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Prayer won't change a thing even intercessory prayer? What is the Point of Prayer?
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Glad you asked those questions. These questions have some grand implications that lead me to some other related questions:
Who is God and what is the Nature of God?
Does God change his mind? If your answer is yes, could he change his mind about the way to heaven?
Who runs things around here anyway?
If we have the faith of a mustard seed; will God give us whatever we ask of him. There are others but these will give enough scope I think.
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Who is God and what is the Nature of God?
This is revealed to us in two aspects. How does God relate to the world? And what is his motivation? As for motivation: 1John 4: 7 - 8 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
As for Nature the big three are:
- omnipotence the quality or state of being all powerful
- omnipresent present in all places at all times
- omniscient knowing everything
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To pull this off God must not be limited by any of our standards such as that of liner time. He would be able to see the end and the beginning at the same time. Let us try to use the "Word of God" from "His Book" to find out more; for my opinion is worthless but His Word abides forever.
Rev 1:8 I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.
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Mat 5:18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
He has a multi faceted nature. Justice and Mercy and Law and Grace. The first case is with Adam in the Garden. "On the day you eat of it you will surely die". Adam broke the Law but was not dead in a twenty four hour time frame. He lived on in a fallen state with the promise of redemption through (their son, Son of God, Son of Man Theoanthropus).
((How could God relent? God did not change his mind in the same way that a parent decides not to discipline a child. Instead God changed his behavior to remain consistent with his nature. When God first wanted to destroy the people, he was acting consistently with his justice. When Moses interceded for the people, God relented in order to act consistently with his mercy. God had often told the people that if they changed their ways, he would not condemn them. They changed, and God did as he promised. (Life Application Text Note))).
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Does God change his mind?
I looked up Change in the NIV Study Bible Concordance
Look at Change with an eye on WHO is changed or needs to change.
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1Sa 10:6 The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.
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1Sa 15:29 He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man that he should change his mind.
(bonus)
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Ps 102:17-20 He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea. Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord: The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death.
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Ps 102:25-27 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.
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Ps 110:4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." (Also see Heb chapter 5)
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Jer 7:5 If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly,
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Hos 11:7- My people are determined to trun from me. Even if they call to the Most High, he will by no means exalt them. How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.
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Mal 3:6 "I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the Lord Almighty.
"But you ask, 'How are we to return?'
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Mt 18:3-4 And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
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1Co 15:51 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-
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Heb 7:21 And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, 21 but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:
"The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
'You are a priest forever.' "22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant
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Jas 1: 16 Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.
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To whom should we pray
April 8, 2002 Daily Bread had a wonderful insight on Prayer.
This booklet may be around : Daily Bread Booklet
Good Morning
Read: Psalm 92
It is good . . . to declare Your loving kindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night. �Psalm 92:1-2
When British preacher and writer John Stott turned 80, a friend penned a tribute to him that highlighted his discipline of prayer. For decades, Stott has begun each day with a prayer like this:
"Good morning, heavenly Father. Good morning, Lord Jesus. Good morning, Holy Spirit." Stott then goes on to worship each member of the Trinity individually, acknowledging and praising them for their work in the lives of believers.
Then he continues, "Father, I pray that I may live this day in Your presence and please You more and more. Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow You. Holy Spirit, I pray that this day You will fill me with Yourself and cause Your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, three Persons in one God, have mercy upon me. Amen."
The psalmist said that "it is good . . . to declare [God's] lovingkindness in the morning" (92:1-2). So why not use John Stott's prayer of praise and petition as a pattern for yours today? It's a wonderful way to begin a conversation with God. �DCM
For Further Study
To refresh your prayer-life, review the book
of Psalms, which is filled with prayers.
For instance, read and pray Psalm 8 as your own.
Morning prayer leads to evening praise.
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How about some examples of where it may seem so to begin with.
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Exodus 32:7 - 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I command them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt,' "I have seen these people," the Lord said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation." But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. "O Lord," he said, "why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.'" Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
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However God's Justice was not held back.
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Exodus 32:33-35 The Lord replied to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin." And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.
//// Then in the longer term, 40 years later only two entered the land////
Numbers 32:11-12
Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD.
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Barriers:
Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear
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1 Peter 3:7
Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
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2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land
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How are we to pray.
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5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 "This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.[1] ' 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
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1 Samuel 1
9 Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord 's temple. [2] 10 In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord . 11 And she made a vow, saying, "O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head."
12 As she kept on praying to the Lord , Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14 and said to her, "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine."
15 "Not so, my lord," Hannah replied, "I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord . 16 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief."
17 Eli answered, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him."
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Daniel's Prayer
1 In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes [1] (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian [2] kingdom- 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:
"O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
7 "Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame-the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 O Lord , we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; 10 we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.
"Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. 12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. 14 The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.
15 "Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.
17 "Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."
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1 Chronicles 4:9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, [3] saying, "I gave birth to him in pain." 10 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request.
Psalm 122 Pray for Jerusalem
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