TEST 1

The Doctrine of Prayer Robert R. McLaughlin

Eph 3:14-19

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

All verses are taken from the New American Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted.

All rights reserved. Robert R. McLaughlin Bible Ministries Copyright © 2008, 2009 Second Edition Printing The Doctrine of Prayer Introduction

Let’s begin this study of prayer with some introductory principles: The most obvious one is the fact you cannot con or deceive God in prayer. Remember that He knows all of your thoughts and nothing is hidden from Him. As Heb 4:13 says, And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things lie open and exposed before the eyes of Him with whom we have to answer. Many believers use prayer to try to get their own way, not God's way. And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him (1Jo 5:14-15).

Notice that knowledge of God and confidence in Him are both very important in prayer. People lack knowledge because of ignorance of Bible doctrine, and they lack confidence because of not understanding grace. Prayer must always be compatible with God's will and God's way, not our will and our way. You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain; so, you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures (James 4:2-3).

Prayer must recognize Who and What God is, not who and what we are. We are to draw near to God with adoration and thanksgiving because of Who and What He is. Additionally, prayer is not designed to get us out of trouble, but rather it is to express our helplessness, our humility, our total dependence on God, and our recognition of His grace and His mercy toward us. The Apostle Paul learned this in 2Co 12:8-9, when he prayed three times that the Lord would remove one of Satan's angels from troubling him, and the Lord would not answer the prayer. Instead, the Apostle Paul had to recall the doctrine he had previously learned to handle the situation. The answer is found in 2Co 12:9, And he had said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you.” Prayer is also a part of Christian service, and as such, effective prayer is a result of spiritual growth, and must comply with other doctrinal principles of Christian service.1 What is Prayer and How Do We Pray?

Introduction - The Doctrine of Prayer

Prayer is that function of the Royal priesthood whereby the Church-age believer has the access, and the privilege to present two categories of requests to God the Father.

1. Petitions: this is prayer for you.

2. Intercessory prayer: this is prayer for others.

Your prayers for others become a powerful and vital ministry. Without the right motivation and understanding of doctrine, prayer for yourself can often indicate failure to utilize the problem-solving devices. This is why spiritual growth is essential to effectively utilize prayer on behalf of yourself and others.

Remember that as a part of the equal privilege of election, the Church-age believer is a Royal priest. It is the unique function of the Royal priesthood, and the equal privilege and opportunity for every believer to have an effective ministry. The most effective service is invisible service such as prayer. In past dispensations, there were special priesthoods in which certain people functioned as priests. A priest is a person representing the human race (believers) to God. Any system of specialized priesthood in the Church-age is a false system.

All believers in the Church-age are Catholic priests, Catholic simply meaning universal not denominational. Therefore, you have the right to represent yourself before God the Father, in the name of the Son, and through the power of the Holy Spirit. You also have the right to spiritual privacy. God the Father receives our prayers through the Person of Jesus Christ, under the filling of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, prayer is communication with God for the expression of personal needs in petition and the function of intercession for others. Prayer is a weapon and is meant to be used offensively, not defensively, as in the prayer of “Oh God, Help!” Prayer is a system of thought, an area that Paul addressed to the Corinthians who had been deceived by Satan.

“But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what shall I profit you, unless I speak to you either by way of revelation or of knowledge or of prophecy or of teaching? Yet even lifeless things, either flute or harp, in producing a sound, if they do not produce a distinction in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute or on the harp? For if the bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle? So also you, unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. There are, perhaps, a great many kinds of languages in the world, and no kind is without meaning. If then I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be to the one who speaks a barbarian, and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to me. So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church. Therefore, let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. What is the outcome then? I shall pray with the spirit and I shall pray with the mind also; I shall sing with the spirit and I shall sing with the mind also.

Otherwise if you bless in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say the ‘Amen’ at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified. I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all; however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind, that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue. Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be babes, but in your thinking be mature.

In the Law it is written, ‘By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to Me,’ says the Lord. So, then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers, but to those who believe.” (1Co 14:6-20) Your system of thought will line up with divine viewpoint as you grow spiritually, and this is critical in prayer,

What is Prayer and How Do We Pray?

The Doctrine of Prayer

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” John 15:7.

Prayers should also be concise, to the point, avoiding needless repetition, and this requires concentration. The approach to prayer is a part of the Pre-designed Plan of God (PPOG = predesigned plan of God) of the Royal Family of God, and therefore it is to be a precise and correct procedure. This means that all prayer must be offered to God the Father, not to Jesus Christ or to the Holy Spirit. Any prayer offered directly to Christ is automatically cancelled, since it fails to follow God's procedure for prayer. This is illustrated by the model prayer for the disciples, “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name’” (Mat 6:9). The Lord Jesus Christ taught that all prayer must be offered to God the Father, not to Jesus Christ or to the Holy Spirit.

And it came about that while He was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” And He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come.’” (Luk 11:1-2) The apostles Paul and Peter also taught that all prayer must be offered to God the Father only.

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. (Eph 1:17) And if you address as Father the one who impartially judges according to each man's work, conduct yourselves in respect during the time of your stay upon earth; (1Pe 1:17) Prayer is to be in the name of, or through the Son, and in the enabling power (filling) of God the Holy Spirit. “And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” (John 14:13-14) All prayer must follow the precise correct procedure of the PPOG to be effective. This is why God the Father, the recipient of prayer, receives prayer from three sources in the Church-age.

1. From God the Son, He always lives to make intercession for them (Heb 7:25).

2. From God the Holy Spirit, But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; (Rom 8:26-27). God the Holy Spirit prays for you when you need help even when you don’t know you need help. He also prays for people who cannot pray for themselves. This is probably unique to the Church-age and related to the function of the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit on our behalf.

3. From Church-age believers as Royal priests. Let us be approaching the throne of grace with confidence that we may receive mercy and acquire grace with reference to seasonable help (Heb 4:16).

True confidence can only exist in prayer when the believer attains at least spiritual self-esteem, Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight (1Jo 3:21-22).

Prayer effectiveness is related to reaching spiritual self-esteem. Failure in prayer is related to no personal love for God, mental attitude sins, and lack of motivation and momentum in the PPOG.

If you offer prayer to God while in the state of grieving or quenching the Holy Spirit, your prayers will not be answered. This demonstrates the importance of the rebound technique (1Jo 1:9), the first and most basic of the problem-solving devices. Rebound is how we enter back into the PPOG for our lives.

Prayer and How Do We Pray?

The Doctrine of Prayer

Prayer is also related to the omniscience of God. It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear (Isa 65:24). God actually hears the prayer twice: Once in eternity past, and then again at the time of the prayer. Prayers, and their answers, were originally entered into the Divine decrees. This means that God knew and answered all your prayers in eternity past.

In fact, all answered prayer is part of your escrow blessings. There is a direct relationship between your prayer life and your invisible assets. Prayer is an invisible power directed toward invisible God in relationship to our invisible assets. Prayer is most effective when used by spiritual champions or invisible heroes, believers who have attained spiritual maturity. The more you grow in grace, the greater your spiritual growth, the greater your effectiveness in your prayer life. Effectiveness is not measured in terms of your eloquence when praying in public, but on the basis of your spiritual growth when praying in private. The power of prayer increases as the believer advances in the PPOG for the Church-age.