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Sunday, July 22
Pastor Oliver R. Blosser,
M.Div., Ph.D.
Faith Community Church
Pipestone ,MN.
Matt. 21:22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in
prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
In His teaching on prayer, our Lord made one of the greatest promises in the Bible; And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive, Matthew 21:22. Jesus was teaching that our attitude has an influence on our prayers. It is when we pray with faith and the right attitude, that we receive an answer. Jesus taught His followers to have the proper attitudes in prayer;
- Your attitude toward God must be faith.
- Your attitude toward Christ must be obedience.
- Your attitude toward people must be forgiveness.
- Your attitude toward yourself must be humility.
- Your attitude toward your need must be perseverance.
- Your attitude toward the needs of others must be sincerity.
It is the Lord’s will that you approach prayer with the proper attitude; the right attitude toward God, people, yourself, your need and the needs of others.
I. Your attitude toward God must be faith.
Mark 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
We must come to God with faith that He can do what we ask Him to do. And then we must trust, through faith, that He will do what is best for us. We can have great confidence in the power and authority of our God. He can do anything! We can trust Him to do what’s best. And as we receive answers to our prayers, our faith will grow, and we will have faith to ask for greater things from God!
II. Your attitude toward Christ must be obedience.
John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
We are to be disciples of Jesus, i.e., followers. We are to stay close to Him, and learn from Him. We are to obey everything we can learn from Him in Scripture. As we develop the obedient attitude of a true disciple, we will see our prayer life grow. We will be more likely to pray according to God’s will, because we will be more likely to know God’s will! And we will want to see God’s will being done in our lives and the lives of others. Remain in Jesus and in His Word, bear fruit for the Kingdom of God, and the Lord will answer your prayers. Obedience is faith in action.
III. Your attitude toward people must be forgiveness.
Mark 11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
If you forgive others, then you will be forgiven. When we come to God in prayer, and have not forgiven our brother or sister, our prayers are hindered. It is God’s will that we forgive one another, Ephesians 4:32. He has forgiven us totally and without reservation. We have sinned against God’s holy divine nature far more than our brother or sister can sin against our wicked human nature. Therefore, we must forgive!
IV. Your attitude toward yourself must be humility.
Luke 18:10-14; 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
It is a spiritual law that God resists the proud, but gives grace and mercy to the humble, cf., Proverbs 16:19; Isaiah 57:15; James 4:6; I Peter 5:5. When we remember who God is, and who we are, how can we dare to come before God in pride? All have sinned, and all come before God equally guilty and equally in need of His grace and mercy.
V. Your attitude toward your need must be perseverance.
Luke 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
Jesus told His disciples a parable about the widow and the judge to reveal to them that they should always pray and not give up. The widow had a great need and a legitimate case. She took it to the judge, but he did not fear God or care about the legal needs of people for justice. She had no chance of getting justice from him insofar as his integrity was concerned. Her pleas were heeded by the judge for the simple reason that he didn’t want to be continually bothered by her! The judge said, “This woman is going to wear me out. The easiest thing to do to get rid of her is to take care of her demands.” The point of the parable is that if you persist in a right and just prayer, God will answer it. He is a just and loving judge. He is willing to answer a just and worthy prayer. Why does God encourage our persistence in prayer? Why doesn’t He simply answer right away?
- Persistence can help us develop our relationship with God. As we pray continually, we are more often in the presence of God and we tune in to what He wants to do for and with us.
- We don’t always know the best time and way for God to answer prayer. We can continue to pray until the time is right and God will answer in His own way.
- Sometimes God wants us to develop patience and perseverance in our faith. If we give up on God, then we do not develop these virtues. If we continue to faithfully pray, then our faith will grow and we will develop more of the virtues of the Christian faith in our lives.
VI. Your attitude toward the needs of others must be sincerity.
Mark 9:28-29; 28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? 29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
Sometimes as we pray for others, we encounter spiritual warfare. That is, there is a demonic influence in the life of the person we are praying for. If we are sincere in our desire to see a need met in the life of another person, we can demonstrate that sincerity and the depth of our concern by fasting. Fasting is going without food for a period of time. Fasting gives the believer power and authority over the demonic world and it sharpens the believers’ perception of spiritual things.
What
is your prayer attitude? Remember that your attitude will determine your
altitude! If you want to reach great heights in prayer, you need to develop
Godly prayer attitudes.