Lesson 80 - Elementary
Memory Verse
"To him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Luke 11:10).
Notes
The Importance of Prayer
Jesus is pleased when we take everything to Him in prayer. Many great things have been wrought through the power of prayer. Perhaps some of us would be in our grave today were it not for prayer.
During His life here upon earth, Jesus spent much time in prayer to His Father in Heaven. At one time He prayed all night out on the mountain. We read that He rose very early in the morning to pray. He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before the wicked people put Him to death, until His sweat was as it were great drops of blood [LUK:22:44]).
Parents have prayed all night for the salvation or for the healing of their children. Ministers of the Gospel, too, pray many long hours of even all night for someone in need of help from God. It is important that we pray much and that we know how Jesus wants us to pray.
"Teach Us to Pray"
One day after Jesus had been praying, one of His disciples came to Him and said, "Lord, teach us to pray." Jesus wanted the disciples to learn to pray until they received the answer. To teach them how to pray that way, He gave them an example. He said that if one of them went to a friend's house at midnight and asked for three loaves to feed a friend who had come on a journey, and kept on asking long enough, he would receive it. The man would give it to him " not because he is a friend, but because he wouldn't take "no" for an answer. So when we ask Jesus for something, and it is His will that we have it, we must keep praying and believing until the answer comes.
The Seventh Time
We remember the story of the man of God, Elijah, who prayed on the top of Mount Carmel. He put his face between his knees and prayed that God would send rain upon the land. It had been three and a half years since there had been rain in that land; and food was becoming very scarce.
Elijah sent the servant out to look toward the sea for a cloud, but the servant returned and said, "There is nothing." Was Elijah discouraged? Did he give up and say, "There is no need to pray longer; the Lord will not hear my prayer"? No! He prayed on. Again he sent the servant to look toward the sea. Still no sign of rain! but Elijah was not discouraged. He knew his God would answer prayer sooner or later. He kept on praying and sent the servant again and again, until he had gone seven times. At last there was a sign of rain " a little cloud arising out of the sea " like a man's hand. Soon the heavens were black with clouds, and there was a great rain. God in Heaven had heard Elijah's prayer! If Elijah had become discouraged and had given up, after praying only six times, there would have been no answer to his prayers.
Prevailers
We read in the Bible of many others who prayed " not only a few minutes, but until the answer came. Jacob prayed until early morning, and he had the answer he wanted. Daniel prayed with his windows open toward Jerusalem, three times a day. His enemies heard him pray. They cast him into the den of lions because he prayed, but God delivered him from the mouths of the lions.
"The soul that would live close to Jesus
Is he who spends much time in prayer.
Although it may not always please us,
'Tis that which relieves us from care.
"Would God that more people would pray,
For 'tis prayer that moves mountains away;
Those mountains of doubt are sure to move out,
If unceasingly, brother, you pray."
Children's Faith
Grown people may sometimes learn lessons from the simple faith of children. Jesus hears and answers the prayers of children. A mother was suffering with a very severe headache. Her four-and-a-half-year-old girl and two-and-a-half-year-old boy decided to pray for their mother. They prayed and then asked, "Mamma, is it gone?" "No," replied the mother. They prayed the second time and then asked, "Is it gone?" "No," was the second reply.
The third time they prayed very earnestly and said, "Jesus, touch Mamma right now." The mother was healed instantly in answer to the prayer of faith by the two little children.
A man who had prayed for a long time but didn't have faith that God would really answer his prayer, found himself kneeling beside a little nine-year-old boy one Sunday morning. The boy was praying earnestly and asking Jesus to save him. His grandmother came and knelt by the boy and encouraged him to pray on. Soon he said to his grandmother, "Well, am I saved now?" She told him that if he asked Jesus to forgive him, and if he really believed, Jesus would save him. He prayed on and more earnestly, and soon raised his head and said, "I do believe " then, I am saved!" He left the altar with great joy that morning and his grandmother was very happy, too.
Without his knowledge, the little boy had encouraged the man who was seeking God by his side. That man left the altar with renewed hope and said, "As I knelt by that little boy, his simple prayer and faith in God was the greatest sermon I have ever heard."
Simple Faith
For those who are saved and living a Christian life, it is not hard to receive an answer to prayer. Often it is not necessary to pray long. Jesus said, "Ask, and it shall be given you." He also said, "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" [MAK:11:24]). It is necessary that we have faith when we pray " simply believe that Jesus hears us " and we shall have the desire of our heart.
Those who are not saved may come to Jesus for salvation from sin. If we confess and forsake our sins, and ask Jesus to save us, He will do it, for He said, "He that seeketh findeth." When we seek Him with all our heart, Jesus will not turn us away.
Questions
1. Commit to memory the Lord's Prayer as found in [MAT:6:9-13].
2. When we ask Jesus for something, may we expect to receive it? [LUK:11:9];[LUK:11:10].
3. In what way is our heavenly Father compared to our earthly father? [LUK:11:11-13].
4. Can you recall an answer to prayer in your own life?
5. Name at least three people in the Old Testament who spent much time in prayer. [GEN:32:24-28]; [DAN:6:10]; [1KG:18:42-45].