How to Pray

How to Pray

 

In the things of this world, there is what we call a "method" for doing them. If we know that method and act according to it, the task can become easier, and we can also have confidence that the result will surely come about accordingly. On the other hand, if we do not know the method, we will act according to our own thoughts. Then even something easy may become difficult, and if things do not go smoothly, we cannot help but doubt whether we will be able to obtain the result we desire. In the end, it becomes easy to bring about a wrong result. The same is true in spiritual matters. When we pray according to the method recorded in the Bible and taught by Jesus, we can have the assurance of faith that He will surely fulfill it according to His word. But if we do not know that method, we cannot help but pray wrongly according to our own thoughts and habits, and in the end, this will result in not receiving an answer to that prayer. Therefore, learning through the Bible how we ought to pray is a very important matter in our spiritual fellowship with Jesus.

 

[The Method of Prayer]

 

Through the Bible, God has clearly taught us to whom and how we should pray. In particular, Jesus made this clear through the final words He spoke to the remaining eleven disciples at the Last Supper, after Judas Iscariot had gone out to betray Him.

 

John 14:13-16 "13And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. 15If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16And I will pray the Father..."

 

Through this passage, we can clearly know who receives our prayers, what the method of prayer is, and who answers those prayers. According to this word, when we pray, we must pray "to Jesus in the name of Jesus." This is because Jesus said, "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it." At that time, only the eleven disciples of Jesus were able to hear these words. Outside the room where the Last Supper was taking place, the many people of Israel were all praying to Jehovah God in the name of Jehovah. This was because, according to the law handed down from their fathers for generations, they had known that Jehovah God alone was the One who receives prayer, and that Jehovah God alone was the One who could answer their prayers.

 

Then what are we to make of the words in John 14:13-16 above? The statement that the One who receives prayer is now not Jehovah God directly, but Jesus, must have been astonishing even to the eleven disciples. Therefore, in order to help the eleven disciples understand, Jesus had already spoken to them as follows.

 

John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

 

By speaking this word first to His disciples, Jesus helped them understand in advance that God had now established, as a new commandment, that no one could come to God except through Jesus. Therefore, prayer also is no longer to be offered by asking Jehovah directly, but by asking Jesus in the name of Jesus. In verse 13, Jesus also added, "that the Father may be glorified in the Son." By saying this, He taught His disciples that praying to Jesus in the name of Jesus, rather than to Jehovah directly, was not wrong, but rather something that gives glory to God. And the reason Jesus spoke in this way was to help His disciples, and also us, understand that Jesus has now become the "Mediator" between God and us [see The Only Mediator Is Jesus Christ].

 

1 Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus."

 

The word "Mediator" in the passage above has the same meaning as John 14:6, which says that no one can come directly to God without going through Jesus. And because it says that there is also "one" Mediator, it clearly teaches us that only Jesus can be the Mediator between God and us. Therefore, since no one can now come directly to God without going through Jesus (John 10:1, 9), when we ask Jesus in the name of Jesus, He also grants what we ask "in the name of Jesus." This is the role of mediation, and this is the new order of prayer.

 

John 16:23-25 "23And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. 24Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. 25These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father."

 

As we can see from the passage above, even the disciples of Jesus had not asked Jesus in the name of Jesus until that time. But when the time had come, Jesus taught His disciples the new method of prayer, saying, "Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask." When we look at the Acts of the Apostles, where the works of Jesus’ disciples are recorded, we can see that they used the name of Jesus in everything they did. The reason the disciples were able to use, that is, rely upon, the name of Jesus in all things was that, at the Last Supper, they heard and obeyed this mysterious word, this figurative and hidden teaching, that they must ask Jesus in His name in order to receive an answer. Therefore, we today also must follow this new method of prayer and pray to Jesus in the name of Jesus. This is not a matter of choice, something we may or may not do, but a commandment that must be kept (John 14:14-15). This is because no one, not even the disciples of Jesus, can come to God without acknowledging the mediation of Jesus. Whoever does not follow this method cannot have his prayer answered.

 

What would have happened if the disciples of Jesus had heard His words, "Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask," and yet had not acted according to this method? Because Jesus spoke conditionally, saying, "Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive," from the time He spoke these words onward, even the disciples could never receive an answer to prayers that were not offered to Jesus in the name of Jesus. The same is true for us. When we did not know this method, we were not required to follow it; but from the time we come to know this method, we also must obey it in order to receive (John 15:21-22, Acts 17:30).

 

[The Content of Prayer]

 

The method of prayer is to pray to Jesus in the name of Jesus. Then what should the content of our prayer be? In James 4:2-3 below, we are first told that we do not have because we do not ask, and then that even when we ask, we do not receive because we ask wrongly, in order to spend it on our desires. This is why the content of our prayer is important. Even if we pray according to the method that has been taught to us, if the content of the prayer is wrong, He will not grant that prayer either. This is for our own good. If a child without discernment asks his parents to give him something that could harm him, not knowing the danger, his parents cannot grant that request for the child’s sake, even though they love him. In the same way, Jesus does not grant prayers that are offered according to our own desires, for our own good. In other words, self-centered prayers, prayers that are not offered according to the word, cannot be granted by Jesus for our own good.

 

James 4:2-3 "2... Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures."

 

Matthew 6:7-8 "7And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him."

 

Therefore, our prayers should no longer be "self-centered prayers," such as "What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear?" Rather, we must first offer "the prayer that God desires."

 

Matthew 6:31-33 "31Therefore do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? 32For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

 

Mark 14:36 "And He said, Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will."

 

Therefore, even when we have something we desire, if we restrain ourselves and instead offer the prayer that God desires, that prayer becomes a prayer that is answered. The prayer that God desires refers to "prayer offered according to the word," like the Lord’s Prayer taught by Jesus (Matthew 6:9-13) and Solomon’s prayer when he asked for wisdom (1 Kings 3). If we understand, through the words of the Bible, what pleases Jesus and what His will is, and if we pray "to Jesus in the name of Jesus" in order to fulfill that word, then, as in the case of Solomon, He will answer us even with other things that we did not ask for. In the end, even in prayer, we must know the Bible in order to offer prayer that is pleasing to God’s heart (1 Kings 3:10), that is, prayer that is acceptable to Him (Psalm 19:14).

 

When a prayer is not pleasing to the heart of Jesus, even if it is the prayer of the apostle Paul, Jesus does not grant it for Paul’s own good. Because of the suffering he had, the apostle Paul prayed to Jesus three times that it might be removed from him, but Jesus did not grant his prayer.

 

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 "7And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

 

Through this passage, we can receive an important lesson. We may always pray to Jesus in the name of Jesus, but whether He grants that prayer or does not grant it depends entirely on the judgment of Jesus. Because Jesus is the One who considers only what is truly for our good (Hebrews 12:9-10), He will answer us according to what we need for His glory (Proverbs 30:8). When Jesus did not grant the prayer that the apostle Paul had offered three times, Paul did not become discouraged or harden his heart. Rather, he discerned the Lord’s will and instead rejoiced greatly and boasted in it. We also should not insist only on our own desires like little children. Rather, we must understand the broad heart and will of Jesus, and give thanks and glory in the name of Jesus to the One who works only for our good (Hebrews 12:10)...