Prayer - Part 1
Acts 2:42 "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."
As prayer is one of the most fundamental activities of the Christian, the Bible speaks a great deal on the subject. This will only be a brief overview.
What is prayer?
Prayer is communicating with God. As such, even given this simple definition, Christian prayer may differ from the idea of "prayer" found in other religions. For example as prayer involves communication, it is not like that of Hindus who chant a mantra or those who vainly repeat words or phrases in hope that they will be heard for their many words. Jesus said, "when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words." Matt 6:7 Treating God like a divine vending machine in which you just push the right buttons to get what you want is disrespectful. God is our Father, and so as you should speak to your father, in this way God should be spoken to.
Perhaps best to learn of prayer by those who prayed. The entire chapter 17 of John gives us an example of Jesus praying. So also we have many examples of prayer throughout the Bible.
What is the basic content of prayer?
One might categorize prayer according to the acronym ACTS
Adoration - acknowledging the attributes of God
Confession - acknowledging sin
Thanksgiving - thanking God
Supplication - asking God for things
But I think also a very significant category of Supplication should be mentioned - namely:
Intercession - asking God on behalf of others
Praying on behalf of others is the most common form of supplication in the Bible.
A number of these categories of prayer can be found in the "Our Father" of Matthew 6:9-15 (See also Prayer Overview - Our Father for more analysis of that section)
Acts 2:42 "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."
As prayer is one of the most fundamental activities of the Christian, the Bible speaks a great deal on the subject. This will only be a brief overview.
What is prayer?
Prayer is communicating with God. As such, even given this simple definition, Christian prayer may differ from the idea of "prayer" found in other religions. For example as prayer involves communication, it is not like that of Hindus who chant a mantra or those who vainly repeat words or phrases in hope that they will be heard for their many words. Jesus said, "when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words." Matt 6:7 Treating God like a divine vending machine in which you just push the right buttons to get what you want is disrespectful. God is our Father, and so as you should speak to your father, in this way God should be spoken to.
Perhaps best to learn of prayer by those who prayed. The entire chapter 17 of John gives us an example of Jesus praying. So also we have many examples of prayer throughout the Bible.
What is the basic content of prayer?
One might categorize prayer according to the acronym ACTS
Adoration - acknowledging the attributes of God
Confession - acknowledging sin
Thanksgiving - thanking God
Supplication - asking God for things
But I think also a very significant category of Supplication should be mentioned - namely:
Intercession - asking God on behalf of others
Praying on behalf of others is the most common form of supplication in the Bible.
A number of these categories of prayer can be found in the "Our Father" of Matthew 6:9-15 (See also Prayer Overview - Our Father for more analysis of that section)
