WHY PRAY?

As I always say, knowledge changes how we experience things. It is good for us to

know that it is only possible to grow when we know and understand the
responsibilities we have been called to after salvation.
Our disposition to growth should be desire. Without it, there won’t be any form
of growth. The major reason we have bible study weekly is because the Christian
faith is a taught faith which is why we see pastors, teachers explaining bible
doctrine, the right way, and all we need to experience and enjoy spiritual growth.
See, it is God’s design for the believer to be taught and the quicker we accept this,
the easier it would be to submit to teaching. (Acts 2:42).

Well, going to our teaching for today, we will be treating “why pray” and I’ll be
touching briefly why the believer prays and the effects prayer has in a believer.

1. WHY NOT?
There is a way and a medium where we can talk to God, our father in his
infinite nature compared to our finiteness, and I won’t take that opportunity?
We have a father who sincerely loves us and is ready to listen to us when we
talk to him. We see the magnitude of his love in sending Jesus to die for us and
creating a way for our justification in the process Romans 5:20, John 3:16. That
show of love brought us closer to God, creating a father-to-son relationship
(Romans 8:11-16).
So, there is this feeling of warmth when we approach God to talk to him
having the confidence that he is always ready to listen to us because he is a
loving father. John 11:42
Also, we see Jesus, God come down in the form of man, pray. If Jesus, our
perfect example prayed, so much more us.
2. IT STIRS UP THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRIT.
Acts 2:4
We should note the word ‘filled’. Here it is transliterated from the Greek word
as influence.
Acts 4:8-9, 31
We see that it is not every time that the word ‘filled’ is followed by speaking in
tongues. In these verses we can clearly see that they spoke the word after
being filled not in tongues.
Note I said that filled could be transliterated to mean influence. Here we see
that when men are filled, there is an influence that causes an action
We hear of the Spirit within and the Spirit upon. The Spirit within is seen in the
New Testament and the Spirit upon is seen mostly in the Old Testament.
Follow me, I’m getting somewhere.
The Spirit Within
Romans 8:9-11, 14
Of many things the Spirit does in us believers, we see a major function of the
spirit and that is Identification. We received God’s spirit after believing that
Christ died, was buried and rose on the third day- our salvation story. God’s
Spirit in us identifies us as his children.
The Spirit Upon
Judges 14:5-6
We see like in the case of Samson that the Spirit upon was recognised as
ability.

Now I want you to understand that in the New Testament, the Spirit within
and the Spirit upon are present. It simply means that as a believer, the
influence of the Spirit in your life can be seen. The influence of the spirit can
be felt by people around us.
John 14:12 The Spirit could not come unless Jesus was glorified so the promise
of greater works was going to be seen after he was glorified and we receive His
Spirit!
Here we see that the spirit birth ability. To conclude that, it is good for us
believers to know that how much of the influence you have is your
responsibility.

3. CONSECRATION
A believer that prays consistently and not just religiously will be consecrated.
Consecration would mean utter and complete devotion to God.
When a believer is consecrated, he/she is more receptive to the leadings of
God.
Acts 10:9-29. It is first good to know that Peter was a man given to prayer.
There is no doubt about that cause we can see that in Acts 9:40, Acts 3:1.
Acts 10:9-29 explains the story of how Paul met Cornelius.

4. PRAYER KEEPS US FROM FALLING INTO TEMPTATION

Matthew 26:34-41

5. IT IS BY THE BELIEVER’S PRAYER THINGS HAPPEN.

Acts 12:6-12, Acts 16:22-26