Bible Study: How should you pray?

(KJB1611)

How should you pray?

This is a very sharp question. If the Father is sovereign, how do we pray for the good things and also honor the final decision of Him as the best option? (What is the answer?) It is a question sometimes difficult to answer.

"Pastor, how much faith should we have at the moment of asking the Creator for the restoration (physical, economic or spiritual) of one? Somehow it feels bad or it's cheap to pray: "God, you can restore the person, but if you do not do it, that's fine too;   we always say "your will be done."

I feel less original or used when I ask the Creator to help another person, knowing that that person put trust in me and not in the Lord; I think inside of me that it may be an unpleasant response, and I must admit it, but ethically I will never say it because everything is under the control of Him.

But after many years of experience and walking in His service, I can give an example of how to pray correctly in confidence and with authority on behalf of someone to be restored while the person remains in total submission to the Creator's will.

STILL A MYSTERY

Well, for many years I wondered if I would close my eyes without having answered this question faithfully and satisfactorily.

I have always returned to this question more than once because of the texts that call us to trust that we will receive from the Father what we ask when we ask with faith that emanates from the heart (Mark 11: 23-24), and the texts that it gives the Lord Jesus as our model, after he made his request before being caught, even being the Son of Man and as a perfect speaker, said: "Nevertheless, not my will be done, but yours" (Luke 22:42). ). Clearly, it was not a sin for Jesus to add that qualifier. He did not sin.

So let me just give you the pieces of this beautiful puzzle of prayer that I keep reorganizing in my mind to try to see the coherent biblical image. I know there is a coherent image. This is the Bible. This is the word of God. If there is a problem, it is a problem with me, not with Jesus.

Here are two of the pieces that we have already mentioned. We have strong teachings and promises from Jesus, in John 14, 15 and 16 and Mark 11; also in other places. It shows us that whenever we ask and believe with all our heart, we will have an answer to what we ask, maybe we will receive it. The important piece is the words of Jesus "nevertheless, not my will be done, but yours" (Luke 22:42).

GOD ALWAYS GIVES THE BEST

Now, there are some other pieces that seem unimportant to the puzzle, so let me first put them on the table in front of everyone and see if we can organize them in an order that can make an image that we can understand.

Jesus said in Matthew 7: 7-11: .

7 ¶ Aske, and it shalbe giuen you: seeke, and ye shall finde: knocke, and it shalbe opened vnto you.

8 For euery one that asketh, receiueth: and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh, it shalbe opened.

9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his sonne aske bread, will hee giue him a stone?

10 Or if he aske a fish, will hee giue him a serpent?

11 If ye then being euill, know how to giue good giftes vnto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heauen, giue good things to them that aske him?

Over the years it has been a great encouragement for me that the last verse does not promise that God will give exactly what we sometimes wish for as a foolish child, but that He will always give us good things that suit us: "How much more will your Father who is in heaven? "That gives good things to those who ask!

One of the pieces in the puzzle of prayer seems to be that we should always pray not with the qualification that God will retain good things: "However, do not do my good will, but your ill will." That is not the point of that qualification.

Let's not assume we're going to qualify our prayers by saying, "Well, I'm asking for good things, and the Eternal could give us a bad thing, so I guess I should just submit."

That is not what He does. He does not give bad things to his children. Rather, we should pray with confidence that what He will give us may be different from what we ask for, and even better than good, even much better.

The certainty of our faith may not be precisely what we believe is better, but our certainty must be based on the goodness of our Father, who always does what is best for his children.

WELL GUARANTEED

Now, beneath that trust is what I call "the logic of Mercy" in Romans 8:32: "32 He that spared not his owne son, but deliuered him vp for vs all: how shall hee not with him also freely giue vs all things? "Everything?".

In other words, because of the blood of Jesus, the Father has insured, guaranteed and bought all things. Will He not give us all things for His Grace and Mercy? This is the security we can have when we pray for good in the life of the remnant of the people of Israel and His Church.

TRUST IN GOD

Another piece of the puzzle is implicit in what we have just seen, and that is that the security of prayer must be based on the revelation that The Everlasting could give us. We do not honor the Creator by assuming that we know what is best for us in a given situation. We need a revelation from Him to have full confidence that what we are asking is the best for us even though we do not understand it at that moment.

What he has explicitly promised in the Sacred Scriptures, this is the revelation we have in Matthew 7:11, is that he will give good things to those who ask for it, but that he has a sincere and contrite heart and humiliated. The question now is: How do we align our requests with what He considers good, what good does He pretend to do through our prayer in this situation? Because His thoughts and ways are far from ours.

DIFFERENT GIFTS

This is where another piece of the puzzle comes in. In 1 Corinthians 12: 8-9, Paul describes the gifts of the Spirit that not all believers have: "

8 For to one is giuen by the spirit, the word of wisedome, to another the word of knowledge, by the same spirit.

9 To another faith, by the same spirit: to another the gifts of healing, by the same spirit:"

Now think and meditate on this and on the implications that faith is called a spiritual gift, and healing is called a spiritual gift.

Paul explicitly says that not all believers have this all the time. Does not that necessarily teach that some may have faith to pray for healing at points where others will not? However, it is not a sin to have a spiritual gift. The Bible teaches that it is not designed for everyone to have this all the time.

The fact that there are gifts of faith, gifts of healing and other gifts can help us explain what is happening in James 5:15, where James speaks of the prayer of faith that will heal the sick. Perhaps that is the gift of faith that is given at that moment to one or more of the elders who are praying.

Now, there are other pieces of the prayer puzzle that should fit the image, but these are, perhaps, enough to give you something to work with over the next few years, or decades.

WAREHOUSE OF OUR FATHER

This is the question specifically: How can I pray correctly, with confidence and with authority on behalf of someone else, for their restoration while I remain in full submission to the will of God?

This is what I think and that's why I would say it. We must place our trust and our authority in the promise of Jesus in Matthew 7:11 and Paul's promise in Romans 8:32. Because of Jesus' death, everything good for God's elect has been purchased for them infallibly by Jesus. Our heavenly Father always gives of that storehouse. And give what is good for your children when we ask for it.

He gives them good when we ask him with faith and from the innermost part of our heart, and yes, we must remain open, receptive and eager to receive a spiritual gift. This will be so that at a given moment you can set our confidence in a specific result. But let's not assume that this is the way it should be done in each sentence.

There are different kinds of prayers, as a class of individuals asking me for prayer. I can not put all the sentences in the same goal or based on the stereotypes of the people.