PC |Day Two: Four Different Types of Prayer
Because God Loves Wondrous Variety
Welcome to Day Two!
How did you do yesterday? Which form did you choose to use?
I’d love to hear from you! Comment below or on the Day One post so others can learn from what you share.
If you’re comfortable with sharing what you wrote, take a picture of your filled in form and share that. I’d love for us each to encourage others in doing their challenge by seeing what others are doing.
The subtitle to this post reads, “Because God loves wondrous variety” which is a variation on Azeem’s (played by Morgan Freeman) comment in Robin Hood. Come to think of it, the truth may be that God knows we, His people, need great variety to express ourselves. OR - maybe since we are made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27) it would make sense that we like variety because He does. Well, that’s a rabbit trail I can chase another day.
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Today, let’s talk about different types of prayer.
1 Timothy 2:1 says, “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men”.
Four types of prayer:
entreaties – some versions say supplications (any kind of request)
prayers (general prayers, would include praise)
petitions – some versions say intercessions (on behalf of someone else)
and thanksgivings.
Here we see that Paul says THESE types of prayer are to be made “on behalf of all men”.
Right there you can see that you have LOTS of options for the prayers you bring to the Lord. So, we know we are to pray and that there are different types of prayers we can use to approach the Lord. But how do we know that God will hear them?
There are times when God will NOT hear a prayer.
John 9:31 says that God does not hear sinners, but those who worship and do His will, He hears them. But we know from Acts 10:1-4, that Cornelius was heard by God while he was still a sinner and not yet a Christian.
So, what makes the difference?
The difference comes from the heart. What is the reason for the prayer? What is being sought? This can make for a lengthy, and valuable, study. I’m going to keep it brief here. Lord willing, soon, we will dive into the topic much deeper.
For our purposes, let’s look at just a few different verses.
Psalm 66:18 says that if I hold wickedness in my heart, God will not hear my prayer.
Proverb 28:9 says that those who will not heed God’s law, God will not hear their prayers.
Matthew 6:5 says that hypocritical prayers, done to be seen by men, are all the reward the one praying will get.
Matthew 6:7 tells us that meaningless repetitions are wasted. More words do not get you heard.
Luke 18:9-14 shows us an example of a man (the Pharisee) who in effect is praying to HIMSELF instead of to God! There is no praise except of himself. There is no humility. The publican shows an acceptable prayer attitude.
James 1:6-7 says that praying to God while having doubts about whether God will answer, that man will not receive. The point is – if you don’t believe in God enough to trust that He will answer your prayer, then God will not bother to answer it. Praying to a God you don’t truly believe in, is wasted effort.
James 4:3 James says these people were not having their prayers answered because their motives were wrong. They were praying for things that were for their own desires and pleasures.
You want to be heard by God, right? Then you must ask for the RIGHT things in the RIGHT way from the RIGHT motives.
While prayer is simple, it does come with “rules”.
As we saw yesterday, Jesus laid out the foundation of these “rules”. He told His disciples to be reverent when they pray, to address the correct person of the Godhead, to ask for things while keeping spiritual things first. He showed them to have an attitude of humility and to not forget to recognize God’s being God through praise.
Acceptable prayer requires trusting that God can provide what is sought (James 1:6; Hebrews11:6; Mark 11:24; 1John 5:14). It is asked in the “name of the Lord”, which means through the authority of Jesus Christ (John 14:14; James 5:14). It is prayer brought from a humble heart that seeks forgiveness and has been forgiving toward others (Matthew 6:12-14).
Those who can pray with confidence of God hearing are:
the righteous, aka those who live according to His will see. 1 Jn.2:3-6; 1 Jn. 3:7-8.
(James 5:16; Ps. 34:17)
those seeking wisdom (James 1:5; Acts 10:1-4)
those who are His children (Matthew 7:11)
The point I want you to take away from this is that it IS possible to know if you are praying prayers that God is going to hear. You do not need to suffer in doubt as to whether God is listening to you if you are saying prayers that are respectful of Him, asking for things that are in accordance with His word, and are humble. This is where the DILIGENT part comes in.
It takes diligent effort to be sure your motives are pure.
It takes intentional thought to ask things that are righteous and not self-serving.
It takes walking every day in the Word so that your heart is what it needs to be.
It also takes knowing that He understands that we falter and fail. We can bring our failure to be honoring in our speech to Him in a prayer and ask forgiveness for it. Then we can move forward striving to do BETTER. And for those days when everything falls through the cracks, the Spirit and Jesus Christ are standing in the gap to get our prayers to the Father even when we don’t have the right words to say (Romans 8:24-27, 34)!
God’s grace exists because we are NOT perfect. We NEED His salvation because we just are not going to be a perfect sacrifice. Jesus did that for us. That’s the gift we live to say, “thank you” for by being a daily living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2).
Your challenge today – where are YOU today?
What is YOUR main need?
Have you been doubting that God is able and willing to answer your prayers?
Read James 1:5-8 and Ephesians 3:20-21. PRAY to God and make your request known – for help to no longer doubt. For wisdom to hold out in faith KNOWING that He is there and He hears the prayer of a righteous man.
Are you not being heard because your prayers are not being offered in the right way or asking for the right things? Use God’s word to show you the right words to use and the right things to ask for instead.
Whatever your need is, use the SAME forms that you received yesterday to write a prayer to God that is respectful, states your need, and closes by recognizing your access comes through the authority that is in Jesus Christ.
Keep it simple. Keep it honest. Just PRAY.
You will find along with the needed forms, I have also included graphics that help with what to avoid and what to include in your prayers. Post these or keep them in a folder with your other prayer time supplies.
Today’s challenge should help you to begin seeing that God’s word gives you everything you need to be able to offer prayers that you are confident about. Prayers are not “just” right because we want them to be. As our daily walk takes intention, so does our prayer life.
As you look at the examples of prayer on the graphics given with this lesson, you will see when to pray and where to pray is up to you. You have FREEDOM to choose how, when and where. It is the content and your desired purpose that must meet the criteria set out in scripture.
Always remember – Acts 17:24-28 – God is waiting to hear from you.
Lord willing, I will see you in tomorrow’s challenge.
Enjoy!
PS – a good thing to consider –
We are ABLE to give thanks to God BECAUSE of the ACCESS we have to Him THROUGH Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5; Ephesians 3:12). If we are not IN Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:27) we do not have this access (John 14:6). It is a precious thing, something in and of itself for which we should be thankful!
Here are the downloads to use for this lesson:
Day Two Lesson and Challenge PDF
Basic Prayer Outline Worksheet