Prayer is one of the most perishable commodities that God has given us. If it is destroyed, then we lose our very means of communication with God. Prayer establishes the success or failure of all we do. We should guard and protect it as we would anything else in our lives that we hold dear. Prayer is more than a tradition: For Example: A child will say grace with the attitude of "I don't know what I'm saying or why I say it, I just know I'm suppose to.”

Prayer requires three things-
1. Persistence
2. Purpose
3. Preparation

It is my hope that by the end of this study, we will all have learned something new and learned how to apply them to our daily lives. The very backbone of any ministry is prayer. Without prayer many churches as well as personal lives fail. So…let's not fail but instead prevail. Let us become prayer warriors in our homes and for our Lord.

PRAYER
1. What is prayer?
2. Does God answer all prayers?
3. Who should pray?
4. Why should I pray?
5. How do I pray?
6. When do I pray?
7. Where do I pray?
8. Examples of prayer.

WHAT IS PRAYER? 

1.      Prayer is the uplifting of the soul of man to the heart of God.

2.     Prayer is our time to talk to God.

3.     Prayer is that interaction of God in our lives where by we allow His will to become our "greatest" desire.

4.     Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt on the door at night.

Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer 

except that which lies outside the will of God.

Prayer is first mentioned in Genesis 4:26 To Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.  Therefore…..Prayer is calling on the name of the Lord.

Prayer is Communication:

P etition (to God)

R equest (to God)

A ppeal (to God)
Y ielding (to God)

E xpression (to God)
R equired (by God)

1. Yes
2. No
3. Wait

We always expect to hear Yes and when we don`t we just assume that God has not answered our prayer. There is a song titled "I Thank God for Unanswered Prayer" and it tells the story of a young man who is thankful that God did not answer his boyhood prayer concerning his lifelong mate. Instead God said wait and as a result this young man eventually wed the right woman. When at a class reunion he meets up with the one he first prayed for and realizes that God has in fact answered his prayer by saying no to his first request for a wife and yes to the right one.  Case in point: God always answers our prayer but not always the way we expect. 

Here are some examples of "Answered" prayer:

Exodus 15:24-25 When Moses prayed for food for the Israelites, God said yes.  

Exodus 33:18-20 When Moses asked to see God's face, God said no.

1 Samuel 1:10 Hannah prayed for a child, God said wait.

1 Samuel 14:36-37 Saul inquired of God but God said wait.

Each of these prayers were answered by God and according to His will, not the will of the one making the request.

HOW DO I KNOW GOD HEARS MY PRAYERS? 

Micah 7:7 My God will _________ me.

Proverbs 15:29 God ___________ the ____________ of the righteous.

Zechariah 10:6 I am the Lord their God and I will ____________ them.

Zechariah 13:9 They shall _____ on My name and I will ________ them.

Isaiah 58:9 Then shalt thou  ______ and the Lord shall _________.

Isaiah 65:24 Before they ______I will _____, while they are yet_____  I will ______.

Luke 11:9-10 ________ and it shall be _______; _______ and ye shall_______; ______ and it shall be ________ unto you. For everyone that ______. . . .  

John 15:7 If ye  _______  in me and My words _______ in you, ye shall ______ what ye will, and it shall  _____ ________ unto you. 

Psalm 69:33 For the Lord ________.....

DOES GOD HEAR AND ANSWER THE PRAYERS OF THE UNSAVED?

Exodus 2:23-25

Is this passage referring to "saved" people?

Did God hear them?
Did God answer?

Exodus 3:9-10

Exodus 22:22-23

Does this say they must be saved before God will answer?
Will God hear them?

Numbers 20:15-16 , Psalm 9:12, Isaiah 30:19

Isaiah 30:1-3; 9-11 - These are unsaved people.

One thing is for certain. God always hears the prayer of salvation. That is, the cry, the plea, the heart-felt desire to fill the void that exists in a life without Christ.

(The following is an illustration of a heart-felt prayer)

A MAN NAMED JIM

One day a few years back, I was told of a man named Jim. Jim was looking for something in his life, to make him feel complete. Someone told him of Jesus, so Jim went to the local town church, and walked up to the altar and looked up, holding his heart said, "Jesus - Jim", then turned and walked out. Jim repeated this day after day. He would walk in, kneel down, and look up to heaven and say, "Jesus - Jim". This went on for years, is what I am told. You see, Jim didn't know how to pray. All he knew is that God sees the heart. One day Jim died and went to stand before God's throne. As his turn came up, he walked up and stood there bowing his head. He looked at God and said, "Lord I have loved you many years". Father God looks to Jesus and says, "Jesus, who is this man?" Jesus walks over to Jim, looks at him and puts his hand over his heart…and says. "Jim - Jesus". From that day on they walked and talked together. You see, Jesus sees the heart when words fail. If all we can do is say "Jesus", our world changes, our hearts grow in love. If we seek the Kingdom of God and all its righteousness, all these things shall be added unto us. Jesus knows our every word, our every moan, our very soul, and together we will walk through eternity. So if words fail you when times are tough, and you're lonely and scared, when you think you can't go on one more day, just whisper, "Jesus". Faith in Jesus brings Peace, Love. Grace, Mercy and an eternity to walk and talk with Him. The moral of this story: When all else fails, call on Jesus….He never fails.

WHAT ARE SOME SURE WAYS TO RECEIVE "NO" FOR AN ANSWER?

Disobedience:  Deuteronomy 1:43-4:51, Samuel 28:6-7;18

Un-confessed Sin:  Psalm 6:16-20, Isaiah 1:15-20, Isaiah 59:2, Micah 3:4, Zechariah 7:13

Doubt:  James 1:6-7, James 4:3

Rejecting God:  Proverbs 1:28-29, Proverbs 21:13, Proverbs 28:9

Outside of God's Will:  Exodus 33:20, Deuteronomy 3:26,2 Corinthians 12:8

WHO SHOULD PRAY?

Exodus 15:25 ~ Moses
Judges 6:39 ~ Gidean
1 Samuel 1:27 ~ Hannah
1 Kings 9:3 ~ Solomon
1 Kings 18:37 ~ Elijah
2 Kings 19:19 ~ Hezekiah

WHY SHOULD I PRAY?

Commanded:  1 Chronicles 16:11, Matthew 7:7, Luke 18:1
Avoid Temptation:  Matthew 26:41
Complete Joy:  John 16:24
Forgiveness/Healing:  Isaiah 58:9, James 5:16
Jesus Prayed:  Luke 22:39, John 17