Commitment to Christ Involves Prayer – Part 3

Prayer, it all comes to this, prayer. At the end of the day you need to know how to pray. If you are going to be effective in your Christian life and in your Christian ministry you must pray, and you must pray correctly.

Here is the third lesson about prayer that we learn in John 15.

3 – Prayer has its own rules

The last thing that Jesus mentions in this text is that prayer has its own rules. We do not make those rules. God makes the rules.

Like any other conversation, there is a beginning, middle, and end.

There are some traditions that we follow, like close the eyes, fold the hands, bowing our heads, kneeling, etc. They can be good and sometimes they can be not so good. We should be more flexible on those traditions, because they are human traditions, not inspired rules.

There are conditions, and those are the ones stipulated by His Word. It involves attitude of the heart, humbleness, etc. We must have the right attitude when we pray.

There are different kinds of prayers

If you look at one of the pictures that I shared with you in one of our meditations here, you will see the types of prayer:

Confession – Agreeing with God about my sin.

Petition – Asking God for my needs.

Intercession – Praying for others.

Thanksgiving – Thanking God for what He has done for me and others.

Praise – Voicing my wonder about who God is – Praise touches my whole prayer life.

There is only one way, this is what Jesus said: 

“John 15:16 You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.” 

In this text we learn that for our prayers to make the connection to God, they need the right number, and that is the Name of Jesus. It is not that we should use the Name of Jesus as a “magic wand.” To pray in His Name means that, His life, work, sacrifice, and victory are what guarantees that God will listen to me.

We will ask in His name, not in ours, in His name, not because of our virtues, in His name, not in our religiosity and right words. Jesus is our Mediator. Jesus’ Name is the final touch for a successful prayer.

As you can see when we pray, we recognize who God is and who we are. We also recognize that prayer is an important aspect of our relationship with God, it is a conversation with God, where we share our life and needs with Him; and He shares His life and blessings with us.

And finally, we learn that prayer has its own rules, on what to say, how to say it, to whom to say it, and through whom to say it.

Now, I would like to challenge you to practice this. If someone comes to you with a need and asks for prayer, I would like you to ask that person if you could pray for her or him. I want you to pray for that person saying just these simple words: “Lord, bless this person in the name of Jesus. Amen”

That would be the first step in a wonderful journey.

God bless you,

Pastor Lucas