What is prayer? How important is prayer? How do we pray?

<p>What is prayer? How important is prayer? How do we pray?</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Amazing Facts

Doug Batchelor

The Priority of Prayer

This presentation is brought to you by the Friends of the Amazing Facts Ministry.

Prayer for the Christian should be like breathing.

If the Bible is the bread of life, and if witnessing is like letting your light shine and exercising, then prayer would be the breath of the soul.

You know, I remember hearing a story years ago.

He was sailing across the Atlantic Ocean on this ship.

And while he was there, the captain knew he was there and he said, could you please speak to our first class passengers?

Well a number of people came to 1 of the main cabins and he talked to them about the power of prayer and an agnostic, you know, he's on the ship back then, they didn't have a lot of the entertainment.

He thought, well, I'll go and I'll listen to this preacher and see what he has to say.

And he listened and then some of the people that were in third class said, is there any chance that Pastor Tozer could come talk to us?

Someone asked the atheist or the agnostic what he thought.

He said, well, don't believe a word of it.

I don't believe there's a God and I don't believe that he answers prayer.

But they invited him to come hear him talk then to the third class passengers.

And on his way, he thought, well, I'll stop in my room, get a little hungry.

He got his oranges and he was walking back across the deck and there was a woman, an old woman sleeping on the deck.

She'd fallen asleep, trying to get some fresh air and she had her hands down in her lap and the atheist, he had a sense of humor.

He took quietly, took 2 oranges out of his pocket and he put 1 in each of her open hands as she was sleeping.

Then he went on and he heard Tozer preach to the third class passengers.

Well, He again talked about the power of prayer and he felt his heart being stirred But he said no, how could god answer prayer?

There really can't be a god that answers prayer At this point he leaves the meeting a friend said well, what did you think of pastor tozer's talk on prayer?

He said I'm still not sure I agree with that babbler.

Then he walks down the deck and he sees the woman that he had placed the oranges in her hand.

He said, well, that looks like you're enjoying that.

She said, I came up on deck because I've been struggling with seasickness and I fell asleep and I was dreaming if I could only have an orange, I would feel better.

I said, Lord, I know I'm out in the middle of the ocean, but if I could just have an orange, I just feel like that's what I need and I'd feel better.

She said, I woke up and there was an orange in each hand and he was kind of stunned to hear that, that here he had been the means of answering her prayer.

He said, madam, I probably ought to let you know that I'm the 1 that put the oranges in your hands.

He could even use an atheist to answer my prayers.

This is something that we all need to do, friends.

Getting into this, let's talk a little bit about the foundation of prayer.

Now, if you're at all involved in real estate, you've probably heard it said that there are 3 rules for success in real estate.

I can almost hear it echoing through the online fiber optics right now.

It doesn't matter if you buy a mansion that's out in the desert and nobody can get to it and there's no facilities or water around, doesn't do you any good.

Yet if you buy an old broken down house and it's in a really nice neighborhood and it's located near transportation and near services, you can put a mansion on it and then you've got something, location.

They say there are 3 rules when it comes to raising children.

And in prayer, in living the Christian life, that's really the answer.

You're gonna find it from cover to cover in the Bible.

Sometimes we get distracted with things that are of less importance.

Bounds said, What the church needs today is not more machinery or better new organizations or more novel methods, but men and women whom the Holy Spirit can use, men of prayer, mighty men in prayer.

Now, if you come to church and you sing like an angel, but you seldom pray, your singing will not save you.

If you give generously to Christian causes, that's wonderful, much appreciated, but you cannot buy your way into heaven.

If you're not praying, if you show up at every church work be and you slave in the kitchen but you don't pray, you're not going to be saved by your good works.

At the same time, if you are praying the way you should pray, you'll be singing and giving and serving.

And so prayer is really the foundation for the Christian experience.

So let's talk a little bit about the formula for prayer.

Now, I'm not gonna suggest that you mix a combination of chemicals or kitchen ingredients and voila, you're gonna have secret prayer.

But the Bible does say prayer is something that we can study and learn to do better.

Luke 11, verse 1, it came to pass that as he, Jesus, was praying in a certain place, When he ceased, 1 of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray.

Not only did he say Jesus teach us to pray, as John, John the Baptist, taught his disciples.

And Jesus never said, well, no, prayer is just something you learn by feeling.

He agreed that it was something that could be taught.

And at that point, Christ began to recite the Lord's Prayer.

He says, when you pray, say, our Father, which art in heaven, so forth.

And When he gave the Lord's Prayer, he didn't say, make sure and repeat this prayer.

So in the Lord's Prayer, you've got an outline for how we should approach God in prayer.

You've got 7 petitions in the Lord's Prayer.

It says, Our Father, it's talking about God, asking him to lead us, to forgive us.

And then you've got the petitions between man and man.

And it says, well, there it says, you know, lead us, forgive us, feed us, talks about thy name, thy kingdom.

And so you've got the the relationship between man and God in the Lord's prayer.

And then you've got the horizontal relationship.

It doesn't say lead me, guide me, feed me, deliver me.

It's lead us, guide us, feed us, deliver us.

And it's thy kingdom, thy glory, thy name.

And so the key to successful prayer is it starts with God and it's thinking about others.

Love the Lord with all your heart, love your neighbor as yourself.

Someone once said that that's the secret to joy.

If you keep that sequence the way it should be, you end up finding happiness by blessing and serving others and praying for others.

And so, well, what do you do if you pray and your mind wanders?

Anyone out there, you struggle with that?

It's like, you know, when you're a child, you're easily distracted.

And 1 of the things kids learn in school is they're taught to focus and give their attention to things.

As you grow as a Christian, you'll notice that your mind wanders when you're praying.

And just whenever you're aware of it, you bring it back.

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The Priority of Prayer

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