Emmanuel Evangelical Church Chippenham

From 8^th March 2007:

In this session we will consider to whom we should pray.

Background

Prayer is personal communication from us to God.

As we studied Matthew 6:5-13 and Matthew 7:9-12, we saw that God doesn’t want us to pray because he doesn’t already know what we need, but because we are expressing and gaining from such a dependence on our Heavenly Father who loves us.

Considering the effectiveness of prayer, the Lord Jesus said that there is a clear connection between seeking things from God and receiving them: e.g. Matthew 7:9-12; 1 John 1:8-9; etc.

Looking at the ‘mechanism’ of prayer there are several points that we do well to consider:

1. Jesus Christ is our mediator to a Holy God: 1 Timothy 2:5; Romans 3:23-26. In our relationship with God we can approach with boldness as if we were priests of the new covenant.  Hebrews 10:19-22; Exodus 29:4,21; 1 Peter 2:9.

2. Praying ‘in Jesus’ name’ is clearly encouraged from John 14:13-14; John 15:16 and John 16:23-24, yet when we considered the many prayers that we find in the New Testament (Matthew 6:9-13; Acts 1:24-25, Acts 4:24-30, etc.) it does not simply mean in terms of a phrase we should add to the end of our prayers – like a ‘magic formula’.

   To come ‘in’ someone’s name means something specific: it means to come with their authority: Acts 3:6; Acts 4:7; Acts 16:18; 1 Corinthians 5:4. Indeed, in the ancient world the ‘name’ of someone spoke of the whole person and their character. To pray something ‘in Jesus name’ therefore anticipates that the request will be appropriate to the character and desires of the Lord Jesus (1 John 5:14-15).

To whom should we pray?

Building further on the ‘mechanism’ of prayer, this week we’re going to look at the simple but profound question of just who prayer is to be directed to and begin to consider the role of the Holy Spirit in prayer.

Since the whole idea of prayer is our communication with God, you can, on one level, claim that all conversation with the Lord Jesus involved prayer.

An additional factor is that since the Old Testament revelation of God was not so clearly Trinitarian, and that many of the prayers in the New Testament are actually those of God the Son to God the Father, we have only fairly limited evidence available to us. Yet a careful search will reveal some clear patterns emerging:

1. Look at Matthew 6:9; John 16:23; Ephesians 5:20. Who are the prayers directed to?

2. Now look at Acts 1:24; Acts 7:59; 1 Corinthians 16:55; Revelation 22:20. Who are these prayers directed to?

Although he is the counsellor and comforter, there is no record in the NT of prayers ever being directed to the Holy Spirit, yet he does have an important role in our praying:

Please read Romans 8:26-27

1. Who is groaning?

2. The Greek word used translated ‘help’ is the same as that used in Luke 10:40. What picture is therefore being presented?