In the Secret Place with God
In the Secret Place with God
Psa. 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Intro. As a small child I was taught to pray “ Now I lay me down to sleep and God is great and God is good” by my mother. I suppose God did answer those prayers because He did protect me while I slept and He did provide food for us to eat.
But the first prayer that I know for sure that He answered was when I was 151/2 years old and I prayed and asked Jesus to save my soul and come into my heart.
From that day on I knew that he was my Saviour and that I would go to heaven when I died.
We know that liberal teachers teach that all men are the children of God and that God is their father, but the Bible teaches that “ Ye are of your father the devil until the time that you are “Born Again” and then you are born spiritually into the family of God. Then you have the right to call God your father and to pray unto Him. So…
- WHO CAN PRAY? Only those who can call God their Father and who have been saved.
Matthew 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet,
and when thou hast shut to the door pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward Thee openly.
- WHO ARE WE TALKING TO ?
Isa 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
Isa 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
The Creator of all creations. The Almighty God - Yet He is our loving Heavenly Father who wants us to come to Him with our requests. We must
Be sure that when we come to Him we bring our focus on Him and who we are talking to, and not just on our needs. Let the Holy Spirit usher us into His presence. Spend time worshipping and praising Him!
III. WHEN SHOULD WE PRAY? David said in Psa.55:16, 17
Ps 55:1 As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.
Psa. 55:17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and c Paul said in: Eph 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
and David also said in:
Psa. 55:16 As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.
Psa. 55:17 Evening, and morning and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear me.
It is always best to start your day off with your quiet time with God, but when my children were still home it was always best for me to wait until
they had left for school.
Paul said in: 1Thes 5:17 Pray without ceasing. This means staying on praying ground so we can get in touch with God whenever we need to.
III. HOW SHOULD WE PRAY?
- . Posture of prayer.
There are verses in the Bible that tell us of people who prayed standing, others prayed kneeling, some lifted up their hands, some bowed their heads and some fell prostrate on the ground. There are no set rules about this. The posture really doesn’t matter it is the need of the heart that counts.
- Clean hands - Psalms 24: 3,4
Psalms 24:3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
Ps 24:4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. This represents confession of sins and having a pure heart, with nothing in our lives that would hinder our prayers.
- Must have faith
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
James 1:5-7 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
- Why should we pray?
- Because there is a devil ! Jesus said, “ Pray that ye enter not into temptation. ( trials)
- It is God’s way of giving to us.
- James 4:2 Ye have not because ye ask not. ( man who saw warehouse) 2. James 1:5, 6 This also goes back to a lack of faith
- Heb. 4:16 We need to pray for the grace and mercy that helps us
make it from day to day -- undeserving favor and protection. It is God’s mercy gives us strength to keep on keeping on.
- DIFFERENT TYPES OF PRAYERS PHIL. 4:6
- Asking - Simply bringing your needs before the Lord.
- Supplication - Pleading - Begging God to meet the needs of
others and ourselves.
- Thanksgiving - Not forgetting to be thankful for all that God has
already done for us.
VII. OCCASIONS TO PRAY
VIII. HINDRANCES TO PRAYER - ENEMIES OF PAYER
- Selfishness -- James 4:3
- Sin -- Isa. 59:12
- Unforgiveness - Mark 11:25 - Matt. 5:22, 23
- Husband & Wife problems - I Pet. 3:7
- Unconfessed sin - Psa. 66:18
- PRAYING IN THE NAME OF JESUS
When we go to God in prayer it is like going to the bank of heaven. We have nothing deposited there and we have no credit in our name. So I
Can get nothing out! To pray in the name of Jesus means we can ask for our needs on His credit, because He made the payment.
Also it means when we pray, to ask for only what would bring
honor and glory to God’s name.
- Praying according to His will - I John 5: 14, 15
How can we know if what we are praying for is in God’s will?
- By the Word of God - If it is definitely promised, we know it is
we know it is God’s will to do it.
- By the teaching of the Holy Spirit - Romans 8:26, 27
The Holy Spirit teaches us and inspires
And directs us in our prayers so that we
Can know whether we are praying in
God’s will or not.
EVEN A PERSON WITH TREMBLING, DOUBTING FAITH, IF HE KEEPS ON PRAYING, WILL FIND HIS PRAYERS ANSWERED. GOD ANSWERS PRAYER NOT BECAUSE WE DESERVE IT, BUT
BECAUSE HE LOVES US !!!!
Dr. John R. Rice