Lessons On Prayer
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Here you will find weekly devotional thoughts that are designed to encourage you to make your petitions known unto God with thanksgiving. When this is done, He has promised that “the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and mind through Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:6-7.
It is also designed to help you focus on the Sovereignty of God and His ability to not only answer prayers, but to help you experience a powerful transformation in your life. As you move through each lessons, ask God to identify the principles He is sharing and how to apply those principles being taught.
We welcome you to share your thoughts in the “Leave a Rely” dialog box below. If you are needing prayer go to our Prayer Request page.
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Perfect Peace
The Lord declares that He will be honored by those who draw nigh to Him, who faithfully do His service. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee.” Isaiah 26:3. The arm of Omnipotence is outstretched to lead us onward and still onward. Go forward, the Lord says; I will send you help. It is for My name’s glory that you ask, and you shall receive. I will be honored before those who are watching for your failure. They shall see My word triumph gloriously. “All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Matthew 21:22. —(EGW, Christ’s Object Lessons, pg. 173.2).
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Pray With Holy Boldness
“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” When you pray, present this promise. It is our privilege to come to Him with holy boldness. As in sincerity we ask Him to let His light shine upon us, He will hear and answer us.
Heaven is open to our petitions, and we are invited to come “boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” We are to come in faith, believing that we shall obtain the very things we ask of him.—(Ellen White, Prayer, pg. 15).
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Go Forward, Trusting God
We are to encourage in one another that living faith which Christ has made it possible for every believer to have. The work is to be carried forward as the Lord prepares the way. When He brings His people into strait places, then it is their privilege to assemble together for prayer, remembering that all things come of God. Those who have not yet shared in the trying experiences that attend the work in these last days will soon have to pass through scenes that will severely test their confidence in God. It is at the time His people see no way to advance, when the Red Sea is before them and the pursuing army behind, that God bids them: “Go forward.” Thus He is working to test their faith. When such experiences come to you, go forward, trusting in Christ. Walk step by step in the path He marks out. Trials will come, but go forward. This will give you an experience that will strengthen your faith in God and fit you for truest service.—(Ellen White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol 9, pg. 273).
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The Necessity Of Prayer
The temptations to which we are daily exposed make prayer a necessity. Dangers beset every path. Those who are seeking to rescue others from vice and ruin are especially exposed to temptation. In constant contact with evil, they need a strong hold upon God lest they themselves be corrupted. Short and decisive are the steps that lead men down from high and holy ground to a low level. In a moment decisions may be made that fix one’s condition forever. One failure to overcome leaves the soul unguarded. One evil habit, if not firmly resisted, will strengthen into chains of steel, binding the whole man.
The reason why so many are left to themselves in places of temptation is that they do not set the Lord always before them. When we permit our communion with God to be broken, our defense is departed from us. Not all your good purposes and good intentions will enable you to withstand evil. You must be men and women of prayer. Your petitions must not be faint, occasional, and fitful, but earnest, persevering, and constant. It is not always necessary to bow upon your knees in order to pray. Cultivate the habit of talking with the Saviour when you are alone, when you are walking, and when you are busy with your daily labor. Let the heart be continually uplifted in silent petition for help, for light, for strength, for knowledge. Let every breath be a prayer.—(Ellen White, Help in Daily Living, pg. 57)
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Watch and Pray
When the servants of God pray for his Spirit and blessing, it sometimes comes immediately; but it is not always then bestowed. At such times, faint not. Let your faith hold fast the promise that it will come. Let your trust be fully in God, and often that blessing will come when you need it most, and you will unexpectedly receive help from God when you are presenting the truth to unbelievers, and will be enabled to speak the word with clearness and power.—(Ellen White, Gospel Workers, pg. 92)
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How we Grow in Faith
We can never weary Christ by earnest supplications. We do not depend on God as we should. Let us leave unsaid every word of complaint. Talk faith and courage while waiting for God…. Be afraid to doubt, lest this become a habit that will destroy faith. The dealing of the heavenly Father may seem dark and mysterious and unexplainable; nevertheless we are to trust in Him.
Oh, how precious is Jesus to the soul who trusts in Him! But many are walking in darkness because they bury their faith in the shadow of Satan…. Never for a moment should we allow Satan to think that his power to distress and annoy is greater than the power of Christ to uphold and strengthen….
Every sincere prayer that is offered is mingled with the efficacy of Christ’s blood. If the answer is deferred, it is because God desires us to show a holy boldness in claiming the pledged word of God. He is faithful who hath promised. He will never forsake the soul who is wholly surrendered to Him.—(Ellen White, In Heavenly Places, pg. 74)
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Be Intentional, Be Persistent When You Pray
God does not say, Ask once, and you shall receive. He bids us ask. Unwearyingly persist in prayer. The persistent asking brings the petitioner into a more earnest attitude, and gives him an increased desire to receive the things for which he asks. Christ said to Martha at the grave of Lazarus, “If thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God.” John 11:40.____________
A Permanent Connection
And He spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint (Luke 18:1).
There is no place for us to rest in a careless attitude. We must never forget the warnings of Christ, “Watch unto prayer,” “Watch … and pray always” (Luke 21:36). A connection with the divine agency every moment is essential to our progress. We may have had a measure of the Spirit of God, but by prayer and faith we are continually to seek more of the Spirit. It will never do to cease our efforts. If we do not progress, if we do not place ourselves in an attitude to receive both the former and the latter rain, we shall lose our souls, and the responsibility will lie at our own door.—(Ellen White, Ye Shall Receive Power, pg. 306)
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Prayer for God’s Guidance May Be Offered Anytime, Anywhere
There is no time or place in which it is inappropriate to offer up a petition to God. There is nothing that can prevent us from lifting up our hearts in the spirit of earnest prayer. In the crowds of the street, in the midst of a business engagement, we may send up a petition to God and plead for divine guidance, as did Nehemiah when he made his request before King Artaxerxes. A closet of communion may be found wherever we are. We should have the door of the heart open continually and our invitation going up that Jesus may come and abide as a heavenly guest in the soul.
To pray as Nehemiah prayed in his hour of need is a resource at the command of the Christian under circumstances when other forms of prayer may be impossible. Toilers in the busy walks of life, crowded and almost overwhelmed with perplexity, can send up a petition to God for divine guidance. Travelers by sea and land, when threatened with some great danger, can thus commit themselves to Heaven’s protection. In times of sudden difficulty or peril the heart may send up its cry for help to One who has pledged Himself to come to the aid of His faithful, believing ones whenever they call upon Him. In every circumstance, under every condition, the soul weighed down with grief and care, or fiercely assailed by temptation, may find assurance, support, and succor in the unfailing love and power of a covenant-keeping God.—(Ellen G White, Steps to Christ, pg. 99 and Prophets and Kings, pg. 631, 632)
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Prayer Brings Freshness to Spiritual Life
Our l
ife is to be bound up with the life of Christ; we are to draw constantly from Him, partaking of Him, the living Bread that came down from heaven, drawing from a fountain ever fresh, ever giving forth its abundant treasures. If we keep the Lord ever before us, allowing our hearts to go out in thanksgiving and praise to Him, we shall have a continual freshness in our religious life. Our prayers will take the form of a conversation with God as we would talk with a friend. He will speak His mysteries to us personally. Often there will come to us a sweet joyful sense of the presence of Jesus. Often our hearts will burn within us as He draws nigh to commune with us as He did with Enoch. When this is in truth the experience of the Christian, there is seen in his life a simplicity, a humility, meekness, and lowliness of heart, that show to all with whom he associates that he has been with Jesus and learned of Him.—(Ellen G White, Christ’s Object Lessons, pg. 129, 130)
Blessings, ~Hope Beale, Prayer Ministry Leader, pray@saccentral.org
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God Welcomes Us to His Audience Chamber
We come to God by special invitation, and He waits to welcome us to His audience chamber. The first disciples who followed Jesus were not satisfied with a hurried conversation with Him by the way; they said, “Rabbi, … where dwellest Thou? … They came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day” (John 1:38, 39). So we may be admitted into closest intimacy and communion with God. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1). Let those who desire the blessing of God knock and wait at the door of mercy with firm assurance, saying, For Thou, O Lord, hast said, “Everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”—( Ellen White, Prayer, pg. 9)
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Persistent In Prayer
God does not say, Ask once, and you shall receive. He bids us ask. Unwearyingly persist in prayer. The persistent asking brings the petitioner into a more earnest attitude, and gives him an increase desire to receive the things for which he asks. Christ said to Martha at the grave of Lazarus, “If thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God.” John 11:40.—(Ellen White, Christ’s Object Lessons, pg. 145.3)
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Please pray for healing for my brother Edwin Colon. He is in the hospital with liver infection, not doing well. Thanks for praying. God bless!
Thank you for letting us know Maribel. We pray he is doing better.
Maribel,
Sac Central online prayer team has been given your brother’s name and we will left him and your family up in prayer.
Blessings, Hope
Prayers for my husband to give his life to God.
Please Pray for my family who were raised in the Adventist Church and left. I want them to return before it s too late. Please pray for me that I will be the Steward He would have me to be so they will return to the True church. I have 7 friends that I have been giving them devotional books and other books on prayer. They attend other churches, I want to give them Bible studies, but I don’t know how to ask them if they want them or not and I don’t know what lessons should I use to start. We are good friends and they look up to me for spiritual guidance.
I love your Sabbath School classes< i watch them as much as I can. I really enjoy, Pastor Chris, I look to download your notes and write on them and keep many of them for review.
Blessings to your ministry.
Hi Toni. We will remember your family in prayer. If you want to invite someone to do a Bible study, the simplest thing to do is ask them (nicely of course). Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And what is the worse that can happen? Will say a prayer for you as you trust God to help you as you reach out to your friends. Many blessings to you there.
Thank you for the “Lessons on Prayer.” What a blessing! Please pray for me. Thank you!