Reply To: Prayer Discussion Board 1

[Pchris]

PRAYER- Means communication, Fellowship (koinonia) with God. Prayer is what gives God pleasure and throughout Jesus’ stay here on earth, we see Him practice different types of Prayer . A believer is encouraged to live a life just like Christ and the aspect of Prayer is worthy of emulation.
The main purpose of the life we received is to get to know God more and more everyday . We get to know God’s deepest desires for us in the place of prayer.
Now focusing on Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane, here are lessons one can learn.
1) Jesus prayed based on relationship – In verse 39′ He referred to God as “My Father” , this showed that He was praying from a place of intimacy and close relationship. “my” is translated “mou” which means mine(own), my. Every believer should strive to build intimacy with God. Intimacy with God , reveals who He is and His will for you at all times. “It is not a luxury to hear from God” ( in reference to Pastor Nkechi) , every believer should be familiar with the voice of God and your voice should also be consistent in God’s ears.
2) He Prayed the right Prayer at the right time.
There are different kinds of prayer and it is important for one to pray the right kind of prayer at the right time to enable it to be effective and produce result. Jesus prayed the prayer of Concencration to submit to God’s will. He knew the will of God for Him was to be made a sacrifice for sin , He was asking if it can be accomplished in some other way than the way He could see ahead. This is because Jesus was in flesh and had feelings and emotions but He didn’t let how or what he felt deprive Him of fulfilling God’s will.
We should learn to concencrate and submit ourselves to the will of God because in any situation, God is faithful to give you something even better than your desires as well as change your desires to line up with His will. This is one prayer where can’t pretend before God, you come to Him just as you are.
3) Jesus was conscious of God’s supremacy
Jesus remained conscious of God’s supremacy over all things. Even when there was a tendency for Him to be overwhelmed by the situation, He remained conscious, that God is sovereign. We should learn from Jesus as a good example , despite the great suffering that laid ahead of Him , He was never carried away but remained conscious that God is supreme.
4) Jesus emphasized on the importance of Prayer
The importance of prayer in the life of a believer cannot be overemphasized. In verse ’41 ” Watch lest you fall into temptation” . A believer should ensure that prayer is not an occasional practice but a frequent, consistent and intentional act. Jesus admonished His disciples for sleeping at such a crucial time and urged them to pray even if they do not feel like it. Prayer should be a consistent and deliberate act where even if you do not feel like it, you push yourself to start and let the Holy spirit carry you on. Sometimes you can start off weak and tired and feel you can’t pray past 1 hour, but as you continue , you find out that you have exceeded the time you expected and you are even more energetic.
5) Pray until something happens
Jesus stayed at the place of prayer until His appointed time came . We are enjoying the gift of salvation today because of the sacrifice of Jesus . He knew , that though the task was not going to be an easy one , it was going to be worth it in the end . He prayed until His purpose was fulfilled here in earth. As believers, we should constantly communicate with God to ensure we are still on the right track of fulfilling our God given destiny. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 ” Pray without ceasing” . In good times or bad times we are expected to pray. Your situation should not determine when you should or should not pray.