Praying for others

Question Text :  If you feel led to pray for someone, do you need their permission to so?

Answer Text :  That prayer is a big mystery is indisputable. That God carries out His purposes in this world through answered prayers of His people is some thing the Scriptures teach again and again (cf. Dan.9:1-3; Lk.24:49; Acts.2:1). So if I feel led to pray for someone this means that God is at work within me (Phil,2:13). Since everyone does not have this kind of burden to pray for others, we must definitely cash in on this and do the needful immediately.

I wish to bring two examples from the Scriptures of people who were led to pray for others. In Gen. 18 the angel of the Lord appears to Abraham and tells him what was going to happen to Sodom and Gomorrah where Lot and family were staying. And this led Abraham to intercede for the cities of the plains. The cities were not spared, but Lot and family were spared; we are told in 19:29 that it was because the Lord remembered Abraham. Another example is found in 1Sam. 15. Here in vv.10-11 we are told that the Lord told Samuel of the behavior of Saul and his disobedience and this led Samuel to pray the whole night before the Lord and the result was that Samuel was shown David as the next one to be anointed as king instead of Saul (1sam.16:1).

 On both these occasions the Lord gave a burden to pray for someone else and they prayed without the permission of the ones for whom they prayed. I think it is a general principle taught in the Scriptures about praying for others. We are asked to pray for all men(1Tim.2:1). Naturally it is impossible for us to get everyone’s permission to pray for them.

But if we were led to pray for someone close to us, we might get into contact with them and find out the actual situation in which they are found so that we could meaningfully intercede for their needs. When prayers are specific answers are specific as well. When general prayers are done, answers are usually in general categories. So if we need specific answers it is essential to pray in specific terms.

The author remembers an occasion when he was led to pray for a pioneer missionary in an alien field. From four o’clock early in the morning till 12 noon the burden was so heavy on his heart that he spent the whole time interceding for that missionary. But he did not know what exactly was the situation there. So he prayed that the Lord would be gracious to him and protect the missionary. There were very few words in that prayer. It was like sending SMS after SMS to heaven at an SOS level (cf.Mt.26:44).

When at noon the burden was relieved, a letter was sent to the missionary in the field asking him what exactly was happening there. His response was awesome. He began his reply this way, “That you wrote to me on the 2nd of Feb. is remarkable. It is a red letter day in our lives when the Lord saved us from our enemies…”. The one who prayed did not know that the missionary in the field was planned to be attacked on that day. But the Lord placed a burden to pray for the missionary. And the result was, before the enemies came together on that day, the ring leader among them had an accidental death on his way! Remember we are asked to pray that the Lord would deliver His people from the hands of evil men (2The.3:1-2).

So if any one has a burden to pray for someone else, it is essential to pray through till the burden is over. One need not wait till permission is received. Let us remember that the Lord does nothing spiritual in the world today except in answer to prayers of His saints. It is a very clear teaching of the Scriptures and is seldom recognized and understood even by many well-meaning believers today(MT.7:2; Js.4:2: Eze.36:37; Isa.64:3; Is.62:6,7). So if you are led to pray for someone, try and stop doing every thing else and get on your knees and pray till the burden is lifted!

The Holy Spirit and Prayer

Question Text:  What is the role of the Holy Spirit in our prayer life?

Answer Text: The very desire we have to pray is given by the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit within us whoThe very desire we have to pray is given by the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit within us who prompts us to pray (Rom.8:26,27).

As His very name suggests (Jn.14:16,26) {paraclete (comforter) means the one who is called along side} the Spirit of God stands along with us and helps us to pray in the will of God.

Our Lord told His disciples that when the Holy Spirit shall come, He will lead them into all truth (Jn.16:13). So it is the Spirit of God who teaches us every thing, even including how and what should pray. Cf.1Jn.2:27 where it says you have no need for any one teach you, as the anointing within you will teach you every thing.

Then Eph.2:18 we are told we have access to the Father by the Spirit. The word access is interesting as it suggests the idea of an escort. When we go to God in prayer, we do not go alone there, as we are escorted by the Holy Spirit to the very presence of God!

Then, we have in our hands a visiting card, that of the Son of of God, because we approach the Father in the name of the Son. And the Father will look at us as He would look at His own Son! Truly we are privileged to pray in this manner. Praise be to His Holy Name. Ok.

I will also give you also two related answers which are already in our site. http://www.gotquestions.mobi/pray-Father-Son-Spirit-mobi.html http://www.gotquestions.mobi/praying-Spirit-mobi.html May the Lord give us grace to pray in His will and for His glory. Amen.

Knowing Jesus

Question Text: What does it mean and how do I ‘know’ Jesus?

Answer Text:  Hi, I am so pleased to meet you with your questions. Your first question is: What does it mean and how do I ‘know’ Jesus. Ok. Two different words are used in the original language Of the New Testament to talk about ‘knowing’. The first word has the idea of knowing some thing in theory. We might say know about some one or some thing. Then the next word translated ‘know’ is experiential knowledge. It is knowledge based on experience. In both levels described above we need to ‘know’ our Lord. We read the gospels to know about Him. And the epistles will teach us to know Him intimately as a person, by being with Him, conversing with Him, being intimate to Him etc. Paul talks about knowing Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings (Phil.3:10). The NT talks about a time when we can become so intimate with the Lord that we become one spirit with Him (1Cor.6:17). That will be a glorious experience. When we reach that stage we will be able to think thoughts similar to what He thinks. That should be the goal of every true believer! This is made possible as you spend time with Him every day  in quietness with the Word and in intimate fellowship and prayer before Him.

Doing The Impossible!

Question Text:  The  Bible talks about many impossibilities.  How can I do some thing which is impossible to people around me?

Answer Text:  Hi,  I am so very happy to see you with your question!  The Bible teaches that God is a God of impossibilites.  Nothing is impossible to God is repeated several times in the Bible in different words (Gen.18:14; job 42:2; Lk.1:37).  Now the most amazing thing about the Bible is that it also says “nothing shall be impossible to them that believe” (Mt.17:20). 

 We live in a time when every one talks about the human ‘mind power’ and about achieving the impossible as something which ordinary people can dream of.  Whether that is true or not, being in link with God, man is truly capable of  achieving what is otherwise  impossible with man!  There is NO doubt about it at all.  The Bible and histroy of the church is replete with examples of men and women who achieved the impossible with the help of God.  ok, 

Now coming to your personal situation,  your desire to achieve the impossible is really great and you are on the right track.  Your faith in the Bible and your genuineness is also deeply appreciable.  Now you seem to be staying with your parents and still you depend on them.  Very good.  The present impossible task you need to achieve is to remain obedient to them!  Look at Jesus, our Lord.  The Eternal Word who is the agent of creation, the one who sustains the universe by the word of His power, to limit Himself within a 6 foot human body is some thing beyond imagination!  Then at the age of 12 He demostrated such intellectual power which amazed those who were around and heard Him (Lk.2:47).  Still He continued to be submissive to His parents till He was 30 years old!  That was some thing really difficult for Him to do.  Why thirty years?  Because the Jews considered some one mature enough do do public service only at  age of thirty (cf. Num.4:2). 

 So my dear young friend, the first impossible thing you need to achieve in your life is to learn to be submissive to your parents till you are independent and ready to act on your own.  Remember Joseph had that dream when he was just 17 and he had to go through situations and turmoils beyond imagination till he was thirty when he became the supreme authority in Egypt!

While being submissive to your parents I would suggest that you get as close to the Lord as possible and become one spirit with Him (1Cor.6:17) so much so you train yourself to think the way the Lord thinks.  Fill your heart and life with the Word of God (Col.3:16).  Learn of the Lord what He wants you to achieve in your life (Ps.32:8).  Then when the time comes for you to demonstrate it in life,  do the impossible for Him  and for HIS GLORY (2Chr.16:9).  May God give you grace as you want to do the impossible for Him.  My prayers are with you.    Please go to  www.mathewpaul.org/category/book-on-prayer    and  learn about praying for the impossible.  God bless!!

How To Have Concentration While Praying?

Question Text:  I am unable to concentrate when reading bible and praying and mind gets distracted and devitates easily.   How can I overcome this? 

Answer Text:  This is a real problem faced by many who want to read the Bible and pray sincerely. This is one of Satan`s greatest tricks and we need to overcome this. Otherwise we will be defeated. Satan can prevent us from praying. He knows that once we pray sincerely he will be defeated. So he will do every thing within his limits to PREVENT us from praying. This is one of the tricks he uses for the same. But we must overcome this struggle by our determination. Remember that it is the Spirit of God who will teach us to pray (Rom.6:26). Remember also that it is God`s desire that we should reisist the devil (1Pt.5:9; Js.4:7).

So let me try to give you some practical suggestions about your private prayer life. First and foremost is to find a quiet place and a fixed time for Bible reading and prayer. Man, as you know, is an animal of habits and once certain habits are fixed in us, it is very difficult to get out from there easily. Having a fixed place and time will create in us a hunger for the same when that time comes. You know that you can train our stomack in such a way that you become hungry at a particular time during the day. Many people have NO hunger for God`s Word and for prayer because they do NOT have a fixed place and time for doing this! Then go to that fixed place at that fixed hour with a Bible, a hymn book and a note book.

Then you need to PLAN YOUR TIME IN SMALL BITS of five minutes each. Use the first five minutes for praising God. Sing a song of praise, read a Psalm of praise or praise God from your heart as the Lord gives you utterance. Any one can concentrate for five minutes for the same. Then take the next five minutes to search your heart to see if what you did during the past 24 hours was pleasing to the Lord. Check through your life and ask God to search your heart for any thing which hinders your fellowship with Him. Again concentrating for five minutes is NOT a problem for any one. Then for the next five minutes take a small portion of the Bible and read it quietly with a prayerfull attitude. If you try to streatch longer time for reading and for prayer mind will wander unknowingly. Now that you are timing your activites there is less temptation to wander. Then use the next five minutes to go through the same passage trying to answer three basic questions. Observation questions like who, what and where etc. Then interpretation question like why it is said like this. Lastly application question like how can I practice this truth today in my life. Use the notebook to answer these questions.

Since you are timing each of your activities, and since it is only for five minutes each, you can’t easily lose your concentration. Then take the next five minutes to pray for two prayer points. Take another five minutes to pray for another two prayer points. After every five minutes of prayer, you are going to open your eyes and look for new prayer points from your note book. So divide the twenty or thirty minutes of your prayer time in to five minute slots and if you do this for about three weeks regularly you will find that it will kind of become an automatic process with you.

Kneeling to read and to pray will give you a better atmosphere for prayer and it will also help you to concentrate because while kneeling you are humbling yourself in the presence of the Almighty and in His awesome presence.   Why dont you try this out and respond to me after a month or so? If you want to read further about developing a meanigful prayer life you can go to. www.mathewpaul.org . May the Lord bless you and may you have a powerful prayer life for His glory. Amen. 

 

Mary’s Prayer

Question Text  Before Mary was visited by the angel What kind of prayer would she have been praying. In that era would she have had a set prayer or would she be praying a personal prayer? 
               
Answer Text  In the Biblical era you may notice that all prayers were personal prayers. All the prayers that are made mention of in the Scriptures are all personal prayers. It looks that there is no exemption to this rule. So we may conclude without any doubt that the prayers that Mary prayed before she was visited by the angel were surely her personal prayers. Set prayers came into vogue after Christianity became a formal religion with all its practices which are not found or attested in the Scriptures. While set prayers have a lot to their credit, personal prayers surpass them all as it is simply a heart to heart communion with God. Hannah in the Old Testament is a typical exampe (1Sam.1:12-13). Kindly observe that all the prayers listed in the Bible, Invariably they were all pesonal prayers.

Improving Prayer Life

Question Text  How can I improve my prayer life? 
               
Answer Text  It is a great question. Everyone does not have a desire to pray. I believe the desire is given by God Himself (Phil.2:13). He can only give us the desire. Decision is always ours. So cash on your desire and make a positive decision that you are indeed going to improve your prayer life and stick with your decision till prayer becomes a habit with you.

There must be basically two important ponts in your decision to improve your prayer life. First is the amount of time you are going to spend in prayer. I suggest a minimum of one hour per day is the least if at all you want to make any impression. Less than that would be too meager a prayer time. The next important thing is the place where you will spend that time in. Just as all of us have a living room, a dinning room and a bed room, each of us needs to have a place where we go for prayer. You can easily convert your bed room into pryer room or if you can afford another room it is still better. Or convert your study into your prayer room. The place too is important as we are all people of habit, a fixed time and a fixed place will draw our hearts to prayer.  The best pose in prayer is to kneel.  Kneel beside a cot or a chair with an open Bible and a hymn book.

Then to meaningfully spend one hour in God`s presence, divide one hour into several slots like first five minutes for praise, the next five minutes to search our hearts in God`s presence for any thing which might hinder our prayer being answered. This we do with the Word of God. Then spend the next ten minutes for reading a new portion and spend another ten minutes for meditation on that passage asking basically `what` `why`and `how` questions deriving at observation, interpretation and application of the passage. As we study God`s Word regulary like this, God will speak to us about our behaviour, He will reveal His will for us and He will also give us promises to base our prayers on.

Then spend the next twenty minutes for intercession, praying for world evangelisation, praying for spiritual growth of the church you are a member of, praying for others around us and their needs. Only specific prayers will bring back specific asnwers. So try to be very specific as far as you can. Then do not forget to pray for our needs as the Lord taught us to pray, `give us this day our daily bread`. As we end our prayer we need to thank Him for His grace and care and especially remember to thank Him for answering prayers specifically.

One thing to remember is that until prayer becomes a habit with us, please stick with your decision at whatever cost. Many give up after a few days! That is the most dangerous thing! Make prayer a daily habit without which you just can not do. May God bless you as you decide to improve your prayer life.

If you need further help there is a blogsite maintained just for promoting prayer awareness by the same author. There is a small book on prayer and there are many wonderful answers to prayer listed there. visit www.mathewpaul.org/pray-in-secret  and be benefited. God bless