MEN OF PRAYER

For MEN OF PRAYER – Monday night NOTES.

WHY PRAY?
Who is listening? To WHOM do we pray? What does the Bible say about this?
Consider first those who do NOT listen to our prayers,

(a) idols of wood, stone etc.

(b) pictures, letters, trinkets, charms, etc. from the dead,

(c) dead people – including Saints, and ‘Uncle Charlie who is looking down on us’

(d) Pets, animals, birds, fish,

(e) Angels – we may talk with them but we do not worship them. They are agencies of God sent to minister to us,

(e) Evil Spirits, demons, Satan, any spirits brought up by mediums and witches,

(f) Mystical objects and events,

(g) Anything at all except GOD. Exodus 20: 1 THEN GOD spoke all these words: 2 I am the Lord your God, Who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 You shall have no other gods before or besides Me. 4 You shall not make yourself any graven image [to worship it] or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 You shall not bow down yourself to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, 6 But showing mercy and steadfast love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
We pray to GOD the Father.
(a) Instructions from Jesus – Matt 6:6, “… pray to your Father, Who is in secret…”. To His Disciples, “…when you pray, say, our Father, Who is in Heaven…”. Matt 6:9

(b) Paul prayed :- Rom 10:1, “Brethren…for…Israel I long and pray to GOD that they may be saved.” 2 Cor 13:7 “But I pray to GOD that you do nothing wrong.” Acts 16:25, “But about midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to GOD…”
(c) Christians of the early Church:- Acts 2:46, “And day after day they regularly assembled in the temple with united purpose, … constantly praising GOD.”
Acts 4: 23 After they were permitted to go, [the apostles]Peter and John) returned to their own [company] and told all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, lifted their voices together with one united mind to God and said, O Sovereign Lord, You are He Who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything that is in them, … 29 And now, Lord, observe their threats and grant to Your bond servants [full freedom] to declare Your message fearlessly, (boldness), 30 While You stretch out Your hand to cure and to perform signs and wonders through the authority and by the power of the name of Your holy Child and Servant Jesus. 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were assembled was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they continued to speak the Word of God with freedom and boldness and courage.
(d) The healed cripple :- Acts 3:9, “And all the people saw him (the healed cripple) walking about and praising GOD".

GOD OUR FATHER
Our mental image of GOD as our father may not be a good one especially if we have had an unpleasant experience with our earthly father, or if we did not have a father in our childhood. The characteristics of our Heavenly Father are on display for the diligent to search out in the Old Testament and in the descriptions given by Jesus about His Father. ‘God our Heavenly Father’ appears nearly 300 times in the New Testament. James 5:11. “... in as much as the Lord is full of pity and compassion and tenderness and mercy.” Ps 103:13,14. As a father loves and pities his children, so the Lord loves and pities those who fear Him [with reverence, worship, and awe]. 14 For He knows our frame, He [earnestly] remembers and imprints [on His heart] that we are dust. Matt 7:11, If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father Who is in heaven (perfect as He is) give good and advantageous things to those who keep on asking Him.