1. Prayer
Essential Doctrine

2. What is Prayer? How did you learn how to pray?
1 Thess 5:17; Matt 26:41; Is 56:7
Prayer is important and is something we need to do
We MUST pray but how do we pray? What does prayer look like?
Prayer is not being pious, better than others, or to be full of pride when we speak to God

3. The First Prayer
Gen 20 talks about praying but does not convey the significance of prayer
Gen 3:8 – God wants intimacy with His people
Adam and Eve did not have to pray because they started off with intimacy. Sin created the divide, and prayer was the only way to communicate with God

4. Why Pray? God knows our needs
God is aware of what He can do and what He will or won’t do
God is not automatic, God is not a service.
God wants INTIMACY with us. Having an interaction with people is meaningful, personal, purposeful, and valuable
Jesus wants us to ask for things, part of prayer is meeting needs, but prayer is also more than meeting needs
He wants us to be a friend, to relate, to ask as a friend would ask

5. Prayer Misconceptions
Prayer isn’t to get the attention of God or the attention of others
We don’t need loud, bold, eloquent, repetitive words
God doesn’t respond to us trying to get His attention
People don’t need to hear you loudly for your prayer to be effective
Jesus tells us not to pray in a way that seeks a reward
Praying louder or longer doesn’t mean that God hears us more

6. The Lord’s Prayer
We shouldn’t be reciting the Lord’s prayer (Jesus told us not to use repetition when we pray)
The Lord’s Prayer helps us understand a pattern of prayer – what to pray for and how to approach God
We can learn from the Lord’s prayer so that we have a form that we can use, a template, to pray powerful, purposeful, and effective prayers

7. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name
Our Father = Abba = Daddy
Jesus wants us to have a close relationship with God FIRST.
We start off with God as our loving Father before anything else.
There is an intimacy and closeness, we should never feel distant when we pray
Hallowed = worthy
We then approach God with honour and respect and worship.
We are intimate, but we are different, we revere Him as God
We are close, but we are not disrespectful and we don’t treat God like a human
We are never flippant or dishonouring to God

8. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
God is God, He will always have His way
Whatever He wants is what we will pray for
God is the King and the boss and we submit to Him.
Our relationship with him is more important than our own personal desires
If Jesus would die on a cross for our eternity, we can trust Him with our lives on earth
His will is the best thing for earth and also the best thing for us
Rom 8:32

9. Give us this day our daily bread
God wants us to ask for things
God wants us to rely on Him as the source of our needs
We can present our requests to Him
Daily bread = not to be selfish or greedy, but for God to meet our needs every single day
When we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, everything else is added to us

10. And forgive our debts, as we forgive our debtors
Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die
Unforgiveness causes bitterness that consumes only us
God is willing to forgive us but we need to confess our sins to Him. He’s the One who everyone has wronged. We need to get right with Him
We need help to forgive others
It is difficult but God wants to help us to do it
When we understand how much God has forgiven us, it helps us forgive others

11. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one
God does not lead us into temptation, but we ask Him to lead us away from temptation, away from the wrong things
We live in a sinful world and we need God’s help to live lives free from sin
Never become proud or arrogant to think that we can rely on our own efforts to stay away from sin

12. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
End with giving God glory and worship
When you say ‘bye’ to someone, you thank them for their time, you greet them appropriately, with honour and respect
God is worthy of our worship
We ascribe to God the glory that He’s due because He is in control, He will do it
Ultimately, we worship God in every circumstance
We sometimes pray in a hopeless situation, which is fine, but always worship Him in and through the circumstance

13. How should we pray? Luke 18:10 Pray with honesty and humility
Come as you are, present yourself to God
Lay down your burdens and circumstances
Communicate openly and humbly with God
Jesus taught us to have humility when we pray

14. God Answers Prayer 1 Pet 3:12 We can pray anywhere
No restrictions when we pray
Be intimate with God
God hears our prayers, He listens
We don’t pray in vain and without impact
When God answers prayer, things change
Prayer is a weapon but it also creates intimacy