Prayer 101Sample

God sees, values, and rewards prayer.

Matthew 6:6 says, “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Sometimes we can wonder if our prayers even matter. We can wonder if God even notices them. Jesus teaches us that prayer matters. It makes a difference and isn’t just an exercise in obedience. Sometimes, we see commands like 1 Thessalonians 5:17, to pray and to pray continually, and we think we need to pray merely as an act of obedience, but there is so much more to prayer. Jesus stated that our Father, who sees in secret, sees and rewards when we pray. Revelation 5:8 refers to our prayers as incense that comes up before God. In Acts 10:4, Cornelius's prayers had come as a memorial before God. If our prayers matter to God, then prayer needs to matter to us.

Prayer is a matter of partnership, not of informing or convincing God.

This is one of the aspects of prayer that is often misunderstood. We often want to pray to inform God of problems, convince Him to move, or manipulate Him somehow. But He tells us to pray for what God already desires (Matthew 6:10), Which is why it is called His will. Prayer is a partnership based on the authority structure established by God in Genesis 1 when He said; let us make man in our image and let them have dominion over the earth. While God is God and He is all-powerful, He set up the rules for the world at creation. He, in a sense, gave man a lease to the earth in Genesis 1:26, & 28. Eventually, man’s lease will run out. When it does, God will set every wrong right. But when He does, we will all stand before him, and those who have not made Him Lord will be condemned. Out of His love and compassion, He has been giving people more time to repent (2 Peter 3:9). During this time of man’s lease, God does what He does on earth in partnership with people. We can partner through obedience & we can partner through prayer. When we pray, we are inviting God into the areas where He has given us authority. In a sense, inviting the landlord into the space without ending our lease agreement. When we pray His will, we are partnering with God to see His will done on earth as it is in heaven. This helps us understand 1 John 5:14 and Matthew 6:9-10. It’s also why Jesus gives us instructions and topics to pray for. Luke 10:2 states, “And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Today, let's partner with God, praying for God to raise people to serve, to go out and be the light, and to draw the lost toward Him. Pray for ministries, missionaries, and Christians everywhere to be filled with the Holy Spirit and boldness to proclaim and show the gospel. Pray for hearts to be softened and made ready to receive and respond to the gospel.