Give us this day...
Ask, seek and knock
(Lesson 5)
1. Why pray?
Because we need God, and He longs to provide for us out of the boundless
resources of His Kingdom. Nothing is impossible for Him!
Write the words that proclaim His power to meet your
every need.
Psalm 50:10-15.
"...every beast of the forest
is Mine,
And the cattle on a
thousand hills.
11 I
know all the birds of the mountains,
And the wild beasts of the field
are Mine.
12 “If
I were hungry, I would not tell you;
For the world
is Mine, and all its
fullness.
13 Will
I eat the flesh of bulls,
Or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer
to God thanksgiving,
And
pay your vows to the Most High.
15 Call
upon Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
Romans 11:33-36: "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past
finding out! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become
His counselor?” 35 “Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to
him?” 36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be
glory forever. Amen."
Jude 24-25. "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to
present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
25 To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and
power, Both now and forever. Amen."
2. Shame, hunger,
loneliness, fatigue.... Whatever you or your loved ones face, He has the answer.
Look and see, then summarize each promise to provide, noting what He will
do for you and, if there is a condition, what you must do in order to
receive. (Memorize these precious and powerful promises -- they are your to use
and triumph!)
Philippians 4:19: "...my God shall supply all your
need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
Psalm 31:19-24.
Oh,
how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You,
Which You have prepared for those
who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men!
20 You
shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of man;
You shall keep
them secretly in a
pavilion from the
strife of tongues.
21 Blessed
be the
Lord,
for
He has shown me
His marvelous kindness in a
strong city! ....
22 For
I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before Your eyes”;
Nevertheless You heard the voice of
my supplications when I cried out to You.
23 Oh,
love the
Lord,
all you His saints!
For the
Lord
preserves the faithful...
And He shall strengthen your
heart, all you who hope in the
Lord.
Psalm 118:6. "The Lord is on my side; I will
not fear. What can man do to me?
Isaiah 41:10. "Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous
right hand."
3. Read 1 Samuel 12:14-25. God had
delivered His people from slavery and performed a multitude of miracles on their
behalf. He longed to continue to love, lead and provide for them as their
Shepherd and King. Yet, His people turned away from Him and chose to follow their own way.
Like their idolatrous neighbors, they wanted a king, and so God gave them Saul.
Now the nation has gathered to celebrate...
14 If
you
fear the
Lord and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not
rebel against the commandment of the
Lord,
then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue
following the
Lord your God.
15 However,
if you do
not obey
the voice of the
Lord, but
rebel against the commandment of
the
Lord, then the hand of the
Lord
will be against you, as it was
against your fathers.
How does the above warning
apply to our lives today? What choices do we face?
16 “Now
therefore,
stand and see this great thing which
the Lord
will do before your eyes:
17 Is
today not the
wheat harvest?
I will call to the
Lord,
and He will send thunder and
rain, that you may
perceive and see that
your wickedness
is great,
which you have done in the sight of the
Lord,
in asking a king for yourselves.”
18 So
Samuel called to the
Lord,
and the
Lord sent thunder and rain that day; and
all the people greatly feared the
Lord
and Samuel.
What sin had the people committed? What
similar sins might we be tempted to commit today?
19 And
all the people said to Samuel,
“Pray for your servants to the
Lord
your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins the evil of
asking a king for ourselves.”
20 Then Samuel said
to the people, “Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness;
yet do not turn aside from
following the
Lord,
but serve the
Lord
with all your heart.
21 And
do not turn aside;
for
then you would go
after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they
are
nothing. 22 For
the
Lord
will not forsake
His people,
for His great
name’s sake, because
it has pleased the
Lord
to make you His people.
What does this passage teach you about God's loving patient
patience?
Tell
Him your response.
23 Moreover,
as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the
Lord
in ceasing to pray
for you; but
I will teach you
the
good and the right
way. 24 Only
fear the
Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for
consider what
great things He has
done for you. 25 But
if you still do wickedly,
you shall be swept
away,
both you and your
king.”
Here Samuel makes a personal commitment to God's wayward
people -- a marvelous example to all of us today. What does God's servant
see as his responsibility before his Lord?
4. From the following passages, show the part prayer plays in accomplishing God's
purpose.
Matthew 9:37-38. " Then
He said to His disciples, 'The harvest truly is
plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore
pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
1 Timothy 2:1-2.
Therefore I
exhort first of all that supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and
giving of thanks be made for all men,
for
kings and
all who are in
authority, that we may lead a quiet and
peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. ..."
Daniel 9:2-19
(Consider also the significance of His identification with the
sins of the people. When and how might you pray a similar prayer?
)
v.2
"In
the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the
books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord
through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy
years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
3 "Then
I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and
supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
v.4 "And
I prayed to the Lord my God,
and made confession, and said, 'O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps
His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His
commandments, 5
we
have sinned
and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even
by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments....
7 "O
Lord,
righteousness
belongs to You, but to us
shame of face, as it is
this day... because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against
You."
v.8 “O
Lord, to us belongs
shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have
sinned against You.
9 To
the Lord our God belongs
mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him.
10 We
have not obeyed the voice of the
Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His
servants the prophets...."
v.13 “As
it is written in
the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before
the Lord our God, that we
might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth.
14 Therefore
the Lord has
kept the disaster in mind, and brought
it upon us; for
the
Lord our God
is righteous in all the
works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice.
15 And
now, O Lord our God,
who brought Your people out of the land
of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself
a name, as
it is this day—we have sinned, we have done
wickedly!"
v.16 “O
Lord,
according to all Your righteousness, I
pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem,
Your holy mountain; because for our
sins,
and for the iniquities of our fathers,
Jerusalem and Your people
are a
reproach to all those
around us. 17 "Now
therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications,
and
for the Lord’s sake
cause Your face to shine on
Your sanctuary,
which is desolate."
5.
What attitudes and disciplines characterize victorious intercession?
John 14:12-14. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the
works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do,
because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will
do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in
My name, I will do it. "
Acts 1:24. "And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who knows the hearts of
all, show which of these two You have chosen."
Romans 15:30-32. Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and
through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers
to God for me, 31 that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not
believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,
32 that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed
together with you."
1 John 5:14-15. "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we
ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He
hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have
asked of Him."
6.
Read James 5:13-18.
What
do you learn about petition and intercession in this passage?
"Is
anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing
psalms. ... 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will
raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
16 Confess your
trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was
a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not
rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And
he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its
fruit."
7. Although God wants us to pray personally and
specifically, His wise love often keeps Him
from answering according to our specific requests. Write some of the reasons stated
or implied in the following Scriptures:
(Remember, He is God! We are not!)
Isaiah 55:8-9.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are
your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than
the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your
thoughts."
Matthew 26:36-39. "Then
Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the
disciples, 'Sit here while I go and pray over there.' 37 And He took with
Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and
deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, 'My soul is exceedingly
sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.' 39 He went a little
farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, 'O My Father, if it is
possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You
will.”'
2 Corinthians 12:7-9. "And
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. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the
Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And 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."
8. Read Romans
8:26-34.
"Likewise
the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should
pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 Now He who searches the hearts knows
what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints
according to the will of God. 28 And we know that all things work together
for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His
purpose.
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to
be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among
many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom
He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also
glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God
is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but
delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us
all things?
33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect?
It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died,
and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also makes intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or
peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day
long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” 37 Yet in all these
things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."
a. When we don't know how or what to pray, God can show us. Who comes to our
rescue? What happens?
b. How does this passage encourage you?
9.
Respond to God's message to you with thanks.