This article is from the 1985 Volume 7 VOE magazine
JESUS TAUGHT THEM HOW TO PRAY
People often say, “Prayer changes things.” While this is true, more importantly prayer changes people, and God uses people to change many things!
Through Israel’s long history, prayer played a major role in their spiritual life. Abraham and the Almighty God had a covenant (Genesis 17). The covenant was passed on from Abraham to Isaac and then to Jacob. As Israel began to populate and the 12 tribes grew in number, all prayer was offered in this manner: “In the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…”
Notice the number of Old Testament prayers that open with this preface. There was power with God when the people prayed in the name of Abraham. It reminded God of His covenant.
When Israel had been in Egyptian bondage for 400 years, they cried unto the Lord for deliverance. Exodus 2:24 states, “And God heard their groaning, and GOD REMEMBERED HIS COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM, WITH ISAAC, AND WITH JACOB.” Since these were Abraham’s relatives who were in trouble, God was going to come on the scene.
When God addressed Himself to Moses, God said, “I am the God of thy Father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6).
Later, when the Israelites sinned in the wilderness, God was prepared to consume the people and raise up a seed through Moses’ seed. Moses prayed a dynamic covenant prayer by reminding God of His covenant with Abraham (Exodus 32:13).
The NAME OF ABRAHAM was a powerful way to approach God, but ABRAHAM was God’s covenant man of the heart.
For 2,000 years, Jewish prayers were offered in this manner: “In the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” And for thousands of years, God answered prayers because of Abraham!
When Jesus entered His public ministry, He chose 12 disciples (Luke 9:1). These 12 men were familiar with Jewish customs and synagogue services. They knew the covenant prayer that was used for hundreds of years. Yet they came to Christ saying, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). Actually, they knew how to pray because they grew up around synagogues. Yet, they knew that Jesus didn’t pray the same kind of prayers they heard in the synagogues, and when Jesus prayed, He got results!
Jesus said, “When you pray say, ‘OUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN.’” Jesus revealed that prayer was no longer to be offered in Abraham’s name, but to be directed to the Father. Abraham had been the intercessor to God, and now Jesus was to become the high priest and the intercessor!
While traveling in Jordan and Israel, I was amazed at the number of men who prayed. The Muslims pray several times a day facing Mecca, and the Jews pray throughout the day at the wailing wall. Yet here in America, prayer is often seen as nothing more than a Sunday ritual most Christians go through. People pray out of respect and tradition, but often they do not get an answer from God.
God showed me recently in my spirit that the life or death of the church depends upon its prayer power. God showed me that some large formerly great churches were going to spiritually die because of the lack of prayer. He also showed me that dead churches were going to come back to life because of the prayer warriors who were going to roll back the curtains of hell and darkness!
THE AVERAGE CHRISTIAN PRAYER IS 2 ½ MINUTES A DAY
Why can’t a Christian pray longer than 2 ½ minutes a day? It’s not because they’re too busy, because the average Christian family watches television 6 hours a day. It is because Christians DON’T HAVE A PRAYER BURDEN! You can’t pray longer than 3 minutes if you don’t have a prayer burden. You can’t control the thoughts of your mind while praying unless you have a prayer burden. A prayer burden is like a glue that keeps you on your knees. Successful praying comes by following a prayer burden.
People wonder how I can stay in a closed room for hours a day in prayer and study. It is because of the burden I feel for each service. As long as I feel a burden for a revival, that revival can keep going for 2-5 weeks. But when that burden lifts, I know to close that revival, or else ministry will become ineffective.
When a pastor loses a burden for his church, he had better ask God for a burden or move on… because he will just spin his wheels at the church.
This is one reason churches change pastors so often. Either the pastor has lost his burden, or the church has. When either one loses their burden, discontentment and restlessness will set in and people will think they need a change.
Churches should not be going through pastors faster than they do a pair of shoes. MANY MEMBERS AREN’T PRAYING, BUT THEY ARE TRYING TO BE GOD’S WATCHDOGS OVER THE LORD’S HERITAGE!
I heard of a church trying to get rid of their pastor (who is, in my opinion, a wonderful man of God). I asked this person how many people are praying for this minister, and the answer was “none.” You see, if people prayed, God might start blessing the man’s ministry and he might stay as pastor. That’s why some won’t pray, they want their stubborn way instead of God’s blessings! So, people get a new pastor and in two years they run him off like all the others (and it’s often the same group of people in the church who are always doing the running off).
I am telling you now as a servant of God, if you don’t start getting a prayer burden and communing with God, you are going to spiritually DIE!
You may say, “I don’t know how to pray.” Well, then pray in the Spirit; pray in other tongues according to Romans 8:26-28. The Holy Ghost will always pray according to the will of God!
We need to ask God for a prayer burden. Only when Zion travails shall she bring forth children. Ask Jesus to teach you how to pray!
“How pitiable that some people wrest the scriptures to their own soul’s destruction.”
Mr. Stanley Carter observed two contrasting tombstones in Greenbush Cemetery near LaFayette, Indiana.
This first was the marker of a believer who gave his life for the service of the nation during World War II. On the tombstone is engraved a likeness of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Nothing could speak more beautifully of this believer’s faith than the text on the marker: “The Lord is my Shepherd”. The marker faces the east in the traditional manner of Christian burial. Matthew 24:27 says, “For as lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.”
The second was a grave marker of an unbeliever. Even in death this man was militant in his scorn of the Word of God. He gave strict orders before his death that his grave should not be cut in the approved Christian fashion. He ordered that his remains should face south. It stands out by itself in the cemetery. On this unbeliever’s tombstone are these words:
Martin P. Jenners
Was born August 21, 1832 in a log cabin on the Northwest corner of Ferry and Fourth Streets
Died December 22, 1919
Then follow the words of unbelief that pierce the hearts of those Christians who see the grave:
My only objection to religion is that it is not true.
1 Corinthians 15:52, Isaiah 26:14
No preaching, no praying, no psalm singing permitted on this lot
The scriptures on the marker are these:
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52).
“They are dead, they shall not live, they are deceased, they shall not rise; therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made their memory to perish” (Isaiah 26:14).
The deceased Mr. Jenners rested his malignant unbelief on what he considered an apparent inconsistency of the Word of God. Poor foolish man! He fell prey to one of the oldest tricks of the devil—wresting a line of scripture from its context and making it the father of a sinful withe. Satan tried this routine on Jesus when he misquoted Psalm 91 to Christ… for it is written, “He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee…” (Matt. 4:1-15).
A close study of Isaiah chapter twenty-six reveals that God is talking about the restoration of Israel in the setting. He is contrasting the nation of Israel with heathen world empires such as Babylon and Assyria which have perished but which once held Israel captive. He says there is something indestructible about Israel. He says there is a destiny and an immortality woven into God’s dispensational plan because of Jehovah’s relationships and covenant with His people. Read the context of the scripture. The kings and nations that oppressed Israel shall not live again to oppress God’s chosen!
How sad that a mortal man challenged the word of an eternal God and lost his immortal soul.
This tale of two markers has a valuable lesson. Since Satan cannot destroy the truth of God’s word, he attempts two major attacks against it.
1-Satan attempts to steal the word when it is sown in the heart (Mark 4:14-20). Before the seed can germinate and take root, Satan (through persecution, pressure and tribulation) pushes the seed out of your spirit and the rootless become fruitless.
2-Satan will attempt to twist the scripture creating presumption and unbelief. This occurs when folks don’t rightly divide the scriptures.
Every major cult in America has enough scripture to draw the sincere heart, but enough false doctrine to damn the soul to eternity. They twist the scriptures for their own destruction.
I have read it said, you can put certain scriptures together and make them read what you desire. Example: “And Saul fell upon his sword…” (1 Samuel 31). “Go thou and do likewise…”. It appears by putting two verses together, that one should fall upon their sword as Saul did. This may be an extreme example, but false cults are just as extreme in their perversion of the pure truth.
When one studies the scripture, there are some important patterns of explanation you should take.
1-Read the entire passage in which the scripture appears. See if the words were written for Israel, for a specific nation of people, for the church, or in general for everyone.
2-Do a close word study of the verses to check the clear meaning of the Old Testament Hebrew and the New Testament Greek words. Here is an example:
There are two main Greek New Testament words translated “power”. One is “exousia” which is translated power in Luke 10:19: “Behold I give unto you POWER to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy…”.
The other word translated power is “dunamis” which is found in such passages as Acts 1:8: “You shall receive POWER after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.”
Although both places translate the words as power in the King James Version, the two words have a different meaning in the original Greek text. The power of Luke 10:19 is literally “delegated authority”. Christ was giving us AUTHORITY over Satan’s power. In Acts 1:8, the word means “inherent power capable of reproducing itself”. This” dunamis” is the same anointing that rested upon Christ (Acts 10:38).
A close word study can bring to light powerful revelations from the scripture concerning the true meanings of the New Testament words.
3-Place the scripture in the proper setting. Some churches build entire doctrines upon “proof text.” These secluded verses are picked here and there and then tied together to “prove” their doctrine. Again, this can be dangerous. Our doctrines must be founded up on Christ and the apostles, not a few verses out of context.
4-Let the Holy Spirit bring the light of enlightenment to your spirit as you study the written word of God. He was the inspiration to the prophets who wrote, and He is the giver of understanding to those who seek God.
“We believe in the whole Bible rightly divided and the New Testament for our only rule and government”. (Declaration of Fatih – Church of God 1909)
OCTOBER 31, 2026 Proverbs 3:27-28 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back, and tomorrow I will give it,” when you have it with you. In the previous devotion, we […]
OCTOBER 30, 2026 Proverbs 3:27-28 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back, and tomorrow I will give it,” when you have it with you. Throughout his writings, Solomon continually […]
OCTOBER 29, 2026 Proverbs 3:25-26 Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes; for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. Over and over again, the Word of the Lord encourages us to be confident, bold and to trust Him […]
OCTOBER 28, 2026 Proverbs 3:21-23 Keep sound wisdom and discretion; so they will be life to your soul and grace to your neck. Then you will walk safely in your way, and your foot will not stumble. Long ago there was a TV advertisement promoting a certain brokerage firm who boasted that everyone in need […]
OCTOBER 27, 2026 Proverbs 3:19-20 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens; by His knowledge the depths were broken up, and clouds drop down the dew. Take note of the fact that Solomon uses three important terms in these verses — wisdom, understanding and knowledge. Though the meaning of […]
OCTOBER 26, 2026 Proverbs 3:18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who retain her. On the bemah (platform) in most synagogues, there is a cabinet called the Aron or “Ark” in which resides a Sefer Torah, the Book of the Law. During services, the […]
OCTOBER 25, 2026 Proverbs 3:13-15 Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding; for her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. As was addressed in […]
OCTOBER 24, 2026 Proverbs 3:13-14 Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding; for her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold. In most any business transaction, there is an exchange between a buyer and a seller; the buyer takes the merchandise, and […]
