I Prayed About It (But What Does That Mean) – Part 4

Review

Earlier this month, we started a series titled, “I prayed about it. (But what does that mean?)”

The objective of this series is to get you to pray. . .

• Sincerely (Put your heart in it)
• Biblically (Follow Scriptural patterns and instructions)
• Attentively (Be responsive to promptings from the Spirit and your observations)
• Regularly (Make prayer a daily practice)
• Persistently (Pray through delays and denials)

In this series, we’re covering four prayer-related topics:

• The Posture of Prayer (My attitude)
• The Content of Prayer (My words)
• The Practice of Prayer (My habits)
• The Accessories of Prayer (My help)

Introduction

Lessons From Peter’s Big Catch

• • Luke 5:4 (ESV): ⁴ And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
  • Luke 5:5-7 (ESV): ⁵ And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” ⁶ And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. ⁷ They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
  • James 5:16–18 (ESV): ¹⁶ . . . .The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. ¹⁷ Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. ¹⁸ Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

• Luke 5:8 (ESV): ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken,

“Prayer is the elevating of the mind, the intellect, the soul, our perspectives, our perceptions to the reality of God. And then looking back at our reality, our circumstance with a totally different perspective. . . .It is accessing the reality of God so that we can now face our problems and circumstances and situations empowered by that reality, bringing God’s reality to our reality.”–Dr. A.R. Bernard

2 Corinthians 3:17–18 (ESV): ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Luke 5:10 (ESV): ¹⁰ . . . . “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” ¹¹ And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Keeping Jesus at the Center of Prayer

Philippians 3:7–8 (ESV): ⁷ But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

Prayer Practices from Scripture

Let’s look at them.

1. Pray at all the times
   1. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (ESV): ¹⁷ pray without ceasing,
   2. Ephesians 6:18 (ESV): ¹⁸ praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
2. Pray at scheduled times
   1. Psalm 88:13 (ESV): ¹³ But I, O Lord, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
   2. Psalm 55:17 (ESV): ¹⁷ Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.
   3. Isaiah 62:6 (ESV): ⁶ On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest,
   4. Acts 3:1 (ESV): ¹ Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
   5. Mark 1:35 (ESV): ³⁵ And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
   6. Matthew 14:23 (ESV): ²³ And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
   7. Mark 6:46–47 (ESV): ⁴⁶ And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. ⁴⁷ And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.
3. Pray in troubled times
   1. James 5:13 (ESV): ¹³ Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
4. Pray about things you don’t think you need to pray for
   1. James 4:13–16 (ESV): ¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— ¹⁴ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
5. Pray when prayer goes unanswered
   • 1. Luke 18:1–8 (ESV): ¹And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. ² He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. ³ And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ” ⁶ And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. ⁷ And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? ⁸ I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
     2. Luke 11:5–10 (ESV): ⁵ And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, ⁶ for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; ⁷ and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? ⁸ I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. ⁹ And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
6. Pray about all things
   1. Philippians 4:6–7 (ESV): ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
7. Pray with all types of prayer
   1. Ephesians 6:18 (ESV): ¹⁸ praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
      1. Petition
      2. Agreement
      3. Intercession
      4. Consecration
      5. Tongues
8. Pray in tongues
   1. 1 Corinthians 14:14–15 (ESV): ¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵ What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.
   2. 1 Corinthians 14:2 (ESV): ² For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.
   3. 1 Corinthians 14:6 (ESV): ⁶ Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?