Prayer Part 4 Series

Prayer – Part 4

(Rev. Barry Johnson and Rev. Rodney Johnson)

NOTE: New Light Faith Ministries and Barry Johnson Ministries, founded by Rodney V. Johnson and Barry O. Johnson, respectively, are partnering to offer Bible studies for Christians who are seeking to grow in their relationship with Jesus. This is a Bible study lesson, not a sermon. The Bible studies teach foundational truth that are designed to challenge, encourage and, most importantly, flame the fire of hunger in the Christian who wants to learn more about who they have become in Christ Jesus. The Bible studies you find on this site contains the written version of the lesson. However, these lessons also include a video and an audio file of the study, a PDF version of the lesson and a sheet for note taking. If you would like any of the additional resources for these studies, please email us at newlightfaithministries@gmail.com or bjteachingltr@gmail.com for more information or contact us at the email provided on both of our Sermon Central pages. Please visit our YouTube Channel (Barry Johnson Ministries; New Light Faith Ministries, Inc.) to watch or listen to these lessons as well as other available sermons. Be blessed.

Introduction

Hello everyone. This is Part 4 of our study on prayer. It is our prayer that this study has been a blessing to you and has given you some things to think about when it comes to prayer and how it impacts our relationship with our Heavenly Father. As with the previous three lessons, we will open this lesson with the two foundational passages of Scripture. But first, we must tell you again the story about Sis. Betsy because it has been an important part of the foundation for this study on prayer. Her “testimony” is one of our favorite stories about believing in the power of that prayer.

“Several years ago, there was a drought in one city and the pastor of the Church called for a prayer meeting to pray for rain. The prayer meeting was held on a hot summer evening. All of the members came out dressed in summer cool clothes since they would be there for a while praying. Well, when Sister Betsy arrived at the Church, everyone heard her approaching as her shoes were making a loud noise. As she entered the Church, everyone turned to see why she was making such a loud entry. What they saw tickled them and some of the members actually laughed softly. Here was Sister Betsy entering the Church wearing rain boots, raincoat, a hat and carrying an umbrella. She looked a sight in the sweltering heat. Some of the members thought Sister Betsy had finally lost her mind – that her elevator was no longer going to the top floor. The pastor looked at her with much concern. He comes down from the pulpit and approaches her. He asks her, “Sister Betsy are you all right – are you feeling okay?” Sister Betsy looked at him confused by the question and replied, “I feel fine.” Then the pastor asked her, “Well I must ask, why are you dressed this way? Didn’t you feel how hot it is outside? You must be burning up in this outfit. What possessed you to wear all of this tonight in this heat?” Again, some of the members continued to snicker and laugh under their breath while others now shifted to true concern for Sister Betsy’s mental state. Sister Betsy looked at her pastor and then scanned the faces of the rest of the members and made the following statement: “You know pastor, I too was confused when I walked into the Church. You see, I thought we were all coming here to pray for rain, and I expected there to be rain when we left. I am confused as to why none of you are dressed for rain since that is what we are supposed to be here asking from God.”

Sis. Betsy is the only one in the Church who came to the meeting that day expecting God to answer the prayer for rain. This is the type of faith we should have when we go to God in prayer – we believe immediately that He has answered the prayer and until it is manifested, we continuously thank Him for doing so. Now Barry and I are going to spend some time looking at the verses that have been the foundation for this study on prayer.

The Foundational Verses

The first passage is First Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing.”

We know that when the Bible tells us to pray, it’s telling us to come to God to ask Him for His help, advice, encouragement, and comfort. But the word also carries with it the understanding that not only are we coming to Him with our needs, but we are also coming to Him with our worship and adoration. So, “praying without ceasing” includes talking to our Father about what’s troubling us, but it also includes those times where our primary focus is simply expressing our love for Him because we know He loves us. We are God’s sons and daughters, and this verse tells us that our days should be days where we have continuous conversations with our Father that includes our worship and adoration. That’s what “pray without ceasing” means. We make a conscious decision to be constantly aware of God’s presence and we value the opportunities we have to talk to Him about the things going on in our lives. Yes, He is God, the Creator of everything. But for us, He is our Father and He wants to spend time with us and talking with Him throughout the day through prayer is His heart’s desire. We see how “praying without ceasing” includes worship and adoration in Romans 12:12, Ephesians 6:18 and Colossians 4:2. In Romans 12, verses 12 says, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.” In Ephesians 6:18 we read, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” And we see in Colossians 4:2 the following - “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.”