LET US PRAY - Five Pointers on Prayer

In our final session in our series "Let Us Pray", we looked at five questions--pointers:

1. How has God given us sufficient provision for prayer?

2. How does Satan try to stop you from praying?

3. Aside from personal prayer, what other kind of prayer must we attend to in accordance with the Word of God?

4. What are the various aspects in the work of prayer which need attention?

5. What is the central objective of prayer?

These five questions led us to the most important purpose of all prayer. God reveals in John 17 that His purpose is not just to answer our prayers, but that through prayer we might come to discern His mind and desire His will. The one prayer which God must answer is the prayer of Jesus:

"...that they may be one just as We are one..." (John 17:22)

We become one with God when we discern His mind. We prepare to discern God's mind and accept His will when we "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

God is not concerned about our plans; He doesn’t ask, “Do you want to go through this loss of a loved one, this difficulty, or this defeat?” No, He allows these things for His own purpose. The things we are going through are either making us sweeter, better, and nobler men and women, or they are making us more critical and fault-finding, and more insistent on our own way. The things that happen either make us evil, or they make us more saintly, depending entirely on our relationship with God and its level of intimacy. If we will pray, regarding our own lives, “Your will be done” (Matthew 26:42), then we will be encouraged and comforted by John 17, knowing that our Father is working according to His own wisdom, accomplishing what is best. When we understand God’s purpose, we will not become small-minded and cynical.

Jesus prayed nothing less for us than absolute oneness with Himself, just as He was one with the Father. Some of us are far from this oneness; yet God will not leave us alone until we are one with Him— because Jesus prayed, “…that they all may be one….”

Next week we begin a series on how to study the Bible called: "Bible Study Methods: Twelve Ways You Can Unlock God's Word"