By Ladi Ayodeji
Good day to all my readers. I trust you are all fine.
Today, we shall be talking about a core component of our covenant with God as Christians.
This is what the fundamental principles of prayer are all about in this sermon.
This subject is very important in our daily walk with God, but many of our brethren do not understand it well enough to know how to appropriate the blessings of the prayer covenant.
Therein lies the problem with the misunderstanding of what prayer is all about and why, for instance, God commands all Christians to pray without ceasing.
The fact that we are to pray without ceasing underscores its importance in the Christian walk.
The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.”
In Luke 18:1, Jesus also taught that men ought always to pray and not to faint.
Similarly, Ephesians 6:18 encourages believers to pray always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.
WHAT IS PRAYER?
Prayer is regular communication and a form of intimate fellowship between Christians and God.
It is the medium through which we ask God to meet our needs, forgive our sins, accept our praise, give us divine instructions and show us how to walk according to His will.
Without regular prayer, it would be very difficult to know the mind of God at any given time and live a victorious life.
Regular prayer time and the deep study of the Bible complement each other and are the foundation upon which understanding the mind of God is built.
In Philippians 4:6, the Bible instructs believers to make their requests known unto God through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.
God also declares in Jeremiah 33:3, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”
Furthermore, Psalm 119:105 describes God’s Word as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.
We are also encouraged in Colossians 4:2 to continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving.
WHO DO WE PRAY TO?
Christians are to pray to God, and God only, not to Jesus Christ, not to the Holy Spirit, not to angels or any other entity.
We are to pray to God in the name of Jesus. We are not to pray through the Holy Spirit or through Christ, but in the name of Jesus only. That is what the Bible teaches.
The Holy Spirit, the third member of the Godhead, has His role.
The Holy Spirit teaches us how to pray and is the power behind our prayers. He also helps us in our weaknesses and gives us utterance.
The roles of each member of the Trinity should not be confused or used interchangeably in prayer. If they are wrongly involved in our prayers, it could render our prayers ineffective.
Jesus said in John 16:23:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.”
He further declared in John 16:24:
“Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”
The role of the Holy Spirit is explained in Romans 8:26, where the Bible says that the Spirit helps our infirmities and makes intercession for us.
Ephesians 2:18 also teaches that through Christ, believers have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
WHO CAN PRAY?
Anyone who is physically mature in terms of age, is of sound mind and is a born-again Christian can pray.
An unbeliever cannot pray to God, except when offering a prayer of repentance that leads to the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
Otherwise, the prayer of a sinner is an abomination unto God.
The Bible declares in Proverbs 28:9:
“He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.”
In John 9:31, we read:
“Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.”
The Bible also explains the way of salvation in Romans 10:9, which teaches that anyone who confesses the Lord Jesus and believes that God raised Him from the dead shall be saved.
Furthermore, Romans 10:13 declares:
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
THE WORD COMPONENT OF PRAYER
As Christians, we must learn how to pray, just as the disciples of Jesus asked the Master to teach them how to pray.
We, too, must learn how to pray so that we do not pray amiss.
The best way to learn how to pray is to study the Bible diligently, listen to sermons and practise praying ourselves.
That way, we gradually begin to master the art of prayer sufficiently to allow the Holy Spirit to direct our thoughts on what to pray.
We cannot pray outside the Word of God. Every prayer must align with the Word because no prayer can be answered if it does not agree with the Word of God.
We cannot ask God for what is outside the covenant and the promises encoded in the corpus of divine revelation, the Holy Writ, the living Word called the Bible.
That is why everyone should read the Bible carefully, listen to anointed teachers and pray according to the written Word of God.
In Luke 11:1, one of the disciples approached Jesus and said:
“Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
The importance of praying correctly is further emphasised in James 4:3:
“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”
The Bible also says in 1 John 5:14:
“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.”
In John 15:7, Jesus establishes the relationship between abiding in His Word and receiving answers to prayer.
Furthermore, Romans 8:27 explains that the Holy Spirit makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
These scriptures underscore the importance of understanding God’s Word and allowing it to guide our prayers.
THE LORD’S PRAYER AND ITS RELEVANCE
In the Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6:9–13, we read how Jesus taught the disciples how to pray.
The Bible records:
“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in 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, for ever. Amen.”
Matthew 6:9–13 (KJV)
This is called the Model Prayer because it was an example of how to pray.
When Jesus taught this prayer, He had not yet gone to the cross.
That is why His name was not mentioned.
But when Jesus went to the cross, this prayer, in a sense, partially expired, becoming a reference to how prayer was taught before the establishment of the New Testament covenant through Christ’s death and resurrection.
We do not pray exactly like this in the New Testament.
Today, we ask in faith, in the name of Jesus, if we want our prayers to be answered.
This is consistent with the instruction of Jesus in John 16:23–24, where He directed His disciples to ask the Father in His name.
In John 14:13, Jesus also declared:
“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
Moreover, the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus have effectively demonstrated the power of the kingdom of God on earth.
Most of the promises of the Lord’s Prayer are no longer merely wishes; they have been fulfilled through the resurrection of Jesus.
Hebrews 9:15 establishes that Jesus Christ is the mediator of the New Testament through His death, making the promise of eternal inheritance available to those who are called.
Similarly, Colossians 1:13 declares that God has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.
The Bible also teaches in Romans 14:17:
“For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”
However, we are still to forgive those who trespass against us, just as Jesus forgave our sins.
This principle is reinforced in Ephesians 4:32, which instructs believers to forgive one another, even as God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven us.
The rule and reign of the kingdom of God are now in our hearts as born-again Christians because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us as believers.
We are already in Christ.
As the Bible declares in 2 Corinthians 5:17:
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
Prayer, therefore, is not merely a religious exercise. It is an essential part of our covenant relationship with God, through which we maintain fellowship with Him, receive divine direction and appropriate His promises according to His Word.
As believers in Christ, we must learn to pray correctly, consistently and in faith, knowing that God honours His Word.
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Ladi Ayodeji is a Bible-based Motivational Speaker, Author and Counsellor.
He can be reached on 09059243004 (WhatsApp only).
