Prayer is a mysterious thing, is it not? Praying: I come to God through my spirit, with my soul speaking from my mind and heart. The Bible says God hears and responds to the prayers of His people.
Prayer “works” because God is gracious and forgiving and asks us to come into His presence. If we are in His presence, we can ask anything within His will and He will grant us our request.
Matthew 7:7 Amplified Bible (AMP)
“Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you;
seek and keep on seeking and you will find;
knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you.
John 14:12-15 Amplified Bible (AMP)
12 I assure you and most solemnly say to you, anyone who believes in Me [as Savior] will also do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these [in extent and outreach], because I am going to the Father.
13 And I will do whatever you ask in My name [[b]as My representative], this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified and celebrated in the Son.
14 If you ask Me anything in My name [as My representative], I will do it. 15 “If you [really] love Me, you will keep and obey My commandments.
This one passage alone, in Hebrews 10, explains a whole lot about prayer:
Hebrews 10:14-25 Amplified Bible (AMP)
(Full text is provided at bottom of this page.)
Let’s break it down into what-all it is saying. All the following points are extracted from what the verse of the Hebrews passage states, and the supporting verses are quoted (and indented):
a. The Basis of Prayer. God, and only God, makes us worthy of coming into His presence. We are made perfect in Him: “perfected forever and completely cleansed“.
14 For by the one offering He has perfected forever and completely cleansed those who are being sanctified [bringing each believer to spiritual completion and maturity]. 15 And the Holy Spirit also adds His testimony to us [in confirmation of this]; for after having said,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them
After those days, says the Lord:
I will imprint My laws upon their heart,
And on their mind I will inscribe them [producing an inward change],”
He then says,
17 “And their sins and their lawless acts
I will remember no more [no longer holding their sins against them].”
18 Now where there is [absolute] forgiveness and complete cancellation of the penalty of these things, there is no longer any offering [to be made to atone] for sin.
b. The Reality of Incompleteness on Earth. Though “perfected forever and completely cleansed“, and thus born again into a forever state of being His child, we are still incomplete. For as long as I walk this earth… I will be incomplete. I will at times fail to live at my highest level. I will sin. I may even get into a long slump.
My life ambition, since the day He saved my soul – has always been to be faithful to my Lord Jesus Christ. But, “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And I have sinned. That is the reality of my incompleteness.
Every believer is still being worked-on by the Spirit of God who has taken-up residence in our body. This process goes on throughout our whole life on earth — a constant renewing process where we “are being sanctified”. This is a constant non-stop work of God in us. He is “[bringing each believer to spiritual completion and maturity]” (v.14).
Philippians 1:6 Amplified Bible (AMP)
6 I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return].
We are not perfect in action, yet. Later we’ll be sinless, yes, but now – not so much. “Positionally” we are legally perfect in His justice system, constantly ready —for standing before Him on That Day (verse 18). Hallelujah! But we are incomplete here on earth until we are given a new body in heaven.
14 For by the one offering He has perfected forever and completely cleansed those who are being sanctified [bringing each believer to spiritual completion and maturity].
My daily experience of sin jumps-out in all kinds of ways, every day. That is the reality of my incompleteness. As they say, “Please be patient with me! God is not finished with me yet!” It’s hard to do — be patient with sinners around us!
Jack says:
I was riding your tail so you just cut me off!
You almost dented my car!
And I just flipped-you-off!
So now we’re both finding it hard to be patient!
Jane says:
You were going slower than a cow
on a narrow mountain road
blissfully unaware of my wanting to pass you
— now THAT pushes me into my incompleteness!
Thank God He does not reject me for my sinfulness. He continues to hone and burnish and shape me. He is not finished with me yet! There are still sins which easily beset me. How about you? But it is always reassuring to remember that He is slowly but surely bringing me into more and more “spiritual completion and maturity” (v14), day by day, lesson by lesson.
Hebrews 12:1 Amplified Bible (AMP)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of [a]witnesses [who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s absolute faithfulness], stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us.
1 Peter 5:verse 10
…the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
c. Our Confidence and Freedom to Pray.
The true believer has total access to God through personal prayer. It always is totally astounding to me: I can enter into the very presence of God Himself – through prayer. The prayer of a born again believer is a “new and living way which He initiated and opened for us” (v.20).
19 Therefore, [a]believers, since we have confidence and full freedom to enter the Holy Place [the place where God dwells] by [means of] the blood of Jesus, 20 by this new and living way which He initiated and opened for us through the veil [as in the Holy of Holies], that is, through His flesh, 21 and since we have a great and wonderful Priest [Who rules] over the house of God, 22 let us approach [God]…
Jesus is our Great High Priest who intercedes on our behalf. He is the only mediator between God and man. He is the reason we can come confidently into the presence of our Abba Father.
d. Approach God in sincerity and truth – with a heart cleaned and washed pure.
You can go ahead and wing it, pray-away all you want. The world is full of praying peoples. But I want to pray effective prayer.
I practice “spiritual breathing” prayer: I breathe out with confession of sin, and I breathe in the freshness of His forgiveness and the power of His Holy Spirit.
How I pray.
As a child of the King, I humble myself before Him, my God, my Father, and I sincerely confess that I am a sinner in need of His cleansing, with transparent truth I name what I can and claim His forgiveness. Then I can only sing and dance in my spirit because of the overwhelming grace He has proclaimed over me. I worship Him, my Savior. I celebrate eternal life in Christ – already begun here.
Then I open up with my cares and fears and petitions, asking Him to intervene on my behalf, on behalf of others…. I pray with confidence that I am praying within His will – because I claim His many promises already promised in the Bible. I can read them and then claim them.
Whatever doubts inside me, I tell Him. Whatever I am struggling with, I tell Him. I confess my lack of faith, and I ask for more faith. And more of Him, less of me.
And I ask Him to fill me anew by His Spirit, that I may “walk in newness of life” this day. I want “the favor of God” upon my life.
Spiritual Favor – Luke 2:40
Source: God Is My Refuge and Strength
In all we do, we want to have the favor of God on us. That is how Jesus grew up:
And the Child continued to grow and become strong [in spirit], filled with wisdom; and the grace (favor, spiritual blessing) of God was upon Him.
Source: God Is My Refuge and Strength
Upon entering the house.
When Jane walks in the garden, picks-out fresh eggs from her chicken coop, and pulls-out some carrots from the dirt, then pets her dirt-covered pig in it’s muddy pigsty… she needs to remove her shoes before entering the house and wash her hands, right? She is the child of the farmer, for sure, but she needs to get clean and wash with pure water — before approaching the dinner table. -Fictional illustration
Purify our spiritual state.
As with “Jane”, the same is true of our daily spiritual state. So the writer of Hebrews says we need to purify our spiritual state as we enter into His Courts through prayer. It only takes a moment of truth and sincerity:
22 let us approach [God] with a true and sincere heart in unqualified assurance of faith, having had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us seize and hold tightly the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is reliable and trustworthy and faithful [to His word];
Psalm 51 is a great psalm to read (and memorize!), helping us to pray. It shows us how important it is to come to God with a clean heart. Do you really want to come to God – keeping your sin?
The beginning of prayer is the purifying of our spirit: Psalm 51 verses 1-4:
Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness and guilt
And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them;
My sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned
And done that which is evil in Your sight,
Believers do not pray for salvation. No need! We are already redeemed! But we pray for cleansing, so we can be welcomed into His Holy Presence through prayer. Psalm 51 verses 6-9:
6 Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part [of my heart] You will make me know wisdom.
7 Purify me with [a]hyssop, and I will be clean;
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness and be satisfied;
Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
The whole point of repentance as believers is that we maintain a clean heart, sprinkled and washed – so we can be constantly in His presence, moment to moment. Psalm 51 verses 10-12:
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right and steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
Then, Hebrews tells us, we will have more of a mind to think of others, actually love others, and really do for others:
24 and let us consider [thoughtfully] how we may encourage one another to love and to do good deeds, 25 not forsaking our meeting together [as believers for worship and instruction], as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more [faithfully] as you see the day [of Christ’s return] approaching.
On this planet right here, there is never any sin big enough that can keep us from being cleansed by God. Do not listen to the fiery darts of doubts. Confess your sins and be clean.
“…We have confidence
and full freedom
to enter the Holy Place”!
Why not be there more.
Isn’t that THE BEST PLACE to be?
23 Let us seize and hold tightly
the confession of our hope
without wavering,
for He who promised
is reliable and trustworthy
and faithful [to His word];
FOR MORE:
1 Peter 5:6-11
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 [d]But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your [e]brethren who are in the world. 10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. 11 To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 5:6-7 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. “…one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” 2 And He […]
God… and our prayers. The little verse of Psalm 66:18 teaches us a whole lot about God – and prayer. Just in this tiny verse we see: “If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear” Here it is – said in several different ways (versions): Psalm 66:18 Amplified Bible (AMP) If […]
Full text of passage:
Hebrews 10:14-25 Amplified Bible (AMP)
14 For by the one offering He has perfected forever and completely cleansed those who are being sanctified [bringing each believer to spiritual completion and maturity]. 15 And the Holy Spirit also adds His testimony to us [in confirmation of this]; for after having said,
16
“This is the covenant that I will make with them
After those days, says the Lord:
I will imprint My laws upon their heart,
And on their mind I will inscribe them [producing an inward change],”
He then says,
17
“And their sins and their lawless acts
I will remember no more [no longer holding their sins against them].”
18 Now where there is [absolute] forgiveness and complete cancellation of the penalty of these things, there is no longer any offering [to be made to atone] for sin.
19 Therefore, [a]believers, since we have confidence and full freedom to enter the Holy Place [the place where God dwells] by [means of] the blood of Jesus, 20 by this new and living way which He initiated and opened for us through the veil [as in the Holy of Holies], that is, through His flesh, 21 and since we have a great and wonderful Priest [Who rules] over the house of God,
22 let us approach [God] with a true and sincere heart in unqualified assurance of faith, having had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us seize and hold tightly the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is reliable and trustworthy and faithful [to His word];
24 and let us consider [thoughtfully] how we may encourage one another to love and to do good deeds, 25 not forsaking our meeting together [as believers for worship and instruction], as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more [faithfully] as you see the day [of Christ’s return] approaching.
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