Sermon Tone Analysis

HOW TO PRAY

 

            Prayer is as essential to the life of a Christian as is air to the life of every man.

The Bible has a great deal to say about prayer and its importance in the life of a believer.

The following lesson is given to help you understand God’s will for your life in this area.

I.

WHAT IS PRAYER?

Your communication to God.

A.     What does John 16:24 teach us about prayer?

__________________________________________ \\ _______________________________________________________________________________

B.     When we became a Christian we were given a very special privilege.

What is this privilege and why was it given according to Heb. 4:16?

_____________________________________________ \\ _______________________________________________________________________________

C.     What two things happen when we pray according Jer.

33:3?_______________________________ \\ _______________________________________________________________________________

D.     What instruction does Ps.

62:8 give to us as believers?

___________________________________ \\ _______________________________________________________________________________ \\ \\

II.

WHY SHOULD I PRAY?

A.     What does John 14:13 teach about why you should pray?

_________________________________ \\ _______________________________________________________________________________

B.     What similarities do you see between Jer. 33:3 and Eph.

3:20?

____________________________ \\ _______________________________________________________________________________

C.     Read the following verse and the write anything you learn about why you should pray.

1.      ____________________________________________________________________________

2.      ____________________________________________________________________________

3.      ____________________________________________________________________________

4.      ____________________________________________________________________________

5.      ____________________________________________________________________________

“We can miss a meal and not feel any ill effect, but if we go without food for a week we begin to weaken.

So it is in our spiritual lives.

We can miss a day without feeding on God’s Word or praying without any ill effects, but if we continue to practice, we shall become under-nourished, losing strength to live a victorious life and to maintain the boldness for a vital witness for Christ.”

\\ - Bill Bright

 

III.

WHY SHOULD I PRAY FOR?

A.     What can you learn from the following verses about Paul’s prayer?

Make a list of things he prays for.

Eph.

3:14-21; Phil.

1:9-10; Col. 1:9-10 \\ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

#.

From 1 Tim.

2:1-4, what groups of people should you pray for?

___________________________ \\ _______________________________________________________________________________ \\ Why? _________________________________________________________________________ \\ _______________________________________________________________________________ \\ \\

#.

The following verses give specific instructions regarding things we should pray for.

1.      James 1:5 ___________________________________________________________________

2.      Ps.

19:14 ____________________________________________________________________

3.      Phil.

4:6-7 ___________________________________________________________________

4.      Matt.

26:41 __________________________________________________________________

5.      Ps.

51:2, 10 __________________________________________________________________

6.      Ps.

119:133 __________________________________________________________________

D.     Based on the preceding verses, what should you be including in your personal prayers?

_________ \\ _______________________________________________________________________________ \\ “The great people of the earth today are the people who pray.

I do not mean those who talk about prayer, but I mean those people who take time and pray.

They have not time.

It must be taken from something else.

This something else is important – very important and pressing, but still less important and less pressing than prayer.”

- S.D. Gordon

 

IV.

HINDRANCES TO ANSWERED PRAYER \\ God desires to answer our prayers and so has given us guidelines for an effective, powerful prayer life.

He has also told us what will hinder our prayers from being answered.

The following verses give some of these hindrances.

Briefly write down what they are.

A.     Ps.

66:18 _______________________________________________________________________

B.     Ja.

4:3 _________________________________________________________________________

C.     1 John 3:22 _____________________________________________________________________

D.     1 Pet.

3:7 _______________________________________________________________________

E.      Mk.

11:25 ______________________________________________________________________

F.      Job 35:12-13 ____________________________________________________________________

G.     James 1 6-8 _____________________________________________________________________ \\ \\

V.                 PRINCIPLES OF ANSWERED PRAYER \\ Not everyone has an effective prayer life.

All people do not seem to get the same results.

The reason may be one of the hindrances studied earlier, or it may be because they don’t understand the following principles of answered prayer.

Look up and carefully read the following verses giving special attention to the condition for answered prayer.

A.     John 15:7 \\ What is promised?

_______________________________________________________________ \\ What is the condition?

____________________________________________________________ \\ What does it mean?

______________________________________________________________

B.     John 14:13; 15:16; 16:23-24 \\ What is promised?

_______________________________________________________________ \\ What is the condition?

____________________________________________________________ \\ What does it mean?

______________________________________________________________

C.     1 John 5:14-15 \\ What is the promise?

_____________________________________________________________ \\ What is the condition?

____________________________________________________________ \\ What does it mean?

______________________________________________________________

D.     Matt 21:21-22; Mk. 11:23-24 \\ What is the promise?

_____________________________________________________________ \\ What is the condition?

____________________________________________________________ \\ What does it mean?

______________________________________________________________

 

! CONCLUSION

            “The level of your spiritual life will never raise to stay above the level of your personal prayer life.”  - Jack Taylor

            What can you do to apply this study to your life?

List at least five.

1.      __________________________________________________________________________________

2.      __________________________________________________________________________________

3.      __________________________________________________________________________________

4.      __________________________________________________________________________________

5.      __________________________________________________________________________________

 

What one thing will you plan to apply this coming week?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

            “It is impossible for a believer, no matter what his experience, to keep right with God if he will not take the trouble to spend time with God…spend plenty of time with God; let other things go, but don’t neglect Him.”  - Oswald Chambers