PRAYER 3: HOW ARE WE TO PRAY?
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. Prayer
1. Prayer
a) Does it sometimes seem like your prayers stop at the ceiling? Praying is hard enough without knowing exactly how to do it. How is a Christian supposed to pray? Are there ways to make our prayers more effective?
b) Prayer is simply talking to God as a child would to their father. Rather than thinking of prayer as changing God’s mind it is really about changing us. It is about making our will conform to the will of the Father.
2. How are we to Pray?
a) So now we know we are to pray to the Father and to pray in Jesus’ name. But how do we pray? We love the acronym ACTS as a model of how to remember to pray. ACTS stands for: Adoration of God’s Holy Name and His holiness, His goodness, His omnipotence, His sovereignty. The Lord’s Prayers says “Hallowed be your name.” Hallowed is an old English word that means His name is to be sanctified, set apart, holy, honored, revered, and greatly respected.
b) Confession of sin, guilt, falling short of God’s holiness. To confess our sins means that we agree with God about our falling short of the mark. Sin means we miss the mark and we fall short of His holiness. We confess our sins and even those unknown sins that we may have inadvertently committed. Sins of omission and sins of commission are included.
c) Thanksgiving. To give thanks to God is actually pleasing to Him and is the very will of God. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 it says we are to “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” It says to give thanks in all circumstances because giving thanks is God’s will. We thank Him for our blessings, our trials, and “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20).
d) Supplications or requests for others. We like to use JOY for praying. First, praying for Jesus to be glorified, then praying for Others, and lastly praying for Yourself. If you read the Lord’s Prayer and even Nehemiah’s prayer (Nehemiah 1:5-11) they first glorify God and praise Him, then a confession of guilt or sin is made, which is followed by thanksgiving to Him for all He has done, and only after all of this are requests or supplications made to God.
The End ...
b) Prayer is simply talking to God as a child would to their father. Rather than thinking of prayer as changing God’s mind it is really about changing us. It is about making our will conform to the will of the Father.
2. How are we to Pray?
a) So now we know we are to pray to the Father and to pray in Jesus’ name. But how do we pray? We love the acronym ACTS as a model of how to remember to pray. ACTS stands for: Adoration of God’s Holy Name and His holiness, His goodness, His omnipotence, His sovereignty. The Lord’s Prayers says “Hallowed be your name.” Hallowed is an old English word that means His name is to be sanctified, set apart, holy, honored, revered, and greatly respected.
b) Confession of sin, guilt, falling short of God’s holiness. To confess our sins means that we agree with God about our falling short of the mark. Sin means we miss the mark and we fall short of His holiness. We confess our sins and even those unknown sins that we may have inadvertently committed. Sins of omission and sins of commission are included.
c) Thanksgiving. To give thanks to God is actually pleasing to Him and is the very will of God. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 it says we are to “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” It says to give thanks in all circumstances because giving thanks is God’s will. We thank Him for our blessings, our trials, and “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20).
d) Supplications or requests for others. We like to use JOY for praying. First, praying for Jesus to be glorified, then praying for Others, and lastly praying for Yourself. If you read the Lord’s Prayer and even Nehemiah’s prayer (Nehemiah 1:5-11) they first glorify God and praise Him, then a confession of guilt or sin is made, which is followed by thanksgiving to Him for all He has done, and only after all of this are requests or supplications made to God.
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