Sermon Tone Analysis

Prayer is one of the means that God has given the believer in order that they might enjoy and experience fellowship with Him.

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Lesson # 7

Prayer is one of the means that God has given the believer in order that they might enjoy and experience fellowship with Him.

Prayer is the responsibility, privilege and invisible spiritual weapon of the believer’s royal priesthood which functions efficaciously under the filling of the Spirit in accordance with the will, purpose and plan of God the Father.

It is an expression of confidence and total dependence in the character and integrity of God to meet one’s spiritual and temporal needs and desires on the basis of the personal merits and finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross resulting in the glorification of God in the angelic conflict.

Prayer provides every believer priest with the opportunity to experience fellowship with God.

The provision of prayer is made possible solely through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross.

The Lord’s session, or present position at the right hand of the Father, provides the believer with a Great High Priest, interceding on their behalf ().

Christ Jesus, therefore, serves as the believer’s advocate and intermediary.

Thus, the believer is commanded to pray to the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ because, only through Christ, may the believer boldly approach the throne of God and offer prayers to Him ().

Through the Lord Jesus Christ and His saving work on the cross, the believer is blessed with free access to God the Father (cf. ).

Now, not only is it through the merits of Christ’s impeccable person and work on the cross that the believer has been given the privilege to boldly approach the throne of God in prayer but also it is through the merits of their union with Christ, that they can do so.

To pray in His name is equivalent to praying in union with Christ.

Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

(NASB95)

A productive prayer life is based upon praying according to the will of the Father.

Prayer is asking for what the Father wants and not what we want.

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

15 And if we know without a doubt that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know without a doubt that we have the requests, which we have asked from Him. (NASB95)

There are seven essential elements that should be included in every prayer offered to God: (1) confession (; ) (2) Filling of the Spirit (; ) (3) faith () (4) worship () (5) thanksgiving (; ) (6) intercession (; ; ; ; ) (7) petition ().

The Christian is taught to pray for the deliverance from his or her enemies (; ; ; ; ; ; ).

This particular objective entails that God protect us from our enemies, but also that we pray for our enemies (; ).

The Christian is taught to pray for the spiritual and temporal needs of members of the royal family of God (; ; ; ; ; ; ; ).

They are to pray for the spiritual growth of members of the body of Christ (; ; ; ; ; ).

The Christian is encouraged to particularly pray for the sick in the royal family of God ().

They are taught to pray for those in authority ().

The Christian is taught to pray for the proliferation of the Word of God in one’s community, country, and world ().

We should habitually pray that the Word of God increase and spread throughout the world.

For unbelievers, may the Gospel reach their ears, and for believers, may an accurate teaching of God’s Word encompass their lives.

Another objective is praying that God protect us and other believers from getting involved in evil.

Also, we should pray that believers apply the Word of God, so that God may be glorified and divine-good may increase ().

The Word of God does not condemn praying for material prosperity and good physical health; rather, we are encouraged to pray for our prosperity and the prosperity of others ().

The Christian is taught to pray for the sanctification of physical food (); hence, we say grace.

While the Scriptures do not command a set time for prayer, it is important to routinely pray, either day or night (; ; ; ; ; ).

The Bible teaches that there are many hindrances to a productive prayer life.

A chief hindrance to prayer is unconfessed sin.

If you have not realized already, failure to confess sin will sever your fellowship with God.

As a result, we must always be aware of our sins and humbly confess them, especially before entering into prayer.

If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear.

(NASB95)

Not only could unconfessed sin hinder our prayers, but it could also place us under divine discipline.

David, for instance, was under divine discipline for failure to confess his sin of adultery with Bathsheba, and his sin of having her husband, Uriah, killed on the battlefield ().

Often, a believer’s prayers are hindered because they love the world, i.e. the cosmic system of Satan ().

The cosmic system is a vast system and arrangement of human affairs, earthly goods, godless governments, conflicts, riches, pleasures, culture, education, world religions, the cults, and the occult, all of which is dominated and negatively affected by Satan, god of the cosmos.

Satan promotes the cosmic system, and it conforms to his ideals, aims, methods, and character, and stands perpetually in opposition to God.

Satan’s world system seduces men away from God and away from the person of Christ.

It is anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-Bible, and very anti-humanity, though it often appears humanitarian, as part of Satan’s angel of light masquerade.

Therefore, any believer who conforms to the standards of the cosmic system will fail at having a productive prayer life.

We also hinder our prayers when we quit on God or are impatient with God (; ; ).

The Father will grant us our requests when we persevere in our prayers, since perseverance in prayer is a manifestation of our faith and absolute trust and confidence in the Father to grant our requests.

The parable in illustrates this principle perfectly.

A less obvious hindrance, but just as detrimental to our prayers, is our motivation.

Often, the Father does not answer our requests because we ask with false motives ().

We will receive our prayer requests if we pray according to the Father’s will.

However, if we do not pray according to His will, we will not receive our requests from the Father ().

Disobedience will always hinder our prayers ().

If we are pretentious in our prayers, we are hindering our prayers ().

If our motivation is to be acknowledged by people, then we pray with the wrong motives, and our prayers will not be heard.

Failure to pray properly, according to the protocol God designed for prayer, will most certainly hinder our prayers.

As noted, we are required to pray to the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus in the power of the Spirit (; ; ).

Another subtler hindrance that believers must quickly learn to avoid is lack of forgiveness (; ; ; ).

Not only will failure to forgive result in broken relationships with people, but it will result in a loss of fellowship with God.

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

(NASB95)

The Scriptures teach that bitterness towards our spouse will hinder our prayers ().

Finally, lack of compassion is another reason why prayers are so often hindered ().