holiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  162
    Why Be Holy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  164
    How to Be Holy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
    Seven Things to Practice for Holiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  170
 
16   HOLY SPIRIT AND PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  177
    Who Is the Holy Spirit? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  177
    Prayer for the Holy Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  180
    How the Holy Spirit Helps Us Pray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  181
    Eight Things We Can Pray that the Holy Spirit Will Do for Us . . . . 184
 
17   HOW TO PRAY – PART 1  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  189
    Eight of Jesus Teachings on Prayer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189
 
18   HOW TO PRAY – PART 2  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
    Introduction to the Prayer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
    The Address – “Our Father in Heaven” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  203
    The Six Petitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205
    The Doxology  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  213
    The Use of the Lord’s Prayer in My Personal Prayers . . . . . . . . . . . 214                                 
 
19   IMPORTUNITY IN PRAYER  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  218
    Importunity in Prayer Demonstrated in the Scriptures . . . . . . . . .  218
    The Great Demand of Importune Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  224
    The Process of Importune Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   227
    How to Pray with Importunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
    The Results of Praying with Importunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229
 
20   INTERCESSION – PART 1  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  231
    The Father’s Role in Intercession  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  231
    The Intercession of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
    The Intercession of the Holy Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  237
 
21   INTERCESSION – PART 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
    The Definition of Intercession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
 
22   INTERCESSION – PART 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  246
    Who to Intercede for and What to Pray for Them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
    Our Great Responsibility to Intercede . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
    The Blessings of Intercession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  255
 
23   JESUS’ NAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  257
    What Does It Mean To Pray in Jesus’ Name? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .257
    The Use of Praying in His Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   261
    How Do We Know If We Are Really Praying in His Name? . . . . . . 263
 
24   KNEELING AND PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  264
    Why Should We Be Concerned about Our Prayer Posture? . . . . . . 264
    Six Prayer Positions and What Each One Symbolizes . . . . . . . . . . . 265
    A History of Prayer Posture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
 
25   LENGTH OF PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
    How Long Should We Pray? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
    How to Pray Long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .276
    Planning to Pray Long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
 
26   MINISTRY OF PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
    What Is a Prayer Ministry? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
    Who Are the Participants of the Prayer Ministry? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
    Christ Our Life and Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
    The Power of the Prayer Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
    How to Set Up a Prayer Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
    Intercessors – The Workers of the Prayer Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . .   296
 
27   NECESSITY OF PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .300
    Prayer Is Necessary to Obtain Personal Salvation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
    Prayer Is Necessary for Spiritual Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .301
    Prayer Is Necessary to Help Us Stand Firm Against the Devil . . . .302
    Prayer Is Necessary to Obtain Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
    Prayer Is Necessary for Obtaining Fullness of Joy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
    Prayer Is Necessary for Obtaining Mercy and Grace . . . . . . . . . . . 304
    Prayer Is Necessary for Obtaining Freedom from Anxiety . . . . . . .305
    Prayer Is Necessary for Obtaining the Power of the Holy Spirit .  305       
    Prayer Is Necessary to Carry Out God’s Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
 
28   OBEDIENCE AND PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  309
    What Is Obedience? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
    How to Obey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  311
    The Results of Obedience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
 
29   POSSIBILITIES OF PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
    The Wide Scope of Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
    Asking God for Big Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  322
    What about Miracles? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
    Moving Mountains through Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .334
 
30    POWER IN PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  336
    The Source of Prayer Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
    The Instrument of Prayer Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  337
    The Purpose of Prayer Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
    The Acquisition of Prayer Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
 
31   PRAISE AND PRAYER – PART 1  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .347
    What Is Praise? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
    What Is Prayer? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349         
    The Origin and Basis of Praise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
    Common Praise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  351
    The Difference between Petitionary Prayer and Praise . . . . . . . . . . 352      
    The Interdependence of Petitionary Prayer and Praise . . . . . . . . . . 353
    Staying On the Path of Praise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .354
    The Use of Praise in Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  356
    The Use of Praise in Warfare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  357
    The Use of Praise in Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
 
32   PRAISE AND PRAYER – PART 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .360
    Examples of Praise from the Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  360
    Examples of Praise from Various Bible Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363     
 
33   PRAYERLESSNESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
    Six Reasons Why Prayerlessness Is Sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
    Four Deadly Sins That Keep Us from Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
    Seven Ideas to Help You Overcome Prayerlessness . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
 
34   QUIETNESS IN PRAYER – PART 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  377
    How God Speaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
    Why God Speaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
    How to Hear God’s Voice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
    Respond To His Voice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386
 
35   QUIETNESS IN PRAYER – PART 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
    What Is a Quiet Time? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  387
    How to Have a Quiet Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  389
    Sample Outlines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  394
    Making It Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
 
36   QUIETNESS IN PRAYER – PART 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
    The Importance of Solitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
    How to Find Solitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
    Hindrances to Finding Inner Solitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
    What to Do While In Solitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
    The Blessings of Solitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
 
37   QUIETNESS IN PRAYER – PART 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .413
    What’s the Devil up To Regarding Our Prayers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  413
    Who Are the Devil’s Servants that Try to Pervert Our Prayers?  . . 414
    Don’t Be Fooled by the Devil’s Counterfeit Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .421
    How to Stay on Track with Your Prayers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .423
 
38   REVIVAL AND PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .426
    What is Revival? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
    Our Great Need of Revival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  428
    The Pattern of Revival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
    The History of Revival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .432
    Preparing for Revival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
 
39   SPECIFIC PRAYING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
    What It Means to Pray Specifically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
    Why It Is Important to Pray Specifically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  437
    Why Some Prayers Are Not Specific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
    How to Pray Specifically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .440
 
40   SURVEY OF PRAYER – PART 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
    The Prayers of Abram-Abraham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
    The Prayer of Abraham’s Servant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
    The Prayers of Jacob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  447
    The Prayers of Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  448
    The Prayers of Moses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450
 
41   SURVEY OF PRAYER – PART 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
    The Prayers of Joshua . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
    The Prayers of the Sons of Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460
    The Prayers of Gideon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462
    The Prayer of Monoah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .463
    The Prayers of Samson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   464
    The Prayers of Hannah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465
    The Prayers of Samuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
 
 
42   SURVEY OF PRAYER – PART 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .469
    The Prayers of David . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  469
    The Prayers of Solomon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .475
    The Prayer of Jabez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477
    The Prayer of Asa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  478
    The Prayer of Jehoshaphat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .478
 
43   SURVEY OF PRAYER – PART 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .480
    The Prayers of Elijah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .480
    The Prayers of Elisha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  482
    The Prayers of Jonah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  483
    The Prayers of Hezekiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .485
    The Prayers of Isaiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
    The Prayers of Habakkuk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488
    The Prayers of Jeremiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .489
    The Prayers of Ezekiel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .490
    The Prayers of Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  491
 
44   SURVEY OF PRAYER – PART 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
    The Prayers of Ezra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
    The Prayers of Nehemiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
    The Prayer of the Leaders of the Levites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  498
    The Prayers of Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  500
    The Prayers of the Early Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .504
    The Prayers of Paul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .506
    The Prayer of John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  510
 
45   TRAVAIL IN PRAYER  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .512
    What Do We Mean by “Travail In Prayer”? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .512
    The Source of Travail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  515
    The Struggle of Travail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516
    The Process of Travail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518
    Why Do We Need to Travail In Prayer? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520
 
46   UNITED PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  522
    United Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522
    Group Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  525
 
47   VIGILANCE IN PRAYER – PART 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .532
    What Is Vigilance? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532
    Two Purposes for Vigilance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  533
    Why Is Vigilance Necessary? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534
 
48   VIGILANCE IN PRAYER – PART 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542
    Vigilance by the Power of the Holy Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542
    Vigilance by Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  542
    Vigilance by Our Understanding of the Cross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
    Vigilance by Resisting Sin and Satan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
 
49   WORD AND PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .553
    The Word Teaches Us to Pray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  553
    Abiding In the Word Gives Us Power to Pray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555
    Prayer Gives Power to the Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  560
 
50   XANADU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566
    The Beauty of His Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566
    The Beauty of His Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
    The Beauty of the Inner Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .570
    How to Better Experience the Beauty of the Inner Room . . . . . . . . . 572
 
51   YIELDING IN PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575
    What Is Yielding? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  575
    What Do We Yield To? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .576
    How to Yield to God and Not to Satan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578
 
52   ZENITH OF PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .583
 
PARTS OF PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .583
    Prayer as Confession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584
    Prayer as Praise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586
    Prayer as Thanksgiving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587
    Prayer as Petition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589
 
PURPOSE OF PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591
    The Overall Purposes of Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591
    Of Confession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592
    Of Praise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593
    Of Thanksgiving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .594
    Of Petition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
 
PRINCIPLES OF PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597
    Attentiveness to God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597
    Priorities of Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601
    Power in Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602
    Responsibility to Intercede . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  603
    Only to God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .604
    Answers to Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  605
    Confidence in Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
    Hear Us! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  609
    Importunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
    Necessity of the Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .612
    God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   613
    His Desires and Burdens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
    In His Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  616
    Specific Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618
    Transparency in Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619
    Hindrances to Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .621
    Resisting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623
    Obey Him . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  625
    Need for Unity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  626
    Earnestness in Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628
 
PEAK OF PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631
    What Prayer Basically Is: Soul to Soul Communication . . . . . . . . . . . 631
    The Different Parts of Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  639
    The Means and the Purpose of Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643
    United Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  649
 
PRACTICE OF PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653
    Find Places to Pray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653
    Use Prayer Aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655
    Develop Prayer Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660
    Have Special Prayer Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  669
 
NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   677
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699
 
 
 
 
 

Here is a short excerpt from chapter One.

CHAPTER 1

 ANSWERS TO PRAYER

 

Most of us I think would say that over our lifetime we have only received a handful of answers to prayer.  But that’s not the way it should be.  God purposed from the beginning that answers to prayer be the rule, not the exception.  His idea of prayer was, and is, to be a regular, daily means for us to receive from Him what we need and desire in order to do His will.  In fact, Jesus has promised us in John 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”  Yes, God wants to give you the very thing you desire and ask for.  And He will, if you meet the conditions—to abide in Him and let His words abide in you.

GOD WANTS US TO KNOW WE CAN RECEIVE ANSWERS

 Prayer was never meant to be an end in itself—not an exercise to glory in, to impress someone, or even merely for communion and enjoyment of God, though that is part of prayer.  Rather, the main purpose of prayer is to glorify God when we receive from Him the things we ask for (Jn. 14:13).  And that is what we should expect when we pray—that He will give us exactly what we ask for, nothing else, nothing different.

Now let us look further into why we can know that we can receive answers to prayer.  Here are six reasons:

 

1.  In all of Jesus’ teachings on prayer He has emphasized strongly that we can receive answers.  In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 7:7-11, Jesus instructed His disciples on asking and receiving.  He told them that if they will just ask, He will give to them, if they seek they will find, and if they knock the door will be opened to them.  Here it seems that asking, seeking, and knocking are all ways of asking, asking that gets more and more intense.  Seeking is more intense than regular asking, and knocking is more intense than seeking.

But I think this passage is teaching more than just our intensity in prayer.  I see this kind of prayer as a progression of prayer that involves us in the process.  God wants us to be involved in prayer, in bringing about the answer.  He doesn’t just want to hand us what we desire on a silver platter.  So here Jesus I think is teaching: ask what you desire, but then when God gives you some insight into what exactly He wants to give you, go out and seek for it—put some feet on your prayers.  Then next, when you think you have found what you have been praying for, knock on the door. And when the door opens, test it to see if it is what God wants you to have.

An example of this kind of prayer would be when we are praying for a job.  We would begin our prayer by asking God for the kind of job we desire.  But it doesn’t end there with verbal asking.  We don’t just keep asking and not do anything.  No. The next thing we naturally do when we desire a job is to “seek”—to look around for a job.  We would look in the paper or on-line at the help wanted ads, etc.  But it doesn’t end there.  We would get on the phone and call places that interest us and then go and talk to the person offering the job.  That’s the knocking part of prayer.  So we don’t just sit on the couch and pray!  We put feet to our prayers!  God wants us to be involved in the process of prayer.

Notice that at each level, or at each step on the journey Jesus tells us that God will give us an answer.  He said, “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

The basis for God’s answers, Jesus explained (vv. 9-11), is the fact that He is our Heavenly Father and He loves us.  His love and goodness is far beyond that of our earthly fathers.  Jesus’ teaching here is that if our earthly fathers who are sinful give us every good thing that we need and ask for, how much more will our Heavenly Father give to us when we ask Him.  

On another occasion, in Luke 18:1-8, Jesus told a story about a widow who repeatedly came to the town judge, pleading for justice.  According to the story, the judge did not fear God or regard man,

and he really didn’t want to help the woman.  But because of her persistence in coming, he finally said to himself, “Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.”

Then Jesus said, “Hear what the unjust judge said.  And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?  I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.”

Here again, as in the first story, the teaching I believe is that of contrast.  If the earthly, unjust judge gave justice to the woman because of her persistent pleading, God as our judge will certainly give us help when we pray, and much more speedily, because He is good and just.

In these two teachings of Jesus on prayer the central theme is on the persistence of prayer—that if we are persistent He will surely give us an answer because He is good.  But there are other themes of prayer in Jesus’ teachings that likewise show us how the Father wants to give us answers.  In Mathew 21:18-22 and in Mark 11:20-24 the theme is having faith.  Read these stories for yourself and see how Jesus emphasizes that if we have faith we can surely receive answers.  He says in Matthew 21:22, “And whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.  Then also in Mark 11:24 He says, “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

In the gospel of John the emphasis of Jesus’ teachings is on abiding and asking in His name.  In John 14:13-14 Jesus states, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”  In John 16:24 Jesus says, “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”  Last, in John 15:7 Jesus says, “If you a- bide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”

Notice, in all of the above verses, the emphasis Jesus puts on our receiving—that if we have faith, or abide, or ask in His name, we will definitely receive what we ask for.  He says, “…you will receive” (Matt. 21:22), “…you will have them” (Mk. 11:24), “…I will do it” (Jn. 14:14), “…you will receive…” (Jn. 16:24), and “…it shall be done for you” (Jn. 15:7).  There is definitely no uncertainty in these teachings of Jesus that God will give us what we ask for when we meet the conditions (Italics added for emphasis).

 

2.  God has made it our nature to ask in prayer in order that we may receive.  We are not speaking of the old nature here.  It is not in the sinful nature to want to pray and expect answers.  If you are without God you never want to pray, and when you do pray you are surprised when answers come.  But when we invite the Holy Spirit to fill us and when we learn how to pray from Him, God works in us the desire to pray and expect answers.  Therefore, it is the new nature in us that desires to pray and to receive answers.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:16 that we are temples of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in us.  He was of course speaking to only believers; God’s Spirit dwells in each believer.  He dwells in us individually, but also corporately—in the church (1 Pet. 2:4-5).  In Matthew 21:13 Jesus said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer…” In that context He was speaking of the Jewish temple.  However, I think we can also conclude that since we (individually and as a church) are temples of God, Jesus was also speaking to us.  Yes, in our new nature, we naturally want to pray and to receive answers, because He has made us a “house of prayer.”  In this house of prayer, where the Spirit dwells, He will give you His heart, His desire.  And when we lift that desire up to God, when we ask Him according to that desire, that is what prayer really is.

Now when I said God gives you a desire I did not necessarily mean only a desire to pray (though that is included).  God will give you a desire for a specific thing that He wants you to have, or for a specific change to take place in you or another person.  That desire for that thing will naturally bring you closer to God, fill your heart with joy, and give you confidence that what you are praying for will happen.  For if He gives you the desire for a thing then we know it is His will and we will feel His abiding presence with us.

3.  It is God’s nature to hear and answer prayer.  It is well established in the Bible, by various declarations (especially in the Psalms) and by ample evidence, that God hears and answers prayer.  In Psalms 5:3 David declares, “My voice

You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up.” Again in Psalms 65:2 David says of God, “O You who hear prayer, to You all flesh will come.”

In Hebrews 11:6 we find the clear teaching that God is a rewarded of those who diligently seek Him.  This is His nature.  This is who He is.  He is a God who listens to our prayers and rewards us with an answer.

He answers the prayers of all His creatures who cry out to Him for mercy and for daily needs.  Look out and see how God has fed and clothed the whole earth.  Not even the little birds lack food and shelter (Matt. 6:26-28).  He answers the prayers of Christians in particular because we are His own special people whom He died for and whom He has adopted into His family (1 Pet. 2:9; Eph. 1:5-7).  What a good Heavenly Father we have.  He is always watching out for us.  He cares for all our needs and wants because He loves us so much.

He wants to answer our little requests as well as our big requests.  He cares about the little things we ask for, not because they are so important in themselves but because they are important to us.  For just as a mother sees to the little things that an infant child cries out for, God cares about the little things that we ask for.  Likewise, God wants to give us big things too—and a lot of things.  He says to us from Psalms 81:10, “Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.”  Again, from Jeremiah 33:3, He says to us, “Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

4.  God’s answers to prayer show evidence of the existence of God and give us proof of our right relationship with Him.  Anyone who comes to God in prayer must believe, at least a little, that He exists (Heb. 11:6).  But when He rewards us with an answer, we have unmistakable evidence of His existence.  Says E. M. Bounds, “There is no proof so clear and demonstrative that God exists than prayer and its answers.”

Furthermore, when we receive answers from Him, it not only strengthens our own faith, but it plants the seed of faith in others around us who have witnessed His answers.  This was Elijah’s expectation for the people of Israel—that when they witnessed what God would do they would believe.  Thus he prayed, “Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God…” (1 Kin. 18:37).

Answered prayer not only gives us proof of His existence, it gives us confidence that we are on the right track with God—that we have a right relationship with Him and that He is pleased with us and with our prayers.  Again E. M. Bounds states, “Answer to prayer is the convincing proof of our right relations to God.”

But it not only gives us confidence and proof; it gives those around us proof.  Surely, those around Elijah knew, because of his answered prayer, that he was a man of God.  When people around us see how God answers our prayers they will also regard us as men and women of God.  When this happens (and it will) we must always be careful to give God the glory so they will praise Him and not us.

5.  When we receive His answers we share in His work and will.  God has chosen us who believe to bring to pass His will on earth.  But we can’t do it under our own power.  He has designed that we accomplish His work and will through prayer.  That is, through prayer He will give us strength, wisdom, confidence, and any help we need to accomplish His work.

In Luke 19:10 it says, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”  When we allow the Holy Spirit to fill us, we in effect are joining Jesus in His work of seeking and saving the lost.  And when we pray for the lost and He answers our prayers, we can know that His work is being done though us.

 

6.  Answers to prayer bring God glory and bring us joy.  In John 14:13 Jesus said, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”  Then in John 16:24 Jesus said to His disciples (and to us), “Until now you have asked nothing in My name.  Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” Here we see clearly that the purpose of answered prayer is to glorify God, that He would be glorified in the Son.  But we see also that the outcome for us is that our joy is made full. I believe that when we pray in the Holy Spirit, according to His will, this will always be the outcome for us.  For when we are used in the service of God to bring Him glory by our prayers, the Holy Spirit will always fill us up with joy.  That is what will naturally happen.  It is the joy of the Holy Spirit bubbling up in us; it is the overflow of the glory of God in us.

Now what we are talking about is not prayer itself.  The act of prayer, the obedience of prayer, does not necessarily bring God glory.  Prayer is what is expected of us, but it is the answers that come from our prayers that bring Him glory and us joy.  The whole point of prayer is to get answers.

E. M. Bounds has said, “It is not the marvelous array of argument and eloquence in praying which makes prayer effectual.  Not one or all of these are the things which glorify God.  It is the answers which brings glory to His Name.”  Again Bounds wrote, “Better not to pray at all than to go through a dead form, which secures no answer, brings no glory to God, and supplies no good to man.”

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Satan’s Strategy: His Plan for Your Destruction

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

Yes, Satan has a strategy.  He has defined goals and has considered how he can accomplish them.  In Job 1:7, when Satan told God that he was “…roaming about on the earth and walking around on it” (NASB), he was not just taking a leisurely stroll for recreation.  He was looking over the earth, over its government, and over all the people on the earth, pondering and considering how he could lead the world astray.

And he is still considering us today, to determine our weaknesses and to figure out how he can do the most damage—how he can tempt us and cause us to sin, and then devour us (1 Pt. 5:8); though, by now (after 6,000 years), he must have us almost figured out.

In his pondering, he especially considers individuals (as well as local churches, communities, and nations); he devises schemes as to how he can hinder their progress.  Consequently, he has a special temptation for each of us, according to what he perceives is our weakness or strength.  I think He focuses most on spiritual leaders and the godlier; but, no doubt, his temptations include everyone.  His objective is to track us down, lead us astray, and destroy us.

Now, when he considers us, and determines how he can trap us into sin, his temptations will be in just three areas: in the area of the flesh, the eyes, and our pride.  These areas, sited in 1 John 2:16 as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life, are really the only three areas or avenues of temptation that exist.  The first area, the lust of the flesh, is that avenue of temptation that appeals to our bodies—such as the lust for food or sex.  The second area, the lust of the eyes, is that area of temptation that brings a delight to the eyes (Gen. 3:6).  It is a lust or a greed for all the beautiful things such as clothes and houses and cars, etc.  The third area, the area of pride, is that area of temptation that appeals to our status, our popularity, or our sense of power.

Therefore, when Satan tempts us, he may temp us in one of these three areas or perhaps in two areas or even all three areas.  When Satan tempted Eve, for example (Gen. 3:6), the temptation to take the fruit was in all three areas: it was “good for food” (lust of the flesh), “a delight to the eyes” (lust of the eyes), and “desirable to make one wise” (pride of life).

Notice that each of these areas of temptation is designed to make us feel better; Satan wants us to believe that what he is telling us to do (tempting us to do) will benefit us. But, as it happens, the more we give into his temptations the more he builds into our minds sinful strongholds—intended to draw us into following him willfully.

A satanic stronghold can be defined as an accumulation of thoughts or ideas, which Satan has fed us with that seem to give us a good reason to sin.  It is an accumulation of arguments for evil (Read 2 Cor. 10:4-5).  Consequently, this is how Satan traps us into temptations; he plants beautiful and pleasurable seeds of evil—one at a time—in our mind until they form a stronghold.

Moreover, a stronghold is a place of moral darkness.  It is a place in the mind that one has allowed Satan to enter, where he has given the demons legal access, and has even made them feel comfortable.  I suppose we could say that a stronghold is the grip of Satan on one’s mind, compelling him, by his own lusts, to think and do certain sinful things.  To put it simply, it is a sinful habit encouraged by demons.

In some cases, sin and Satan have managed to control us through our lusts, but not totally deceive us; that is, we willfully engage in sinful habits, even though we know (in our mind) that they are wrong.  Thus, sin and the demons overcome us, and we find ourselves doing what we don’t want to do.

In many other cases, however, when the stronghold is more built up, people have become totally deceived by Satan’s arguments, so that they don’t believe or even know the truth; thus lies have become truth to them.  In fact, these people like to argue against the truth, saying, for example, that there is nothing wrong with abortion, or homosexuality, or adultery, or lust, or the occult.  Therefore, these people have firm strongholds in their mind because they have believed a lie.  For them, Satan no longer has to tempt them—they sin on their own.  I would say that in most cases these people are non-Christians, who don’t have the Holy Spirit in them to show them the truth.  However, if Christians constantly reinforce Satan’s lies without being repentant, I believe it may be possible for them to be deceived—that is, to believe a lie.  In such cases, since there is no repentance for sins, the Holy Spirit would no longer be effective.

This post is an excerpt from Prayer A to Z and Purpose of Prayer.

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Samson’s Last Prayer

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

Judges 16:28

Then Samson called to the LORD, saying, “O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!”

 

In most of Samson’s life it seemed that he was angry with the Philistines; and he killed many of them with his own hands.  Here we see that Samson wanted revenge one last time.  As he stood, helpless in front of the Philistine crowds, with his eyes gouged out and with depleted strength, he could do nothing but pray.  He wanted so much to destroy them instantly for what they had done to him, but he felt so helpless—he couldn’t see, and his strength was gone.

Then he thought, perhaps God will strengthen me this one last time.  So he prayed, “O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!”

“And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life (vv. 29-30).

What a story!  But what should we make of his prayer?  Samson prayed for strength that he would be able to kill them all—out of personal revenge! Why did God answer that prayer?  For God tells us in James 4:3 that we must not ask for anything with wrong motives; and certainly it was wrong to want revenge (Matt. 5:44; Rom. 12:17).

Well, all we can say is that God seems to have overlooked his sin of wanting revenge and focuses instead on his courage and faith, and his loyalty to his country and his God.  And we see his faith demonstrated as he prayed for strength, and also as he counted on God to answer his prayer; for he pushed on the pillars “with all his might,” fully expecting that the house would come down.

We may also get from this passage that God works His ways through sinful people.  Samson was certainly sinful, and so are we.  Hence, just as God used sinful Samson and heard his prayer, He may likewise choose to answer your prayer and use you for His purposes in spite of your sin.

 

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Sports: Are you for them or against them?

Posted on September 7, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

Youth-soccer-indianaThis has become a very interesting topic for me, because I love sports; but almost all of my Christian friends aren’t interested at all in sports.  Most of them think it’s a waste of time, and some could give you a speech as to why it’s evil.  To put some structure to this post let me present the following three questions:

1. Why do some people hate sports and others can’t get enough of sports?  When I was very young, about five or six, I remember having to watch the football and baseball games on TV that my uncle was watching.  He loved to watch them, but I hated it!  When I got older and began getting involved in sports—wrestling, track, swimming, basketball, baseball, and football—I not only liked participating in sports, I liked watching the games—live and on TV.  The whole point of telling you my story is this: I believe we will come to like what we get involved in, what we come to understand, and what we excel in.  People who hate sports usually don’t understand the games, haven’t played the games, and of course they haven’t had the opportunity to excel in the games.  And the opposite is true for those who love sports.  They love sports because it is something they are a part of.  And if they have been fortunate to win (by being gifted and by hard work) this of course is the main reason why they have come to really love sports (or any particular sport).

2. Why do some people have such an extreme against sports—that they think it is an entire waste of time and even evil?  I welcome your thoughts to this, but I think it is mainly because they have never been involved in sports, they don’t understand the games, and consequently they have no experience of winning at the games.  So naturally, for them, it is a big waste of time.  And to call sports evil I think is a huge over reaction.  Yes, I know that there are a lot of things that have gone wrong with sports, especially professional sports: The players and owners are making way too much money; some of the games are just too abusive, and dangerous—and concussions and injuries are on the rise; and performance enhancing drugs are a big problem (but they are really starting to crack down on this).  All these things are bad, stemming from our own greed and pride.  But that doesn’t mean sports themselves are evil.  Sports I think are good, but of course, just as with anything we do, we need to conduct ourselves in the right way.

3.  Can sports become an idol?  Yes, of course.  Anything can become an idol if it takes the place of God.  If I choose to watch sports instead of going to church or my weekly Bible 195px-Eric_LiddellStudy, then I have got my priorities out of place.  Remember Eric Liddell.  He was a devoted Christian who also happened to love running; and I think we could say that he loved sports.  But as we all saw on the movie Chariots of Fire, He refused to run in an Olympic race that was held on Sunday. Here is one who had his priorities in order.

I think sports can be especially good for kids—to help them build self-confidence, and just for the exercise of it.  I think it can be a great source of entertainment and encouragement.  I love seeing players excel at a sport, and I also love reading news articles about players that have worked hard to achieve success.  As I read those article I feel so encouraged.  I especially love it when players give God the glory for their gifts and success.  I think God is especially pleased by that.

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Satan’s Government: Four Ranks of Demons

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

When Satan rebelled against God he immediately began trying to convince the angels of God to follow him in order to build his own evil kingdom.  Revelation 12:4 tells us that he persuaded one third of all the angels to reject God and choose him instead.  And you can bet that he promised them that he would elevate them to a greater position than they presently had with God. (How sad. For their rebellion they will all be cast into the lake of fire forever.)

These lawless rebels, though they have totally corrupted themselves, and though they became ignorant of the truth and live in constant confusion and darkness, are not without order and purpose; for Satan has indoctrinated them and has given them his goals.  All that Satan wants to do and aims to do, they also aim to do, partly because they believe him and believe he will reward them, but also, I suppose, out of fear—fear that if they are not loyal to him they will be severely punished.

Now, just as God’s holy angels are organized into different ranks, having different responsibilities, Satan has imitated that same structure for his own evil kingdom.  In Ephesians 6:12 we see four different ranks of demons, each having different responsibilities.

The first one mentioned is “principalities” or “rulers.” This elite group is not found doing Satan’s dirty work among ordinary people.  They are handpicked by Satan to rule in the heavenly places over all the other demons.  They also have the special work of influencing earthly rulers and governments.

The second group is called “powers.” They are the demons that aim to spread the power of evil and darkness into any given area and into people’s lives.  According to A. Sims, the author of Prayer Warfare, “They are evil spirits of energy and force that attack the feelings, the imaginations, and stir people up to commit terrible sins…”

The third group is called “the rulers of the darkness of this age” or “the world forces of this darkness.”  This group, according to Sims, are those demons “that manage superstitions, witchcraft, fortune-telling, heresy, ignorance, and all sorts of stupidity, self-conceit, and spiritual blindness.”

They are the demons of darkness that bring us into error and ignorance and darkness; they aim to keep us from hearing God’s truth.

The last group is called “wicked spirits in heavenly places” or “The spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”  These demons, according to Sims,

 …are the most dangerous of all demons because they are religious demons…They are demons who have joined the church, been baptized, profess religion, even profess holiness… Their whole aim is to attack the most religious people and get them off into heresy, to follow impressions [etc.]…All forms of modern heresy and wild delusions, such as Spiritualism, Christian Science, Darwinism, [etc.]…are the result of these wicked spirits in the Heavenly places.

Now some would say that we cannot be certain of the responsibilities and powers and influence that demons have.  Many authors are not as confident in explaining the different ranks as A. Sims has in his book. In fact, some commentators ignore the subject altogether. But the way Sims has explained it seems reasonable to me—that there are demons that rule, demons that spread the power of evil, demons that try to bring us into darkness and demons that invade our spiritual lives to get us off track.

Satan and all his demons are most certainly organized against us and against Christ, to lead us astray and to destroy us.  They seek to interact with us and affect us through our spirit (since they are spirit beings).  They want to control us, to communicate with us, and to play games with us.  Thus they want us to be involved with astrology, magic, and witchcraft, which are all ways to worship them.

But if we put Christ first in our lives and worship Him, then we are in Spirit union with Him, and Satan and all his demons will flee from us; for they know they are no match for God.

This post is an excerpt from Purpose of Prayer.

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Satan’s Personality: Deceiver, Pervert, Imitator, Rebel

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

 

Here’s an excerpt from Prayer A to Z.  Let it be a reminder of who our enemy is and what he is up to.

 

He is a deceiver.  In order to seize the throne of God and to attract willing followers, he has snidely and viciously set out to deceive us—to convince us that he has the truth and that God is a liar.  So, ironically, for this reason, his whole life is a lie.  He may whisper some truth to us, but it is only to get us to believe him, so that he can eventually lead us astray and destroy us.

Now, to accomplish his goal of deception, he knows that he has to lead many to reproduce his deceptive works and to follow his ways.  For this reason he has enlisted scores of false teachers who now openly repudiate the Word of God, deny the deity of Jesus Christ, and who teach that truth is not universal and from a transcendent God.  In fact, most teachers today teach that truth is personal and quite subjective.  Truth, they say, is whatever you want it to be. 

 

He is a pervert.  To pervert is to change or distort something from its intended use.  What God has given us for our good, Satan means to distort, or misrepresent, or spoil by deception.  Satan’s aim is to pervert the whole purpose and plan of God in our mind so that we are confused as to what His truth is for us.  Likewise, Satan seeks to pervert (or spoil) all of God’s good blessings for us—such as food, marriage and sex.  In some cases he tells us that these things are bad for us and to abstain from them; at other times he will distort in our minds their proper use so that we become gluttons and adulterers and homosexuals.  His goal is to see us made sick, weakened, corrupted, tortured, and ultimately destroyed. 

 

He is an imitator.  Satan’s purpose in all of his deceptions is to fool us into thinking that he is good and true, even that he is God; because he wants us to follow him and obey him.  So he disguises himself as an angel of light; his followers also portray themselves as servants of righteousness (2 Cor. 11:14-15).

Satan and his followers, in some cases, have done the same miracles and have appeared to do the same good works as true believers have done.   For example, Satan must have appeared righteous and true to Eve or else she would not have listened to him.  Likewise, the magicians of Egypt did miracles just like Moses did (Ex. 7:11, 12, 22), and, as a result, they appeared righteous (or at least having the power of God).  Overall, we can say that Satan has continued, to this day, to imitate what is good and true, but in every case he has perverted the truth.  Thus, if you look closely, you will find that his followers do not believe or preach the true gospel. 

 

He is a lawless rebel.  Satan (then called Lucifer) was created to serve in submission to God his creator.  Therefore, he was (and is) obligated to submit to Him.   When Satan began to covet the authority and independence that belonged to God alone, that was an act of rebellion against the authority (or the law) of God.  Ever since that one act of rebellion Satan has been a lawless rebel; thus he has set his purpose to turn the whole world against God—to rebel against all of His laws and standards. 

Oh, he doesn’t mind if people appear righteous and upright, as long as they deny and rebel against God in their heart and in their private life.  Yes, he wants the whole world to be like himself: as an angel of light on the outside, but a lawless rebel on the inside—secretly involved in all kinds of sins for selfish pleasure.

Now since lawlessness is on the increase, we need to be mindful that God has given us His laws for our own protection and help.  He has given us governors and earthly governments in order to curb lawlessness and to bridle the works of Satan, thus to establish peace.  Therefore, we ought to be thankful to God for our government and to all those who work so hard to prevent lawlessness. 

The Bible tells us that in the last days lawlessness will increase.  But let us take courage, for increased lawlessness is a sign that His [Jesus’] coming is soon; in that day He will begin to rule all nations with an iron scepter (Rev. 19:15)—and He will put that rebel where he belongs (Rev. 20:1-3, 10)! 

 

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God Doesn’t Call Us to Be Sinless, But to Be Steadfast

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

 

Lately I have been wrestling with some sins, and with myself, and with God.  Why don’t I have the power to resist certain temptations? And why does God not give me the power to resist?  I wrestle with the devil too, because he seems to be always accusing me and telling me what a weakling I am.

In prayer, I turned to Colossians 1:9-14—a passage I have been meditating on lately.  Here is that passage, which is a prayer by Paul for the saints at Colossae:

Colossians 1:9-14

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

NASB

As I read over this prayer I was looking for something that would help me.  I was drawn to verse 11, where Paul prayed that they would be strengthened with all power, etc.  “Yes,” I said, “That’s what I need, spiritual power.”   Then it hit me that Paul didn’t pray for them to have strength not to sin.  He prayed for them to be steadfast, also to be patient and thankful to God and growing in the knowledge of God—always joyously living in His grace, where there is redemption and forgiveness of sins.

Then I thought more on what being steadfast is.  My thesaurus gave me these words:

Unwavering (to reach the goal of Christ likeness)

Persistent

Committed (to God)

Devoted (to prayer, to each other and to God) 

Untiring

These words do not suggest that I be sinless, but to keep at the goal of being holy and Christ like. To keep at it with persistence.  I thought of 1 Corinthians 15:58.  It says…

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

Yes, that’s what God calls us to—to be always abounding in the work of the Lord.  And as we go, we will not be perfect (as to be sinless), but with His help we can be steadfast.

More thoughts:  I use to think that God has called all of us to be sinless, because in Matthew 5:48 Jesus said, “…you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  But the Greek word here for perfect (teleios) does not mean without sin; it means to act in a mature way; to do all that is right; to be wise.  Certainly God wants us to hate sin—all sin.  But He also knows, as we do, that to be sinless in impossible for us, because we are still in our unredeemed body.  For this reason He does not tell us to strive to be sinless.  But He does quite often (through the words of the Bible) tell us to be obedient, and steadfast, and to grow in our knowledge of Him.  So, instead of having the goal in life of living with less sin, my goal should be to get to know Him better and to be more steadfast in that effort.

 

Posted in 5 Romans to Philemon, Quiet Time Highlights | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

A Study of the Prayers of the Bible – a Prayer of Gideon (Judges 6:13-18)

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

 

Judges 6:13-18

Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” 14 Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” 

15 So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” 16 And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.” 17 Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me. 18 Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.”And He said, “I will wait until you come back.”

Gideon didn’t see himself as anyone great, but as the least of men (Judg. 6:15).  God, however, saw him as a great warrior (Judg. 6:12).  Therefore, when God told him that he was a valiant warrior it wasn’t flattery.  He was telling him who he really was and what he was called to do. 

Now, as it happened, when God called Gideon to deliver Israel from the oppression of their enemies, Midian and Ammon, Gideon responded with doubtful but honest prayer.  His prayers were very much like the prayers of Moses.  He started off by asking God some very honest questions.  He asked…

(1) “If the Lord is with us why are we under such oppression?  Why hasn’t He delivered us” (my own version)?

(2) “How can I deliver the people?  I am so young and with very little influence over the people.”

(3) Wanting to believe and obey God, he asked the angel (the Angel of the LORD, vv. 11-12) to show him some proof that he was really God.  He said to him, “Show me a sign that it is You who talk with me.”  And in verse 21 we see that He indeed showed him a sign.  He put out the end of His staff and touched the meat and the bread that Gideon had prepared for Him, and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed it; then He vanished.

This first sign of God no doubt encouraged Gideon and gave him the strength to believe and obey God.  Hence, when God told him to pull down the altar of Baal and the Asherah, he immediately went and did it (Judg. 6:25-27).  And when the Midianites and the Amorites assembled themselves against the sons of Israel he determined that he was going to deliver them as God had commissioned him (Judg. 6:35). 

 

Posted in Part 2, Joshua to Samuel, Survey of Prayer | Tagged , , | 3 Comments