The Role of Prayer

Johan Malan

Summary: Some characteristics of prayer and different forms of prayer.

Prayer is one of the most important Christian activities there is. Through this, you practice an intimate walk with the Lord and lay the foundation for success in other spiritual activities. It also puts you on victorious ground in the battle against Evil, because you entrust yourself in faith to the protection and care of the Great Conqueror, Jesus Christ. Dr. Andrew Murray said:

"I am sure that we will never fully know what prayer is meant to be, as long as we consider it primarily to sustain our own Christian life. But if we learn to regard it as the principal part of the work entrusted to us, the ground and strength of all our work, then we shall see that there is nothing we should so study and practice as the art of right not to pray.”

The disciples' request was: "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1). We can only learn the art of true prayer and intercession from the Great Intercessor, Jesus Christ. It is a learning school where we must also increase grace and knowledge. Although prayer in its initial stage is so simple that the smallest child can pray, it is at the same time also the highest form of labor to which man is called.

Priestly work

As a holy priesthood, we must learn what it is to plead persistently at the mercy throne of God for the salvation of souls. A priest lives only for God's glory and people's salvation. So his prayer is not about self-interest. We must learn from the High Priest in this respect. As Christ sacrificed himself for us, we must also sacrifice ourselves for the spiritual interests of others in our prayer life.

The great significance of a life of prayer can also be understood from the point of view of the opposite position, viz. that of prayerlessness. In all Christians' lives, it has tragic consequences, because it is an indication of spiritual powerlessness and ineffectiveness. A minister puts his entire ministry in danger by this. Regarding prayerless preachers, the famous revival preacher, Charles Finney, says:

"I am convinced that nothing in the Christian religion is as difficult and rare to achieve as a praying heart. Without this, you are as weak as weakness itself. If you lose your spirit of prayer you will achieve nothing, or almost nothing, even if you also have the intellectual capacity of an angel. If you lose your spirituality you must stop in the middle of your theological studies and turn from this state to God. If you don't want to do that, you should rather find another job for yourself, because I can't imagine anything more repulsive and repulsive than a worldly-minded minister. May the blessed Lord deliver and preserve his church from leadership by prayerless men."

The Holy Spirit and prayer

Guidance for prayer comes from the Holy Spirit:

"And in the same way, the Spirit also comes to help our weaknesses, because we do not know exactly what we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible sighs" (Rom. 8:26).

We must constantly surrender ourselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit to dominate our thoughts, prayers, and whole lives. Without this, we will not be able to pray the fervent prayer of a righteous person with great power (James 5:16).

Clarity of prayer requests

Prayer requests must be specific and clearly defined. The Lord Jesus' question is: "What do you want me to do for you?" (Mark 10:36). So our prayers should not be vague and aimless. Do not just pray in general that the Lord should forgive your sin, but mention your sins and injustices by name.

Also in your task of intercession for others, you must guard against praying unidentified prayers for the salvation of souls, as well as requests that the Lord bless all people on earth. Such prayers are not directed to any specific country, community, group, family, individual, or problem, so you will not know where to look for the answer.

Inner room prayers

Every Christian must maintain a personal prayer relationship with the Lord Jesus. Make sure that there are times and places where you often talk alone with the Lord:

"But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, lock your door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly" (Matt. 6:6).

The personal prayer is a hidden source of spiritual power in your life. If this is a regular institution in your life, the Lord Jesus will reward you publicly. When you are among people and face temptations and attacks, He will reward you by giving you strength for victory. Your friends, family, and colleagues will see that you have a degree of self-control, calmness, confidence, determination, sincerity, and firmness of principle that only comes from the Lord.

Group prayers

A special blessing rests on prayer meetings:

"If two of you agree on earth about any matter that they may ask, it will fall to them as a portion of my Father who is in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there I am in their midst" (Matt. 18:19-20).

A child of the Lord not only needs hidden, solitary prayer but also public prayers with other Christians. We are bound together by the same Spirit as members of one body, therefore we must also function as a group and work together for the realization of a specific goal.

From the text above it is clear that we must agree on a matter. The secret of joint prayer must be discovered and practiced, namely that all present will pray together in their minds and agree while one person is speaking. A prayer therefore does not consist of the piling up of many individual prayers, but of the mutual participation in one prayer.

A group prayer should have a purpose and a limitation by naming prayer requests and themes in advance. These rules must then be adhered to and unnecessary repetition avoided. If one person mentions a matter and the others have agreed in their spirit, it does not have to be repeated in the same form by someone else. If the matter is very important and is mentioned again, the next prayer must be complementary to the previous ones by e.g. emphasizing further aspects of the problem.

Short, concise prayers are ideal, otherwise you lose the engagement and interest of others. Do not pray alone for all matters mentioned in advance, thereby dominating the prayer time and 'praying to death'

Rather, pray more than once, to form a chain with others in which all prayers flow together into facets of the same prayer.

The certainty of prayer

The Lord Jesus himself is the guarantee for prayers prayed in his name:

"And whatever you may ask in my name, I will do it, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son" (John 14:13; cf. also John 16:23).

“Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who prays receives, and he that seeketh findeth; and to him who knocks it will be opened" (Matt. 7:7-8).

"Therefore I say to you: Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you will receive it, and you will have it" (Mark 11:24).

The biblical promises about prayer answering are conditional, and it is in each of our interests to make a study of the conditions and carefully comply with them:

• Prayer requests must be aimed at glorifying the Father (John 14:13; Matt. 6:9-10).

• It must be following his will (1 Jn. 5: 14; Rom. 8:27).

• Our life and desires must be in the Lord Jesus, and his words in our hearts so that we will not harbor any selfish motives (John 15:7; James 4:3).

• Prayers must be aimed at a life of purity and godliness (1 Thess. 4:3, 7; John 15:16).

• A holy and God-pleasing life is a prerequisite for prayer being answered (1 Jn. 3:22).

• We must forgive others when we pray to the Father for the forgiveness of sin (Mark 11:25-26

We must pray in faith without doubting (Heb. 11: 6; James 1:6-8).

Prayer themes

The following are biblical prescriptions on prayer themes:

Praise

Praise the Lord for all his greatness, goodness, and favor. Glorify His Name and give Him the praise He deserves. Use passages from the Psalms, e.g. Psalm 103, for this purpose.

Thanksgiving

Thank you to the Lord for everything He has done for the salvation of fallen humanity and you. Thank Him for all the wonderful promises in His Word. He has promised to never leave you and never forsake you, never to forsake the works of his hands, to supply your every need according to the riches of his grace, and to be with you until the end of the world.

The needs of the saints

The following command is given in Ephesians 6:18: "...while you pray in the Spirit on every occasion with all prayer and supplication, and watch to this very end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints." Pray for provision for the needs of the saints. Pray that they will be protected from all the attacks of Satan. Pray that the Lord will give them open doors for the ministry of his Word, and great boldness to proclaim the mystery of the gospel to a lost world.

Your own needs

"Be anxious about nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" (Phil. 4:6). Thank the Lord for taking care of you.

The salvation of souls

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). This is the great purpose of the Lord Jesus' coming to this world, therefore much must be prayed for the proclamation of the gospel and the salvation of souls. Also, pray that the Lord will send laborers to gather the harvest: "Then Jesus said to his disciples: The harvest is indeed great, but the laborers are few. Then pray to the Lord of the harvest, that He may send laborers into his harvest " (Matt. 9:37-38).

Sanctification and revival

"...this is the will of God: your sanctification" (1 Thess. 4:3). "Like obedient children, you must not set your life according to the lusts that previously existed in your ignorance. But as He who called you is holy, you must also be holy in all your walk of life, because it is written: Be holy, for I am holy" (1 Pet. 1:14-16). Make it a matter of prayer to live a holy, victorious life. Also, pray for revival in backslidden churches. To the congregation in Ephesus, the Lord says: "I have it against you that you have left your first love. Then remember whence you fell, and repent and do the first works. Otherwise, I will come to you soon and remove your candlestick from his place if you do not repent" (Rev. 2:4-5).

Healing

The Lord Jesus also wants to heal our physical ailments (Matt. 8:16-17), therefore it is assigned to congregations to pray for the sick: "Is there anyone sick among you? Let him call in the elders of the congregation, and let they pray over him" (James 5:14). The Lord sometimes heals people directly, but in many cases, He uses medical science for this purpose. The apostle Luke was a physician and there was room for such a career. The sick and their doctors must be committed to the Lord's care.

Victorious power in the spiritual battle

"Watch and pray that you do not enter into temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matt. 26:41). "Deliver us from the evil one" (Matt. 6:13). "Submit yourselves therefore to God; resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). Trust the Lord for strength to overcome the evil one.

The government

"In the first place, then, I encourage that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings must be made for all people; for kings and all who are in high places, so that we can lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. For it is good and pleasing in the sight of God, our Savior, who wants all men to be saved" (1 Tim. 2:1-4). From this, it is clear that one does not need to pray that the Lord blesses a wicked government not, but that their souls will be saved, and that the Lord will prevent them from creating unlivable conditions for their subjects in the land. The Lord can thwart evil counsel and make any leader make decisions that are by his will and the prayers of his children are: "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord like streams of water: He leads it where he wants" (Prov. 21:1).

Israel's salvation and the peace of Jerusalem

"Say to the house of Israel... I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will pour clean water on you so you may be clean : (Ezek. 36:22-25). The restoration of Israel is part of God's plan, and we must pray for this, as well as for this people's spiritual awakening. We must pray for the peace of Jerusalem because the enemy's attacks are directed at this city in particular: "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (Ps. 122:6; cf. also Isa. 62:6-7).

Rain and material blessings

The Lord gives rain (Jer. 14:22), and also withholds it if a people falls into wickedness (Jer. 3:2-3). Therefore, when praying for rain, it must be accompanied by prayers of personal, congregational, and national humility.

The second coming

"...let your kingdom come" (Matt. 6:10). It must be the prayerful desire of every believer that Christ will come soon to reveal his kingdom of justice (Rev. 22:17; John 14:2-3).