What is Prayer?

blueskies said:
What is Prayer?

After reading a post here on the forum by Bob Wille on prayer (thank you Bob) I was thinking about prayer in general. OT prayer in contrast to NT, different forms of prayer and how I, myself, pray.

What does prayer mean to you, personally, anyone want to share?

I’ll start, at a basic level it is a personal conversation with Almighty God.
Click to expand...
Talking to God.
 
Great question blueskies and great answers too.
Prayer is wonderful and it is nany things to me and to all of us we feel the closeness of God and there is no better feeling in the world.
It is worship, praise, thankfulness, pleas, remorse, trust, peace, love and the knowledge that you belong to God. Prayer ls a marvellous privilege and blessings.
 
As extracted from one of my Weekly Inspirational Messages, "Prayer is our telephone line to The Lord. When we need His help or His comfort or His guidance, we pray. Prayer does not have to be a formal procedure... just talk to Him. Psalm 116:1-2 (NLT) mentions, " 1 I love the Lord because He hears and answers my prayers. 2 Because He bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I have breath!"

When we pray, we must understand that God always hears us. But His plan is to allow things to take place which will answer our prayers in His way and on His time schedule. He is all-wise and knows what is best for each of us and just how those prayers will be answered. Trust in God and have faith. He is there for us when we pray and will touch our lives."


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There are several kinds of prayer...

There is formal prayer singly or in groups. Often this will include one or more elements of the Lord's Prayer:
Matthew 6:9-13 (NASB)

(1) Salutation acknowledging the sovereignty of God
‘Our Father who is in heaven,

(2) Praise
Hallowed be Your name.

(3) Desiring His Kingdom
‘Your kingdom come.

(4) subservience to His Will
Your will be done,

(5) universality of His will On earth as it is in heaven.
on earth as in heaven.

(6) requesting continued provision of our immediate needs
Give us this day our daily bread

(7) Acknowledgement sin and supplication for forgiveness (and empowerment to forgive others)
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors

(8) help in overcoming our nature
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from  evil.

(9 Repeated acknowledgement of His sovereignty
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

(10) Final assent (So-be-it)
Amen.


Other prayers are less formal, but no less heart felt. They can be thanksgiving, praises, requests for help, expressions of joy, supplication on our own behalf or for others.

You can even share a joke with the Lord (although you can be sure He has heard it before) to share good humor with him.
 
Via dolarossa said:
I’ll go a touch further than Major
In that I find it now being a waiting on Him.

Waiting for what I have no idea lol.

It’s like keeping an eye on the unseen…
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Darlin...........we talk TO God by prayer.
God talks TO US through His written Word, the Bible.

I know that there are some people who want to believe that God speaks directly to them in an "Audible" voice.
That is just not the case. He can not do that and does not do that because WE are in the way and no matter what He would like to say to us, WE would make what He said what WE wanted to hear Him say. What is that??????? PRIDE!

So, what does the Bible say?
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”– Romans 10:17 (ESV).

But that doesn’t mean He isn’t revealing Himself, and His desires for our lives, all the time. So what is this simple way to hear God’s voice? It’s actually pretty easy…read your Bible.
 
blueskies said:
Dear Major, would you agree that there are many passages in the OT where God does speak audibly to individuals?

If so, in your view, is this something, God speaking to groups and individuals, that has ceased since the New Covenant?

Just looking for your thoughts here.
Click to expand...
At this point, I must say that I am so very blessed to have YOU ask such great question to me in such a delightful and respectful manner.
YOU sir do yourself a great Honer!!!!!!!

Joshua 1:1: Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spoke unto Joshua the son of Nun,
Joshua 4:1: And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spoke unto Joshua, saying,
Joshua 4:15: And the LORD spoke unto Joshua, saying,
1Sam 16:4: And Samuel did that which the LORD spoke
Isaiah 8:5: The LORD spoke also unto me again, saying,
Isaiah 20:2: At the same time the LORD spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying,
Jer 1:7: But the LORD said unto me,
Jer 14:14: Then the LORD said unto me,
Jer 3:6: The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king,
Jer 14:14: Then the LORD said unto me,
Eze 9:4: And the LORD said unto him,
Eze 23:36: The LORD said moreover unto me;
Eze 44:5: And the LORD said unto me,

Oh....YES sir and in the New Test as well....for sure.

Now.......there are 3 types of teachers/people in the world of the church today. In fact, we can see all 3 of these on display right here on CFS if we just use our discernment and look............
  1. Those who have called/chosen themselves and claim to be special.
  2. Those chosen by people.
  3. Those chosen by God.
THOSE who have called themselves and those chosen by people are all called false prophets and they will say whatever they need to say to look good and promote themselves and their self worth.

REAL Prophets of God said what GOD told them to say and most of the time it was JUDGMENT!

God chosen servants do not do anything to please humanity while scoffers are pleasers of men and God chosen people/teachers/servants do not make money with the gospel in anyway be it asking for tithes, sacrifices.

Exodus 20:19........
‘You speak with us and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die’

From that day, God spoke directly and only to His chosen servants the prophets. He does not send any person or any heavenly being to speak to His prophets.

It is MY opinion that when the Scriptures were competed and canonized, there was then no more need for a Prophet to speak FOR God.
Therefore the office of a Prophet ended. The need for today is men who are qualified to REACH the Word of God as already stated by God.

2 Peter 1:21.........
“For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” . Thus.......

2 Peter 1:3.........
“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness”.

If everyone that needed an answer to a question relied on hearing God’s voice audibly, no one would be motivated to study His Word and learn the whole truth. and then.........how would we know that the VOICE we heard is the voice of GOD???

Not only does God speak to us through His Scriptures, He speak to us through "The consciousness of our minds"–
1 Timothy 1:5...........
“Now the goal of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.”

But the other reason God doesn’t speak to us in a voice we can hear is because He doesn’t need to! God has already told us everything we need to know — and we find it in the pages of the Bible. Most of all, we know He loves us because He came to earth in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, who died for us.
 
blueskies said:
Dear Major, would you agree that there are many passages in the OT where God does speak audibly to individuals?

If so, in your view, is this something, God speaking to groups and individuals, that has ceased since the New Covenant?

Just looking for your thoughts here.
Click to expand...
As a follow up so that I did not do a LONG drawn out answer is that when people say that "GOD SPEAKS TO ME IN A AUDIBEL" voice,
it is to promote themselves as a SUPER Christian who is above everyone else.

Now there are MANY who say that God speaks to them in an audible voice and some right here on the forum. BUT, when a person thinks she has “heard an audible word from God”, he/she is then faced with three choices:

1. What they heard was from God and was for the general consumption of all the people to hear.
But if that’s the case, we should be treating it as SCRIPTURE and it should be added to the Bible.

2. It was a message from God for her personally.
But if that were true, the word would fall under the governing of tongues and prophecy that Paul gives in 1 & 2 Corinthians WHICH HAS ENDED and then she shouldn’t be telling anyone else about it.

3. The voice she heard was not from God. It came from Satan-their own mind-a need for medication-too much medication.
 
Major said:
Darlin...........we talk TO God by prayer.
God talks TO US through His written Word, the Bible.

I know that there are some people who want to believe that God speaks directly to them in an "Audible" voice.
That is just not the case. He can not do that and does not do that because WE are in the way and no matter what He would like to say to us, WE would make what He said what WE wanted to hear Him say. What is that??????? PRIDE!

So, what does the Bible say?
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”– Romans 10:17 (ESV).

But that doesn’t mean He isn’t revealing Himself, and His desires for our lives, all the time. So what is this simple way to hear God’s voice? It’s actually pretty easy…read your Bible.
Click to expand...
Yes I agree, God has never, that I know of, spoken to me in an audible voice M.

i'm talking about actions.

Sometimes, I wait on Him for an impression, it is like listening, but with the new Heart He gave me. I listen for any prompts. or wether to hold back.

You seasoned believers may be used to it more than I, because you probably are more mature in Your Faith, whereas I tend be be always second guessing myself, maybe because I am not fully scripted up just yet.

hope that helps clarify what I mean sorry.
 
Via dolarossa said:
Yes I agree, God has never, that I know of, spoken to me in an audible voice M.

i'm talking about actions.

Sometimes, I wait on Him for an impression, it is like listening, but with the new Heart He gave me. I listen for any prompts. or wether to hold back.

You seasoned believers may be used to it more than I, because you probably are more mature in Your Faith, whereas I tend be be always second guessing myself, maybe because I am not fully scripted up just yet.

hope that helps clarify what I mean sorry.
Click to expand...

Waiting is actually really GOOD!

God answers prayer in 3 ways........
1. YES
2. NO
3. LATER = WAIT!

Have you ever been going on a trip and prayed for God's traveling mercy. Then as you are pulling out, all of a sudden you remembered that you did not turn off the coffee pot, So you stop and go back in and take the 3 minutes to turn it off.

Then.......3 minutes down the road you see a horrible accident right where YOU would have been!

Now DID YOU FORGET about the pot?
Was it YOU who remembered you left it turned on?

OR............was it God who just answered YOR prayer of protection.????
 
blueskies said:
Dear Major, would you agree that there are many passages in the OT where God does speak audibly to individuals? If so, in your view, is this something, God speaking to groups and individuals, that has ceased since the New Covenant? Just looking for your thoughts here.
Click to expand...
Major said:
At this point, I must say that I am so very blessed to have YOU ask such great question to me in such a delightful and respectful manner.
YOU sir do yourself a great Honor!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Hey! How come Major gets all the good questions? blueskies never asks me any questions, or my thoughts! 😟

Not that I'm jealous! 🤥

L😎L!
 
bobinfaith said:
Hey! How come Major gets all the good questions? blueskies never asks me any questions, or my thoughts!
Click to expand...
Dear Bob,
I am glad you asked Bob because I was saving this for you, although Major or anyone else is welcome.

In the Old Testament it seems as if prayers most often are (at least as are documented) of an earthly nature, eg. help with a barren wife, help in battle or freedom from oppression for some sketchy examples.

One OT exception that occurs to this in my limited knowledge are David’s Psalms which are certainly prayers of a very diverse nature with many (eg Psalm 23) to be prayers of a devotional and heavenly nature.

However, back to my question, in the NT when asked about prayer Jesus gives us “The Lord’s Prayer”, and this seems to me to be a much different type of prayer than is typical in the OT.

Although not expressed explicitly, none the less, do you think the New Testament directs us to pray for, and seek after, less earthly and more spiritual blessings in our prayers?

If the Old Covenant was made between God and Israel, and the New Covenant is between God and man through Jesus, do you see the New Covenant changing the nature of prayer?
 
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