THE PURPOSES OF PRAYER – PART 1

If I told you that you were going to have the opportunity to talk with Yeshua Moshiach for 15 minutes today and you could make one request to Him, what would your request be? If you could ask Him anything, would you ask for protection, a new job, or money? What would you ask for? Once Yeshua’ disciples had this opportunity: Luke 11:1 -- tells us that they came to Yeshua one day and they had a request. Adonai, teach us to pray… Why, of all the things they could have asked, did they ask this question? I think it was because they saw the results of prayer in Yeshua’ life. They saw Him pray and they saw what happened. The disciples had watched Yeshua preach the greatest sermons ever, they had been there while he performed miracles, but never once did they say: Adonai, teach us to preach or Adonai, teach us to do miracles or Adonai, teach us to raise the dead. Instead, they said: Teach us how to pray. From watching the example of Yeshua, these men knew that prayer was the key to what they needed in life.

1 – In Prayer I declare My Dependence on YHVH:

When I pray, I am saying to YHVH: I need You. For some reason, many of us have a problem admitting this. Perhaps it’s a part of the world mindset, we value independence, hard work and making it on our own. While that can be a good thing, if you learn anything when you come to Yeshua Moshiach, it is that you don’t have the ability to make it spiritually on your own. The reason why a lot of people don't pray is because it costs! It costs honesty! [Adonai, I admit I am inadequate; I am helpless; I need Your help in this situation.] As long as you think you are self-sufficient, prayer can have no meaning for you. John 15:5-7: -- Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing. Anyone who parts from Me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you stay joined to Me and My Words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted. He says: If you really place your dependence in Me, you can ask whatever you will and I will give it. That is an unbelievable promise in prayer! We need to notice that the promise is for those who are dependent not only on Moshiach, but have His Words within them. This type of person is in touch with YHVH and His Will and prays accordingly. It's like a branch and vine, Yeshua said; the branch is connected to the vine, so if you cut the branch off, it loses all its strength. If you cut a believer off from YHVH, he withers. Years ago there was a TV documentary about deep-sea divers. They had recovered some gold from a sunken ship in the North Atlantic. They talked about how they let a diving bell down, 800 feet under the water. The only link between the people 800 feet below the water and those on the boat was the air hose. The hose was the lifeline, the support system, the connection between those above and those below. Prayer is our support system. You cut it off and you run out of spiritual air. Until we realize the depth of our need for YHVH, we can't pray.

2 – In Prayer, I Grow in my Relationship With YHVH:

When I first got out of high school, I had a boss named Jan. After working together for some time, the relationship I had with my boss began to change. While he remained the boss, he began to confide in me on a different level. We would spend time together outside of work and found we had a number of things in common. We moved from a boss / employee relationship to a friend / friend relationship. The more time you spend with YHVH you will find that the nature of your relationship will change. You will not become more saved, more attractive, or get you more stuff. But your relationship will change from that of Master / servant, to Master / friend. John 15:15-16: -- I no longer call you servants, because a master doesn’t confide in his servants. Now you are My friends, since I have told you everything the Father told Me. You didn’t choose Me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using My Name. Prior to this passage, Yeshua had been confiding in His disciples concerning His impending death. He had brought the relationship to a whole new level. He now was sharing with them as confidants, not as servants and He promised them something very interesting here. Notice that intimacy in prayer does not lead to the production of fruit; rather, the opposite is true; producing fruit leads to intimacy. I build my relationship with YHVH by becoming like Him through a life of righteousness and dedication to His Kingdom agenda. As I produce lasting fruit, YHVH Promises to grant what? Whatever we ask, as we ask it by the authority of Yeshua Moshiach. And what happens to our relationship? I live for YHVH, I pray to Him, He grants whatever I ask by the authority of Yeshua Moshiach, and I live for YHVH. It is a relationship based on friendship, understanding and mutual purpose. As I live for YHVH, I understand His will and our relationship grows. He speaks to me, not only through His Word and through Ruach HaKodesh, but through answering the requests I ask of Him. I think it is important to note that YHVH does not invite us to call Him [friend], but He feels free to address us in this way. Why is that? It is because YHVH is always YHVH; He is always the Creator, Sustainer, the Holy One… but through His Son He invites us to approach Him, not as servants, but as His friends. He remains the Master, but we move from servant to friend.

3 – In Prayer, I Ask and Receive From YHVH:

I once read a rather self-righteous sounding book about prayer where the author stated that we should never ask YHVH for anything, or if we had to, it should be at a minimum; he believed that the more mature a believer becomes, the less they will request from YHVH and the more they will spend their time just praising His Name. That is about the biggest bunch of nonsense I have ever heard. YHVH wants us to ask and receive from Him in prayer, in fact, the longer I’ve been a Torah Follower, the more I ask Him for, because I have learned to believe in His ability to a much greater extent than ever before. John 15:7: -- If you stay joined to Me and My words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! John 15:16b: -- …the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using My Name. John 16:24: -- Ask, using My Name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy. Luke 17:6: -- Even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May YHVH uproot you and throw you into the sea,’ and it would obey you! Mark 11:23 -24: -- I assure you that you can say to this mountain, ‘May YHVH lift you up and throw you into the sea,’ and your command will be obeyed. All that’s required is that you really believe and do not doubt in your heart. Listen to Me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it.

What is He saying? He is saying that our power of faith is as unlimited as the power of YHVH! If I truly believe, I will receive! Do you believe that YHVH can use TTN to lead thousands of people to Yeshua Moshiach? Do you believe that you can impact your neighbourhood, your family, your workplace, for Yeshua Moshiach? Do you believe that YHVH has the power to fulfil your dreams? Then why aren’t you praying those kinds of prayers? There are a number of reasons that prayers aren’t answered, but the biggest problem we have is a lack of belief. When we read the New Testament and read about the early believers, it’s a mindblower. They were happy, joyful, contagious, and enthusiastic about life. They had power in their lives; they saw miracles happening on a regular basis. You ask a typical New Testament believer: How are you? and he would say: Business as usual, one miracle after another! We may ask: How come I don't have that kind of power? Because we don't ask at that level, the bigger your requests, the bigger your belief in YHVH. I get tired of asking YHVH to do things I can accomplish in my own power. I want to request things from YHVH that can’t be accomplished by anyone else. What are you lacking right now in your life simply because you've never asked YHVH for it? You've tried other things but you've never stopped to ask YHVH for it. What do you ask for? Ask for what you want. Psalm 37:4: -- Take delight in Adonai, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Desires: If you're delighting yourself in YHVH, you're trying the best, as you know how, to let YHVH's Ruach live in your life, your desires aren't going to be wrong. And YHVH promises that He will give you those things. Psalm 84:11: -- No good thing will Adonai withhold from those who do what is right. YHVH is not up in heaven holding all these things back and saying: You have to convince Me to give them to you! He says: Ask! When you ask, everybody gets blessed. YHVH gets blessed because it shows His nature as a Giver. You get blessed because you get the answer to your request. The world gets blessed because all of a sudden, you have a testimony. One thing about people who have answered prayers is they can't keep it to themselves; they have to share it. They start sharing with everybody and that's what YHVH wants.