Lesson 4 – Prayer

Ephesians 6:18 By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints.

Colossians 4:2 Persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving.

Philippians 4:6 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

1. The meaning of prayer
   1. Prayer is the mutual flow and contact between man and God and God and man. ¹, ²
   2. Prayer is man breathing in and obtaining God, and being obtained by God.
   3. Prayer allows man to cooperate and work with God for His purpose ³, ⁴
2. Prayer being the denial of the self and release of the spirit
   1. Prayer is that we realize that we are nothing and that we can do nothing. ⁵
   2. Prayer is the real denial of the self. ⁶, ⁷
   3. Prayer is the release of the spirit ⁸
3. Persevering in prayer
   1. We need to persevere in prayer to preserve the grace we have received from the Lord,
   2. We need to persevere in prayer because almost everything in our environment is contrary to prayer. ⁹, ¹⁰
   3. To persevere in prayer we should set aside definite times for prayer. ¹¹

READING

Bible References:

1. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness. (John 4:24)
2. But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:17)
3. Moreover, in like manner the Spirit also joins in to help us in our weakness, for we do not now for what we should pray as is fitting, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. But He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to God. (Rom. 8:26-27)
4. Elijah was a man of like feeling with us, and he earnestly prayed that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. (James 5:17)
5. And He said to them, This kind cannot come out by any means except prayer. (Mark 9:29
6. And He called the crowd to Him with His disciples and said to them, If anyone wants to follow after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. (Mark 8:34)
7. I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20)
8. By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints. (Ephesians 6:18)
9. Persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving. (Colossians 4:2)
10. And they continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2:42)
11. Now when Daniel came to know that the writing had been signed, he went to his house (in his upper room he had windows open toward Jerusalem) and three times daily he knelt on his knees and prayed and gave thanks before his God, because he had always done. (Daniel 6:10)