Bible Discussion Thread

Communicating with God:

Point 2: Conclusion. As with anything else we want to make our requests known to God ( Philippians 4:6). As far as personal requests go; of course God knows our needs before we ask so we can be as specific as needed to attempt to request what is in accordance with His will.

I started going through prayers from the beginning of scripture and got as far as Gideon's prayers. Hopefully I'll continue where I left off if it helpful to others. I should have noted that almost all if not all the prayers I have examined so far are for the benefit of others. Abraham prayed for Lot (at least prayer in terms of speaking with the Lord directly before the angels scouted out Sodom); and Isaac was found a wife and the prayers of Abraham's servant in the process were demonstrated. Later on we see Hannah's prayers for a son which were answered in due course. Later on in Psalms and prayers of David in particular we see personal requests in the anguish of persecution and also due to sin that resulted in collateral damage of misery . I think what we can take away here is that for the blessings and good things of this life it is prudent to focus on needs of others first. It is also helpful when we desire something for ourselves to have a brother or sister be a support so that when two or more pray together we can know the Lord is involved and present ( Matt. 18:20). That is of course important for us when we are struggling with sin as well; although such intercession seems to be foreign in the Old Testament prayers as it seems the Spirit wasn't working in the same capacity in that regard as it does today in the Church era. Perhaps Esther's prayers along with fasting to the king to save her people or Daniel's request to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:27 was after prayer as mentioning turning from sin could have brought ire upon Daniel for insinuating such a thing to royalty.

Prayer should be as specific as needed; but open to His direction.

Hello again, Richard,

pt. 2

When we consider the long-suffering of God concerning the sinfulness of each and every human being born, (Jesus being excepted because He was sinless and was God in the flesh). for 4+millenia from Adam to Jesus and for 2000 years since Jesus's self sacrifice for us, persisting in prayer helps us to understand better not only His righteous offense at our sin against Him, and the intense, supernatural suffering and anguish Jesus bore for us on the cross; but also, the Father's grief over His Son and His compassion and mercy towards us. He did not spare His only begotten Son nor did He make His wrath light on His Son, but Jesus took all the wrath of God for sinners chosen to become redeemed children of God. In our persistence in prayer, we can learn how to wait long for the answer God will bring to our prayers. We can know the pain of seeing those we love suffer, reject or resist God, or be under intense attack of the devil. We grieve in prayer but at the same time, rejoice in the hope we have in God and His intention to bless and deliver those we pray for in whatever way is needed.

Richard, thanks for posting on this topic of communicating with God. He loves it when we turn our thoughts, hearts, and will to Him in prayer and He loves to answer our prayers because of the work and merit of His Son, Jesus Christ.