Page 36 - Principles for Discipling Others-Student textbook

Psalm 39:12 Hear my prayer, O LORD, listen to my cry for help.

Luke 11:1 Lord, teach us to pray.

Acts 1:14 They all joined together constantly in prayer.

Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.

Throughout the Bible, believers are called to pray. But what is prayer? What does it mean to "pray
without ceasing?" And does prayer really make a difference? Before delving too deeply into the topic of
prayer, it will be beneficial to first define the term, as well as the focus of our prayers—God.

Prayer and God's Nature
For prayer to become real to us, we first need to understand something of the nature of God. First, God
is a personal God. That means He is a person to whom we can relate and communicate. He has a will
and we are able to relate to Him on a meaningful level, seeking to understand His will.

God is also infinite love.
The doctrinal term for this is omnibenevolent (“all loving”). Since He is personal, we can talk directly to
Him. And since He is loving, and because of this nature, God always desires the best for us because He
loves us.

God is also all powerful.
The doctrinal term for this trait is omnipotent. It means that no prayer, no matter what we ask, is
beyond his power to answer. Luke 1:37 says, “For nothing is impossible with God.” If we ask, He has the
power to do what He wills.

God also knows everything there is to be known.
That refers to his omniscience (“all knowing”). Nothing escapes his knowledge. He knows everything in
the past and everything that is coming in the future. He even knows everything we need before we
even ask Him for our needs. (Matt. 6:8)

God is holy.
He is not blinded by sin or our evil culture. He knows what is best for us, as well as what will lead us to
holiness rather than sin. He is also active in His creation (immanence), not only directing matters of
history, but also is involved in every detail of your life. This means no prayer is too great for Him, but
also no prayer is too small for Him.

Finally, God is sovereign which means God is control of everything in your life and in the world. Nothing
takes Him by surprise, and nothing happens in our lives without his knowledge, even though we may not
understand why. In the future, we will understand, but perhaps within our limited view of eternity, we
cannot understand why God is moving in the direction He is in our lives. We need to trust His
sovereignty.

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