How To Pray According To Scripture

I Timothy 2:1

(1Ti 2:1) I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;


We are going to take this verse and go through it very carefully today and see what God says about how we are to pray.  Many times in my own prayer life I tend to just go through the routine of praying without doing the steps to which I should be.  Sometimes we get in a hurry and we just want to get on with our day and we just say a quick prayer because it is what we are supposed to do.  When we finish this lesson today, you will have a better understanding or guideline for your prayer life.

Paul starts out by saying here in this verse, "I exhort therefore", the word exhort comes from the Greek word "parakaleo" which means to call near or invoke.  In the King James Version of the Bible, the word, exhort is mentioned 14 times, so it was not a term used loosely in the Bible.  He is invoking us or calling us near to pay close attention to what he is about to say, why?  Because what Paul is about to say is extremely important and he wants to make sure we understand it.  And the next part saying "that, first of all" is not referring to your personal prayer time first thing in the morning; it is referring to every time you pray.  This should be our "outline" sort to speak for any prayer we pray even before a meal.

We are going to break down the next part of this verse word by word to better understand the meaning and then we will come up with the outline that Paul is has prepared for us in our prayer life.

   
1. Supplications – From the Greek word "deesis" (deh'-ay-sis), which means a petition.  In Webster's Dictionary, "petition" means "a formal message requesting something submitted to an authority".  We are to begin our prayer by petitioning God for our needs, whether it is for ourselves or whether it is for someone else and this could be for their body or soul.  This could be for food, clothing, finances, discoveries of pardoning love, and supplies of grace, spiritual peace and comfort.    When we start our prayer we should be asking God specifically for things we need, and asking him to supply the needs of those that we know are in need of something in their life.
   
2. Prayers – From the Greek word "proseuche" (pros-yoo-khay), which means exactly what it is, prayer; it also means earnest prayer.  This one goes a little bit hand in hand with supplications but not to be confused with its meaning.  Here we are now expressing to God our wishes or desires from God either of ourselves or others.
   
3. Intercessions – From the Greek word "enteuxis" (ent'-yook-sis), which means an interview.  Webster's defines it as a conference with someone with high authority.  Wow! That is amazing, we interview with the highest authority in the universe. Here we are intending either complaints exhibited in prayer against others that have done injuries; or prayers put up for others, either for the averting of evil from them, or for the bestowing some good thing on them.
   
4. Giving of Thanks – From the Greek word "eucharistia" (yoo-khar-is-tee'-ah), which means gratitude; actually grateful language to God, as an act of worship, thankfulness, giving of thanks.  We are to thank God for all His blessings, mercies, what He has done for us and what He will do for us, whether temporal or spiritual.
   
5. Be made for all men – I am going to focus on two words from this part, "all" from the Greek word "pas" which means anyone, thoroughly or whole. And the word "men" from the Greek word "anthropos" (anth'-ro-pos) which means human being.  So, here we see we are to pray for or on behalf of all human beings completely and thoroughly.

Now that we have broken this verse down to better understand its meaning, we can now understand how to pray according to Scripture.

Outline For Prayer:

   
1. Open your prayer time by asking God to supply your needs and the needs of your friends and family. Be specific not general.
   
   
2. Tell God what you would like to have or what you desire. This could be anything from a new computer to souls to be saved in church this Sunday.
   
   
3. Tell God that someone has hurt you and you want him to deal with their heart and convict them, or ask God to bless or comfort someone that you know is need of it today.
   
   
4. Tell God you love Him and just worship Him and thank Him for all He has done for you.
   

My prayer is that this helps you a little bit in your prayer life; I know it helped mine when I studied this out. So many people have no idea how to pray and they are scared to.  Something like this as a guide to go by will be a help.

Lord Bless