Kinds of Prayer
There are several
kinds of prayer all addressed to God,
yet each of a different nature. The
most common kind is that of a
petition, wherein we ask God for some
favor or a special blessing. We may
pray for guidance, for protection,
for success in an undertaking, for
patience, for a deeper understanding
of the things of God, or for any one
of many other things. All such
prayers are prayers of petition, and
are acceptable to God. They are not
used alone, but are generally blended
with other prayers, such as those of
thanksgiving, praise and adoration.
Prayers of
Thanksgiving
Giving thanks to God
for blessings received or for any
other favors is most appropriate. Too
often, we accept blessings from God
as a matter of course and forget to
give thanks for them. Once Christ
cleansed ten lepers and sent them to
show themselves to the priests. Of
these, ten only one returned to give
thanks to God. Said Jesus, “Were
there not ten cleansed? But where are
the nine? There are not found that
returned to give glory to God, save
the stranger. And He said unto him,
Arise, go thy way: thy faith had made
thee whole.” Luke 17:17-19. Paul
exhorts us to give “thanks
always for all things unto God and
the Father in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20.
The pages of Scripture
are embellished with prayers of
thanksgiving. The psalms contain
songs and prayers of thanksgiving to
the Lord:
“O give
thanks to the Lord, for He is
good;
for His
steadfast love endures
forever!
Let the
redeemed of the Lord say so,
Whom He
redeemed from
trouble.”
“Let them
thank the Lord for His
steadfast love,
for His
wonderful works to the sons
of men!
Let them extol
Him in the congregation of
the people,
And praise Him
in the assembly of the
elders.”
Psalm
107: 1,2,31, 32, RSV.
In our prayers, we
generally thank God for His many
blessings; but often the thanksgiving
is a routine form without any deep
feeling. Saying grace at meals,
thanking God for daily food, is a
commendable practice; but that also
may become a form without any real
spirit of thankfulness. In war
concentration camps many learned to
give thanks to God for any little
morsel of food, and when liberated
were perplexed that some seemed to
take food for granted and were not
especially thankful for the bounties
set before them.
Prayer of Adoration
“Glory to God in
the highest, and on earth peace, good
will toward men.” Luke 2:14.
This is a good example of prayers of
adoration. The angels were not asking
for any special favor; they were
simply ascribing praise to God for
His wonderful gift to the children of
men. When the angels sing one to
another, “Holy, holy, holy, is
the Lord of hosts;” and when we
on earth join in worshiping God and
giving glory to His holy name, we are
uniting in a prayer of adoration.
Isaiah 6:3.
The angel who is seen
flying in the midst of heaven,
saying, “Fear God, and give
glory to Him” (Revelation 14:7),
is calling on men to adore the Most
High. Prayer of adoration is one of
the highest forms of prayer. It is
not asking for anything. It is
God’s approved way of having us
declare our love for, and loyalty to,
Him.
Intercessory Prayer
Intercessory prayer is
so called because in it we are
praying for others. When Moses
prayed, “Yet now, if Thou wilt
forgive their sin-; and if not, blot
me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book
which Thou hast written,” his
prayer was one of intercession.
Exodus 32:32. So was Paul’s,
when he prayed, “I could wish
that myself were accursed from Christ
for my brethren, my kinsmen according
to the flesh.” Romans 9:3.
Christ’s prayer on the cross,
“Father forgive them; for they
know not what they do” (Luke
23:34), was likewise intercessory, as
was also His high-priestly prayer
recorded in John 17.
We have mentioned
these different kinds of prayers not
to show that one kind is better than
another, but rather to point out that
true prayer may consist of any one
kind or of all kinds blended, and
still be acceptable to God. The one
who prays will not decide that he
will use a certain kind today and
another tomorrow. He simply opens his
heart and expresses his inmost
desires, and then thanks God that He
has heard him. Paul gives good advice
and encouraging counsel to such as
feel that they are not able to
express to God all they would like to
or in the way they would like:
“Likewise the Spirit also
helpeth our infirmities: for we know
not what we should pray for as we
ought: but the Spirit Itself maketh
intercession for us with groanings
which cannot be uttered. And He that
searcheth the hearts knoweth what is
the mind of the Spirit, because He
maketh intercession for the saints
according to the will of God.”
Romans 8:26,27.
“We know not what
we should pray for,” or, as the
margin has it, “We know not how
to pray as we ought.” Both
renderings contain truth. We know
neither how to pray or what to pray
for, as we ought. But in this
statement of Paul’s, God gives
the precious and wonderful promise
that the Spirit will help our
infirmities, and that though our
words but poorly express our desires,
the Spirit knows what is in our
minds, and will make intercession for
us with groaning that cannot be
uttered. His pleadings are always
“according to the will of
God.”
Effective Prayer
These two verses
quoted, Romans 8:26,27, contain the
secret of effectual and fervent
prayer, prayer that will be heard and
answered. Our words may not express
correctly what we have in mind; in
our ignorance of what is for our good
we may ask for that which is not best
and for which we would not pray if we
knew the future; but the Spirit knows
what we mean, and our prayers will
come up before God so worded that
they will harmonize with god’s
will and we ask for that which is for
our good.
Paul’s statement
of what the Spirit will do with our
prayers is a precious one. With this
in mind, we can come with all
boldness and present our case to God.
Our words may be crude; but the
Spirit rewords them, they ascend as
sweet incense before God and reach
the throne of the Most High. We may
not have known what we should seek.
We may have asked for that which
would do us definite harm had our
prayers been answered. However, the
Spirit knows the real desire of our
heart even if our words do not
rightly convey the meaning. Could we
hear our prayer as changed by the
Spirit, we might not recognize it as
our prayer. God and the Spirit work
together and the prayer presented
before God is in harmony with Their
will. Therefore, God will answer the
Spirit’s request, which
expresses our deep need. What we get
is “according to the will of
God.” In addition, if so,
all is well.
I visit a person in
the hospital. In my conversation, I
find that he has a most intense
craving for sweets, and so I leave an
order at the desk to have a pound of
candy delivered to the patient’s
room. I do not know that sweets are
strictly forbidden the patient. I
meant to do him a little favor, and I
most certainly had no intention of
doing him harm; but before the order
is sent out, the doctor learns of
what I have done, cancels the order,
and uses the money for something that
will do good and not harm. When I
hear of what has happened I thank the
doctor and assure him I appreciate
his catching my mistake in time.
This illustration is a
weak one, but it does bring to mind
that we may make a serious mistake
even when we mean to do well. God
knows what we have in mind, and He is
too good and too wise to give us that
which in the end will be harmful for
us. So in answer to our prayer, He
may give us that for which we never
asked, and we are greatly surprised
at what God sent us when we
asked for something else. This may
explain how at times we think God did
not hear our prayers when in fact He
did hear and answer, though we failed
to understand that what God sent was
the answer.
Paul had some hard
lessons to learn in this respect.
While still in the full strength of
manhood and while planning a
worldwide gospel campaign, he was
imprisoned in Jerusalem, carried from
prison to prison, and at last taken
to Rome. We may well believe that
both Paul and the church sent earnest
petitions to God for his release. But
God did not answer their petitions.
Year after year, Paul languished in
prison at the time when the church
sorely needed him. Doubtless both he
and the church, wondered why God did
not hear their united prayers.
God knew what He was
doing. The church did need
Paul’s guiding hand in the
difficult period of the destruction
of Jerusalem and the temple. However,
God also knew that Paul needed time
to be alone, time for prayer and
reflection, time to prepare the
documents and epistles that the
church would use until the end of
time. Had Paul not been imprisoned,
we might never had the precious
documents that are known as the
“prison epistles,” and the
valuable counsel contained in the
book of Hebrews. What the church lost
while Paul was in prison has been the
gain of the church for two
millenniums. God knew that Paul
wanted above all things to serve
where he could do the most good. That
place was in prison. When this became
evident to Paul, he was content. The
“ambassador in bonds” could
write, “Christ shall be
magnified in my body, whether it be
by life, or by death. For to me to
live is Christ, and to die is
gain.” Philippians 1:20,21. He
was “ready to be offered,”
he said, “and the time of my
departure is at hand.” 2 Timothy
4:6.
Therefore let all take
heart. God knows what we mean; Hw
knows what we need; and, whatever
comes, we know that it will work
together for the good to them that
love God. Let us be of good cheer.
God is at the helm!
Memory Verse:
“For I am already
being poured out like a drink
offering, and the time has come for
my departure. I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race, I
have kept the faith. Now there is in
store for me the crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous Judge, will award to me on
that day – and not only to me,
but also to all who have longed for
his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:
6-8.
Questions:
1. What
is intercessory prayer?
_________________________________________________________
2. What
part does the Holy Spirit do when
we pray?
_________________________________________________________
