WHAT IS PRAYER?
2 Chronicles 7:14: "Then if My people who are called by My Name will humble themselves and pray and seek My Face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven." --- Prayer is an act of humble worship in which we seek YHVH with all our heart. Psalm 38:15-18: "I confess my sins; I am deeply sorry for what I have done." 1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong." --- Prayer often begins with a confession of sin. 1 Samuel 14:36-45: "The priest said, 'Let’s ask God first.'” 2 Samuel 5:17-19: "David asked the Lord, 'Should I go out to fight the Philistines?'” --- Prayer is asking YHVH for guidance and waiting for His direction and leading. Mark 1:35: "The next morning Jesus awoke long before daybreak and went out alone into the wilderness to pray." --- Prayer is an expression of an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father, who makes His own love and resources available to us. Psalm 9:1-2: "I will thank You, Lord, with all my heart... I will sing praises to Your Name, O Most High." --- Through prayer we praise our Mighty Creator.
The most universally practiced yet least understood of human experiences, prayer is one of the great mysteries of the Messianic / Christian faith. Its simplest definition is communication with YHVH. Yet so often we approach prayer like a one-way telephone conversation, forgetting that YHVH also wants to speak to us. And how do we pray-on our knees or standing; silently or out loud; alone or with others; by rote or spontaneously? And does prayer really induce our Father to manipulate events or otherwise act on our behalf? Although the Bible does not take up these and other questions directly, prayer appears on nearly every page as the very essence of a faith relationship with the living Creator. Simple enough for a child to understand and yet so profound we spend a lifetime plumbing its depths, prayer assumes that it is possible for us to have an intimate relationship with a Great God who hears, cares and is able to act.
Praying Psalm 15
May I worship in Your sanctuary, Adonai? May I enter Your presence on Your Holy Hill? I am trying to lead a blameless live and do what is right in Your sight, speaking the truth from a sincere heart. I refuse to gossip or harm my neighbours or speak evil of my friends. I despise flagrant sinners and honour the faithful followers of You my Adonai and I try to keep my promises even when it hurts. I lend money without charging interest and I cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Let me stand firm forever in Your Name, amein.
Must we kneel in prayer?
The tradition of kneeling as we pray is a way of putting our bodies in a supplicating position, honouring the Most Powerful, Most High, Most Loving and Best Promise Keeper. But do we always have to kneel when we pray? There is biblical tradition behind kneeling, of course. Take the words of the Psalm, “O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker” (Psalm 95:6). In the Gospel of Luke, we observe how Yeshua on the night before His Crucifixion, went up to the Mount of Olives with the disciples, withdrew from them and knelt down and prayed (Luke 22:41) If Yeshua knelt, that’s surely good enough for us. Except as I look at the biblical sources -- and mostly in the Gospels -- I keep seeing other options. Yeshua stood and prayed when He blessed the loaves and the fishes and handed them to the disciples. And when He welcomed the children, saying, “Let the little children come to me,” He laid His hands on all of them, blessing them. Clearly standing. Take the disciples at the Last Supper. As they gathered in the upper room, seeing Yeshua bless and break a loaf of bread and say, “Take, eat; this is My Body,” they were sitting at the table (possibly lying next to it as was the ancient custom). At any rate, not kneeling. I think all of this should remind us to pray in whatever way is appropriate for the moment. Putting yourself physically into a position that goes with the prayer --- like Jesus on the Mount of Olives. Or other situations:
Sitting next to a sick person’s bed: --- I too have sat next to sick people’s beds, praying out loud, not even knowing if my words are heard. But the closeness of whom I’m praying for adds to the power. And how grateful sometimes are the sick to hear such prayers.
Stand, walk or dancing in prayer: --- We are large prayer groups sometimes and serving ourselves in open kitchen, next to a swimming pool or barbeque or doing a prayer walk. Some were ready to eat, some were still filling up their plates, some look after the barbeque or some are jumping, dancing and walking. We all sing praises when a prayer is said out loud and we confirm words being said and when we stand we only bow our heads. Everything we do is done prayerfully.
Lying down: --- There are times I simply want to take in as much as possible the world YHVH gave us. l lie on my back outside, gazing up at the heavens, filled with wonder. Then at night as I fall asleep lying in bed, I will picture Father smiling at me.
Raising your hands: --- When the Spirit moves us in a service, indeed we raise our hands. We reach up to the heavens. “So I will bless You as long as I live,” says Psalm 63:4, “I will lift up my hands and call on Your Name.” More poignantly, you might be reaching out your hands in an expression of need and desperation, your body mirroring your prayer. “I stretch out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land” (Psalm 143:6). God made us, body and soul. And when you can, use your body in a way that amplifies a prayer.
Amein?
Are you dealing with your problems or are you tolerating your problems?
Join MTOI every Friday as we “focus” on topics that affect our relationship with our Elohim and each other.
Don't miss out on new teachings every week. Please click on the "LIKE" button if this video has been a blessing to you.
For more information about MTOI (Messianic Torah Observant Israel), visit our website,
Join us on Social media!
Like us on Facebook:
Follow us on Instagram:
Follow us on Twitter:
We are located in Cleveland TN, and have extension fellowships across South Africa. If you would like to know more about us, we would love to hear from you! Feel free to visit us on our website to see where they are located, email us at contact.sa@mtoi.org or call us at 081 471 8940.
.
.
.
#fridayfocus #torah #yahweh #yeshua #elohim #messiah #messianic #torahobservant #mtoiworldwide #clevelandtn #loveandtorah
TTN Music 
TTN Ads 
