Chapter 5: The Wonders of Prayer

IN THIS CHAPTER, you will discover:

- The power of petitionary prayer.

- The wonders of supplication, intercession, and thanksgiving. 

AS A RESULT, you will be able to:

- Gain new depth and boldness in your prayer life.

- Act as a channel for God's transformative power.

Reading: The Power and Blessing, pp. 169-96.
 
Key Scripture: “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” (Eph. 6:18).
 
Key Word: Proseuchomai.
 
The book of Ephesians unveils the grand panorama of our spiritual position and privileges in Christ. In 6:10-18, Paul issued his famous summons to spiritual warfare. His description of the full armor of God reveals the major defensive and offensive weapons the Christian is to use in battling the invisible forces that attempt to steal our peace and joy in Christ. Paul emphasized that prayer plays a major role in this conflict. Prayer is both a privilege and an assignment. It is a privilege in that we have access to our heavenly Father as partakers of the new covenant in Jesus Christ. It is a responsibility in that we are to make use of our intimate relationship with God in Christ not only for ourselves, but also for others. We are to “be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints” (the Key Scripture).
 
The Key Scripture also invites us to pray with “all kinds of prayers and requests.” In this section and the next we will explore five kinds of prayer with which every Christian should be intimately acquainted. But before we begin our exploration of the kinds of prayer, it is good to meditate on the general importance of prayer.
 
As someone once said, prayer is not simply a matter of asking for things — even the best things; it is going where they are. Thus, there is no more fundamental spiritual discipline than prayer. Through prayer we learn to touch God and to be available to Him. Through prayer the renewal of our minds, which is the basis of Christian spirituality (Eph. 4:23), is undertaken and actualized. We gain a dynamic living awareness that Christ is alive within us, and the eyes of our hearts become enlightened to “the hope to which he has called [us], the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1:18). We gain a working knowledge that, in Christ, we are positionally able to bear “fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that [we] may have great endurance and patience” (Col. 1:10-11).
 
In prayer we awaken to a new world. We open our eyes like newborns, slowly acclimating ourselves to the dazzling brightness of God’s reality. As Dr. Hayford points out, the spiritual world we begin to inhabit through prayer is richer, deeper, and more permanent than the natural, mundane world. All power, wisdom, and beauty emanate from there, and find their home there. God spoke the visible, material universe into existence with an invisible, spiritual word. And He, His word, and His world will continue to exist after the material universe is no more.
 
It is God’s own eternal intelligence and power that we touch in prayer. Prayer is, therefore, not to be likened to a “Christian seance” in which we probe blindly into unseen realms attempting to contact a vague, ghostly presence. When we call on the living God in the name of his Son, an instant, immediate contact occurs. Whether we experience some “spiritual” feeling or mood elevation is of no consequence. The kingdom of God is not a distant reality that we have to call into being with the power of our imagination. It is “at hand” — right here, right now. God is not some amorphous “energy” or unfeeling cosmic potentate. He is our loving Father, ever alert and ready to respond to the voice of His children.
 
Returning to Ephesians 6:18 we must ask: What are the forms of prayer that constitute “all kinds”? Traditionally, there are many kinds of prayer, such as liturgical prayer, contemplative prayer, praise, confession, intercession, worship, petition, supplication, and thanksgiving. In this lesson we will focus primarily on worship and petition, and in the next lesson on supplication, intercession, and thanksgiving.
 
Worshipful Prayer
 
Many congregations repeat Matthew 6:9-13, popularly known as “The Lord’s Prayer,” every Sunday. The words given to us by Jesus in this passage were not intended to be used simply as a memory exercise or a magical incantation. They set forth a useful pattern to follow in our communication with God. Note how the prayer begins: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (v. 9). “Hallowed,” of course, means “holy.” A name in Semitic thought was representative of the true essence of someone’s being or personality. Thus proper communion with God begins with worship, or, to go back to the Old English meaning of the word, with a recognition of God’s essential “worth-ship.” God is the single fitting object of worship because He alone is essentially holy.
 
In the early twentieth century, German theologian Rudolph Otto wrote a classic work entitled The Idea of the Holy in which he analyzed the encounter between the human and the holy. He pinpointed four characteristic responses to the holy: (1) a sense of infinite dependence; (2) a sense of impenetrable mystery; (3) a sense of overwhelming awe or dread; and (4) a sense of irresistible beauty, fascination, and attraction. Clear, God-directed worship will recognize and respond to the numinous reality of the Holy One on all these levels.
 
It is good to begin our time of prayer by worshiping the Lord with songs, or psalms, or in silent adoration. This is beneficial for two reasons. First, it creates an atmosphere in which our faith can grow. We allow the scope of our prayers to accord with the greatness of the God to whom we pray. The largeness of God infects us with the courage to ask great things and the confidence that nothing is too hard for the Creator of heaven and earth. Also, as God is exalted in His holiness our prayers become exalted in their nobility. We take on God’s heart and show forth His love to others in deep and sincere intercession.
 
Second, the familiarity with God fostered through worship helps us realize that He is “our Father” (Matt. 6:9), our “Abba, Father” (Mark 14:36). For many, a sense of parental nearness, of personal undergirding, and of intimate loving assurance is lacking in our divorce-ridden culture. But God wants us to understand that He is the one “from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth derives its name” (Eph. 3:14, alternate reading). He is the true parent; the love and concern of every earthly parent — no matter how noble and exalted — is but a shadow of God’s loving kindness. Therefore we may freely and trustingly “cast all [our] anxiety on him because he cares for [us]” (1 Peter 5:7).
 
The Greek word for “pray” in the Key Scripture — proseuchomai — is made up of the preposition pros, meaning “toward,” and the verb euchomai, whose basic meaning is “to wish.” Often in Israel the formal, cultic practice of prayer came to obscure its personal significance. However, the personal dynamic of prayer was reemphasized in the words and action of Jesus in the Gospels. Jesus prayed often to His Father, whom He taught His disciples to call “Abba,” the Aramaic word for “Father.” The way Jesus used this word strongly suggests a personal intimacy with His Father. He defined faith and wisdom in similar terms, inviting His disciples to become as little children in relation to their heavenly Father (Matt. 18:3; cf. 7:9-11). Jesus’ deliberate use of Abba should inspire us not just to adopt the term in our prayer life, but to partake of its personal dimension. Because of this relationship, Jesus always prayed with full confidence that the Father heard Him (John 11:41-42; cf. Mark 11:24).
 
Because we are directing our prayers toward a loving, attentive Father God, Christian prayer is more than simply “wishing upon a star.” We come to God as His sons and daughters confident that He wants us to seek Him as the source of all good gifts and that He delights in giving them to us. Sometimes His answer to prayer will be yes, sometimes no, and sometimes it will be delayed. At other times our prayers will be answered in better ways than we could have possibly imagined. What is important is that we ask in faith, humbly aware of our own inadequacy and fully confident of God’s love and sovereignty.
 
Sometimes God will work to change our desires before granting them. It is imperative that we be open to God so that He might teach us how to pray and what to pray for. Prayer formulas that claim that we can “confess into existence” anything we desire and that God is bound to honor such a confession verge on being Christian magic rather than biblical prayer. True prayer never violates God’s absolute sovereignty, nor does it lose sight of our absolute dependence on Him.
 
Contrition and confession of sin on our part keeps our prayers from being hindered (Ps. 66:18-19; Isa. 1:15-17; Matt. 5:23-24; 6:12; 1 Peter 3:7). Contrition does not involve becoming obsessively prone to condemnation. In confession and contrition we simply say about our sin — our hamartia, or “missing the mark” — what God says about it. We admit that we have failed and promise to try again. And we have this promise in return: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). The result for prayer is this: “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him” (3:21-22).
 
Petitionary Prayer
 
First John 5:14-15 includes this precious promise: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him.” The word translated “ask” in these verses (from the Greek root aiteo) refers to a type of prayer called petition. God invites us to petition Him for the things that we want and need. The boldness of John’s words — that we may have whatever we ask according to Jesus’ will — may be disconcerting to us. But Jesus Himself spoke no less boldly: “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:14; cf. Matt. 18:19; 21:22).
 
Does this mean that God is obligated to satisfy our every whim when we pray? By no means, for Scripture speaks about conditions that affect whether we will receive an answer to prayer (see, for example, Mark 11:25; 1 Peter 3:7; 1 John 3:21-22). But John’s point is that we are to approach Abba God in prayer with confidence (5:14). We are not to be paralyzed with fear and indecision, vacillating and attempting to second-guess whether or not our prayer is truly according to God’s will. More often than not we cannot know this, so we must simply ask — believing that God will clarify His will as well as our own in His response.
 
Jesus said: “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matt. 6:8). We might wonder why we should we pray at all, since God already knows our needs. But note that Jesus instructed His disciples to ask God to supply even the most obvious provisions necessary to sustain life (v. 11). God desires that we draw near to Him in companionship and trust. We are called into existence for no higher reason than to experience fellowship with Him. Food, drink, health, clothing, wealth: these are the ends toward which the heathen — those who have not received a revelation of God’s nature as love — direct their vital energies (vv. 31-32). All humans have need of these things, but God wants His children to recognize, as they receive them, that they are the bounties of His love. He wants us to see them as a means to an end; not as ends in themselves. He intends that our worldly cares and needs become inducements to place our trust in our heavenly Father. Like a human parent He longs for His children to come to Him and ask and receive, that He might be known as the trustworthy source of all good and perfect gifts.
 
Key Concepts:
 
 1.    The three elements of prayer are                            , fellowship, and intercession. [169-70]
 
 2.    The grounds for the believers’ confidence in prayer comes from our relationship with God as (Father, Savior). [171]
 
 3.    The parable of the (mustard seed, prodigal son) paints a picture of God’s love for us. [172]
 
 4.    The word “hallowed” literally means “                        be your name.” [175]
 
 5.    The dual objective of worship is to declare God’s transcendent greatness and to receive His                             power. [176]
 
 6.    Holiness in the Bible relates to God’s (completeness, omnipotence). [177]
 
 7.    True or False. Because God is sovereign, Christians need not invite God’s rule and power into their affairs through prayer. [179]
 
 8.    Humanity lost its ability to rule over the earth at the (Creation, Fall). [180]
 
 9.    During His ministry Jesus demonstrated (acceptance of, opposition to) the invisible powers of darkness. [181]
 
10.   True or False. Jesus’ directive to “occupy” until He comes means we are to wait passively for His return. [182]
 
11.   Our prayer for daily bread indicates our (independency of, dependency on) the Lord. [183]
 
12.   The two sides of human disobedience are sins of                                           and sins of omission. [185]
 
       13.   While the expression “Forgive us our trespasses” speaks about our having “stepped over the line,” “Forgive us our debts” relates to our                                     . [185]
 
14.   In our pattern of prayer there should be the dual request for release from the shame of ___________________ and the pain of neglect. [185]
 
15.   Unforgiveness (does, does not) obstruct the believer’s life, growth, and fruitfulness. [186]
 
16.   True or False. Temptation is both positive and negative, depending on our viewpoint and response. [189]
 
17.   The fact that we are tempted (does, does not) indicate that we are intrinsically evil. [191]
 
18.   True or False. The expression “Yours is the kingdom” suggests that we can possess the kingdom in ultimate triumph whenever we exercise trusting faith. [195]
 
Further Study: Read “Prayer,” New International Dictionary of the Bible, pp. 817-19; also review the scriptures under “Petition,” NIV Topical Study Bible Topical Index, p. 128.
 
Life Application: Teddy Hunt’s testimony about prayer contains both practical wisdom and a stimulating challenge. Proficiency in prayer cannot be acquired through reading books, watching television, or even listening to tapes. Prayer is learned by praying. Perseverance in prayer yields great rewards not only in answered prayer, but also in a deepened relationship with God. What steps can you take to transform your prayer life? What attitude changes do you need to make? Regard your daily prayer time not as a chore, but as a glorious opportunity to spend time with the eternal God of the universe.

Reading: The Power and Blessing, pp. 205-15.   Key Scripture: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7).   Philippi was a Roman colony founded by Philip, the father of Alexander the Great. Its location at a strategic geographical crossroads in northern Greece was of great economic and military importance. It may have been this fact that influenced Paul to use the military term phroureo in Philippians 4:7. Translated as “keep” in the King James Version and as “guard” in the New International Version, phroureo means to secure with a military guard or defend with a garrison. The term implies not only protection but also watchful guardianship or powerful benevolent custody. Paul — himself a prisoner in Rome at the time of writing — promised that the peace of God (John 14:27) will actively guard the heart of those who take refuge in Christ.   The key to receiving this transcendental sense of preservation and security is prayer “in everything.” We will return to the theme of the totality of prayer — the idea that prayer should embrace all of life. But first we will discuss three types of prayer mentioned in Scripture along with worship and petition: supplication, intercession, and thanksgiving.   Supplication   The Greek word translated “petition” (“supplication” kjv) in the Key Scripture is deesis. It indicates a lack or need. In the New Testament it is commonly used for prayer when something is being sought earnestly (see Rom. 10:1; 2 Cor. 9:14; 2 Tim. 1:3). Dr. Hayford links the root verb for supplication with other Greek terms, particularly with dei, a small but important word that may be roughly translated “it must be.” In ancient Greek usage it was connected to impersonal Fate or Necessity — “dei-ty.”   Dei is used in several ways in the New Testament to express God’s intended order for things. It expresses God’s will in the law (Luke 11:42; Acts 15:5) — with which Jesus clashed as He followed the dei of God’s directly revealed will (John 9:4). The dei of God governed Jesus’ mission (Luke 4:43), that of His disciples and the church (12:12), and Christ’s passion and resurrection (9:22). It expresses the necessity of faith in Christ for salvation (Acts 16:30-31; cf. Heb. 11:6) and His authority in judgment (2 Cor. 5:10). The divine dei also controls God’s work in us. It defines the importance of the new birth (John 3:7). It is also operative in Jesus’ teaching to His disciples that “they should always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1), a command echoed in the Key Scripture.   Our entire approach to prayer will be radically transformed if we understand that God’s own dei undergirds our supplications. As we allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit in prayer, our supplications increasingly become a call for God’s kingdom or rule to come into effect in specific situations. They become channels through which God’s sovereign power moves to manifest itself fully “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). This is the meaning of the “binding and loosing” prayer spoken of in the much-misinterpreted Matthew 16:19. It is awesome but true that in our prayer life we have both the privilege and the responsibility to “insist” that God’s intended order — the will of heaven — be actualized over the will of hell. Through the deliverance, provision, and blessing that comes through answered prayer, our needs and the needs of others are met and God is glorified.   Intercession   In 1 Timothy 2:1-3 Paul wrote: “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone — for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior.” We have discussed “requests” or supplication. Now let us focus on intercession — prayer for the concerns of others. Two questions typically arise when considering intercessory prayer. First, does it really work? Does it really matter that I pray? And second, am I worthy enough to pray for others?   In the fifth chapter of James both questions are addressed. Beginning his discussion with instructions about how prayer should function in the general life of the church (v. 13 ff.), James assured his readers that “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (v. 16). To illustrate, he cited the prophet Elijah, “a man just like us” (v. 17), whose prayer stopped the rain for three and a half years. Lest we protest that Elijah was a spiritual superman and such results are unobtainable to spiritual pygmies like ourselves, James reminded us that Elijah, too, had passions and failures (see 1 Kings 19:1-4). It is the greatness of the God whom Elijah served and whom we serve today that energizes intercessory prayer and makes it effective — not our own merits.   As we noted in our discussion of petition, there is a mysterious and generally overlooked dimension to prayer that must be grasped if we are to understand prayer’s true nature. Prayer is the intersection of two wills and two worlds. In prayer our will is harmonized with God’s will. He responds to the cries of His people by releasing His grace and revelation. The power of heaven, then, moves to permeate and change conditions in the natural world. This is the mystery: that without violating His sovereignty, God has ordained that we take part in the cooperative venture of manifesting His kingdom on earth through our practice of prayer.   This dynamic truth is reflected in the underlying meaning of another Greek word associated with intercession, entynchano. Translated “appeal” or “plead,” its classical meaning is “to run up against”: for better, as in finding a wanted book, or for worse, as in meeting a crocodile. It later came to mean “complain” (Rom. 11:2; cf. Acts 25:24) or, in its intensive form hyperentynchano, “intercede for” (Rom. 8:26-27; Heb. 7:25).   Dr. Hayford dwells on the nuance of entynchano as “random encounter,” suggesting that apparently random events, thoughts, or situations may, in reality, be opportunities set before us by God for us to act as mediators through the power of intercessory prayer. We may be at the site of an accident, near someone who has just experienced an emotional tragedy, or even simply be doing our devotions and “randomly” have someone’s face or name come to mind. In each case God may intend for us to be His representative, manifesting Christ’s authority through prayer for those in need.   As Dr. Hayford puts it, the Lord wants us to “pepper, or perhaps better to salt . . . all of society” as intercessors, healing the climate of the culture and bringing hope both to individuals and to society. As intercessors we stand in the gap for others in ways we cannot understand from a limited earthly perspective. Through prayer we birth God’s purposes in a world that — apart from the presence of Christ in His people — would be helplessly ensnared in the cyclical suffering caused by humanity’s fallenness and hell’s hatefulness.   Peter preached about “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how He went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil” (Acts 10:38). God’s overarching purpose is that we be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29). Our conduct as redeemed people of God is to be a proactive presence on earth, healing, doing good, and resisting evil. We are here to fight the good fight in word and deed (1 Tim. 6:12). Intercessory prayer is thus neither a passive option nor a merely subjective activity. As the Key Scripture indicates, it is a command and a mandate. It is also an exploit of immeasurable consequence. As intercessors, we are part of the army of God, doing warfare against the “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12) that inflame sinful wickedness in the human heart and aggravate corruption in the world at large.   Thanksgiving   To the persecuted church at Thessalonica Paul wrote: “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:16-18). Again we have a command, a mandate — ”rejoice always!” — but one that has been much misinterpreted. Does Paul mean we are supposed to be jolly if we lose our job, get divorced, or contract a painful and debilitating illness? Should we delight in the suffering of our loved ones, or the suffering of the poor and innocent throughout the world? And if we do not, are we being “unspiritual”?   Clearly, the answer to these questions is no. The Bible does not suggest that every painful, tragic event that transpires in this fallen world is praiseworthy and should gladden our hearts. The root of the kind of thanksgiving Paul wrote about springs from the knowledge that God, through His ability to strengthen and redeem any situation, is greater than any worldly circumstance. It finds its origin in the faith that God ultimately will work all things to the good of those that love Him (Rom. 8:28). Such faith cannot be founded on emotionalism or intellectualism, but must spring from a personal knowledge of God’s love and an abiding experience of His presence. Thus Paul said: “pray continually”; that is, learn to live in such a way that a sense of God’s presence permeates our life.   The Key Scripture illuminates this principle. There Paul commanded: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” This attitude is exactly the opposite of worldly thinking (Matt. 6:32). We are blitzed continually by advertising that advocates: “Be anxious!” You cannot be happy unless you consume a particular kind of food, own a particular model of car, or wear a particular type of tennis shoe.   For decades social analysts have spoken of modern culture as enmeshed in an “age of anxiety.” We attempt to numb our fear with drugs, alcohol, entertainment, and psychotherapy on an unparalleled scale — but to little avail. For neither distraction nor willpower can finally undercut our deeply rooted anxiety. As long as our attention is set upon ourselves, we remain hapless victims of the gnawing dread that inescapably accompanies the precariousness of the human condition. We cannot directly attack worry; we can only stop worrying by doing something else — namely by turning our attention from trying to play God (albeit unsuccessfully) to God Himself and His absolute sufficiency. This is the meaning of thanksgiving.   Jesus’ predicated freedom from anxiety on the basis of one thing — his enduring presence: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). This principle was known to King David as well: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Ps. 23:4). When we choose in faith to believe that God is with us, worry is swallowed up. It cannot continue to exist in the dynamic, abiding peace that accompanies God’s presence.   Three hundred and sixty-six times we are instructed in Scripture to “Fear not!” God desires that nothing disturb our harmony and peace in Him, and He wills that we take action to insure that nothing does. Our usual response to someone who is racked with anxiety is sympathy. When it is we ourselves who are worried, we are even likely to be swept into a morass of self-pity. But a more helpful — and a more biblical — approach to dealing with worry is repentance and obedience to God’s injunction to forsake worry. “Be anxious for nothing” is a command that we must choose to obey.   In reality, worry is a form of unbelief. We are anxious because we are faithless. We believe that we are in control of our lives and our world, and we fight to maintain that control. But it is a fight we cannot win. Ultimately we are not in control; God is. As we surrender control of everything to Him — to the God whose eye is on the sparrow and who numbers the hairs upon our head — we experience sweet release. When our security is anchored not in our own limited resources, but in the limitlessness of who God is, the peace of God is free to guard our hearts and minds. As Isaiah wrote: “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you” (26:3).   Key Concepts:    1.    The three grand words of prayer are                                      , intercession, and thanksgiving. [205]    2.    True or False. Jesus taught that prayer is a type of begging. [207]    3.    Christians have the privilege of                                     and fellowship in prayer. [207]    4.    True or False. Binding only accomplishes on earth what has already been accomplished in heaven. [208]    5.    The Bible (does, does not) teach that we should intercede for governmental authorities. [209]    6.    The commanding related to the idea of intercession is (accidental, providential). [211]    7.    In prayer we represent heaven’s                                   , by heaven’s power, speaking heaven’s covenant into the situation. [212]    8.    True or False. We are being developed into Jesus’ likeness both in character and spiritual authority. [213]    9.    The Bible (does, does not) say that everything is a thankworthy thing. [214]   10.   Believers are to give thanks (in, for) every circumstance. [214]   Further Study: Review the scriptures under “Intercession,” p. 81 and “Thanksgiving,” pp. 164-65 in the NIV Topical Study Bible Topical Index.   Life Application: Marilyn Norda spent hours in intercessory prayer for her rebellious teenage daughter. In the process God revealed traumas in her daughter’s life, allowing Marilyn to pray for God’s blessing and healing in these areas. The release and peace experienced by Marilyn as she “prayed through” for these needs corresponded with her daughter receiving a softened heart. Likewise, a new and deeper fellowship developed between mother and daughter. The lesson is clear: when husbands and wives pray for their children and for each other, lives are changed and God’s blessings are poured out. Will you accept the responsibility of the ministry of intercession for your family and loved ones?