Why We Pray

God has called us into a relationship with himself. Relationships require communication. Prayer is
communication between a holy God and a beloved you and me. Throughout God's Word we're taught the
significance and role of prayer.
God commands us to pray.
In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek
me. Jeremiah 29:12,13 (NLT)
God wants to be in relationship with us. And he knows we need what he can give. Through prayer, we
experience life-transforming, life-renewing intimacy with the Creator of the universe.
God reveals himself to us through prayer.
Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. May Your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm
footing. Psalm 143:10 (NLT)
We learn more and more about his character and how his perfect will is working itself out in our own life.
Deepening our understanding of God also deepens our faith and desire to worship.
God invites us to bring our burdens and needs to him in prayer.
Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Matthew
11:28 (NLT)
We have a Heavenly Father who is more than able to bring victory to any challenge we face. God is a
spiritual and physical healer. Like any healthy relationship, we must keep a line of communication open.
God responds to the prayers of his people.
The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results. James 5:16b (NLT)
It is through prayer that his work is accomplished on earth. The apostle Paul continually asked for prayer
in his missionary endeavors and saw prayer as vital to his success.
God imparts wisdom and understanding through prayer.
If you need wisdom if you want to know what God wants you to do ask him, and he will gladly tell
you. He will not resent your asking. James 1:5 (NLT)
As we become increasingly aware of our limitations, we can rest in the knowledge that our God is
omniscient. Availing ourselves of Gods counsel is a blessing of prayer.
God exercises his authority and ability to do the impossible through the prayers of his people.
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. Matthew 21:22 (NLT)
Our hearts pound with great confidence as we take mighty tasks to our exceedingly mighty Lord.
God extends his power to us through prayer so that we may resist temptation.
Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough,
the body is weak! Matthew 26:41 (NLT)
With prayer, you always have a proven shield of protection available. Just say the word.

How to Pray for Lost Souls, Backsliders

Before Jesus gave up His Spirit on the cross, He took time to pray for those who were lost around Him.
Do you have a heart to pray for the lost like Jesus did? Do you have the passion that inspired George
Whitefield to pray, O Lord, give me souls or take my soul?
Every Christian needs to understand the responsibility to pray for the salvation of the lost. Praying thy
kingdom to come, as instructed in Luke 11, must incorporate pray- ing for the lost. Gods Word tells us
that it is not His will that any should perish but for all to have eternal life. The very reason He came to
earth was to seek and save the lost.
When we pray for the lost, we can know without a doubt that we are praying according to His will.
And we can be confident that he will listen to us when- ever we ask him for anything in line with his
will. And if we know he is listening when we make our requests, we can be sure that he will give us what
we ask for (I John 5:14-15, NLT).
Praying for lost souls

Pray for the lost to be saved according to the will of God (I Timothy 2:1-4; I John 5:13-15).
Pray for God to send laborers into the harvest (Matthew 9:37-38).
Pray for a witness of love to be among the brethren and for the lost (John 13:35; Jude 1:22).
Pray for God to use us in the harvest (Isaiah 6:8; Matthew 22:9).
Pray for a witness of righteousness and fear of the Lord. (I Peter 2:12; 3:1-2; Jude 1:23).
Pray for Satan to be bound so that people might be free to receive the gospel (Matthew 12:29; 18:18-19;
II Corinthians 4:3-4).
Pray for there to be a witness of the miracles of God (Mark 16:20; Acts 4:29-30).
Pray for the door to be opened for the preaching of the gospel (I Corinthians 16:9; II Corinthians 2:12;
Revelation 3:7-8).
Pray for there to be power for witnessing (Acts 1:8; I Corinthians 2:4).
Pray for boldness to share the gospel (Acts 4:29-31; Ephesians 6:19).
Pray for unity among believers (Psalm 133:1-3; Matthew 18:20).
Pray for wisdom among believers (Proverbs 11:30; Daniel 12:3).
Praying for backsliders

Following are simple strategies when praying for the return of backsliders.
Approach the Father in that positional place of covenant that the backslider has with Him. Remind the
Lord that the backslider is one of His children and that He is the Father of the lost. Ask the Lord to go
rescue him as a shepherd rescues a lamb that strays from the flock.
Pray for ..
The backsliders to have the ability to receive the grace of God.
The backslider may have lived very immorally, and it is sometimes hard for him to imagine the Father
ever wanting him back. Pray that he would be able to receive the Fathers love and forgiveness.
The Lord to pour out His riches when the backslider returns. Pray that the Lord would lavish His love on
the backslider and pour out blessings of every kindspiritually, emotionally, physically, and financially.
The elder son.
Pray that the church will prepare their hearts to receive the backslider back with joy and excitement.
Those raised in church to have grace to accept those who are not quite so polished. Pray that the
backslider who in some cases, has literally lived on the streets would be loved into total whole- ness.

 Supernatural love.
Although love does not mean condoning a sinners actions, it is necessary to possess a love that would be
open and warm to prodigals even in their sin. Pray from the position of love, not the position of judgment and anger.
Grace and endurance to pray for the backslider.
It can take years to see the fruit of intercession for a backslider.
Spiritual famine.
Pray that whatever or whoever the backslider is placing his trust in, outside of Jesus, would be removed
from his life. Pray that what once brought him pleasure would be empty. Pray that the novelty will wear
off.
Holy hunger or holy homesickness.
Pray that he would be constantly reminded of what it was like to be in fellowship with God. Pray that he
would long for the cleansing relationship he once had.
The backslider to come to himself.
Pray that he would realize something is wrong. Pray for his eyes to be open to the truth of his situation,
and pray against any delusion the enemy would try to bring him.

Since God Knows Everything, Why Should We Pray?

Adrian Rogers
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your
requests be made known unto God." Philippians 4:6
Prayer is our greatest Christian privilege but we may as well admit our greatest Christian failure.
All of us need to learn to pray more and to pray better. But one of the reasons we don't pray better than we
do, or any more than we do, is that we have questions about prayer. These questions cause us uncertainty.
Then our uncertainty sometimes neutralizes us and we become hesitant about prayer.
We will look more closely in the coming weeks about the vital subject of prayer. As we begin this new
year, what more important commitment could we make than to commit ourselves more to prayer? If we're
going to impact our families, our nation, and our world in these critical days, prayer is where it begins.
What was the first thing the Early Church did after Jesus' ascension? "They returned to Jerusalemto an
upper room" and "continued with one accord in prayer and supplication..." (Acts 1:12-14).
Even a casual reading of the book of Acts confirms how totally the disciples depended upon prayer
how they dared not make a move without committing to prayer, seeking God for His guidance and
deliverance through prayer.
"And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in
prayers" (Acts 2:42).
"Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer..." (Acts 3:1).
"But we will give ourselves continually to prayer..." (Acts 6:4). "...prayer was made without ceasing of the
church unto God..." (Acts 12:5).
If those who walked alongside our Lord for three years were dependent upon prayer, how much more so
are we? What a grave mistake we make if we are casual about our prayer life.
One of the questions most often asked about prayer is: Why should we pray when God already knows
our needs? Why tell God what He already knows or ask Him to do what He already wants to do?
Thank God we don't have to understand prayer in order to pray. Yet, there are some consistent valid
questions people have concerning prayer, but these must not hinder us from relying upon it.
First, here are two reasons we don't pray:
We don't pray to impress God. We're not heard for our "much-speaking." You don't have to use poetic
language or be an amateur Shakespeare. If an earthly child can speak to an earthly father, you can speak to
your Heavenly Father. We're told to cry out to Him as our "Abba" Father literally translated, "Daddy."
(Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6). We're not praying to impress Him.
We don't pray to inform God. You can't tell God anything He doesn't know.
So if we don't pray to impress or inform God, why then do we pray?
We Pray to Invite God
It's very important to understand this: we are inviting God into our lives when we pray.
When we pray, we experience
Fellowship. We become "workers together with Him" (2 Corinthians 6:1). When we pray, God gives
us the joy and privilege of administrating His kingdom, His affairs working together with Him. He
could do it without us. We could not do it without Him. But what a glory that God allows us the privilege
of doing it with Him!
Development. When we pray, God is growing us. Have you ever prayed and didn't receive immediately
what you asked for? What did you do? You kept on praying, but you also began to search your heart and
life to see if something was hindering God's answer. Many times there is. God uses prayer to grow us.

 Dependency. God never wants us to live lives independent of Him. If God just did everything for us
and we never had to pray, soon we would begin to take things for granted. We would cease to depend
upon God.
Prayer Binds Us to God
That's why we tell God what He already knows. He knows what we have need of before we ask, but we're
definitely, specifically, unqualifiedly told to pray and to ask not to impress or inform God, but to invite
God, so that we might have that fellowship with Him, so that we might grow, and we would learn to
depend upon Him.
What is it all right to pray for? Does God answer the prayers of the unsaved? Next time, we'll answer
those questions.