Ch.
7 Response to Prayer
Bible reading: Matt 26: 36 - 45
WHAT IS PRAYER?
The way to connect with God while we are on earth.
Prayer is a channel to praise God, to thank God, to repent before God and to make our requests to
God.
It’s about God’s sovereignty and our humility, because we are supplicants before Almighty God.
Sharing with God (although nothing we think or say is a surprise to God)
The weapon that can move and break strongholds, by God’s grace.
POWER OF PRAYER
1. Prayer can bring forth forgiveness of sins. Psalm
32:5
Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide
my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to
the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
2. Deliverance from troubles and suffering. Psalm 34:6
This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.
3. Prayer can bring forth a deeper knowledge of God, wisdom and revelations. Ephesians 1:17
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom
and revelation, so that you may know him better.
4. Through prayer we can receive the Holy Spirit. James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will
be given to you.
5. Through prayer we can receive good gifts from the Lord. Matthew 7:11 (we often pray for jobs, health,
marriage, help day – to -day etc.)
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your
Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
6. Through prayer our mission efforts and witness bear fruit. 2 Thessalonians 3:1
As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and
be honored, just as it was with you.
OBSTACLES TO ANSWERS TO PRAYERS
1. Prayer without deeds. Exodus 14:15
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell
the Israelites to move on.
2. When we pray against the will of God. Deuteronomy 3:26
“That is enough,” the Lord said. “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter.
3. When we have angered God. 2 Samuel 12:16-18
David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth[b] on the
ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and
he would not eat any food with them. On the seventh day the child died.
4. Pride. Luke 18:14
I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt
themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
5. When we do not forgive. Matthew 6:15
But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF RESPONSES TO PRAYER:
Yes.
1 Kings 18: 36 – 38 Elijah prayed for fire and his request was immediately fulfilled.
Wait.
Abraham’s patient waiting for God to fulfill His promise. (25 years from the time God promised him a son.)
No.
2 Samuel 12: 16-18 David asked to spare his son, but God punished him by taking the life of his son.
Deut 3:26 Moses asked to be able to go to the promised land, and God said not to say anymore about the
matter.
Our attitude about prayer must change.
Prayer is not a honey-do list for God.
Prayer is not a Lottery.
John 14:13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Does the above verse mean that God will do whatever we ask in Jesus’ name?
What does it mean to pray in Jesus’ name?
John 15:7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for
you.
1 John 5:14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will,
He hears us.
When we abide in Christ and His words abide in us, we are transformed by the Holy Spirit in a way that our
we will seek God’s will, which is good pleasing and perfect (Rom 12:2), and such a prayer God will certainly
grant.
These two verses are the bedrock of our faith that God loves us
and His plans for us are better than our own. With this faith it
becomes easy to wait on the Lord for an answer to our prayers,
and we do not get disappointed.
