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A Study Of Prayer
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A Study Of Prayer: Chapter 1
Prayer In The Bible
This is going to be a different type of study about prayer. Most studies pick out a few verses and then expound on them. In this study we are going to go through the bible from Genesis to Revelation and look at every verse containing the word pray or prayer. The verses will be in the order that they are placed in the bible unless there are multiple accounts pertaining to the same incident. In that case all verses pertaining to that occurrence will be placed together.
Abraham And Abimelech
The first recorded incidence of the root word pray in the bible pertains to Abraham and Abimelech. This obviously was not the the first prayer in the bible though. No doubt Adam and Eve, Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Shem and many others, indeed, all of the saved engaged in prayer. (Gen 20:7 NIV) Now return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all yours will die." (Gen 20:17 NIV) Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his slave girls so they could have children again, The prayer of Abraham for Abimelech was for healing. The king and his subjects were under a curse of God because Abimelech had take Sarah, Abraham's wife captive. Because of this God had prevented anyone in the kings land from having children. Abraham prayed and the curse was lifted. This shows one use of prayer, to heal and remove a curse from God. Notice that repentance had to come first, Abraham’s wife had to be restored to him before the curse was lifted. No mere lip service would do the Job. Abimelech could not just say, ‘Oh, I’m sorry that I took the mans wife, but now that I have her please forgive me.” No, he had to right the wrong he did first and then the healing through Abrahams prayer came.
Abrahams Servant Prayed For Success In His Mission
Abrahams servant Eliezer was given the assignment of find a wife from among Abrahams relatives for his son Isaac. Eliezer prayed for success in his endeavor and was given what he asked for because it was within the will of god to do so. (Gen 24:12 & 15 NIV) Then he prayed, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor. (Gen 24:45 NIV) "Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, 'Please give me a drink.' Elizer’s prayer began to be answered even before he had finished praying. He knew that he was in the very center of God’s will when God would do what he asked even before he had finished speaking.
Isaac Prays For His Barren Wife To Be Able To Have Children
(Gen 25:21 NIV) Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. Isaac was praying within the will of God and he knew it. He could pray with confidence because God had already promised his father Abraham that the Messiah would come through the lineage of Isaac. Isaac had total assurance that he was asking for the right thing, and his confidence was not misplaced. His wife conceived and bore twins, Jacob and Esau.
Jacob Prays For Deliverance From Esau
(Gen 32:9 NIV) Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, 'Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,' (Gen 32:11 NIV) Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. Jacob, in fear of his brother Esau, prayed to God for protection. It was Jacob's own fault he was in this situation. He had cheated his brother out of the birthright and his fathers blessing by trickery. God had promised to bless Jacob and make his lineage that of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. But, Jacob and his mother Rebecca, being impatient and not waiting for God to act, took matters into their own hands and angered Esau. The point is that Jacob got himself into a big mess by his own evil actions but when he humbled himself before God, the Lord heard him and saved him. How often do we all do the same thing, get ourselves into a bad situation by stupidity or sin? The good this is that God will still hear our prayers and rescue us if we truly humble ourselves before him and repent.
Moses Prays For Pharaoh To Be Relieved From The Plagues
(Exo 8:8-10 NIV) Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD." Moses said to Pharaoh, "I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile." "Tomorrow," Pharaoh said. Moses replied, "It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the LORD our God. (Exo 8:11-13 NIV) The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile." After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. And the LORD did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. Moses, during the time of the Exodus prayed, at Pharaoh’s request that the plague of frogs would be removed, and it was.
The Plague Of Flies
After that Moses Also prayed at Pharaoh’s request that the plague of flies would dissipate and that plague also ended. (Exo 8:28-32 NIV) Pharaoh said, "I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the LORD your God in the desert, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me." Moses answered, "As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the LORD, and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh and his officials and his people. Only be sure that Pharaoh does not act deceitfully again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD." Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD, and the LORD did what Moses asked: The flies left Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not a fly remained. But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go.
The Plague Of Thunder And Hail
(Exo 9:28-29 NIV) Pray to the LORD, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don't have to stay any longer." Moses replied, "When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the LORD. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the Lord's. (Exo 9:33-35 NIV) Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the LORD; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land. When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts. So Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses.
The Plague Of Locusts
(Exo 10:12-15 NIV) And the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over Egypt so that locusts will swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail." So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and the LORD made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts; they invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again. They covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured all that was left after the hail--everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt. There are many postures for prayer. Some pray kneeling, some standing, some lying down on a rug face down, in churches sometimes sitting. In this case Moses was apparently standing and stretched out his hands. It is not the posture of prayer that is important, but to be in tune with God through the Holy Spirit and to make sure that one is praying for something that is God’s will. (Exo 10:16-19 NIV) Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you. Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the LORD your God to take this deadly plague away from me." Moses then left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD. And the LORD changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which caught up the locusts and carried them into the Red Sea. Not a locust was left anywhere in Egypt. Moses knew that he was praying within the will of God, for the Lord had called and sent him for this very purpose, to free the Israelites from slavery with signs and wonders. Often we pray and nothing happens. When this occurs we must check and make sure we are asking for things that the Lord wants done. (Num 11:2 NIV) When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the LORD and the fire died down. (Num 21:7 NIV) The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people. (Deu 9:20 NIV) And the LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too. (Deu 9:26 NIV) I prayed to the LORD and said, "O Sovereign LORD, do not destroy your people, your own inheritance that you redeemed by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
The Lord Is Near And Hears When Nations That Revere Him As God Pray
(Deu 4:7 NIV) What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? Our rejection of the Lord as our God in the United States may cause our destruction someday when we call to him in prayer and he refuses to answer because for years we have rejected and forgotten him, until and enemy (The Antichrist) is at our borders and poised to conquer us. (Psa 9:17 KJV) The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. |