Confident Prayer
Another week has gone by! Our topic today is a good one. We are going to look into a vital component of a Christian’s spiritual life. So glad you are here. Feel free to share or make comment it you would like. May the Lord continue to make us more sensitive to the Spirit every day. Eric
What comes to mind when you hear the words, pray or prayer? You will find various definitions in both the Old and New Testament such as: devout petition, entreaty, intercession, supplication, intervene, praise, thanks, or in a wider sense, sacred song.
Praying is communicating or communing with God. Prayer is a vital component in our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
If you desire to have a relationship with someone and yet rarely communicate with them, what kind of relationship would you have with them? I would say, poor to none, without a doubt.
What kind of relationship do you desire to have with your Heavenly Father? Just being an acquaintance, having a friendship, or being an intimate friend? As a believer, do you spend time communing with God on a regular daily basis?
Scripture reveals the heart and desires of God to us. As we begin this study on prayer, we will discover the importance of prayer and the potential results we have available when we involve ourselves in confident prayer.
First things first though. Pause for a moment with me to consider how amazing it is that the Almighty God, the One Who spoke and created the world, the One Who is omnipotent or all powerful desires and made the way for us to be able to come into His very presence to commune with Himself! He is the One Who when He descended on Mount Sinai in fire, the mountain was wrapped in smoke and trembled greatly. (Exodus 19:18).
Why do people not pray? People have many reasons or excuses for not praying. Possibly, they feel uncomfortable, don’t know what to say, or see prayer as unimportant, or as a last resort. Some, don’t believe God wants to be bothered with their everyday needs. Some would rather handle their own problems. Others feel they are not worthy to be heard by God. If we had to wait until we were worthy before being heard by God, we would never be able to communicate with Him.
However, we have been granted full access to the Father, by the blood of Jesus and, in fact, encouraged to enter into His presence boldly! Hebrews 4:16, “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” ‘Boldly’ is translated from meta and parresia. Meta means: in the midst of, association, union, and companion. Parresia means: free, fearless, confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance, undoubting confidence of Christians relative to their fellowship with God. [approach a throne of grace not judgment]. When we have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior (are in right relationship with God), we have been given the right to approach and communicate with God courageously or boldly. Ephesians 3:12, “Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God's presence.” Hebrews 10:22, “let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”
Let’s continue to look at the heart of God. James 4: 8 (NKJV), “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” When we come near to approach God, He draws near to us in the bestowment of His grace and help.
1Thessalonians 5:17 (NKJV), “pray without ceasing,” Pray without stopping, without intermission. Be in an attitude of prayer all day. James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” When facing a situation in which we have no wisdom, ask God, freely ask and God will give you wisdom in abundance. We make so many choices in a day that we certainly need to be in communication with God constantly.
The Lord is always open to the prayers of the righteous (those who seek and obey God’s will). 1 Peter 3:12 ESV), “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." Proverbs 15:29, “The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayers of the righteous.”
We see in John 16:23 (ESV) that we are to pray to the Father in the name of Jesus, “In that day you will ask nothing of me (Jesus). Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.” Then in John 14:13, we read, “You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.” We ask the Father directly and He will grant the request because we use Jesus’ name and it brings glory to the Father.
Jeremiah 17:7, “But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.” Confidence, translated from the Greek word parrhesia, means: boldness, outspokenness, unreserved utterance, freedom of speech with frankness and candor. The opposite of cowardice, timidity, or fear. He is our hope and confidence. Therefore, our hope and confidence relies on our trust in our faithful God. When we grow to trust in God, none or our hope and confidence is misplaced.
1 John 5:14 (KJV), “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.” We can have confidence that He hears us and answers us when we pray according to His will (His Word). The most effective prayer we can pray is to pray His Word. Why? Because His Word is His will.
When we have come to abide in Jesus and His Word abides (lives) in us, then we will be asking according to His will and we can expect Him to grant our request. John 15:7 (ESV), “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” 1 John 3:22, “And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.” We can have confidence in prayer when we do what He tells us to do. If you are walking in His will, He will grant what you want because it is also what He wants. Psalm 37:4 (ESV), “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Delight in the Greek means: to be soft or pliable. If we choose to be pliable or moldable by the potter, our Creator, He will give us the desires of our heart!
We will receive when we choose to believe what God has spoken. Matthew 21:22 (Berean Standard Bible), “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” ‘Believe’ is translated from the Greek word, pisteuo meaning, to trust absolutely. Look at what James 1:6 (ESV) reveals, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” ‘Faith’ in this verse means: belief, trust, or confidence. The words, ‘no doubting’ (nothing wavering in the King James) means, wholly free from doubt. When we pray, we need to ask with confidence. Sad to say, many of us have had our faith waver because of past experiences. Hebrews 11:6 (Berean Standard Bible) reads, “And without faith is is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” As a believer and follower of Christ, our will needs to be conformed to His. Our desires will align with His the more intimate our relationship is with Him.
We are also going to be more confident in prayer when we are willing to be patient and wait on God’s timing. In Luke 18:1 (ESV) we read, “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” The phrase ‘lose heart’ means: to be weary, to lose courage, or to faint. We are encouraged to pray but also told to not be weary or to lose courage. God fully understands and is aware of every situation we face, and He knows what process we need to go through to receive the greatest benefit from either the trial or blessing.
When our family was moving to Illinois, even though our home had been on the market for some time, not one buyer expressed an interest, until I had found a home for us in Illinois. It was a matter of God’s timing. Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV), “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:” ‘Season’ from the Hebrew word zeman, according to the Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon means: appointed time or, a set time.
Matthew 7:11 (NKJV), “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” God desires to give His children good things.
Prayer is communing with our intimate friend, Who loves us more than we can understand. The more intimate we become, the more we yield our will to His. When we ask according to His will, we can be confident we will receive.
The Word of God reveals the Lord and His will to us. It is through the Word that we know Him. You can be confident when you pray according to His will and Word, that He will hear and respond.
Man’s relationship with God began in a garden (Genesis 2:8) and that special relationship Adam had with God is what we desire to have with the Father still today.
In the Garden by C. A. Miles
I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses,
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.
Refrain:
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.I’d stay in the garden with Him,
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling.
Unless noted Scriptures are taken from New Living Translation
NKJV New King James Version
ESV English Standard Version
KJV King James Version