Building a Life of Prayer

Paul's trust was not in his own ability to make disciples but in the work that God would do for those whom Paul was teaching.  Paul was part of the process of their spiritual growth through his prayers for them.

Without an active life of prayer, we are not putting on the whole armor of God. We should be praying at all times in the Spirit. As we are praying for other people it is important that we persevere in prayer.  Don't give up if you don't see immediate changes in response to your prayers. 

Spiritual opposition from Satan and his kingdom is a reality. If we are going to be able to stand against this opposition we need the spiritual armor that God has provided. Constant prayer in the Holy Spirit is a vital part of the spiritual armor.

The great prayer of the apostle Paul recorded in the book of Ephesians chapter 3 is one of the greatest prayers of the Bible and one of the most important prayers to learn, memorize, pray for ourselves, and pray for others. It models praying for spiritual strength and spiritual comprehension so that we can gain spiritual maturity in which the love of Jesus within us is the evidence.

If you study the prayers of the apostle Paul found in the New Testament, you'll find that there is a recurring emphasis on spiritual growth and maturity. The greatest expression of spiritual maturity is to be filled with the love of Jesus.

From Paul's prayers for the Ephesians, we can learn the importance of praying for the ability to comprehend the greatness and vastness of the love of Jesus. If we are to be filled with all the fullness of God then we must be filled with the love of Christ.

If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord and have repented of sin, turned to Him, and embraced what He did for you on the cross, then you are a "saint"—one who has been set apart by God for Himself. It is important for us to pray for spiritual understanding and wisdom for ourselves and for other believers—for all the saints. 

In Ephesians chapter 1, Paul prays continually, with gratitude, and specifically for spiritual illumination for those he is praying for. We need God's help to understand spiritual realities and the revelation given to us in Scripture.

In his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul provides us with a model for how to approach God with gratitude, praise, thanksgiving, and worship for who God is and what He has done for us. Knowing how to praise God is an important part of knowing how to pray to God.

A benediction can be thought of as a form of prayer that expresses something that you desire to happen in the life of the person or people whom you are praying for. The apostle Paul had a pattern for using these blessings at both the beginning and end of his letters which are now part of the New Testament.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul prays to God and asks him to remove a "thorn in the flesh." God responds by saying, "My grace is sufficient for you." Paul concludes that he can be content in his struggle, whatever it was.

In Christ, we have something far better than what the Israelites had with the law. When the Lord opens our hearts to embrace the salvation provided for us through Jesus, the spiritual veil that kept us in spiritual darkness is removed. As we are then able to enjoy the presence of God, he changes us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

When Paul says,"...it is through him that we utter our Amen to God..." in 2 Corinthians, he is talking about our coming to God with faith in his promises and our praying through Christ with Jesus as our great high priest so that in Christ all the promises of God for us are "Yes and amen." Paul also says that God has"given us his Spirit in our hearts." When we pray, we...

In 2 Corinthians the apostle Paul expresses his confidence that God will deliver him from the persecution and suffering that he experiences, but he also believes God will use the prayers of the saints to help bring about that deliverance. We don't always know how God is using our prayers to help other people.

Paul lists 9 spiritual gifts in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 of which speaking in tongues is included. In chapter 14 he talks about praying in tongues and that some of the benefits of doing this are to give praise and thanksgiving to God. God gives this gift to come Christians and it has valuable use in prayer. 

The apostle Paul gives relatively little teaching on prayer in 1st Corinthians but in his teaching on the Lord's Supper, he points to an important role of prayer as a way of examining ourselves. Praying Psalm 139 can be a great way to do that.

In 1 Corinthians we can learn from the apostle Paul how to pray for Christians who are less than spiritually mature and far from God. Our trust must be in the faithfulness of God. 

Paul appeals to the believers in Rome for prayer. He feels it is essential for them to enter into prayer with him and for him for God's work in his life.  When we pray for people who are doing the work of ministry, whether in our local church or internationally,  we are joining in partnership with them and they are very much in need of that partnership. 

All who are truly Christians have the Holy Spirit dwelling within.  The Holy Spirit leads us and bears witness to us when we pray.  The Holy Spirit helps us to pray effectively. 

The book of Romans is the most theological of all the books that the apostle Paul wrote.  In the opening of this book, Paul notes his prayers for the people in Rome. Paul provides a wonderful model for how to pray for other people.  

Paul the apostle becomes one of the greatest people of prayer whose account is recorded for us in Scripture. When he is shipwrecked on the island of Malta, he prays for the sick father of the chief official of the island, Publius, and he is healed.

In Acts 16 Paul and Silas cast an evil spirit out of a woman and are subsequently imprisoned. While in prison they pray and as a result, everyone in the prison is freed. It becomes an opportunity for Paul and Silas to preach the Gospel to the jailer and his family.

In Acts 13, Paul and Barnabus are sent out by the church in great power to spread the Gospel and they see much fruit but they also experience great persecution.  This becomes a pattern for Paul who faced persecution in many of the places he went to preach the Good News. As a result, he often asked the church to pray for him in that regard. We should be doing the same for missionaries in our day.

What we're seeing as we continue through the Book of Acts, is that there is power when Christians pray together.  Do you have people in your life that you regularly pray with? If you're married, are you regularly praying with your spouse?

We learn from the account of Peter and Cornelius in the Book of Acts that good people still need to hear and embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that God will go to extraordinary lengths to get the message of the Gospel to a seeking person.  God gives significant guidance to people who pray.