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Introducing Our In-Depth Bible Study on Prayer
Prayer is one of those things Christians can talk about a lot without ever slowing down to ask what Scripture actually says about it. We know we are supposed to pray. We hear people say, “Just pray about it.” We hear promises quoted about asking and receiving. We hear people talk about praying in faith, praying in Jesus’ name, praying without ceasing, and sometimes even “decreeing” or “declaring” things. But if we are going to get prayer right, we cannot build it on slogans. We have to build it on the Word of God.
That is what this study is about.
We are beginning an in-depth Bible study on prayer here on Biblical Truth Forum, and I want us to do more than collect a few favorite verses. I want us to open the Bible, slow down, and let Scripture teach us what prayer really is, why God tells us to pray, how Jesus taught us to pray, how Jesus Himself prayed, and how prayer fits with God’s will, God’s sovereignty, faith, suffering, healing, persistence, intercession, and the rest of the Christian life.
Jesus said, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name” (Matthew 6:9, KJV). Notice where Jesus starts. He does not start with our list. He starts with God. His name. His holiness. His kingdom. His will.
That alone tells us something important. Biblical prayer is not about pulling God into our plans. It is about bringing our hearts under His.
A child does not walk into the house, take the father’s chair, pick up the checkbook, and start giving orders. He comes because he belongs there. He comes because he knows who his father is. He comes with needs, questions, fears, and requests, but he is still the child and the father is still the father.
That is the kind of distinction we need to recover when we talk about prayer.
There are a lot of questions we are going to work through. If God already knows what we need, why pray? What does it really mean to ask in Jesus’ name? What did Christ mean when He said, “Ask, and it shall be given you”? Does enough faith guarantee the answer we want? Why are some prayers answered differently than we hoped? What does Scripture teach about healing, fasting, persistence, unanswered prayer, intercession, and praying according to God’s will?
We are also going to deal with teachings that sound spiritual but need to be tested by Scripture. People talk about naming and claiming things, decreeing and declaring, speaking things into existence, or acting as though the right words can force God to act. But Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10, KJV).
That is not the language of controlling God. That is the language of trusting God.
Our standard through this entire study will be Scripture alone. We are going to compare Scripture with Scripture, look at passages in context, and be careful not to make the Bible say more than it says. If Scripture clearly teaches something, we need to stand on it. If something follows by necessary implication, we need to say that carefully. If it is only an inference, we should call it an inference. And if God has not revealed something, we need to be willing to leave it there.
I have already started doing the deeper research behind these studies. I am building a Master Scripture List so we are not grabbing isolated verses and building conclusions around them. I would rather take the time to get this right than rush through a subject this important.
Each study we post here will deal with one part of the larger picture, and we will include Key Scriptures to Hold Onto for Today so you have passages you can go back to, read again, and examine for yourself. When the entire study is completed, reviewed, and corrected, I also plan to put it together as a downloadable PDF Bible study.
Our first study starts with a question that gets right to the heart of the matter:
Why Pray If God Already Knows What We Need?
I hope you will follow along, open your Bible, test everything against Scripture, and join the discussion. The goal is not simply to know more about prayer. The goal is to learn from God’s Word how He would have His people pray.
Prayer is one of those things Christians can talk about a lot without ever slowing down to ask what Scripture actually says about it. We know we are supposed to pray. We hear people say, “Just pray about it.” We hear promises quoted about asking and receiving. We hear people talk about praying in faith, praying in Jesus’ name, praying without ceasing, and sometimes even “decreeing” or “declaring” things. But if we are going to get prayer right, we cannot build it on slogans. We have to build it on the Word of God.
That is what this study is about.
We are beginning an in-depth Bible study on prayer here on Biblical Truth Forum, and I want us to do more than collect a few favorite verses. I want us to open the Bible, slow down, and let Scripture teach us what prayer really is, why God tells us to pray, how Jesus taught us to pray, how Jesus Himself prayed, and how prayer fits with God’s will, God’s sovereignty, faith, suffering, healing, persistence, intercession, and the rest of the Christian life.
Jesus said, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name” (Matthew 6:9, KJV). Notice where Jesus starts. He does not start with our list. He starts with God. His name. His holiness. His kingdom. His will.
That alone tells us something important. Biblical prayer is not about pulling God into our plans. It is about bringing our hearts under His.
A child does not walk into the house, take the father’s chair, pick up the checkbook, and start giving orders. He comes because he belongs there. He comes because he knows who his father is. He comes with needs, questions, fears, and requests, but he is still the child and the father is still the father.
That is the kind of distinction we need to recover when we talk about prayer.
There are a lot of questions we are going to work through. If God already knows what we need, why pray? What does it really mean to ask in Jesus’ name? What did Christ mean when He said, “Ask, and it shall be given you”? Does enough faith guarantee the answer we want? Why are some prayers answered differently than we hoped? What does Scripture teach about healing, fasting, persistence, unanswered prayer, intercession, and praying according to God’s will?
We are also going to deal with teachings that sound spiritual but need to be tested by Scripture. People talk about naming and claiming things, decreeing and declaring, speaking things into existence, or acting as though the right words can force God to act. But Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10, KJV).
That is not the language of controlling God. That is the language of trusting God.
Our standard through this entire study will be Scripture alone. We are going to compare Scripture with Scripture, look at passages in context, and be careful not to make the Bible say more than it says. If Scripture clearly teaches something, we need to stand on it. If something follows by necessary implication, we need to say that carefully. If it is only an inference, we should call it an inference. And if God has not revealed something, we need to be willing to leave it there.
I have already started doing the deeper research behind these studies. I am building a Master Scripture List so we are not grabbing isolated verses and building conclusions around them. I would rather take the time to get this right than rush through a subject this important.
Each study we post here will deal with one part of the larger picture, and we will include Key Scriptures to Hold Onto for Today so you have passages you can go back to, read again, and examine for yourself. When the entire study is completed, reviewed, and corrected, I also plan to put it together as a downloadable PDF Bible study.
Our first study starts with a question that gets right to the heart of the matter:
Why Pray If God Already Knows What We Need?
I hope you will follow along, open your Bible, test everything against Scripture, and join the discussion. The goal is not simply to know more about prayer. The goal is to learn from God’s Word how He would have His people pray.
