Prayer: A Necessity and Privilege

Minister:
Date: AM
Text: Ezekiel 36:37; Lord's Day 45
Psalters: 172, 109, 185, 10
  1. The necessity.
    1. The Christian prays because prayer is conversation and communion of a regenerated soul with the covenant God.
      1. It is praise; it is intercession; it is gratitude.
      2. It is the new heavenly life reaching out for its source.
      3. It is verbal response of God’s wife (and children) to the speech of their Husband and Father.
    2. We pray because it is the primary way to thank God.
      1. We must tell Him as well as show Him our gratitude.
      2. Let us be more conscious of our need to thank and praise Him than we are of our needs.
    3. We pray because it is the means by which God gives His grace and Spirit.
      1. God has determined that the way to receive grace is via our asking sincerely, continually, and thankfully.
      2. This request for His grace and Spirit is for our sake, not God’s, nor because He is dependent on our praying.
      3. God has decreed to give blessings in the way of our asking, and our prayers are a part of His decree.
    4. And prayer is necessary as a means of consecration (cf. I Tim. 4:5).
  2. How we pray is determined by the One to Whom we pray.
    1. Remember that prayer is an holy art.
    2. Prayer must be sincere (not a formality, nor a seeking of the praise of men).
    3. We must pray to God as He has revealed Himself and to pray as instructed in God’s Word.
    4. Pray with humility and contrition (no self-righteousness or pride - Pharisee & publican, Luke 18:9-14).
    5. The only ground for your prayers is the merit and worthiness of Jesus Christ, the only Mediator.
  3. Pray for all things necessary for our souls and for our bodies.
    1. First, this means that we are to ask for all the things God has commanded us to ask of Him.
      1. We must not ask for anything we want, but we may ask “according to His will” (I John 5:14).
      2. We learn His will from Scripture, specifically from our Lord’s Prayer.
    2. Spiritual needs must be primary.
    3. Also we may and must pray for the our physical needs for the bodies God has given us.