Mini Bible Study on Prayer

Here's a mini Bible study on prayer. 

Read Jonah 2:1 and Jonah 2:7. Now answer these questions:

• Where was Jonah when he prayed? (verse 1)
• Where did Jonah's prayer go? (verse 7)
• Who heard Jonah's prayer? (verse 7) 

Now compare Jonah 2:7 with Psalm 11:4, 2 Chronicles 30:27, and Habakkuk 2:20 and then answer these questions:

• What comfort can you get from these verses?
• What encouragement can you get from these verses?
• How can you apply this to your life today?

Sometimes The Answer Is 'No'

As Christians we need to realize that sometimes God's answer to our prayers is "no."  We have an example of this in Genesis 17.  In Genesis 17 God is speaking to Abraham about His covenant with him and with his children and generations to come.  When we come to verses 18 through 22 we read Abraham's prayer and God's answer.

"And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”  Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.  And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.” Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham." (Genesis 17:18-22)

Notice Abraham's prayer.  He prayed, "Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!"  Ishmael was Abraham's son, but he was not the son that God had promised to give Abraham.  Abraham wanted Ishmael to become his legal heir and to be part of God's covenant.

God's response to Abraham was immediate.  God told him, "No."  In God's purpose and plan for Abraham, He would bless him with a child who would be called Isaac and God would establish His covenant with Isaac and not Ishmael.  But also notice that God tells Abraham that He did hear Abraham's prayer and that He would bless Ishmael.

What can we learn from this?  Here are a few take-aways:

• God sometimes answers our prayers with a "No."
• God does hear our prayers and responds to them!
• When God says no, it is because in His sovereign plan and will for our life He knows that what we are requesting would not be for our good.  I think of it this way.  Many times my kids have asked me for something and I've said no not to be mean or cruel, but because I know it would not be good for them!  If my child asked to watch a movie or television show that was not age-appropriate for them, I would say no so that I could protect them.  When God says no, He isn't being cruel or unkind, He is being a wise and protecting Heavenly Father.

Going Before The Throne

I want to compare and contrast a two verses and see what we can learn from them about prayer.  

First, let's look at Esther 4:11.  This verse tells us, "All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live."  This verse tells us that in the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, you could not just go see the king anytime you wanted.  If you weren't invited and the king didn't want to see you, you forfeited your life.  Esther, the king's wife, is the person speaking in this verse so it shows that it didn't matter what your relationship was with the king.  Bottom line, you literally took your life in your hands if you approached this king at his throne!

Now let's read Hebrews 4:16.  This verse tells us, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."  This verse tells us we can go to the throne of grace where the King of Kings sits at anytime!  We are welcome before His throne at all times on all days.  (It's interesting to note that one definition of the word 'boldly' is 'freedom in speaking, unreservedness in speech.' we don't need to hold anything back when we open our hearts to the Lord!)

In Hebrews 4:16 we are encouraged and beckoned to go before the throne.  Contrast that with the fear the men and women had in approaching the throne of a mere man in Esther 4:11.  The truth is, we can go before God's throne and seek what we need from Him.  He will not turn us away.

Be encouraged, don't fear to go before the Lord and speak freely about what you need and how He can help you!

Sin's Impact On Your Prayers

"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Psalm 66:18

Although this is a short verse, it is a powerful verse.  It can teach us many things about how sin will impact your prayers and your prayer life.  I wanted to take a few minutes to break down the verse in small pieces and see what can be learned and applied to our lives.  This will be a brief study!  I'm going to bullet point key words and phrases and offer some commentary on them.

• If  If is a conditional clause.  If I do this, then there will be a result.  In this case, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord won't hear my prayers.  So the opposite is true, if I don't regard iniquity the Lord will hear!
• I  This verse is personal, not corporate.  It's all about me and I am responsible.
• regard iniquity in my heart  When we regard iniquity in our hearts, it means we know that we are sinning but we are doing nothing about it.  For example, if I get angry at someone and treat them badly and do not apologize but instead continue to knowingly treat them badly, I am regarding iniquity in my life.  It is a state of living in known sin without addressing it by confessing and repenting of it. (See 1 John 1:9; Revelation 3:19)
• Lord  All sin is an offense against the Lord.  This is God, the Creator of the universe.
• will not hear me  Note that the verse doesn't say, "cannot hear me."  It says the Lord will not hear me.  Cannot indicates ability while will not indicates choice!  Yes, when I am living in unrepented of sin, God hears my prayers but chooses not to respond to them.  Will any parent reward a misbehaving child?  Of course not!  Our Heavenly Father will not respond to our prayers while we continue in known misbehavior and sin.

Sin will have a negative impact on your prayer life.  When we are aware of sin in our life we need to repent of it and confess it.  That will restore our fellowship with the Lord and restore our prayer life with Him.

Interplanetary Conversation?

On July 20, 1969, President Nixon made an extraordinary phone call. Nixon's official presidential diary says that at 11:45pm, "The President held an interplanetary conversation with Apollo 11 Astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin on the moon." What technology back then that enabled the president to speak to the astronauts on another planet!

While that truly is amazing, that technology is not as awesome as the high-tech communications mentioned in 2 Chronicles 30:27. The verse tells us, "Then the priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard their voice, and their prayer came into His holy dwelling place in heaven." Now that's a real interplanetary conversation! Notice that the priests and Levites prayed and God heard their voice - their prayer was immediately heard in heaven! No communication delay, no satellite relay, and no concern for a 3G or 4G network.

When we pray, God hears us. That's the simple fact 2 Chronicles 30:27 and other verses in the Bible tell us. We can take comfort in this and anchor our faith on it. How awesome that anytime and every time we pray, it is immediately heard in heaven.

How can/will you apply this truth in your life this week? For extra study, compare 2 Chronicles 30:27 with Revelation 8:3.

Have You Prayed For Your President Today?

Shortly after September 11, I purchased a magnet that I prominently displayed on our refrigerator.  It was red, white and blue and asked, "Have you prayed for your President today?"  And yes, I prayed almost daily for President George W. Bush as he lead our nation through the dark days of the 9/11 attack and afterwords.  I had voted for and supported President Bush as well, so it wasn't too difficult to pray for him!

Fast forward to today.  Let me ask the same question, "Have you prayed for your President today?"  Umm, unfortunately I have not prayed for President Barak Obama as consistently as I prayed for President Bush.  Now here's the bigger question.  Why haven't I prayed for President Obama as consistently as I have for President Bush?

I must admit, I did not vote for President Obama and there are many policies and decisions he has made that I simply cannot support on Biblical grounds.  And, at times, I've allowed my political leanings to influence who I pray for and who doesn't make the list.  I have to confess that when I allow politics to determine who gets prayed for, I have crossed a line.  Here is how.

1 Peter 2:13-17 tells us, "Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, 14 or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— 16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king."  While these verses do not talk about praying for the President, they do give us the command to submit to and honor those in authority over us.  There is no escape clause that you don't have to if you disagree with them or did not vote for them.  

1 Timothy 2:1-4 says, "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."  These verses are clear and simple.  We are to pray for and intercede for all who are in authority regardless of their political leanings.

As Christians we are to submit to governmental authority so that we may put to silence those that would slander us as evil doers.  We are to pray for those in authority so that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives.  We cannot refuse to pray for them because we disagree with them, don't like them or didn't vote for them.  The Bible does not give us those options.  Praying for our leaders is an act of obedience.

Have I prayed for my President today?  I have.  

God Answers Prayer

I wanted to look briefly at a passage in Genesis 24.  In this chapter, Abraham sends his servant to find a wife for his son, Isaac.  

I want us to think about this question: how long does it take God to answer a prayer?

Genesis 24:1-10 tells us specifically what Abraham told his servant to do.  He was to go to Abraham's home country and find a wife for Isaac.  Verses 10 and 11 tell us that Abraham's servant arrived in Mesopotamia - he had reached his destination!  Then in verses 12 through 14 we have the servant's prayer to God, asking His help, guidance and direction in this task.  Abraham's servant knew he couldn't handle this mission on his own and in his own wisdom and strength.  So before he even begins looking for a wife for Isaac, he prays.

Verse 15 gives us the answer to our question about how long it takes God to answer prayer.  Here's what the verse says, "And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder."  Verse 15 (and verse 45) shows that before Abraham's servant had finished praying, God answered his prayer!  God can answer prayer even before we've finished praying it!  How awesome is that!

I hope that's a blessing and encouragement to you this week.  God hears our prayers, and He can answer them even before we've finished praying them