Prayer Study Week Six Lesson One

“Our Need of God”


Asking for help is a hard one for me.  Let me just see if I can do it first, then ~ MAYBE ~ I will ask for help. The truth is that I do need help, we all do. Calling on God is not a sign of weakness. It shows that we recognize that He is greater than we are. This week's lessons will focus on supplication or petitioning God ~ asking Him for help. The first step in that process is recognizing that we are in need of Him. 


Because we are not God, we are in need of Him. It sounds too simplistic doesn’t it? We are in need and God is the only one who can supply our needs. So we go to God with our needs and with humble attitudes that He is greater and we are not.  We have studied God’s position and our position. In order to have a right relationship with God, we must recognize His authority over us and fully respect this. This is essential to our communication with God. We want Him to hear us and answer us with His divinely perfect will.


The Greek word for “petition” is “deesis” and means “supplication, request, and prayer for particular benefits.” As Christians we are to bring our requests to God. Its ok, in fact it is to be part of our prayer time. By coming to God with our needs we are admitting that we have need of Him. Great need!


Read Philippians 4:6. What kinds of things are we to bring before the Lord?


What can’t we bring to God?


Did you see it? We are to bring everything to Him. It’s ok. There is no guilt in admitting our need to Him. I have often heard people say that they do not want to bother the Lord with their little problems. For some reason we save our requests for the “BIG” issues of life. People say things like, “Just answer this one God and I will never bother You again” or “If You give me this request I will devote my self to You the rest of my life.” 


Our prayer time becomes a bargaining time with God. Does this sound familiar to you? It does to me, because I’ve done it myself. We learn from His Word that He doesn’t work that way. God is very up front with us. He says to rejoice, be gentle, don’t be anxious and ask Him to fill our needs. He is faithful. He desires nothing from us but our love and obedience to Him.


Over this last week of our study on “Prayer” we will break down the petition part of our prayers. Let’s begin by reading the following scripture passage and see what we can learn at the feet of God through His Word.


Read 1 Timothy 2:1-6 and answer the following:


Verse 1- What does Paul urge the believer to do?


Verse 2– What does Paul include that we are to pray for? 


Why? 


Verse 3– Why does Paul say that this good? 


Verse 4- What does God our Savior want for everyone? 


Verse 5 – Who is the mediator between God and man?


Verse 6- How did Christ make this mediation between God and mankind possible? 

The Apostle Paul is urging us to seek God in all things. In other words He is the source for all of our needs. There is no better or more perfect source than at the feet of our Heavenly Father.

We see that in the first two verses we are to present our:
Requests
Prayers
Intercession
Thanksgiving

And he states we are to do it for three groups of people. These include:
Everyone
Kings
All those in authority

He then gives us the reason for this:
To live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
It is good and pleasing to God.
God wants all people to be saved and come to knowledge of the truth.

When we say our prayers, they should not just be only for ourselves and those we love, but for everyone we know, for the government and other authorities. Remember that prayer is our response to God and we are seeking His will concerning who and what we are praying for. When pray, we are not giving God our ideas or plans for these people, but rather we are asking God for His plan.

We have learned that God is the Supreme Ruler and Authority and that we are to submit ourselves before Him. As we see in 1 Timothy 2:5-6, Paul states, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men – the testimony given in its proper time.”

We can approach God because of two things:
God has given us the way.
Jesus has made the way.

It is essential to recognize that God has given us the way to approach Him through His Son Jesus Christ. And Jesus has made the way through His selfless act of paying our ransom through His death and victory over it.

I never want to forget what it took for me to enter the Holy of Holies and approach the Throne of God. So often I do forget when I casually throw up a prayer. My ability to pray at all came at a tremendous cost. It cost Jesus His life. He paid for my life and the forgiveness of the debt of my sin with His life and He sits at the right hand of the Father bidding me to come and enter and communicate with the Creator of the Universe ~ the Creator of my heart.

Read John 14:6. Write out the verse: 


Apply this verse to prayer.

We need Jesus. We are in great need of Him because He is the only way to God. As we learn more about asking God to fill our needs through Jesus, we must admit that we are in need of Him. There is no one greater, no one able to fulfill the physical, mental and spiritual needs we have.

Prayer Time
Go to your prayer journal and admit your need of Jesus. He is the only way to God. Lay all you ideas down and approach God with a heart ready to receive God’s best for you and those who are in your life and those who affect your life. Ask God to reveal His perfect plan. Learn to trust that He knows best. God is waiting to hear you and answer you. Open your heart to Him.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.

 Trust in God; trust also in Me.” John 14:1

Discussion Questions
1. Calling on God is not a sign of weakness. It shows that you recognize that God is greater than you are. Why do we need God?


2. You are to bring everything to God. There is no guilt in admitting your need to Him. Are there certain things that you feel you shouldn’t bother God with? 


3. When you pray, your prayers should not only be for yourself and those you love, but for everyone you know, for the government and other authorities over you. How can you pray for those in authority when you don’t like them, even hate them, their policies and laws? And if you do pray for them, how should you pray for them?