Minister’s Message

One day when I was living in Snellville, Georgia, the doorbell was rung by a young man selling glass cleaner. He was a good salesman, and had just about convinced me to buy his product, when, in an attempt to draw me into a conversation with him, he asked me what type of work I did. I replied that I was a preacher. He stopped his sales pitch, and in a very serious voice said, "I've been wondering about something; maybe you can help me. My grandmother keeps telling me that I need to pray, but I don't know how. How do you pray?"

How do you pray? It seemed like such a simple matter to me, that at first I thought he was joking. As we talked further, and I answered his questions, it became clear that he was completely serious. He was so serious, in fact, that when he finally left my home he had forgotten all about selling glass cleaner -- instead, he was now concerned about spiritual matters.

I was profoundly impressed by this brief encounter. It caused me to think about the fact that something which I considered so simple and foundational to the Christian life is totally beyond the grasp of those who do not know Jesus Christ. I came to realize that prayer is not as simple as I had thought.

So, how do you pray? The answer the Scripture gives to this question is that you pray to God the Father, in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, with the help and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The true God -- the only God who exists -- is triune. He is, as the Scriptures teach, one God (Deut. 6:4) who exists in three Persons (Matt. 28:19): Father (John 8:54), Son (John 1:1, 18), and Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17). For your prayers to be acceptable to God and heard by Him, you must approach Him as the Scriptures teach.

You are to address your prayers to God the Father (John 15:16). God is the one who hears and answers all prayer. He hears the prayers of His people as they cry out to Him for guidance, deliverance, and mercy. He hears the prayers of His elect as they offer up adoration for the great works of God. He hears their prayers of confession for sins which they have committed against His holy law, and for sins in which they have failed to do His revealed will. He hears the prayers of Christians as they thank Him for His grace and mercy to them in Jesus Christ. He hears the prayers of supplication and intercession for others that are addressed to Him in the name of His Son, Jesus.

In praying to God the Father, you must pray in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ (John 14:6). Praying in the name of Christ means that you pray according to the will of God (1 John 5:14) and in the spirit of obedience and submission to that will exemplified by Christ (Matt. 26:39).

To pray in Christ's name you must first be a Christian. It does not help for you to try to use the name of Christ as some sort of magic formula to guarantee that you receive the answer you desire. The use of the words "in Christ's name" by unbelievers will not automatically produce any sort of positive answer. In fact, the Scriptures contain one account of the use of the name of Jesus Christ by unbelievers that turned out disastrously for them.

In Acts 19:13 the Bible records that "Then some itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, 'We adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.' " Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, tried this and the evil spirit replied, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?" (verse 15) whereupon the man possessed by the evil spirit attacked and overpowered the seven men!

So, to pray in Jesus' name you must have faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. Do not expect answers to your prayers if you do not know and believe in Jesus Christ.

Finally, you must pray with the help, and in the power, of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:26). It is part of the Holy Spirit's work to intercede for Christians according to the will of God. Often we do not know how to pray for a particular need, or really what to pray for. The Holy Spirit takes our heart's desires and makes them known to the Father in a way that is in accordance with the holy will of God.

Incidentally, that passage from Romans 8 is not an encouragement to prayer in an "unknown tongue." It simply states that the Holy Spirit knows how to express our deepest desires even better than we can, and He always prays properly, according to the will of God.

Do you pray in the way the Bible requires? Do you pray to the Triune God, with each Person of the Trinity involved in your prayer? Do you pray to God the Father for all things that He declares to be lawful in His holy Word? Do you pray in the name of Jesus Christ because you have personal faith in Him? Do you pray with the help of the Holy Spirit and by His power so that your prayers are presented to God properly and Biblically?

If you do not pray like this, your prayers will not be heard -- except for one other type of prayer that God promises to hear. God promises to hear the prayer of a sinner, who is outside of Jesus Christ, when that sinner confesses his sins and begs for forgiveness as he is coming to Christ. "God be merciful to me a sinner!" (Luke 18:13) is a prayer that God desires to hear from the lips of those who are first turning to Him through faith in Christ. Have you prayed that prayer?

Note: It is appropriate to pray the way the above minister says to pray and I do, but I also talk to the Holy Spirit through out the day - everyday. I believe it doesn't hurt to do both - it can only help in our Spiritual walk with Jesus. This way it keeps the peace, joy and contentment continually flowing out to others.

Mary Rose


Footnote: It was called to my attention through an email from Nevada (who is a very caring person) that this article failed to mention Mathew 6:5-15 - please read these verses also. When editing I overlooked this and I’m so sorry - it was not intentional on my part.

Thank you, Nevada, God bless you and I love you in Christ.