Part 1: How should you pray? For what should you pray?

The Bible has the answers, so we need to search it for them!

In Luke 11:1, one of Christ’s disciples declared, “Lord, teach us to pray….” The next three verses serve as a model prayer for the Jewish believers of Christ’s earthly ministry. Unfortunately, this “Our Father” Prayer (or its more developed form of Matthew 6:9-13) is so repetitiously uttered by modern-day Christendom, it is quite nauseating.

When considering the issue of prayer, we must remember to apply dispensational Bible study. The Holy Spirit tells us: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). We must never confuse ourselves with the nation Israel. We cannot pray the way God taught Israel to pray.

Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry was directed toward the nation Israel. The Lord Jesus Himself said, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24). The Apostle Paul affirmed, “Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision [Israel] for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers” (Romans 15:8). Whatever Jesus taught and spoke in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, that was God’s message to the nation Israel, not His Word to us. Today, in this the Dispensation of Grace, Israel’s program is temporarily suspended. We are not Jews, and we are not living in Israel’s economy (Dispensation of Law), so we cannot follow Israel’s model prayer (commonly called “the Lord’s Prayer”).

The ascended Lord Jesus Christ saved Saul of Tarsus, and made him Paul, “the apostle of the Gentiles” (Acts 9:15,16; Romans 11:13; Romans 15:16; 2 Timothy 1:11). The ascended and glorified Lord Jesus Christ sent Paul to us, and Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me” (John 13:20). Paul is our apostle, and if we reject Paul, we reject Jesus Christ who sent Paul, and we reject God the Father. To reject Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, is to reject God’s message to us today as people living in the Dispensation of Grace.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 14:37: “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.” Oftentimes, most church members are never even taught this simple fact of Scripture! The true test of spirituality today is whether or not one agrees with what the Holy Ghost through Paul wrote.

A great error in Christendom today is praying one of two ways: praying vain, repetitious prayers like the pagan heathens did (Matthew 6:7) or praying like Israel was supposed to pray (Matthew 6:9-13).

Furthermore, prayer is not repeating memorized prayers, or reciting ditties from prayer books.

Religion has led us to believe that prayer is nothing more than, “God gimme ____.” Prayer should not be selfish. It is quite unfortunate that we are all guilty of talking to God when we need something, but giving Him the cold shoulder when everything is going okay for us.

If Paul is our apostle, and he is, then we should take note of how Paul prayed, and then by faith, pray for the same things for which he prayed. The Apostle Paul urges believers to “continue instant in prayer” (Romans 12:12), to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and to “pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18). In fact, one Christian in Colosse, Epaphras, “always laboured fervently [for other believers] in prayer” (Colossians 4:12). In 1 Thessalonians 1:2, the Apostle Paul writes “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;” In another place, Paul writes that he “prayed always for [believers]” (Colossians 1:3).

Surely, prayer was an integral part of Paul’s Christian life, it has always been an integral part of the lives of the saints down through the centuries, and it should be an integral part of our Christian lives today. According to the Scriptures, believers are to always be praying, day in and day out. But for what specific things should we be praying? We will address that question later on in this study.

First, we want to answer the question, “Exactly what is prayer?” Psalm 62:8 says: “Trust in him [God] at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah [Rest].” God is interested in you pouring out your heart before Him. Share with Him your worries and your thoughts.

• Prayer is you speaking to and fellowshipping with God in light of His Word to you. You do not necessarily have to kneel or close your eyes, for your physical posture is totally irrelevant. There is no need to go to a prayer closet, no need to cross your heart, and no need to pray in an unknown language.
• Prayer is you speaking to God in an intelligent, understandable manner. Paul wrote, “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also” (1 Corinthians 14:15). You do not have to pray out loud either! You can pray quietly in your heart (such as thinking or talking to yourself).

Pray with intelligence, not ignorance!

When the indwelling Holy Spirit takes the sound Biblical doctrine we have learned and believed, He uses it to transform our inner man (1 Thessalonians 2:13). As God’s Word works in us (Phil. 2:13), we see things the way God sees them, and “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). When we understand what God is doing today, then we will pray for what aligns with what God is doing.

If we do not rightly divide God’s Word, we do not know what God is doing today, which will render us unable to pray in accordance with God’s Word and God’s will today.

Here are some common areas of confusion in regards to prayer today. This confusion can be cleared up if we simply study God’s Word God’s way, and not force Israel’s doctrine into our program!

Should We Pray For Wealth?

Prosperity preachers today often quote Deuteronomy 8:18, “for it is [the LORD] that giveth thee power to get wealth.” Should we pray for material riches? Verses 14-16, which are intentionally overlooked, explain that this is God speaking to Israel, not to us. Israel was God’s earthly people, so obviously, He promised them earthly (material) blessings.

Ephesians 1:3 says that God has blessed us “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” and God has already supplied “all [our] need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19), so we have no reason to ask God for any more blessings. We, the Church “the Body of Christ,” are God’s heavenly people, so He has given us heavenly blessings. We are “complete in [Christ]” (Colossians 2:10). Read 1 Corinthians 1:30: “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:” And Romans 8:32: “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” The moment we trusted and relied on Jesus Christ alone for salvation, God instantly gave us everything He could give us!

Should We Pray For Forgiveness?

In 1 John 1:9, we read, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Matthew 6:12,14,15 affirms: “[12] And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. [14] For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: [15] But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

As a denominational Christian, I was taught in church to pray for forgiveness on a daily basis. Unless I asked for forgiveness, I thought God would not forgive me (as in the verses cited above). This was a failure on my part to rightly divide the word of truth because 1 John 1:9 was not written to me, it was written to Jews—lost, unsaved Jews at that! Matthew 6:9-13 was God’s model for the nation Israel, not for me.

God has forgiven us “all trespasses” because we are in Jesus Christ, and we need not ask for forgiveness. Paul wrote to us in Ephesians 4:32: “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” He also wrote in Colossians 1:14: “In [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:”

Should We Pray For Healing?

James 5:15, written to Israel, says “And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Paul prayed for physical healing three times, and every time God did not heal him. We are not in Israel’s healing program where signs, miracles, and wonders were needed to convince Israel (John 4:48; 1 Corinthians 1:22), so James 5:15 is not for us to follow! It is for Israel. If it was for us, why did Paul not urge Timothy and Trophimus to pray for healing (1 Timothy 5:23; 2 Timothy 4:20)? Instead, Timothy was urged to take medication for his often infirmities.

Thankfully, one day, God will heal every member of the Church the Body of Christ, and that will be at the rapture, when we receive glorified, resurrected bodies fashioned like unto Jesus Christ’s resurrected body (Romans 8:18-25; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 2 Corinthians 5:1-5; Philippians 3:20,21)! God’s grace is sufficient to help us endure suffering, and no matter what we face in life, we can grow spiritually even as these physical bodies grow sick and eventually die (2 Corinthians 4:16–5:5).

If you want the best two verses about prayer in this the Dispensation of Grace, they are;

Philippians 4:6-7: “[6] Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. [7] And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

The cares of this life can be overwhelming at times. Financial problems, illness, death of loved ones, and even the daily annoyances can weigh us down in discouragement and misery. We grow “careful,” becoming worrisome, anxious, and uneasy. God says, “be careful for nothing!” No matter what you are facing in life, be anxious for nothing.

If you are a member of the Church “the Body of Christ,” you have the indwelling Holy Spirit to comfort you, and guide you, and strengthen you with the Scriptures you study and believe. God will not deliver us from our problems, but we thank Him in prayer on a daily basis for giving us His wonderful grace and all those other provisions He has given us in Christ so that we can “bear” those “temptations” and problems.

1 Corinthians 10:13: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” When we look at life in this light, we have we take comfort in “the peace of God.”

As this point, we have hopefully cleared up some of the confusion that religion has caused concerning prayer. God is not interested in us reciting prayer books. He wants us to pour out our hearts before Him (Psalm 62:8). We should not be praying like God taught Israel to pray in time past. As members of the Church the Body of Christ, we need to pray with intelligence. Recall that praying with intelligence does not mean you need an IQ of 165. It means having an understanding of what God is doing today. When we “rightly divide the word of truth,” like 2 Timothy 2:15 states, we understand what God is doing in this Dispensation of Grace.

We need to “pray with Paul,” our apostle, God’s spokesman to us. When the Bible speaks of “praying in the [Holy] Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18; Jude 1:20), it means praying in accordance with God’s will, or what God the Holy Spirit is doing today in this the Dispensation of Grace. The Bible says that only Paul’s ministry focuses on what God is doing today. “God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3,4). God’s will today, in this the Dispensation of Grace, is for everyone to trust in His Son Jesus Christ for salvation, and for every Christian to grow to a spiritual maturity. As we now discuss Paul’s prayer life, notice how his prayers align with 1 Timothy 2:3,4.