Today 6th
of November, is the WORLD DAY OF PRAYER OF CHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP:
PRAYER FOR CHILDREN:
Read the Bible
verses and pray for our children the 8 prayers:
C – Come to Jesus
(Salvation) – John 7:37-38
H – HUMILITY – Titus 3:2
I – INTEGRITY -
Ps. 25:21
L - LOVE GOD AND FELLOWMEN
AND THEMSELVES – 1 Pet. 2:7
D – DO THE RIGHT THINGS – Ephesians
6:7
R – READ their Bibles and pray to grow spiritually – 2
Pet. 3:18
E – ENJOY God forever and
glorify Him – 1 Thess. 1:6
N – NEW CREATION IN CHRIST
– old things gone – 2 Cor. 5:17
Mr. Irvin Overtholzer,
the founder of Child Evangelism Fellowship, wrote a book about prayer: “Everything by prayer” (you can download the
book for free).
The Seven Laws of Prayer
• Asking
• Asking in the Will of God
• Asking in the Name of Christ
• Asking in Faith
• Asking by a Righteous Man
• Asking for Definite Things
• Asking by One Who Is Grateful
1. The First Law-ASKING
The first law of prayer is asking. God knows our needs, of course.
Then why does He not supply them whether we pray or not? The answer is very
simple. To be always getting, without the sense of responsibility or without
being grateful would destroy us. A pampered child does not develop into a
strong character. Selfishness is a besetting sin of all, and to be always
getting without even asking would make us more selfish. Compliance with the
requirements of the laws of prayer is necessary for the development of
Christian character.
2. The Second Law-ASKING IN THE WILL OF GOD
No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Psalm
84:11). Our God is glad to give us, through prayer, anything and everything
that would be good for us. But in our shortsightedness we often ask for things
that would prove harmful if we received them. Should God give us these? Would
He be kind if He did? Surely not. Is this not one reason why there is so much
unanswered prayer? But is there any way to find out what God is willing to give
us without praying at random and then waiting in uncertainty as to the result?
3. The Third Law-ASKING IN THE NAME OF CHRIST
In John 14:14, we have a most wonderful prayer promise, “If ye
ask anything in my name, I will do it.” Jesus, in all of His glorified
omnipotence, stands ready to keep this promise if it is claimed in faith. This
promise has been so generally known that scarcely a prayer is uttered without
the expression “In Jesus‟ name,” or some similar expression being made a part
of the prayer. But experience proves that many such prayers, even by very
devout Christians, are never answered. What can be the reason? Of course some
other law of prayer perhaps is being violated, for every prayer promise is
subject to all the laws of prayer. But may it not be because the prayer has not
really been prayed in Christ‟s name?
4. The Fourth Law-ASKING IN FAITH
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth
is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. For let not that man
think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord” (James 1:6, 7). In
order to have and hold a faith that does not waver it must rest on something
secure. It must rest on the Word of God. Satan assails us when we pray and
tempts us to doubt, for he knows that if we pray in faith the victory will be
won. There is only one sure way to meet Satan and that is with “It is written.”
Jesus met him that way, and we should follow His example. To do this we must
know the definite promise of God on which to rest our faith-and with which to
meet Satan‟s attack.
5. The Fifth Law-ASKING BY A RIGHTEOUS MAN
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James
5:16). This text imposes righteousness as a condition to answered prayer. Of
course we must have the imputed righteousness which becomes ours when we
believe in Christ or we could not have answered prayer at all. But does this
text refer to that righteousness? It certainly does not, for in the fifteenth
verse it is said, “If he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” The
teaching here has to do with righteousness in conduct instead of imputed
righteousness.
Since this is the case, the question at once arises, what
measure of righteousness of conduct is required to have answered prayer?
Certainly not perfect righteousness, for the seventeenth verse in referring to
Elijah as an example of one who had his prayers answered, says, he was “a man
subject to like passions as we are.” No Christian is now sinless, for sins of
ignorance are really sins and, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves” (1 John 1:8). Truly we deceive no one but ourselves.
6. The Sixth Law-ASKING FOR DEFINITE THINGS
To obtain the fullest results in our prayer life, the sixth law
of prayer must be known and obeyed. This law is that our prayers must be
definite. “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he
give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?” (Luke 11:11, 12). The
teaching here is that God delights to supply our need and to give us precisely
what we ask, if it is good for us. When we really know what we need, we show
flagrant lack of faith not to ask for definite things.
There may be times when we “know not what to pray for as we
ought” (Romans 8:26, 27), and these times are frequent. But if we have learned
to pray “in the Holy Ghost” (Jude 20), we will look to Him to guide us and
burden us in prayer and He will lead us to pray for definite objects which
otherwise would have escaped our attention. Spirit-guided praying is always
definite and never selfish.
7. The seventh Law-ASKING BY ONE WHO IS
GRATEFUL
Praise and thanksgiving are fundamental to true praying. The
Word says “in every thing give thanks.” If we keep our vision clear,
there is no hour so dark nor struggle so hard but that there is occasion for
thanksgiving. Paul and Silas sang praises in the Philippian jail.
There are some blessings that abide, of which no one can rob us,
and these are the greatest blessings of all, and all of them come from God. Let us enumerate a few of them:
1. We are saved—and
know it. Our sins are all forgiven. We have peace with God. The perfect
righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, and we are complete in Him.
2. We are born again and
are God‟s own children. As God‟s children we
are heirs of all the fabulous riches of God. We are in the Kingdom and members
of the body of Christ.
3. We are on the road to
heaven, the eternal heavenly city, where sin and suffering are no more,
where we will reign with Christ forever and ever. There joy shall be full and
perpetual.
4. We are to be sinless
and absolutely perfect, for He has promised to present us faultless before
the throne of His Glory with exceeding joy.
5. We are to be glorified,
with new bodies like unto the glorified body of our risen Lord, attuned both to
earth and heaven; with such marvelous powers that neither distance nor
elements, nor even mundane laws are a barrier. All heaven and the universe will
be the field for our glorified activity.
6. Our needs are being
supplied in the interim. All things are working together for good
right now. The Holy Ghost has come and we have Him now as our indweller, to
comfort us, to guide us, to teach us, and to give us power.
7. He has made us His own
ambassadors! We are to win souls. The issue is their salvation for all
eternity. A single soul is worth more than a world and He is trusting us to
deal with world values right here and now.
Ought we not to be thankful? Should we not adore a God
and Christ who has done all of this for us? And did we deserve it? Oh, no, we
deserved but judgment instead!
Real praying should be preceded and succeeded by praise. God is
so good. Each newly answered prayer should be an occasion for renewed praise.
More, we should praise Him for the answer which is still on the way.
How the fogs of discouragement lift when we have the faith to
begin to praise!
I walk with the King, hallelujah!
I walk with the King, praise His name!
No longer I roam, my soul faces home,
I walk and I talk with the King.
—James Rowe
Ten Inspiring Quotes on Prayer
1.
"Do not work so hard
for Christ that you have no strength to pray, for prayer requires
strength." ~J. Hudson Taylor
2. "Prayer is the greatest power God has put into our hands for
service - praying is harder than doing, at least I find it so, but the dynamic
lies that way to advance the Kingdom." ~Mary Slessor
3. "Intercessory prayer is an act of communion with Christ, for Jesus
pleads for the sons of men." ~Charles Spurgeon
4. "Prayer is as natural an expression of faith as breathing is of
life." ~Jonathan Edwards
5. "Prayer honors God, acknowledges His being, exalts His power,
adores His providence, secures His aid." ~E.M. Bounds
6. "We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the
difficulties." ~Oswald Chambers
7. "Nothing tends more to cement the hearts of Christians than praying
together. Never do they love one another so well as when they witness the
outpouring of each other's hearts in prayer." ~Charles Finney
8. “The men upon whose shoulders rested the initial responsibility of Christianizing
the world came to Jesus with one supreme request. They did not say, ‘Lord,
teach us to preach’; Lord, teach us to do miracles,’ or ‘Lord, teach us to be
wise’…but they said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray.’” ~Billy Graham
9. “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive
without breathing.” ~Martin Luther
10.
“What wings are to a bird,
and sails to a ship, prayer is to the soul.” ~Corrie Ten Boom
“When we work, we work. When we pray, God works.”
“When we work, we work. When we pray, God works.”
"I’ve never known of a time in my history with CEF where I have seen more encouragement than through the answer of prayer. As I look around, it’s almost like you can experience the answers to prayer. Sometimes they come so close together, I call it a miracle in progress. There’s nothing more exciting than a miracle taking place in the midst of prayer, and God receiving the glory." -CEF President Reese Kauffman
