Cultivating a Life of Prayer
Fundamentals of Prayer

Article I

What is prayer?

As we begin this series of articles, it is necessary to define the meaning of prayer. Many Christians believe that prayer is simply talking to God, asking Him to answer their requests. That is only partially correct. Prayer is a two-way conversation with God - the Creator of the universe; thus, becoming a communication between both parties. Prayer is the strongest link between man and God – it needs to be the Christian’s lifeline.

Prayer is communication with God

If you are a new believer, or one who has not spent a lot of time in prayer, it is important to know that you have access to come into God’s presence at any time because of your faith in Jesus Christ. You have a relationship with Him, but not necessarily a meaningful fellowship with Him.  There is a difference between fellowship and relationship.

Relationship versus fellowship

Relationship with God is positional. By believing and confessing to God and others who Christ is, his death and resurrection, brings you into eternal salvation. You have been passed from death unto life. You have positionally become a Christian and your position to God is your relationship to Him. You are going to heaven after you leave this earth – but while here on earth, your Christianity is at best minimal, staying at a positional level. It is important that you to go to God to build that relationship into a meaningful fellowship. Fellowship, on the other hand, is the fulfillment of a meaningful relationship with God - it is experiential.  You must experience fellowship with the Lord to have your relationship meaningful and grow in your faith.  If you desire, as you should, a successful Christian walk, you must learn to cultivate your prayer life so you can experience fellowship with the Lord.  Fellowship with the Lord is not taught, but something that is caught.  It is something that has been birthed in your heart as meaningful and essential to your Christian life. This course will help you find that place of fellowship with the Lord, but you are going to have to choose for yourself to desire that fellowship. When you choose, a yearning to spend time with the Lord will take place. At that point, you are no longer taught, but you have caught the heart of what is being taught.

Building relationships

It is the heart of the Online Bible School that you will hunger to be in God’s presence more and more as this course continues – that prayer will become an important part of your day and your life. As your prayer life deepens, that fellowship you have with the Lord will then overflow out to others. So, if you are going to develop a loving relationship with others, you must first develop a solid, loving fellowship with the Lord.

Our relationship with God is vertical - Our relationship with others is horizontal

Why should we pray?

There are many reasons to pray – first of all, you were created to commune with your Creator. God desires for His children to pray - to worship and praise Him, cultivating an intimate fellowship. He desires for us to get to know Him, thanking Him for what He has done, bringing Him our problems, and just sharing of ourselves. God created us in such a way that cultivating a solid prayer life fulfills the satisfaction between man and God – it is the reason why we were created.

Why was mankind created?

When God created Adam and Eve, He created them to be stewards upon the earth. Each one was designed to use the gifts and talents that God created within. Just as in Adam and Eve, God created within all of His children gifts and talents. As His stewards, each of us has a call on our lives – to use those gifts and talents to walk out the plans and purposes God has for us upon the earth. It must be remembered, however, that using our gifts and talents is not the primary reason God created mankind. The number one reason God created us is to have a loving relationship with Him. His desire is for mankind to love and have communion with his Creator. If you, as a believer, don’t develop that intimate loving fellowship with the Lord, you are missing out on the core reason why you were created. That intimate fellowship is developed through a life of prayer, and through that prayer life you will discover your call and ultimately your destiny, using the gifts and talents He gave you.

Go to God first

The most important thing a believer can do is to learn how to pray. If a new believer goes to God first, from the onset of his or her walk with the Lord, that person will learn to become “God dependent” instead of “man dependent.” He or she will lean on God instead of other people.

The essence of prayer is that God can't do anything unless we ask Him

While there is nothing wrong with talking with other Christians regarding problems in life, and how to solve them, our prayer life will be more effective if we learn to go to God first. God designed us to be dependent upon Him, not independent within ourselves. As Christians, we cannot effectively live life on our own, independent from God. We need a life line to God as He guides and instructs us throughout life. It is through a meaningful life in prayer that we cultivate our love life with the Lord and learn to depend upon Him for everything. Being in this place puts God in a rightful place in the lives of His children and in the earth. That is exactly the place where God wants His children to be.

Go to God first to:  1) Worship Him - for He longs to be worshipped.  2)  Praise Him - to acknowledge Him before others. 3) To thank Him - to develop a thankful heart attitude toward the blessings He has bestowed upon you.  4)  To commune with Him - that is why He created you.  5) With your problems - allowing Him to solve your problems instead of relying on other people.

A balanced Christian life

A balance of the knowledge of the Word of God and time in prayer is important in a believer’s life. Most Christians, by human nature, tend to lean one way or another toward prayer or the reading of the Word of God. If one concentrates more on what the Scriptures say over having a solid prayer life, he or she runs the risk of becoming judgmental toward others. If, on the other hand, one concentrates more on praying than what the Word of God says, that person runs the risk of becoming flawed in his or her thinking. The risk of hearing from the devil is not only a possibility but a probability if what is heard in prayer is not substantiated by the Word of God. The balance of the Word of God and prayer is vital for a happy, secure, full life in Christ. A believer needs the balance of the Word of God and prayer.  You cannot know God deeply with shallow conversation. Intimacy with Him requires development and cultivation. The deepest working of the Holy Spirit comes during the time spent alone in His presence. When you set aside time for fellowship with God, you enter into the richest experience of the Christian life.

The Tripartate man

Man is a tripartite man, having three parts to his being - a spirit, soul, and living in a body.  The human spirit is where man communes with God. It is also where the conscience
lies, which gives us the ability to know right from wrong. The area of the soul consists of three parts – the mind, will and emotions. Our character is primarily formed in the soul area. The body, which houses the soul and spirit, is the physical manifestation of the real person. The way that man was created, mixed in with experiences of life, molds one into the character he or she becomes.

God is also tripartite – a three-part being

God is also a three-part being. First, He is God the Father who created the universes, as well as all of mankind. Secondly, He is God the Son, who loves His creation so much that He was willing to come down as mankind to become like man, suffer and die on the cross for his sins, so man could live eternally with Him. Thirdly, He is God the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. He lives eternally within all true believers, and empowers them to make a difference in this world and in the worlds to come.

God wants us to intimately know His whole character. God wants us to know and understand that He is a loving God Who cares for His children, and wants to pour His blessings upon His family.

The character of God

The character of God was also taught in the first course of the Online Bible School. If a believer has a wrong concept of God, it can affect his or her prayer life. It is vital then that all Christians believe that God loves His children deeply and wants the very best for each one of them. To get to understand God more deeply, we need to know how He works in any given situation.

God has a personality and character, having a method to everything He does. He is not so sovereign that a believer has to guess how He is going to operate. God is predictable. In His predictability, God wants each one to know how He operates in any given situation. He wants us to know His ways - to learn His method of operation.

Job 22:21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.

Meaning of “father”

In the New Testament, God is primarily referred to as heavenly father. It is God’s desire to have many sons and daughters. The Greek word for father is “Abba.” The word father, however, has different meanings to different people. If you grew up with a loving, caring father, your concept of a heavenly father will probably be loving and caring. If your earthly father, however, was not nurturing, and maybe abusive, you will view your heavenly father in the same way you did your earthly father. For those of you who have had less than a perfect earthly father, the prayer is that you will see God Almighty, your heavenly father, as the father you always wanted and dreamed of. Even if you were fortunate to have had “close to the perfect father,” I want you to see that God is far better than any earthly father could ever be. God’s character is flawless.

How to pray?

When you read the New Testament, it must be remembered that God taught His people to pray under the Old Covenant. He taught not only the heart of prayer, but the positions of prayer. His instructions did not change under the New Covenant. Because of that, there are only a few references regarding positions in prayer in the New Testament.

1 Tim 2:8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down…