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A Biblical Guide to Prayer - Part 4 Questions about Prayer – Part 1 · What is prayer? As we saw from the section on terminology used for prayer, there are several different words and phrases used for it. Prayer can be described as “calling on the name of the Lord” and Christians are associated with this phrase for those who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom. 10:13). In 1 Corinthians 1:2, the Apostle Paul identifies Christians as “those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Therefore it is right to say that prayer is calling on the Lord. In this sense it speaks of calling on one who we know and have a relationship with. Thus prayer could also be referred to as communion with God. It’s a time when we consciously come into His presence and commune with Him. It’s a time of listening to Him through His Word, of meditating on His greatness, of extolling Him for all that He is, and it is also a time when we can pour out our thoughts and desires to Him. Prayer is a wonderful privilege that we have. To think that we can commune with the Lord God Almighty! This is only possible by the blood of Jesus Christ which covers us with righteousness and for this we should be very grateful. Just as Adam walked in the garden in his sinless state in the presence of the Lord and had sweet fellowship with Him –through Jesus Christ this sweet fellowship has been restored. · What is the purpose of prayer? The ultimate purpose of prayer is to glorify God as He is the one who commands us to pray. When we obey His commands we are putting faith in what He says, knowing that it is always for our good and this faith pleases Him. If we come into His presence expecting to lay down a list of our own wishes expecting God to submit to our requests then we really don’t understand the purpose of prayer. When we pray we are coming into His presence and in doing so we come in submission to Him. We recognize His Lordship over our life and we find our minds being conformed to His will. As one puritan divine stated, “The work of prayer is to bring my will to Thine.” · Who do we pray to? This is an area that causes much confusion for many Christians. Are we to pray to the Father only? Can we pray to Jesus and the Holy Spirit as well? I think much confusion will be eliminated if we make a distinction between prayer and praise though both may, at times, be intertwined. We should praise the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are each members of the God-head and each has the right to be praised, worshipped, and adored. The salvation that we are partakers of is the result of the work of a Triune God – we are chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and sealed by the Holy Spirit – so each member should be praised. However, when it comes to prayer (intercession, supplication, petitions), the Scriptures make it very clear that we should address God the Father. Jesus Himself taught this as He taught the disciples to pray (Matthew 6:9). When you look at all the prayers in the Bible, the prayers are primarily addressed to God the Father. This is the biblical normative. It is important for us to realize however, that though we address the Father, it is only possible because of what the Son has done and what the Holy Spirit is doing. We pray to the Father (Mt 6:9), through the Son (Jn 14:6; Heb. 4:14-16; 10:19-22), by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:26, 27; Eph 6:18; Jude 20). So we see that not only is our salvation the result of the work of a Triune God, our communion with Him is the result of the work of a Triune God as well. By God's Grace ~ Through God's Word ~ For God's Glory! Chuck Long ©God’sGWG |