Pray—A Four-Letter Word to Use Regularly

December 4, 2018

Pray—A Four-Letter Word to Use Regularly

Romans 15:30–33

Meredith Ratliff

Central Truth

It's God's heart that we petition Him on behalf of fellow believers.

30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

Prayer. That word alone may have many implications. Growing up, I went to a school where we went to chapel every day. We recited prayers from a book. These prayers were written, beautiful prayers for all occasions. In my family, prayer was mainly employed before meal times. Any praying outside of that felt pressured and awkward at times. I remember always being scared to pray aloud for fear I would say the wrong thing because the people who did pray aloud were always eloquently long-winded. This may or may not have been your experience. As an adult, I struggled with what prayer should really be or look like.

What does the Bible say about prayer? We see Jesus rising early in the morning to be with his Father in prayer (Mark 1:35). We see Him consistently lifting up the people around him to the Father. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says to "pray without ceasing." Colossians 4:2 (NIV) tells us, "Devote yourselves to prayer." Psalms 145:18 notes, "The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth." 1 John 5:14-15 gives us the assurance that He hears us if we ask according to His will. Jesus also teaches us how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13 and that we should not use vain repetitions (Matthew 6:7).

Some principles I see from these Scriptures and the life of Jesus include:

God wants a relationship with us, not us praying at Him. That involves talking and listening.
When we pray for others as Paul is asking the believers in Rome to do for him, we remove the focus from ourselves and our own desires and focus on loving others (Matthew 22:36-40). What better way can we love our neighbors as ourselves than interceding to the Lord on their behalf?
Finally, prayer creates intimacy among believers. The more I pray for believers in my life, the more I have a deeper understanding and concern for their needs.

I'm praying right now that you will have a deep concern for others around you and faithfully lift them up to our Father.

This month's memory verse

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble

13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

– Romans 14:13

1. Have you ever prayed like you are talking to your best friend? This is an interesting exercise that I've done before praying in a group. We looked at each other (instead of with head bowed and eyes closed) and tried to speak to God as if He were sitting right next to us. I challenge you to try this and discuss your experience with a friend or community group.

2. What are some other areas for which Scripture commands us to pray (try 1 Timothy 2:1-4; Hebrews 13:3)? How can you be faithful to consistently pray for one of these areas?

3. How do you know you are praying God's will as stated in 1 John 5:14-15? GotQuestions.org has a great answer to this question that you can find HERE.