Page 32 - Principles for Discipling Others-Student textbook

Christ also taught that prayer is to be patient…persistent, and persevering. God will
answer our prayers but perhaps not in the way we would desire nor according to our
timetable. So just be patient, persistent, and persevering in prayer realizing that God
knows just what is best for us and what is not.

3. Praying in faith…believing our heavenly Father hears and answers prayer. When
we
pray we need to pray in faith, believing that our prayers are being heard and will be
answered. This is simply trusting in God’s gracious, loving character. We are placing our welfare in His
hands…and we are resting on Him to work out the details. At the same time, we are not just waiting for
divine solutions but are putting our own mind and efforts into working out answers to our prayers. As
part of the body of Christ we are His “hands, feet, mind, and mouth” to accomplish His will…both in our
own life and in the lives of others.

4. Praying in Jesus’ name… Usually when praying, we pray to the Father in Jesus’ name.
Jesus taught in John 15:16 “…that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it
you….” So a typical conclusion to our prayer might be “…..in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

5. Position in prayer….. Christians pray in a variety of positions unlike those of Islam
who always kneel, face Mecca, and bow with their head and hands to the ground.
The Bible does not require any certain position for a prayer to be made. However,
there are numerous accounts of Old Testament believers as well as New Testament
Christians bowing the knee or kneeling when praying. The position of prayer is up to
the believer.

There are, however, a couple of traditions that have come down through the ages…. Christians almost
always close their eyes when praying. This helps the person praying to concentrate on the prayer and
not be distracted by people or things going on nearby. Also, Christian men always remove their hats
when praying (I Cor. 11:4) and when entering a church.

SPECIAL NOTE: If you have the time and the interest, a fascinating adventure would be for you to do a
Scripture search on the words of Jesus centering on “faith” and “believe or belief”. Some of Christ’s
statements about these are simply astounding! When Jesus talked about Prayer and Faith, strange as
some of His words may sound to us, He knew what He was talking about. He came out of the unseen
world, and He was perfectly familiar with forces and powers that play behind the veil that we know
nothing about. We ought not to be too determined to explain everything that Jesus said about Prayer so
as to bring it into the range of our finite understanding. It might be if only we were to apply ourselves
with enough Patience, Persistence, and Perseverance to the practice of Prayer, that we could reach
attainments that we do not ordinarily dream are possible.

Jesus certainly meant something by these words. He did not talk just to hear His mouth “roar.”
We think He was aiming to teach some of the most fundamental lessons of human existence for all
mankind of all generations. God holds in His hands the workings and inter-workings of the forces of the
universe, and is able to bring into play powers that we know nothing about to supplement and control
those that we do know about. Jesus said that God may be induced to do this through our Faith in Him!

[Above thoughts compiled from Halley’s Handbook]

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