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Four
Kinds of Prayer
Introduction:
Read
Psalm 42:8. “The Lord will command His
lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the Night His
song shall be with me – A prayer to the God of my
life.” What a beautiful as well as comforting verse
as it reads in the Modern English Version.
Praying to the God of my life!
Prayer is such a tremendous privilege for the child
of God. We have this blessing of addressing God as
our Heavenly Father. The Bible describes
several types of prayers which are often categorized
using the acronym ACTS. A person may use one
or all in a single prayer.
Body:
I.
Adoration
·
Less we forget, prayer is as avenue of worship by
which we approach Jehovah God. Therefore showing
adoration for Him and praising His name is a vital
duty in our prayers. Note the following examples:
o
Matthew 6:9 “Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.”
o
I Chronicles 29:10-13 “. . . Blessed are
You, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and
ever. . . Now therefore, our God, We thank You And
praise Your glorious name.” NKJV David used
words that show adoration to Jehovah.
o
II Chronicles 6:14 This thought is from
Solomon. “and he said: Lord God of Israel, there
is no God in heaven or on earth like You, who keep
Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk
before You with all their hearts.”
o
Revelation 19:5-7a “ . . .Praise our God . . .
Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory,”
II.
Confession
·
Sins separate us from God. (Isaiah
59:1-2) Therefore we are called to remove those
sins through confession. Jesus taught His
disciples, “Forgive us our sins. . .” (Luke
11:4)
·
Confession of wrongs has been necessary from the
beginning. (II Chronicles 7:14-15) Solomon
prayed, “if My people who are called by My name will
humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and
turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from
heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their
land.”
·
Note Daniel’s prayer in
Daniel 9:4-19. “. . .we have sinned and
committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and
rebelled . . .”
·
One must continue to confess on a daily basis. (I
John 1:8-9)
III.
Thanksgiving
·
Thanksgiving is the expression of gratitude to God
for His many blessings. (Psalm
100:4-5) “Enter into His gates with
thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise, Be
thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord
is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth
endures to all generations.”
·
We should thank God for hearing us. (Psalm
118:21) “I will praise You, For You have
answered me, And have become my salvation.”
·
We should thank God for faithful Christians. (Ephesians
1:15-16) “Therefore I also, after I heard of
your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all
the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you,
making mention of you in my prayers;” (I
Thessalonians 1:2-3) “We give thanks to God
always for you all, making mention of you in our
prayers. . .”
·
We should thank God for all that is good. (I
Timothy 4:4-5)
IV.
Supplication
·
Our heavenly Father wants us to bring our requests
to Him. (Philippians
4:6) “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let
your requests be made known to God;” (Matthew
7:11) “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!”
·
We should pray for the needs and concerns of
others. Note the prayer of Abraham’s servant. (Genesis
24:12-14) “Then he said, O Lord God of my
master Abraham, please give me success this day, and
show kindness to my master Abraham. . . . let her
be the one You have appointed for Your servant
Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown
kindness to my master.”
·
Read Daniel’s petition to the Lord. (Daniel
9:16-18) “. . .we do not present our
supplications before You because of our righteous
deeds, but because of Your great mercies.”
Conclusion:
Read
I John 3:21-22. “Beloved, if our heart does not
condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And
whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we
keep His commandments and do those things that are
pleasing in His sight.” What an inspiring and
comforting verse!
Bobby Stafford
December 28, 2014
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