Dan Henderson

Prayer By Example

Mp3 audio sermon

We are told to pray

Sometimes we fail to pray because we think we do not know how

Should turn to examples left for us

Old Testament & all Scripture is preserved for our learning

Presented at Milam St Church of Christ in July of 2010

Prayer By Example

Prayer By Examples

We are told to pray

Sometimes we fail to pray because we think we do not know how

Should turn to examples left for us

Old Testament & all Scripture is preserved for our learning

A Beginning Prayer

The prayer of Jesus taught his disciples Matt 6:9-ff

Address

Matthew 6:9 Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Give honor to the Father

Psalms 111:9 He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name!

Petition

Matthew 6:10-13 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Praise

Matthew 6:13 For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (KJV)

Prayer In Adversity

Job accepted God's dealings with Him

Job 1:20-22 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

Hezekiah faces Sennacharib

Isaiah 37:14-20 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.

And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: "O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord."

Isaiah 37:21-36 Lord rebukes Sennacherib, gives victory to Jerusalem.

Hezekiah faces death

Isaiah 38:1-3 … Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, and said, "Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Isaiah 38:4-8 Lord adds 15 years to his life & gives a sign to verify

Hezekiah's response Isaiah 38:9-20 Thanksgiving for his life

 Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane

Matthew 26:36-46 … "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." … "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done." …

Peter, John, & Brethren

Acts 4:23-31 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, …

Prayer For Others

Job was blessed after he prayed for his friends

Job 42:8-17 (8-10)Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord had told them, and the Lord accepted Job's prayer. And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Moses prayed for Aaron & Israel

Deuteronomy 9:20-29 And the Lord was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him. And I prayed for Aaron also at the same time....You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you. "So I lay prostrate before the Lord for these forty days and forty nights, because the Lord had said he would destroy you. And I prayed to the Lord, …

Abraham prayed for Abimelech

Genesis 20:17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children.

Genesis 20:7 Now then, return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours."

Prayer For Dedication

Solomon's prayer for dedication (temple)

1Kings 8:22-61 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven, and said, "O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart, who have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day....

28 Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, ….

52 Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to you....

59 Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other. Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day."

Prayer Of Confession

Daniel confessing Israel's sins

Daniel 9:1-22 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans--in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, .

David, when confronted with his sins regarding Bathsheba

Psalms 51:1-19 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment....

The Tax Collector

Luke 18:10-14 "…' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

Prayer For Answered Prayers

Hannah prays for a son

1Samuel 1:9-18 After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said,. ... Then Eli answered, "Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him."

Hanna offers prayer of praise as thanksgiving for her answer

1Samuel 2:1-10 And Hannah prayed and said, …

Daniel in the matter of the king's dream

Daniel 2:16-18 And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king. Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Daniel 2:19-23 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said…

Many other examples to be found, but these are sufficient to remind us to seek help in the Scriptures even in how to approach God in prayer.

Let us learn from the prayers of those who have approached God before us

From an outline by Glenn Melton

Scripture quotes from ESV unless otherwise noted.