Five More Simple Secrets When Praying to God

Podcast: Light on Life Season 6 Episode 4

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Five More Simple Secrets When Praying to God

Recently, I ran into this illustration that shows a simple secret when praying to God. A woman lived in a small house built at the foot of a tall mountain. The mountain obstructed her view and made the inside of the house dark. She had read Jesus’ promise about faith moving mountains. Taking it literally, one night she prayed that the Lord would remove the mountain. The next morning the mountain was still there. “Humph!” she replied. “Just as I expected!”1 This woman didn’t act as if the Lord heard her and that’s one simple secret. But there are more secrets you can use when praying to God and that’s what we are focusing on in this week’s Light on Life.

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Just Who Is Jesus to You?

[Tweet “Some people try to pray mentally. God is not a mind, He is a spirit. Pray out of your heart.”]

Read the Notes

You can view a ‘no frills’ transcript of this podcast at the bottom of this section.

Accept the Challenge

Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put into operation.

This weeks Call to Action is:

Praying to God is easy. Just be real with Him. Be yourself and enjoy fellowshipping with your Father in heaven.

Join the Conversation

Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believers life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week’s question is:

Question of the Day:

In this post, we’ve shared five more simple secrets you can use when praying to God. Do you have one that you can share? If you do, would you mind posting it in the comments section below so that others may receive help?

Episode Resources

You can find more information on the subject of ‘Who Jesus Is’ by clicking on the links above.

  1. Encountering Jesus in Your Everyday Life.
  2. #S4-005: What to Do When Your Family Thinks Your Nuts about Jesus [Podcast] 
  3. #S3-030: Do You Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus? [Podcast]
  4. #S1-033: Three Things Jesus Did that You Can Do [Podcast]
  5. #S1-020: What Happens When You Encounter Jesus? [Podcast]
  6. #S5-010: Just Who Is Jesus to You? [Podcast]
  7. #S5-011: The Zoe Life of God in the Person of Jesus [Podcast]
  8. #S5-012: Seven Witnesses to the Mission of Jesus [Podcast]

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 42 years ago. He has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 38 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Share the Love

If you enjoyed the podcast, please rate it on Stitcher Radio and leave a review. If you have a suggestion for a Bible topic, you would like to see taught, or if you have a question, please e-mail me at emery@emeryhorvath.com

Podcast Notes

Review

  • In last week’s podcast on ‘Why It’s Important to Spend Time Talking to God’, we spoke on the invitation that we have to talk to God.
  • We mentioned the fact that God’s prayer system is not confusing.
  • We’ve had some help confusing it that’s for sure.
  • Also, last week we gave a list of the different kinds of prayer that you can pray.
  • Understanding that different kinds of prayer have different rules.
  • If you remember, that came out of Ephesians 6:18.
  • Then we went over into simple secrets that you can use when you spend time talking to God.
  • We gave you three of those but there are more than three.
  • So, let’s pick-up right there with simple secret number four.

When Praying to God, Pray Out Loud

John 4:24 (KJV) — 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

  • Do you hear that?
  • It’s a simple point but people get away from the Bible.
  • Worship is a type of prayer.
  • It’s one of the ones we gave you earlier.
  • Pray with your mouth, not your mind.
  • When you pray with your mouth, it comes from your heart.

Matthew 12:34 (KJV) — 34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

  • Praying from your head is not the best way because the devil has access to your mind.
  • Satan has no access to your heart.
  • Why?
  • The Spirit of God is in your heart.

When Praying to God, Don’t Put on a Show

  • Use your everyday language.
  • Don’t try to impress God with big words.
  • He is not impressed.
  • You can just trust that.

What Are Vain Repetitions?

  • Also, don’t try to impress Him with a lot of words.

Matthew 6:7 (TNIV) — 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

  • The ESV translation has ‘heap up empty phrases’.
  • That’s all one word in Greek.
  • It means to chatter or to babble.
  • It means to utter many, and especially useless and purposeless, words.
  • Some of the rabbis in Jesus day taught this kind of prayer where they said the same prayer’ over and over again.2
  • This type of praying was how the prophets of Baal prayed.

1 Kings 18:26 (TNIV) — 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

  • This repetition based praying took place in the New Testament also with the false god Diana.

Acts 19:34 (KJV) — 34 But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

  • Jewish scholars debated the use of fixed prayers in this period.
  • They held them to be acceptable if one’s intent was genuine.
  • The Greeks piled up prayers with as many titles of the deity addressed as possible, hoping to gain attention. 3

When Praying to God, Don’t Con Him

  • Do not ask God to do for you what He has said you should do.
  • I did this one day.
  • Of course, it was in ignorance.
  • I got fearful one day and I said to the Lord, “Father, I bind that fear in Jesus Name.”
  • At once the Lord spoke up and said, “What are you telling me that for?”
  • You see, using God-given authority is your job, not God’s.
  • Do your job.
  • Many times, the reason we don’t qualify for an answer is that we haven’t done the part the Lord requires us to do.
  • God is not your errand boy.
  • Don’t be lazy – if the Lord asks you to do something – you do it.

When Praying to God, Share Your Life With Him

When Praying to God, Act Like God Heard You

  • The following story illustrates the point.

The drought of the past winter threatened the crop in a village of Crete. The priest told his flock: “There isn’t anything that will save us, except a special litany for rain. Go to your homes, fast during the week, believe and come on Sunday for the litany of rain.” The villagers heard him, fasted during the week and went to the church on Sunday morning, but as soon as the priest saw them, he was furious. He said, “Go away, I will not do the litany. You do not believe.” “But Father,” they protested, “we fasted and we believe.” “Believe? And where are your umbrellas?”

Different Kinds of Prayer

Ephesians 6:18 (NKJV) — 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

  • Notice the words ‘all prayer’ in the front part of verse 18.
  • ‘All prayer’ means all kinds of prayer.
  • The TNIV reflects this in its translation.

Ephesians 6:18 (TNIV) — 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

  • Pray on ‘all occasions’ with ‘all kinds’ of prayer.
  • Different occasions require different kinds of prayer.
  • One of the kinds of prayer a believer must excel at is praying about situations and needs that concern you.

#002: Being Led by Peace, Conscience, and the Inward Witness [Podcast]

References:

  1. Herschel H. Hobbs, My Favorite Illustrations (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1990), 200. ↩
  2. Clinton E. Arnold, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 44–45. ↩
  3. Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Mt 6:7. ↩

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