Prayers of Petition & Supplication

Philippians 4:6-7 “Be anxious of nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Our small group Bible Study group has enjoyed this lesson on “Prayer” and the wonderful interaction of the individuals, with life experiences that brings priceless understanding in application to the Scriptures by situations, circumstances and issues faced over time. We are seeing the importance of taking and presenting our cares and requests to the Lord in prayer for self and others, as He desires, is an essential key to the abundant life of the Christian. A.W. Tozer (Pursuit of God) writes that God is always present at every point in space, but our trouble is knowing that He is here. The Presence and the manifestation of the Presence are not the same thing. God is here when we are wholly unaware of it. But He is manifest when and as we are aware of His presence, for a prayer life radiant with the light of His face. Let’s talk!

Luke 11:9-10 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives’ and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be open.” 1 John 5:14-15 “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”

Are we asking? Are we seeking? Are we knocking? The will of our Sovereign God is the same for all. So it is the imperfect Christian experience that can forget and be distracted from asking, seeking, knocking according to his holy will and receiving. A.W. Tozer also suggests that we need to be spiritually open to heaven, with a spiritual receptivity which urges us Godward. A spiritual awareness which cultivates an inward longing to ask, seek and knock in alignment with the will of God and His heavenly vision, in a lifelong habit of spiritual response. Far too often, we are just sitting around and hoping on our own, rather than seeking His face and taking it to the Lord in Prayer. Psalm 27:7-8 “Hear my voice when I call, O Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says to you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.” Abide in the Lord!

Supplication means “to ask for favor, or mercy, or grace.” NFL Quarter back & Christian Tim Tebow writes in his book Through My Eyes: ”Since my parents raised me to pray about anything that’s on my heart. I pray … even if some of those things are trivial in the overall scheme of things.” (1) Thank God for parents that teach their children to pray for what’s on their hearts. (2)Whatever is on our hearts, the Lord wants us to take it to Him in prayer, so make your requests known to God. It is His will that we pray. He wants to hear from His children. 1John 5:14-15 “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” Your Lord God, Father in heaven, knows our heart and what requests of yours are in accordance and aligned with His perfect will, so we should always add, “Not my will, but thy will be done” knowing that He will either answer (1) yes, (2) later, or (3) I have something better in mind, my child.

James 4:2-3 “You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not have because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” The Lord understands the temptations and desires of the flesh and fallen heart. Sometimes, we are like a kid in a candy store that the parent has to tell “No”. Psalm 119:1-8 tells us that we can know God’s will by knowing His Word. As we study His Word, His Word abides in us and we begin to really know how to pray to our Father. And surely, sometimes the Lord has other plans for us and others, so things don’t always turn out like we ask. And we have to trust Him. Still, we should never be afraid to ask. Of course, our petitions & supplication need to always be in accordance with God’s Word, Will & Way, and not the sinful world. James 4:4-5 “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility towards God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

The closer that we grow to our heavenly Father, the more intimately we will know His will, His ways, and His love for us. God answers prayer because we pray, because hears our prayers and we know the Father’s will. God is waiting to spend time with you and me. Let’s talk to Him.

In Christ, Brian