One of the great benefits of a relationship with God is the right to call Him father and speak directly to Him, the Creator of the Universe. Speaking to God is called prayer. It may be used to praise God, to petition Him in behalf of others, to give thanks for blessings received, to ask for those things that we think we need and to confess wrongs committed against God. Or one may simply talk to God about the things going on in one’s life. Prayer is sometimes referred to as supplication.
Prayer has been a part of man’s life from the beginning. Genesis 2:16-17 tells of God speaking to man. Genesis 3:8-19 contains an extended conversation between God and Adam and Eve. There are many examples of prayer in the Old Testament. Some of the more prominent ones are the prayer of Hanna (mother of Samuel) in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 , the prayer at the return of the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 16:8-36 ) and the prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple (2 Chronicles 6:14-42 ). Many of the Psalms are also prayers to God.
The New Testament, as well, contains many examples of prayer. There is the example of prayer by Jesus in Matthew 6:9-13 . Other prayers of Jesus are found in Luke 10:21-22 , John 11:41-42 and John 17 . In Acts 4:24-30 there is a prayer by the apostles upon their release by the Jewish council. Paul makes reference several times in his letters to his prayers, mentioning specific things that he had included . (Examples are found in Ephesians 1:15-21 , Philippians 1:9-11 , Colossians 1:9-12 and 1 Thessalonians 1:2 .) In addition, there is the comment in Acts 2:42 that one of the things to which the first disciples devoted themselves was prayers.
Jesus, himself, provided a great example to
his followers in praying
. Luke says that he “would often
slip away to the wilderness and pray.” (Luke
5:16
) Examples of this are found in
Matthew 14:23
; Mark 1:35
;
There are several things that may be learned from Jesus’ comments on prayer in Matthew 6:5-15 . The first thing that Jesus points out is the need for prayer to be directed toward God and not toward those who may be standing nearby observing one’s “godly” behavior. Although Jesus’ comments might be understood as a prohibition against public prayer, in practice Jesus sometimes prayed in public. The issue is not public versus private, but whether one is truly desirous of speaking with God or simply trying to impress others with one’s piety.
The second thing to be noted in Jesus’ comments is the warning against “meaningless repetition.” Some translations refer to “vain repetition,” others to babbling. Repeating the same phrases or the same prayer over and over again is, to paraphrase Jesus, to act like a Gentile (or heathen). It seems incredible to me that people have taken the words of Jesus on prayer that follow his remarks on “meaningless repetition” and memorized and repeated them over and over again. Often times this repeating is without understanding the meaning of the words and phrases that are used.
Meaningless repetition is repeating words without understanding or considering their true meaning. There are two phrases in particular in the prayer Jesus gave (called by some, The Lord’s Prayer) which introduce problems for people, today, who repeat them. The first is the phrase, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Considering that Jesus and his disciples were living a “hand to mouth” existence, not even knowing from day to day where they would be sleeping, not knowing from day to day where their next meal would come from, it seems incredible that people with a cupboard, a refrigerator and a freezer full of food could be asking for their “daily bread.” Whatever Jesus meant by the phrase cannot be what is meant by people who indiscriminately use the same phrase today. Giving thanks for the abundance of food God has provided would seem to be much more appropriate.
The second phrase is “Thy kingdom come.”
For those who look for the establishment of Christ’s kingdom on his
return, this phrase poses no problems. Nonetheless,
there is a problem. The problem is
that a premillenial view of the kingdom contradicts the New Testament.
John the Baptist preached that the kingdom of heaven was at hand (Matt
3:2
) as did Jesus (Matt 4:17
) Later Jesus told his disciples,
“Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who shall
not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with
power.” (Mark 9:1
) Clearly John and Jesus expected
the kingdom to come in the first century. This
was in accordance with Daniel’s prophecy (Dan
There are, however, important things to
learn from Jesus’ prayer in Matthew 6:9-13
. First of all, we learn to whom
prayer should be addressed. Jesus
said, “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our
Father who art in heaven.’” Prayer
is properly addressed to the Father. There
is no authority in scripture to address prayer to the “saints,” to Mary, to
the Holy Spirit, or, with two possible exceptions, to Jesus.
The two possible exceptions are found in John 14:14
and Acts
A second thing to note in Jesus’ example of prayer is that the prayer begins by praising the Father. The same words need not be used in every prayer. There are many examples in Psalms of other ways in which to praise the Father. Praise may be given by citing great things the Father has done as well in the adjectives applied to Him.
We also follow the example of Jesus when we ask forgiveness in our prayers. Jesus cautions at the conclusion of his example that we will not be forgiven if we are unforgiving of others. This is the only petition in Jesus’ prayer that he explains which makes the explanation stand out all the more.
It should also be noted that Jesus’ caution against “meaningless repetition” does not rule out all repeating of requests or other matters in prayer. In the garden before he died, Jesus prayed the same prayer three times. (Matt 26:44 ) Persistence in prayer was a quality encouraged by Jesus.
In a parable told by Jesus (found in Luke 11:5-8 ) he stressed the importance of persistence in our requests. This suggests asking for the same thing on repeated occasions. The restriction is that it must be a meaningful request each time.
In another parable, found in Luke 18:1-8 , Jesus makes a similar point. A widow approached a judge for legal protection. “Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection lest by continually coming she wear me out,” he said. Jesus points out that God is even more willing to bring about justice for His people who continually approach him.
James makes an important point about prayer requests. “You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” (James 4:2-3 ) God is not compelled to give us everything we ask. James makes it very clear that some requests will not be honored because they are made with improper motives. They are requests for wants, not for needs.
Another passage that has been misused is Matthew 18:19 : “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.” It is said that this means that if two Christians agree about something one of them wants, either a material or a spiritual blessing, then it is guaranteed that God will grant the request.
The context of this passage concerns a disagreement between two Christians. One has sinned (perhaps against the other, depending on the translation used). Jesus gives a method for dealing with this sin that includes the possibility of telling the church and dealing with him as a “Gentile and a tax-gatherer.” In that context there is the assurance that if the procedure has been followed, God is in agreement with the conclusion reached and He ratifies their decision.
There is a specific command of Paul in 1 Timothy 2:1-2 to pray for “kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” This is a command to be observed when the church is gathered for worship especially. This is something that Christians may do to keep peace on earth.
Often associated with prayer in the Bible
(both Old and New Testament) is fasting. Fasting
is the abstinence from food for a period of time.
It may be one meal or it may be several days.
Some practice fasting while drinking fruit juice.
Others abstain from all types of food that have any nutritional value.
(Coffee and tea drunk without cream or sugar would have no nutritional
value.) During any prolonged fast it
is necessary to drink water. The
survival period for going without water is extremely short.
There are several examples of people in the Bible fasting for forty days.
Moses fasted forty days on
The Old Testament references to humbling
oneself before the Lord are probably references to the practice of fasting.
For example in Leviticus
It would appear from these references that prayer accompanied with fasting is an intensified way of seeking God’s help. When one is burdened with a great care then all possible means ought to be used in pleading with God. Besides prayer God has ordained fasting to fill just such a role. This is seen in the examples of forty day fasts referred to above.
In the New Testament we find prayer and fasting occurring together. In Acts 14:23 , Paul and Barnabas appointed elders and “having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.” In Acts 13:1-3 , the church at Antioch was instructed to set apart Saul and Barnabas for the work to which God had called them. “Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.”
On one occasion, the disciples of John came to Jesus and asked why his disciples did not fast. (Matthew 9:14-15) “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” they asked. “And Jesus said to them, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”
Notice that Jesus did not command his disciples to fast. Neither while he was with them nor later in the New Testament do we find a command to fast. Yet Jesus says, “They will fast.” That leaves fasting as a voluntary activity. While it is voluntary there is an element of necessity when Jesus states simply that fasting is something his disciples will do.
There are medical problems that would make it extremely risky, perhaps even life threatening, for some disciples to fast. Under such circumstances there is no compulsion to fast. It is voluntary. For most Christians, there are no medical reasons against fasting, but it is a difficult task. Many have never fasted simply because food is too tempting.
When I get up in the morning, I eat breakfast. My stomach is expecting food and will inform me if I delay providing sustenance. The problem grows worse if I fast for breakfast. As noontime approaches, my stomach renews its clamor for food. The same is true in the evening as my stomach readies itself for the expected dinner. Fasting sets the mind against the body. They are in a war, the one against the other. Fasting means that the mind has asserted its right to control the body. Fasting is an exercise in self-control and can lead to greater control in other important areas of one’s life. This is a second benefit in addition to the plea that is made to God for help by fasting.
Fasting has sometimes been used for weight reduction. There is neither a Biblical basis nor a medical basis for such a practice and it is not being advised here for the purpose of losing weight. Generally, any weight lost while fasting will soon be made up when one returns to eating. Fasting is a spiritual exercise which involves the voluntary abstinence from food for a period of time, varying from one meal to several days.
In the sermon on the mount Jesus makes some comments about fasting. There were those, in his day, who fasted in order to win approval from others. Jesus gives instructions about fasting in Matthew 6:16-18 . “And whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance in order to be seen fasting by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face so that you may not be seen fasting by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”
The purpose of fasting is not to prove to others that you are a truly spiritual person. Fasting is an exercise in which you seek the attention of God. It is intended to show to the Father that you are serious about some request or mission and seek His help and approval.
Prayer is a powerful tool that God has given His people. Like Epaphras (
