5. WHAT SHOULD I PRAY FOR? It is a privilege to ask God for His involvement in our lives. It should be treated seriously. In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus taught His disciples to pray for their daily physical and spiritual needs. In His prayer in John 17, He prayed for Himself, His disciples, and for the world in very specific requests. Jesus promised that the faithful prayer - fitting into His will, offered to the Father, in His name - would be answered, John 15:7,16, 16:23, 1 John 5:14-15.

Other Biblical suggestions include praying for...

Wisdom, James 1:5, 2 Chronicles 1:7-12.
Spiritual prosperity, Colossians 1:9-12.
Those who mistreat you, Luke 6:28.
Healing, James 5:14-15, 2 Corinthians 12:7-9.
Each other, Ephesians 6:18, James 5:16.
The government, 1 Timothy 2:1-2
Our food, Mark 6:41, 8:6.
Those who need Christ, Romans 10:1.
Laborers to proclaim the Gospel, Matthew 9:37-38.
Open doors for the Gospel, Colossians 4:3-4.

DENIALS AND DELAYS. God hears all our prayers and answers all our prayers. His answer may be yes, no, or wait (no answer yet). Sometimes He goes beyond a yes and gives us more than all that we ask or think, Ephesians 3:20. Often we don't have because we don't ask or because we ask with wrong motives, James 4:2-3. The Bible teaches that a husband's prayers may be hindered if he treats his wife improperly, 1 Peter 3:7. An unforgiving spirit hinders our prayers, and our forgiveness of others demonstrates the forgiveness we should expect from God, Mark 11:25, Matthew 5:23-24, 6:12-15. We are to be clean before Him, and then our prayers accomplish much. "The prayer of the upright is His delight." Proverbs 15:8. If one turns away from His law, "even his prayer is an abomination." Proverbs 28:9. Denials and delays can be for our protection, preparation, or perfection. Sometimes denials are for our own good ... for our protection because we do not understand what we are asking for. It may be that an apparent denial is not a denial but simply a delay because we need time to be prepared for His answer. Delays give us the opportunity to be perfected through persistence and faithfulness as we wait. However, some denials are final, Deuteronomy 3:26, Jeremiah 7:16 and 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.

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Disciplemaking 1, copyright 2003, is available free from www.MyDisciplemaker.org where you can study online or print free copies. You may copy this course, any any part of it, for free or at-cost distribution ... without change to the content ... and with this copyright policy attached. Published by www.ActsOneEight.org. Bible Quotations are from the NASB unless noted.