Chapter 16 Prayer

Chapter 16

PRAYER

As one reflects upon the previous study titled, “The Walk of Faith” it becomes apparent that our walk or life of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ is intimately linked to prayer. Thus, this chapter is written to provide some observations to help us in our prayer life. To do this, we will utilize our Lord’s Prayer as a model to: (1) learn how we should pray and (2) explore some key things we are to pray for.

Before we begin our study, let us come before God and pray.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I come to You in the Name of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Father, please bless this time with You. Please Lord God, teach me how I ought to pray. May Your Spirit be my guide that fills my heart and mouth with Your prayers. Help me to understand that because of the death and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ, the Heavens are now opened for me to enter into Your Throne Room and bring to You, with thanksgiving, my requests and petitions.

Amen

INTRODUCTION

Before we begin our study of the Lord's prayer it will be beneficial for us to first review the following three basic principles necessary for an effective and meaningful prayer life: (1) we are to approach God our Father in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, (2) we are to pray in God’s will and (3) we are to humbly and respectfully come before God who knows what we need.

Let us begin by exploring the fact that,

WE ARE TO APPROACH GOD THE FATHER IN JESUS CHRIST’S HOLY NAME

To see this let us read an excerpt from what Jesus said to His disciples to prepare them for the time when He would return to Heaven. It is given in,

John 14:6

"[14] Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Pretty clear isn't it? To see this in a different light, let us read one of the greatest promises of prayer contained in the Scriptures. It was given by Jesus to prepare His disciples for His return to the Father. To is recorded in,

John 16:23

"[23] In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name."

As we reflect upon the above promise we must be careful to understand that it does not mean we can expect God to grant our requests which are intended to gratify the desires and lusts of our flesh. This promise is for when

WE GO BEFORE GOD AND PRAY IN HIS WILL

To see this, let us read what the Holy Spirit wrote through the Apostle John in,

1 John 5:14-15

"[14] This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. [15] And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him."

Finally,

WE ARE TO HUMBLY AND RESPECTIVELY COME BEFORE GOD WHO KNOWS WHAT WE NEED

To see this let us read the following excerpt from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount concerning our attitude in prayer.

Matthew 6:5-6

""[5] And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. [6] But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

In other words, we are not to pray in such a way as to draw attention to ourselves or to impress our fellow man. We are to humbly and respectfully enter into the Throne Room and present our requests to God the Father believing He will hear and reward us in accordance with His will.

In addition, we find that God is not interested in us coming to Him with vain, that is empty or not from the heart, repetitious prayer. No! What He desires is for us to confidently come before Him and express what is in our hearts. To see this, let us return to the Sermon on the Mount and read from,

Matthew 6:7-8

"[7] And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. [8] Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

In other words, Jesus is teaching us that God the Father knows what we need even before we come to Him. Thus, He does not wish for us to try to impress Him by cleverly constructed prayers, but to share our hearts with Him in our own words.

As we continue reading Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount we discover that Jesus also gave us a model for the type of prayer our Heavenly Father desires. It is commonly called,

THE LORD'S PRAYER

To read it let us go to,

Matthew 6:9-13

""[9] This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, [10] your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. [11] Give us today our daily bread. [12] Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. [13] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'"

To better understand the above example or model for prayer, we will examine or expand upon some of its key elements. Specifically, we will explore the fact that we are to:

1. Pray to Almighty God, our Father.

2. Pray for His Kingdom to come upon this earth.

3. Pray for His will to be done in our lives and others.

4. Ask for our daily needs.

5. Ask for His forgiveness.

6. Ask to not be led into temptation.

7. Ask to be delivered from the evil one.

Our Lord Jesus Christ begins by teaching us that we should begin our prayer as follows,

OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED, THAT IS HOLY AND SACRED, IS YOUR NAME

Here our Lord Jesus teaches us that we are to pray to our Father in Heaven. Then, to deter us from entering into prayer in a casual or offensive manner, our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us that we are to recognize and address our Father in a manner worthy of Him. To help us do this and better comprehend who our Father is and to Whom we are praying, let us explore the fact that our God is: (1) all powerful, (2) sovereign, (3) faithful to His Word, (4) unsearchable, (5) omnipresent, (6) omniscient, (7) long suffering and (8) more loving than we can imagine.

We begin by exploring the fact that,

Our Father is all Powerful and Created All Things

This truth is beautifully expressed in,

Psalm 33:6-9

"[6] By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. [7] He gathers the waters of the sea into jars ; he puts the deep into storehouses. [8] Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere him. [9] For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm."

In addition to being all powerful and creator of all things, we find that,

God is Sovereign

To illustrate His sovereignty let us read from the following Psalm,

Psalm 103:19

"[19] The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all."

We also find that our God is not fickle, for the Bible teaches us that,

God is Faithful

When God promises something, He does it. This attribute of God is clearly revealed during the time when the false prophet, Balaam, explained to King Balak, that even though he desired to curse Israel, God would not change His mind about blessing them. Let us consider what Balaam said to the king.

Numbers 23:18-19

"[18] Then he uttered his oracle: "Arise, Balak, and listen; hear me, son of Zippor. [19] God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?"

As we read the Bible further, we also come to realize that in addition to being all powerful, the creator of all things, sovereign and faithful to His Word,

God is Also Unsearchable

In other words, some of His ways and actions are not for us to know. To see this let us read what Moses once said to the people of Israel.

Deuteronomy 29:29

"[29] The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law."

The Bible also reveals to us that God’s greatness is beyond our comprehension. For example let us read from

Psalm 145:3

"[3] Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom."

The Holy Scriptures teach us that

God is Omnipresent

In other words, God is everywhere. To see this, let us read what the Holy Spirit through Paul said to the men of Athens. The Apostle Paul spoke these words after he saw all the idols the people of Athens were worshipping.

Acts 17:24-28

""[24] The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. [25] And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. [26] From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. [27] God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. [28] 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'"

In verse 28 we discover that it is in Him we live, move and have our being. In other words, He is everywhere. Thus, we can not hide from our Lord. For another way to see let us this read the following observation by King David,

Psalm 139:7-12

"[7] Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? [8] If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. [9] If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, [10] even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. [11] If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," [12] even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you."

In addition to being omnipresent,

God is Omniscient

In other words, our God and Father is all knowing. To see this, let us return to the Psalms and read from,

Psalm 147:4-5

"[4] He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. [5] Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit."

And now let us read from,

Proverbs 5:21

"[21] For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths."

In addition to all of our God’s majesty, power and magnificence, we also discover that, because of His compassion,

God is Long Suffering

To see this, let us read the prayer the prophet Nehemiah once said concerning the disobedience of Israel and God’s long suffering over them. As you read this prayer, try to hear how much God suffered over the disobedience of His people while He watched them waste away their lives.

Nehemiah 9:28-31

""[28] But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time. [29] "You warned them to return to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, by which a man will live if he obeys them. Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. [30] For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you admonished them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you handed them over to the neighboring peoples. [31] But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God."

In other words, throughout the Scriptures we learn that,

God Loves Us More Than We Can Ever Imagine

There is no better testimony of God’s love for us than the fact that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to save us from our sins and give us eternal life with Him.

John 3:16-17

""[16] For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

Summary

As we discovered in previous studies, we, a born again believer, a child of God, with the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, find the following to be true,

Romans 8:15

"[15] For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father.""

And so we can pray,

Matthew 6:9

" [9] …. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,"

After teaching us that our prayers should be addressed to our Father in Heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us that we should express to Him our desire for His Kingdom to come upon this earth. Thus, we are to pray,

YOUR KINGDOM COME

To help us to understand this portion of our Lord's prayer, let us recall in previous studies we discovered that even though the born again believers are citizens of Heaven (Philippians 3:20) the rest of the world remains under the influence and dominion of the evil one. To refresh our memories, let us read from,

1 John 5:19

[19] We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one."

If there is any doubt about the truth of the above Scripture, consider all the suffering, sin, corruption and misery that is within this world. This clearly is not what God has in mind for His people. Consequently, we who have their citizenship in Heaven find ourselves living in what could be considered as enemy territory. Thus, our Lord asks us to pray for His return to earth, the resurrection of the dead and the restoration of His Kingdom.

Now when our prayer is answered and Jesus returns, we, the children of God, those that belong to Him will have attained the goal of our faith. Specifically, we will be given our new bodies and will spend eternity with our Lord and God in a place that is called the New Jerusalem. To read what it will be like in those days let us read from,

Revelation 21:1-5

"[1] Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. [2] I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. [3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. [4] He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." [5] He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.""

And so our prayer becomes,

Matthew 6:9-10

"[9] Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, [10] your kingdom come, ..."

The next instruction our Lord Jesus Christ gives is that we are to pray and ask for,

GOD’S WILL BE DONE

Here Jesus is teaching us that our prayers and desires should be for God's will, not ours, be done as it is in Heaven. As one contemplates this instruction one is left with the question of, “Can we know God’s will or desires?” The answer to this question is twofold.

First, we come to know His will by spending time with God through the reading of His Word, which is the Bible. It is through His Word, the Bible, that God reveals His desires, commands and concerns for us. Thus, as we quietly spend time with Him, allowing Him to teach us and speak to us through His Word, we come to know Him and His ways.

Secondly, we also come to know Him and His will by the Holy Spirit, Who lives within us. To see these truths let us read the parable of the vine,

John 15:1-8

""[1] I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. [2] He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. [3] You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. [4] Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. [5] "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. [6] If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. [7] If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. [8] This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

For this particular study, let us notice the following verses,

4-5 … In other words, as long as the branch of a vine remains in the vine, the sap of the vine will flow through it to bring forth the vine’s fruit. Thus, it is with us. As we, the branches remain in Jesus; the Holy Spirit will flow through us to bring forth His fruit. Note that without Jesus we can do nothing of “eternal value.”

7 … Here our Lord expands upon the parable a bit and tells us that not only are we to abide in Him but His Words are also to abide in us. Notice, if we abide in Him, that is follow His commands (1 John 3:24) and His Words abide in us, that is we know and follow His Word, then, we can ask whatever we wish and it will be given us.

As one contemplates the above parable, we come to realize that through the knowledge of the Bible, that is His Word abiding in us, we come to a better understanding of God and His will and desires. In addition, as we spend time reading the Bible we will find many prayers given by God's people that can be used as models for our situation. Consequently, we are in a much better position to pray in accordance with His will. Then, when we do pray in His will, Jesus promises us that we will receive what we ask for. To refresh our memories of this truth let us reread,

1 John 5:14-15

However, there will be times when it is not clear what God's will is for a particular situation. Thus, we will be unsure of what to pray for. During these times the Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit, living within us, will intercede for us with groans that words cannot express. To see this, let us read from,

Romans 8:26

"[26] … the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."

In reflecting upon the above, one might ask, “What is the consequence if we do not pray or desire for His will to be done?” One of the consequences of praying for our own desires or wants is that often times, in His Mercy, He will not grant our request. Consider the following Scripture,

James 4:3

"[3] When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."

The reason God will not answer us during these times of self indulgence is because in His Mercy, Love and Concern for us, He knows what we want or asked for is not in our best interest. However, if we continue to keep asking for things to satisfy our own interests, the most fearful consequence is that He just might grant us our request. An example of this occurred when Israel, wanting to be like all the other nations, demanded that God give them a human king. Since God was and is their King, this request was clearly not God’s will for them. However, to teach them and us a lesson, He granted their request. To see this, let us begin our reading at the time when the nation of Israel asked the prophet Samuel to appoint a king over them.

1 Samuel 8:4-5

"[4] So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. [5] They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.""

Being distressed over this request, Samuel consulted the Lord,

1 Samuel 8:6-9

"[6] But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. [7] And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. [8] As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. [9] Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.""

In the next set of verses, 1 Samuel 8: 10-18, God told Samuel to tell Israel that if a human king is appointed over them, he and his successors will ultimately oppress and enslave them. Being an obedient prophet, Samuel told them all what God had to say. Let us now read how the people responded,

1 Samuel 8:19-22

"[19] But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. [20] Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles." [21] When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. [22] The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king." Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Everyone go back to his town.""

As we continue to read the Old Testament we find that not only did the majority of the kings of Israel oppress and enslave the people, but they also led the nation into sin and idolatry. So terrible was this sin, that eventually to bring Israel to their senses, God, through King Nebuchadnezzar, sent the Babylonian army to destroy Jerusalem and carry the inhabitants away to Babylon. It is noted that after 70 years of captivity the people of Israel returned to their land, rebuilt the Temple, the city of Jerusalem and restored their worship of Him.

The message of all this is that God, Who created us, knows what is best for us. He, contrary to our own egos, knows what we need and what will harm us.

Thus, the model for our prayer now becomes,

Matthew 6:9-10

"[9] Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, [10] your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

In the next verse of our Lord's Prayer, that is Matthew 6:11, Jesus teaches us that we should,

ASK GOD TO PROVIDE US OUR DAILY NEEDS

We do this by asking Him to provide us our daily portion of food. It is noted that He does not instruct us to pray for riches, material prosperity or worldly status or power. In other words, Jesus instructs us to pray in a manner consistent with what is written in the following set of Proverbs.

Proverbs 30:7-9

"[7] Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: [8] Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. [9] Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God."

Hence, our prayer now takes on the following form,

Matthew 6:9-11

"[9] Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, [10] your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. [11] Give us today our daily bread."

After teaching us to pray for our daily needs, Jesus then teaches us to,

ASK FOR FORGIVENESS

Let us carefully read exactly how our Lord phrases the request we should make. It is given in,

Matthew 6:12

"[12] Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors."

Notice the condition! I cannot tell you how many times I have repeated this verse and never realized what I was saying; until Jesus related it to what He said in,

Matthew 6:14-15

"[14] For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. [15] But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

To further illustrate the significance and importance of this issue, let us read the parable of the unmerciful servant,

Matthew 18:21-35

"[21] Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" [22] Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. [23] "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. [24] As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. [25] Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. [26] "The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' [27] The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. [28] "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. [29] "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' [30] "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. [31] When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. [32] "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. [33] Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' [34] In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. [35] "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.""

Pretty sobering, isn’t it? With this in mind, let us now return to our prayer and read the form it has now taken on,

Matthew 6:9-12

"[9] Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, [10] your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. [11] Give us today our daily bread. [12] Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors."

Continuing in Jesus' instruction about prayer, we find that He also teaches us we should,

ASK GOD THE FATHER TO NOT LEAD US INTO TEMPTATION

As we read the Scriptures we know this is not a request for God to not tempt us to enter into sin. We know this because the Bible teaches us that God will never tempt us to sin. This is clearly taught in,

James 1: 13-15

[13] Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. [14] But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. [15] Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

However, this is a petition to ask God to keep Satan away from us. The Bible teaches us that in order to afflict or attack God’s people Satan must ask God for permission.

God does hear our prayers and many times He does prevent the evil one from afflicting us. An example of this is when King Hezekiah sent his representatives to God’s prophet Isaiah to ask God to prevent the Assyrian King Sennacherib, an enemy of God’s people, from attacking Jerusalem. God’s response to Isaiah is recorded in,

2 Kings 19:5-7

"[5] When King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah, [6] Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard--those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. [7] Listen! I am going to put such a spirit in him that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.'""

In 2 Chronicles we read how God miraculously fulfilled His Word to Isaiah and spared Jerusalem from the Assyrian attack.

However, there may be times when God will, for our benefit and/or His glory, give Satan permission to afflict us. To see this let us explore: (1) the interchange that occurred in Heaven relative to the fate of Job and (2) Jesus’ conversation with Simon (Peter) just prior to Jesus’ arrest.

The Fate of Job

The conversation between God and Satan relative to the fate of Job is recorded in,

Job 1:6-12

"[6] One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. [7] The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." [8] Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." [9] "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. [10] "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. [11] But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face." [12] The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD."

Let us notice the following verses,

8 … God considered Job to be a blameless and upright man. In fact, one gets the idea from this verse that God was quite proud of Job.

9-10 … Satan suggested to God that the reason Job is so good is because He blessed him and placed a hedge around him and his household. In other words, Satan suggested to God that the only reason Job is faithful is because He gave him a good and prosperous life.

11 … Satan now suggested to God that if He, God, would allow hardship and terrible times come to Job, then Job would curse Him.

12 … Notice that God placed a limitation on what Satan could do. It is the same with us, the Bible tells us that we would not be tempted or tried beyond that which we are able to handle, see 1 Corinthians 10:13.

As we read the book of Job, we find that horrible times had fallen upon him. However, in all of Job’s troubles and distress he never once cursed God. His whole attitude can be described as follows:

Job 1:21

" … "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.""

As we continue to read about the trials and tribulations of Job, we find that God ultimately halted Satan’s attack upon Job and restored His blessings upon him. In fact, at the end God blessed Job much, much more than what He did prior to his ordeal.

We must be careful to not interpret the blessings of Job to imply that if the born again believer remains faithful to God they can expect to receive worldly blessings such as wealth, social status and power. No! In the Old Testament, God used physical things to teach us spiritual truths. Thus, in this case God used the worldly blessings He bestowed upon Job for his faithfulness to teach us about the eternal spiritual blessings that await us for our faithfulness.

For our next example let us explore,

Jesus' Conversation with Peter

Just prior to Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, Jesus prepared Simon, who is Peter, for the trial that he (Simon) was about to go through. This conversation is recorded in,

Luke 22:31-32

""[31] Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. [32] But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.""

Let us notice the following verses,

31 … As he did for Job, Satan asked permission to sift Peter like wheat.

32(a) … Jesus told Peter that He asked the Father to not allow Peter’s faith to fail. Notice, Jesus did not ask God the Father to prevent Satan’s sifting.

32(b) … This part of Jesus’ conversation with Peter gives us a clue as to why there may be times God will allow us to go through hard times. Specifically, this attack that Peter was going to go through was allowed so that Peter’s faith would be strengthened and purified. Thus, God was using the hatred of Satan for the benefit of Peter. Consequently, Jesus told Peter that when he, Peter, recovers from the attack and returns to Jesus, he should go and strengthen the rest of the believers.

There are times when we too may find ourselves under trials and tribulations. When this happens, let us first remember that as Jesus prayed for Peter, He is also interceding for us,

Romans 8:34

"[34] … Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us."

Secondly, we must remember that, as was the case with Job and Peter, trials and tribulations come to prove or test our faith to be genuine. To see this, let us read the following words of encouragement in,

1 Peter 1:3-7

"[3] Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, [4] and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, [5] who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. [6] In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. [7] These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."

As we continue to read the Gospel according to Luke, we find that Satan did sift Peter like wheat. In fact, Satan’s influence upon Peter was so strong that Peter denied Jesus three times. We also find that just as Jesus foretold, Peter recovered and from that time on Peter became a faithful apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ. However, the greatest blessing Peter inherited was the promise of eternal life with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Thus, our prayer now becomes,

Matthew 6:9-13(a)

""[9] … Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, [10] your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. [11] Give us today our daily bread. [12] Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. [13] And lead us not into temptation ...'"

Now just as it was with Job, Peter, Paul, there may be times when persecution and/or affliction do befall us. As we found in previous studies these attacks cannot be fought off in our own human strength. Thus, in the last portion of our Lord's Prayer, Jesus teaches us to,

ASK GOD THE FATHER FOR DELIVERANCE FROM THE EVIL ONE

The attacks we are seeking deliverance from come to us in two forms: (1) Satanic attacks of persecution and trials and (2) temptations to enter into sin.

The Times of Persecution or Affliction

A good example of praying during an attack of persecution or affliction comes to us through the Apostle Paul. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul describes how he asked God to deliver him from a messenger of Satan. To read it, let us go to,

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

"[7] To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. [8] Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. [9] But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. [10] That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Let us notice the following verses,

7 … The purpose of the attack was to prevent Paul from becoming conceited or spiritually proud. Also notice the torment came from Satan.

8 … Three times Paul pleaded with God to have it removed.

9(a) … Unlike with Job and Peter, this thorn was not to be a temporary condition. Thus, for the rest of his earthly life Paul had to contend with persecutions and afflictions. In this case, God was actually using the evil of Satan to prevent Paul from sinning. Many times this is how God keeps us humble and close to Him.

9(b)-10 … After Paul received God's answer to his prayer he realized that the afflictions were for his eternal good. Thus, not only did Paul stop praying for the removal of his afflictions, but gratefully accepted them.

The Times of Temptation to Sin

On the other hand, when the evil one or the tempter comes around for the purpose of enticing us to gratify the lust of our flesh or our eyes or to boast of what we have or accomplished (see 1 John 2:15-16 and Matthew 4:1-11), we know it is God’s will for us to not yield to these types of temptations. As we saw in our previous study, to receive deliverance from these types of attacks we are to follow God’s defensive plan as provided in,

James 4:7

"[7] Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

To refresh our memories of what we covered in our previous study, let us notice:

1 … We are to submit to God. In other words, we are to pray and ask for deliverance.

2 … We are to resist. Specifically, we are to stand in the armor and strength of our Lord (Ephesians 6: 10-18) and not give in to the temptation.

3 … Then, the devil or evil one will flee.

CLOSING

Now, with all we have covered in mind, let us return once more and close this study by reading our Lord's Prayer,

Matthew 6:9-13

Blessed be the Lord forever!

AMEN and AMEN