LESSION ESSENTIALS
CHRISTIAN DISCIPLINES
LESSON 1: PRAYER
How often should one pray? Once or twice a day? Read on to find out what the Bible says about the
frequency of prayer. Prayer is a powerful tool for transformation. This lesson shows you how prayer can
transform your life and also impact the world.
From the day God created human beings, He provided us with a direct means of communication with
Him: prayer. This lesson looks at the important role of prayer in a life of following Christ.
“…I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will
sing with my mind also.” 1 Corinthians 14:15 Prayer is not just something spiritual; it involves our heart,
mind, and soul, too.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 encourages us to “pray without ceasing”. God is waiting to hear from us and he
never gets tired of listening to us.
There is something so reassuring about being able to run to a loving, protective parent and to share your
thoughts and feelings, knowing that parent will understand, and even intervene when necessary. Our
Heavenly Father has given us this very opportunity though prayer. Many of us lose out on this
opportunity because we have many misconceptions about prayer. Prayer is not reciting a formal
sounding report filled with difficult words, ancient phrases we would never use in regular speech, and an
‘amen’ at the end. Prayer is simply talking to God. Prayer is communicating our feelings, wants, and
needs to God, so that we can build a relationship with Him. True prayer is conversational and comes
from the heart. 1 Corinthians 14:15 says “...I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I
will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.” Prayer is not merely a religious ritual; it
involves our mind and spirit and our body. Prayer is an effective, real conversation with the Living God –
an intimate dialogue with our loving Father. Although prayer is conversational, it usually consists of four
aspects: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication (you can remember those aspects with
the acronym A.C.T.S.) When Jesus taught us to pray, He taught us that we should first praise God for who
He is and what He has done for us. This is adoration. We should then offer thanksgiving by thanking Him
for our lives, and for blessing us with all that we have. After that, we ask God to show us our sins, confess
and repent for them. We also pray that God will keep us away from evil. Only after that do we move to
supplication, which is presenting our needs to God. We should never forget that though God is our
Father and friend, He is still the Almighty Creator and we should approach Him with respect and
reverence. God is holy and we can approach Him only through Jesus Christ whose sacrifice washed away
our sins. When we pray, we should pray to God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. Since Prayer is an
act not only of fellowship but also of reverence, we should humble ourselves before the Almighty God in
our posture, too. You may personally find it best to kneel, or maybe you prefer to sit or stand while you
pray. However, we shouldn’t kneel just because you feel that you are ‘supposed to:’ your posture
should be a reflection of your heart attitude because God doesn’t look at your outward appearances;
rather, He looks at your heart. While God is really looking for the intention and purpose of our prayers,
we often get stuck with the superficial details. People wonder whether they should pray aloud or silently.
We can pray loudly and softly, or even silently, in our mind. But usually, when we pray in groups, we pray
loudly so the others can hear, and agree with what we are praying for. Another frequently asked question
is: how often should we pray? There is no standard formula to how many times you should talk to God
just like no one can tell you how often you should speak to a good friend. You may have witnessed young
people spending hours in conversation even after spending all day together in school. There might be
absolutely nothing important to talk about but young people love to share every moment and every
boring detail of their lives with each other. The Bible tells us something similar about prayer: 1
Thessalonians 5:17 encourages us to “pray without ceasing.” God is waiting to hear from us and he never
gets tired of listening to us. God is glorified through our prayers. In John 14:13, Jesus says, “Whatever
you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” This is very important to
us as followers of Christ, because now that we are identified with Christ, our first purpose in this world is
to glorify God. Prayer brings victory in our lives, too. Jesus commanded us in Matthew 26:41 to “watch
and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." God
knew our vulnerability to sin and that only a strong relationship with Him could keep us from the
temptations of the devil. Prayer therefore protects us from the attacks of the evil one and gives us
victory over sin. Prayer is a significant agent of change. It unleashes the power of God to impact the
world. A simple prayer can rewrite history. (James 5:16) God tells us in His Word that When Hannah
prayed God blessed her not only with a son, Samuel, but blessed Israel also with a mighty prophet who
mentored the first two kings of Israel, Saul and David. When Esther prayed God not only saved her own
life when she approached the King but also paved a way to protect all Jews from being exterminated.
Today, when the world seems to be swayed by the power and riches of the corrupt may we find strength
in an observation made by the English Poet William Cowper: "Satan trembles when he sees the weakest
Christian on his knees.
LOOKING DEEPER Examine the following verses to see what the Bible has to say about prayer: Mark
11:24 Philippians 4:6-7 1 John 5:14-15 James 1:6 Romans 8:26 Prayer is a significant agent of change. It
unleashes the power of God to impact the world. A simple prayer can rewrite history.
IN REVIEW Prayer is the act of talking to God. We can pray about anything. We should pray to God the
Father in the Name of Jesus Christ with the Help of the Holy Spirit. We can either pray silently or loudly,
and our posture does not matter. What matters is if our heart is right with God. Prayer is important
because God commanded us to pray and it develops a relationship between us and God. Prayer is
important because it unleashes God’s power to bring about change in this world.
HAVE YOUR SAY
The Bible is filled with instances where Jesus prayed. If
Jesus was God Himself, what was He trying to show us by
praying?
Is praying without ceasing possible? How would you
implement this in your life?
Can you recall instances where prayer has changed your
own life or impacted people you know?
