Prayer: how and how not?

[Mary]

I'm going to quote some excerpts from a sermon by David Legge http://www.preachtheword.com/sermon/misc...ayer.shtml
which is very thought provoking on the subject of prayer, and invite comments on them:

"The church is much more than this, it's more than a mere meeting, it's more than a mere get-together and sing-song and little meditation around the word of God. Oh yes, we are a group of sinners, we've been saved by grace, we've been redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God - but we have been a people and are a people committed to God's hand. We are to be given gladly over to God to accept His will, to do His will, and to stand on earth to maintain God's testimony among men. He must have our will in harmony with His. ...

....An illustration of that can be found again in the Old Testament in Psalm 78 and verse 41, where the children of Israel were to enter into the promised land. Of course they would not enter in, they refused to enter in in their stubbornness. The Psalmist comments on it, and says: 'Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel'. Earth governs heaven! Now, let's pause for a moment because this astounds me - I can limit the Holy One of Israel! How does this control work? It works through the church. Now please grasp hold of this: the prayer ministry of the church is the way that God brings His will among men on the earth. I'm not just talking about worship prayer, I'm not talking about simply devotional prayer, I'm talking about when the people of God, as the assembly of God, come together - the Lord is teaching that they bring down to earth the will of God that is in heaven.

Isaiah 45: 11
Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.

[Fox]

Prayer has always been a contentious point for me. Last year I asked a Twelve Tribe’s woman what her prayer habits were. She said she prayed six or seven times a day – not the full-on, blood sweating, angst ridden sort of prayer, but the smattering of one-liners here and there – prayerettes if you will. I asked a guy from the same group and he said he only prayed when he was vexed, which was not often, and that the only other times he prayed was when they prayed as a group. Having had similar responses from JWs (a long time ago), it led me to believe that perhaps gender had something to do with it – that women were more hardwired into the prayer zone than men.
Prayer was something that I always struggled with though, wondering whether or not my heartfelt, mental utterances were getting lost somewhere in the ether that exists between my mouth and God’s ear.
There are instances in the scriptures where God has refused to listen to prayers because of unrepentant sin. Saul was rebuked by Samuel for the sins he was committing against God. Saul refused to acknowledge his wrong doing. Later, when under siege from the Philistines, he attempted to approach God by means of the ephod (Urim) to no avail. He then went on to consult a spirit-medium, thus showing where his heart really was. Subsequently all hell broke loose. Likewise, 1 Peter 3:7 implies that the prayers of a husband can be hindered if he doesn’t treat his wife with respect (respect in all its connotations). A few verses later (verse 12) it says that God listens to the prayers of the righteous.
Contrary to Saul, James 5:16 says that the fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much. But then, who’s righteous? I found in this little pearl in Proverbs 24:16 that helped me understand something about prayer;

For the righteous, after falling seven times, will get up again: but trouble is the downfall of the evil.

When we go to God in prayer, we are standing before God in all our inglory, stained with all the sins of the day, either in thought or deed. In times past I’ve found it easier to run and hide from God rather than pray when I’ve done something wrong, but as the proverb suggests, the righteous person doesn’t give up and keeps going back to God in prayer, no matter how uncomfortable it feels to do so when don’t have a clear conscience.

[sheep wrecked]

(08-18-2010 09:23 PM)Fox Wrote:  Prayer has always been a contentious point for me. Last year I asked a Twelve Tribe’s woman what her prayer habits were. She said she prayed six or seven times a day – not the full-on, blood sweating, angst ridden sort of prayer, but the smattering of one-liners here and there – prayerettes if you will. I asked a guy from the same group and he said he only prayed when he was vexed, which was not often, and that the only other times he prayed was when they prayed as a group. Having had similar responses from JWs (a long time ago), it led me to believe that perhaps gender had something to do with it – that women were more hardwired into the prayer zone than men.
Prayer was something that I always struggled with though, wondering whether or not my heartfelt, mental utterances were getting lost somewhere in the ether that exists between my mouth and God’s ear.
There are instances in the scriptures where God has refused to listen to prayers because of unrepentant sin. Saul was rebuked by Samuel for the sins he was committing against God. Saul refused to acknowledge his wrong doing. Later, when under siege from the Philistines, he attempted to approach God by means of the ephod (Urim) to no avail. He then went on to consult a spirit-medium, thus showing where his heart really was. Subsequently all hell broke loose. Likewise, 1 Peter 3:7 implies that the prayers of a husband can be hindered if he doesn’t treat his wife with respect (respect in all its connotations). A few verses later (verse 12) it says that God listens to the prayers of the righteous.
Contrary to Saul, James 5:16 says that the fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much. But then, who’s righteous? I found in this little pearl in Proverbs 24:16 that helped me understand something about prayer;

For the righteous, after falling seven times, will get up again: but trouble is the downfall of the evil.

When we go to God in prayer, we are standing before God in all our inglory, stained with all the sins of the day, either in thought or deed. In times past I’ve found it easier to run and hide from God rather than pray when I’ve done something wrong, but as the proverb suggests, the righteous person doesn’t give up and keeps going back to God in prayer, no matter how uncomfortable it feels to do so when don’t have a clear conscience.

Interesting thoughts, Fox. What do you think the function of prayer is?