Why Should We Pray? PDF

Why Should We Pray?  Read Matthew 26:37-41. From this verses, what is the reason given why are we admonished to pray? Matthew 26:37-41 v37- And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. v38- Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sor...

Why Should We Pray?  Read Matthew 26:37-41. From this verses, what is the reason given why are we admonished to pray? Matthew 26:37-41 v37- And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. v38- Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. v39- And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. Matthew 26:37-41 v40- And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? v41- Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.  Read Matthew 26:37-41. From this verses, what is the reason given why are we admonished to pray? v41- Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.  In that fateful evening at the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was in the midst of struggle with the devil, the controversy was real and the stake was high, the salvation of all humanity. He knows the only way to overcome the enemy is to connect Himself with the power from above. He also knew that his disciples were very much vulnerable to the attacks of Satan so he admonished them to pray that “you will not enter into temptation.” (Matthew 26:41.)  We all face temptations of various kinds on a daily basis. These temptations are meant to make us sin, “and sin when it is full grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1:15). From the passages that we are considering, Jesus has given us a powerful tool so that we will be able to resist the temptations of the evil one. On our own, we are no match to the power of darkness, in order for us to be victorious, we must pray. No wonder Jesus repeatedly admonished his sleepy disciples to pray. The enemy is real, the battle is true, we must pray so that we will be able to resist temptation.  Read Matthew 7:8-11. From this verses, what is the reason given why are we admonished to pray? Matthew 7:8-11 v7- Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: v8- For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. v9- Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Matthew 7:8-11 v10- Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? v11- If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?  Read Matthew 7:8-11. From this verses, what is the reason given why are we admonished to pray? While it is true that our God knows all of our needs, we are admonished to ask, to seek, and to knock. It is not because our God is unwilling to give us what we needed but relationship requires a healthy level of conversation. From this verses, we are admonished to pray because: 1. God wanted to listen to us. 2. God is eager to bless us. 3. God is eager to connect with us. The pen of inspiration has given us a very clear reason why we should pray: "It is part of God's plan to grant us, in answer to the prayer of faith, that which He would not bestow if we did not thus ask!" Great Controversy p. 525 Here’s another reason from the pen of inspiration: “The darkness of the evil one encloses those who neglect to pray.... Why should the sons and daughters of God be reluctant to pray, when prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven’s storehouse, where are treasured the boundless resources of Omnipotence?” Steps to Christ, p. 94 HOW Should We Pray?  From the following Bible verses, how should we pray? John 14:13,14 __________________________________ 1 Corinthians 14:15______________________________ Hebrews 11:6 __________________________________ Matthew 6:5-8__________________________________ Matthew 21:22__________________________________ Luke 18:13. __________________________________ Ephesians 6:18 __________________________________  More often than not, our prayers are simply our way of telling God what He should do in our lives. We want to to make God act based on our preferences and expectations, and we are frustrated if what we asked Him never happened.  Jesus lived a prayerful life. He is our ultimate model on how we should really pray. Jesus did not taught the disciples a theology of prayer, he showed them how to pray and he model it to them by practicing it himself. Read Luke 22:42. From this verses, how should we pray as modelled in the prayer Surely there are many things we asked God to do in our lives. Most of them are important to us and we see them as the best thing to transpire in our lives. We are praying for the right person to be our lifelong partner, for promotions or for the job that we really wanted. We are praying for healing and restorations. We are praying the God help us to do this and that, to go to places and to be successful in many specific things.  However, the model prayer of Jesus shows us how we should approach God. He has something planned for us. The Bible also tells us that His plans for us is the best. (Jeremiah 29:11). Hence, we are to yield to his plans for us. Like Jesus, we must also humbly admit that our mind and capacity is limited. We do not know exactly whether what we are asking and working for is indeed what is best for us. We must let God know that we are OK with whatever he has in mind for us.  Jesus was definitely grappling with fear and desperation none of us will ever taste. What if he couldn’t come back? The second death was permanent. What if this was truly the end? He showed his emotions honestly to his Father, but the central ingredient, the vital one, was faith. “Your will be done.” He came out of the garden with the battle won. The rest was just getting it over with. "Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend. Not that it is necessary in order to make known to God what we are, but in order to enable us to receive Him. Prayer does not bring God down to us, but brings us up to Him." Steps To Christ p. 93