“Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (Philippians 4:6) Prayer means many different things to many people. From communication and having a relationship with our creator to being submissive to his will and gain strength and power to fight this battle that we fight constantly, each and every single day. Although, to many people praying just means to communicate with God and have an intimate relationship with him; however, I know it means much more than that, and this is what prayer means to me.
Above all things that prayer is, it is communication with our Lord. “Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.” (Galatians 6:6) We must communicate with him that teaches us all good things, who is our teacher; Jesus. (John 3:2) Like all healthy relationships they strengthen and grow with communication. We learn more about the other person, their likes, dislike’s, and their personality. No relationship can last without communication, eventually and slowly the people will start to drift from each other, not continuing to learn about each other, and in the end the results could be very damaging to the relationship, if there is even one left. That is why we must communicate with God on a day to day basis, just like we would to our spouse. If we continue to communicate with God we will learn more about whom he is and what he wants from us. After all, we (the Church) are Jesus’ bride and he is our bridegroom, which is why we must have an intimate relationship with him through prayer. But how can we be his bride if we don’t continue to communicate with him? Could you imagine not talking to your fiancé/spouse? The result would not be pretty, to say the least.
In addition to communication, praying is a way of submission. The word pray comes from the Greek word, proseuchomai, which means: to pray to God, that is, supplicate, worship: - pray. Supplicate means to be humble. Don’t be arrogant or be full of pride, but be submissive and ready to serve the Lord. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14) God said that if we humble ourselves, pray, seek after his face and turn from our wicked ways that he will hear our prayers, that he will forgive our sins and heal us. “When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.” (Psalm 9:12) Also, because we humble ourselves towards him, and turn from our own ways with a sacrifice of dying to our flesh, that he will prepare our hearts so that he may change them for us. “LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:” (Psalm 10:17) Furthermore if we submit ourselves to God he will Strengthen us to fight the Devil. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)
Likewise to being submissive and being provided strength; through prayer we also receive strength and power.
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; (Ephesians 6:11-18)
In order to be able to able to put on the full armour of God we must be “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit”. If not then we won’t be able to receive our strength that we need to fight in this spiritual battle that we face day to day. As Paul wrote to the Church of Ephesus: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the ruler of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” We are dealing with a spiritual warfare, one that can only be won by God and his soldier’s. But without prayer we cannot be a soldier of Christ, and we cannot put on the full armour of God. Because without communication all hope is lost. Just like in a war the soldier must communicate with the commander to get direction, and to receive the necessary tools, and/or strategy on how to defeat the enemy.We must do the same with God.
In contrast to spiritual warfare and submission to God, prayer is worship. As I have stated earlier, the Greek definition for prayer is worship, and supplication. In the Old Testament in order to worship God they had a fixed way to do it, one of the steps of worship, before going into the Holy of Holies was to burn incense on the Altar of Incense to send up a sweet smell to God of our sacrifice for him. However in the New Testament we no longer have to follow the Tabernacle plan of worship, it is all symbolic to us. As a result, prayer is now our “Altar of Incense”. “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” (Psalm 141:2) Our prayers to God are like a sweet smell of incense to him. “But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.” (Philippians 4:18) Furthermore, because he is our Lord, our saviour, and our creator, he of all deserves and is worthy of our worship. “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.” (Psalm 95:6)
In short, prayer means many different things, but chiefly it means communication. That is what it all really boils down to, having that intimate relationship with our bridegroom, learning more about him, being submissive to him so that we may hear what he has to say to us. So that we result in being strengthened spiritually so we may put on His full armour and have victory over this Spiritual warfare. Likewise our prayers are worship to God and are like a sweet smell of incense to him. He is worthy of our prayers and our worship. This is why we should, “Pray without ceasing”.(1 Thessalonians 5:17)
. I was just curious what everyone thought. And mainstream or not you should still share unless you feel that it may cause problems. After I write My essay I will likely post it on here, as I have done with all the others.
