Hello everybody, it's me, this is a 1223x3 video. In this video I'm going to be talking about the subject of prayer and what the Bible says about it.
Prayer is an important part of a Christian's life so we should take it seriously and see what the scripture says about what to do.
Because there are certain guidelines in the Bible about what prayer is and what it's used for and when we're to do it, etc.
So I'm going to be going through a few examples of what to do from the Bible in this video.
The most important passage is of course from during the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6 verse 5 to 13
For they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them.
For your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him.
After this matter therefore pray ye, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, and earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
So right out of Jesus explains how we should pray.
First of all we need to understand that it's not something which we should do hypocritically or publicly.
Rather we're supposed to do it in secret.
You're not supposed to just stand out in public and show yourself to be someone who prays.
And that's why I don't think that the idea of having an altar, that you have to come forth and an altar in the front of a church is necessarily biblical.
As I know some churches do that, they have a little platform where you kneel down to pray.
But there's no biblical example of that. You don't find that in the Bible.
I'm sure that some people who do that at least, who come forth, are themselves like the Pharisees.
Who are just trying to act righteous and be like, hey look at me everybody, I'm praying, look how great I am.
And they're not actually right with God, they're not actually praying.
There are probably some people who do that, so that's why I don't think it should exist.
Rather, Jesus says to pray in secret.
Now of course there's nothing wrong with praying as a church together.
We constantly see examples of congregations praying together in the Bible.
But if you're going to pray personally to God by yourself, it's best if you do such in secret in your home, not in front of everybody else.
Because God will reward thee openly, as Jesus said.
Now the next thing which Jesus goes over in Matthew 6 is the fact that we're not supposed to use vain repetitions.
Because there's no point to it, it's vain. That's what vain means, worthless, meaningless.
God already knows what we're in need of, so we don't need to just repeat ourselves over and over again.
Once we ask, we ask. We don't need to ask again and just draw out the prayer even longer than it needs to be.
So of course this is something that the Catholics and the Orthodox Christians do, they're guilty of.
They disobey Jesus by constantly praying the Our Father prayer or some other prayer.
For the Eastern Orthodox there are some monks who live in monasteries who will repeat the prayer,
Lord Jesus have mercy on my soul, and they'll just say that under their breath over and over again throughout the day.
But if you ask Jesus who wants to have mercy on your soul, you don't need to ask him again in that prayer unless you do something which causes God to chastise you, to judge you.
But of course that won't even happen to the Orthodox Christians because they're not saved, they're not Christians.
But you get the picture that this isn't something you're supposed to do, you don't just repeat prayers over and over again.
That's not from the Bible.
So therefore since Jesus says not to just vainly repeat yourself, Jesus is not saying either that we need to pray the Our Father prayer or word for word every time we pray.
That's repetition.
But rather Jesus says in verse 9, after this matter, pray ye.
Now what does after this matter mean?
It means like this, in this way.
It's just a guideline, it's a standard.
It doesn't mean that you need to say the exact same thing word for word every time we pray.
But we do see some key things which we should do in our prayers, things which we should mention.
First of all, we should address it to the Father.
Second, we should end the prayer with Amen.
Third, Jesus gives some examples of good things to pray for.
First of all, God's will be done.
Of course, if what we want conflicts with what God wants, or conflicts with God's will, then we're not going to get it.
We can't pray for something sinful like,
Man, I hope I can get away with robbing this bank or something and just pray to God to get away with that.
Well, that's a sin. That's not part of God's will.
You're not going to receive that.
So, you can't expect God to listen to that request.
Second, the request to give us our daily bread.
These are the things we need, the daily things, everyday food, water, hygiene, to survive.
And remember Jesus said, seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.
Next, we see that Jesus prays for forgiveness of debts.
That's something we should also do.
And finally, that we're not given over to temptation.
This is important because as Christians, we're commanded to live a life to strive to put off the flesh and to put on the new man.
Jesus also said in Matthew chapter 26, verse 41,
Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation.
The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
So, Jesus gives us a general guideline about what we do when we pray.
One of these things is, of course, praying that we do not enter into temptation,
so that we do not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Because as the Bible says in Galatians 5,
if you walk in the spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh, or the works of the flesh.
Now, there are some other scriptures which really show some other truths about prayer,
which I'm going to talk about in this video as well.
First of all, prayer is for the children of God and the children of God only.
It's not just something that everybody can do before they are saved.
The only prayer that they can really make is calling upon the name of the Lord.
Now, those who are unsaved, those who are still considered sinners in God's eyes,
will not have their prayers listened to by God, because the Bible says in John chapter 9, verse 31,
Now we know that God heareth not sinners, but if any man be a worshiper of God and do with his will, him he heareth.
And then in Psalm chapter 66, verse 18 to 20, it says,
So, God does not hear a sinner.
David knows that God is not going to hear him if he regards iniquity in his heart.
But he says, verily God hath heard me.
And why? Because we know that David was saved, because he had his sins forgiven.
Now, another truth is that even though our prayers are directed to God the Father,
it is done through Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone.
We cannot expect another intercessor to pray on our behalf, to pray for us.
There are no saints in heaven who are interceding for us,
who we just pray to, to deliver our prayers up to God, to intercede for us.
Rather, the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 2, verse 5,
So the Roman Catholics who believe in the intercession of the saints and the intercession of Mary
are teaching a false doctrine and they're praying incorrectly,
because the Bible says there's only one meteor between God and man, that's Jesus Christ.
There's not the saints, there's not Mary, there's nobody else that's a mediator.
And the final thing is in Matthew chapter 21, verse 21 to 22,
So, another thing that we need to keep in mind is that when you pray for something,
you're supposed to believe and have faith in what you pray for.
If you doubt that God's going to help you with something or give you something, you won't receive it.
So, just as a wrap up, how should we pray? What is prayer?
We should pray to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ.
We should do it in secret. We should not repeat ourselves.
We should believe what we're actually saying and we should actually be saved in the first place
and not regard iniquity in our heart.
So, this is how to pray.
Now, there are a lot of false Christians out there, like Catholics and Orthodox Christians,
and some other false Protestant groups as well, which teach work salvation,
who entirely disobeyed these commandments and these teachings in the Bible, these guidelines,
and they come up with their own form of prayer, which comes from paganism,
that they repeat themselves over and over again.
They copy what the Bible says word for word.
They think that when Jesus said, after this manner,
they think that means exactly as I'm saying, just repeat after me.
Or they just pray when they're unsaved.
But they, of course, don't know anything about salvation.
But if God still considers you a sinner, He's not going to listen to your prayers.
So, this is what we know from the Bible and this is what we're supposed to do.
So, that's all for today. Thank you everybody for watching and goodbye.