Download the prayer of intercession - forest hills church of christ

What are the
Elements of Prayer?
Elements of Prayer
 Since prayer is our only method
of communicating to God, knowing
what to include in our prayers is
essential to the most effective
communication.
 The Bible mentions at least six
purposes for speaking to God.
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Elements of Prayer
 All of these are necessary for
the fullest expression of our
deepest thoughts, needs and
desires.
 Learning more about the
diversity of prayer will also help
us to better understand the
importance of conversing with
our Heavenly Father on a regular3
Praise
 Praise is speaking to God about
God—relating to Him the effects
that His character and acts have
had upon us.
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Praise
 He is marvelous, therefore we
marvel at Him.
 He is magnificent; therefore we
magnify Him.
 He is glorious; therefore we
glorify Him.
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Praise
 The prayer of praise gives to
God both honor and glory for the
greatness of His:
 Creation
 Blessings
 Attributes
 Justice
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Psalm 147:1
Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing
praises to our God; For it is pleasant,
and praise is beautiful.
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Revelation 4:8
The four living creatures, each having six
wings, were full of eyes around and within.
And they do not rest day or night,
saying: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God
Almighty, Who was and is and is to
come!"
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Revelation 4:9-10
Whenever the living creatures give glory
and honor and thanks to Him who sits on
the throne, who lives forever and ever, the
twenty-four elders fall down before Him
who sits on the throne and worship Him
who lives forever and ever, and cast their
crowns before the throne, saying:
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Revelation 4:11
"You are worthy, O Lord, To receive
glory and honor and power; For You
created all things, And by Your will they
exist and were created."
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Revelation 5:11-12
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of
many angels around the throne, the living
creatures, and the elders; and the number
of them was ten thousand times ten
thousand, and thousands of thousands,
saying with a loud voice: "Worthy is the
Lamb who was slain To receive power
and riches and wisdom, And strength and
honor and glory and blessing!"
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Confession
 Confession, according to the old
adage, “is good for the soul.”
 This is certainly true with
regard to our relationship with
God.
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Confession
 Prayer gives us an opportunity to
admit to God that we have
sinned and that we need His help
to overcome the burden and guilt
of sin.
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Confession
 We cannot afford to allow sin to
taint our lives.
 We must petition God for
forgiveness so we can be pure in
His sight.
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1 John 1:8-10
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness. If we say that we
have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and
His word is not in us.
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Psalm 51:1-2
Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your
tender mercies, Blot out my
transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from
my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.
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Psalm 51:3-4
For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me. Against
You, You only, have I sinned, And done
this evil in Your sight-- That You may be
found just when You speak, And
blameless when You judge.
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Proverbs 28:13
He who covers his sins will not prosper,
But whoever confesses and forsakes
them will have mercy.
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Thanksgiving
 Thanksgiving has been defined as
“an attitude of gratitude.”
 But the attitude must express
itself in prayer if we wish to
continue receiving blessings from
God.
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Thanksgiving
 That is, we must thank God for
the favors already received as
we petition Him for a continued
supply of the same.
 Primarily, we should be grateful
for His most majestic gift—His
only begotten Son, and our
Savior Jesus Christ.
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Thanksgiving
 Thanksgiving should be a part of
our every prayer, because there
will never be a time when we do
not have something for which we
should be thankful.
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Psalm 116:12,17
What shall I render to the Lord For all
His benefits toward me?
I will offer to You the sacrifice of
thanksgiving, And will call upon the name
of the Lord.
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Psalm 136:1-2
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is
good! For His mercy endures forever.
Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For
His mercy endures forever.
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Supplication
 Supplication is a seeking, asking, or
entreating.
 It is used in the New Testament
of the requests addressed by men
to God, in which men primarily
implored God—with piety and
humility—for assistance in a
matter.
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Supplication
 This implies that we can approach
God, not merely in general terms,
but with specific requests.
 As our faith in God to answer
prayer grows, our supplications will
become more and more specific.
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Supplication
 Of the two words translated
“supplication” in the King James
Version, the one in Hebrews 5:7
appears nowhere else in the New
Testament.
 The other word is more frequently
translated “prayer.”
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Supplication
 The distinction between them is
put into plain words by Robert
Milligan, in his Commentary on the
Epistle to the Hebrews—“The
Greek words rendered prayers and
supplications . . . are often used
interchangeably for prayers in
general.
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Supplication
 “But when used together, as in this
instance, the former denotes such
petitions as flow from a sense of
our wants; and the latter, such as
are prompted by a deep sense of
our own helplessness” (page 194).
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James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of
God, who gives to all liberally and without
reproach, and it will be given to him.
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James 1:6-8
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting,
for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea
driven and tossed by the wind. For let not
that man suppose that he will receive
anything from the Lord; he is a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways.
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Intercession
 Intercession, praying for others,
is one of our most solemn
responsibilities.
 In praising God and giving Him
thanks we express our love for
Him.
 In supplication and confession we
express our love and concern for
self.
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Intercession
 But in intercession we express
our love and concern for others,
as well as our belief that they
need the help that God alone can
and will give them.
 Therefore, we should pray for
one another’s health, and for
one another’s safety while
traveling.
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Intercession
 We should pray not only that
religious freedom might continue
in our land, but also that it
might extend to other lands.
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1 Timothy 2:1-2
Therefore I exhort first of all that
supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
giving of thanks be made for all men, for
kings and all who are in authority, that we
may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all
godliness and reverence.
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1 Timothy 2:3-4
For this is good and acceptable in the
sight of God our Savior, who desires all
men to be saved and to come to the
knowledge of the truth.
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Imprecation
 Imprecation is a prayer in which
one petitions God to defeat one’s
enemies.
 The Old Testament prophets used
this type of prayer quite
extensively with reference to
those who vexed the Israelites
from time to time.
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Imprecation
 In the N. T., imprecations seem to
have been made concerning those
who hindered the cause of truth.
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Luke 18:1-2
Then He spoke a parable to them, that
men always ought to pray and not lose
heart, saying: "There was in a certain city
a judge who did not fear God nor regard
man.
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Luke 18:3-5
"Now there was a widow in that city; and
she came to him, saying, 'Get justice for
me from my adversary.' And he would not
for a while; but afterward he said within
himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor
regard man, yet because this widow
troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her
continual coming she weary me.' "
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Luke 18:6-8
Then the Lord said, "Hear what the
unjust judge said. And shall God not
avenge His own elect who cry out day
and night to Him, though He bears long
with them? I tell you that He will avenge
them speedily. Nevertheless, when the
Son of Man comes, will He really find
faith on the earth?"
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Imprecation
 At the conclusion of the parable
Jesus asked, “And shall God not
avenge His own elect who cry out
day and night to Him, though He
bears long with them?”
 He then answered His own
question, saying, “I tell you that
He will avenge them speedily.”
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