Why do we pray?

It cannot be to ask for our needs, because Jesus said He would supply all we need if we did His Will:

“But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you “ (KJV).

Or as the ISV puts it:

“But first be concerned about God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and all of these things will be provided for you as well” (ISV).

Like any good King, Jesus provides the needs of those who do His Will so to ask for our needs implies one or more of the following:

• He does not know our needs so cannot be God.
• He does not love us enough to give us our need.
• He lied about this provision.
• We need to continually pray religiously to persuade Him to give us what we need or to remind Him of our need.

So the question to ask is, “Why is God not providing our needs?”

The first comment is that people confuse their desires with their needs.

Satan has conditioned the world system to ASK for more than they need and to place security on possessions, and not in God’s Love. So many people ask for things they do not need, not realising it is not a necessity for living and serving Jesus, but only a desire of something they do not really need.

Secondly, if you are in a correct relationship with God He promises to supply your need so you need to ask why He has not done that if it is a need you are asking about.

If you are not in a correct relationship with Him the first objective of God is to get you back into a proper relationship with Him because your eternal salvation is more important than any temporary needs.

If you are in a correct relationship with Him, then why does He not answer prayer? Some reasons are:

The answer would not be good for us, and this is where Satan tries to answer prayer which is why we need to be certain the answer to prayer is from God.
It is a desire and not a need.
It not yet time for the answer to be given usually because:

You are not ready to receive the answer.
God has to do more preparation in other areas of your life for you to receive the answer.

Things around you are not properly prepared for the answer to be given yet.

God is original, so there are other reasons that may occur. Ask The Holy Spirit and He will tell you if you are to know why God has not appeared to answered a need of yours. God may not tell you, to see how much you really love and trust Him.

People would usually quote the following as prayer:

Praise.
Adoration.
Confession.
Thanksgiving:

Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines prayer as:

PRA’YER, n. In a general sense, the act of asking for a favor, and particularly with earnestness.

And this is the true sense of prayer.
The church has called,

Praise.
Adoration.
Confession and
Thanksgiving,

as prayers, but they are not. They are an expression of the attitude of our heart towards God and not true prayer. They are affirmation of God and His Love for you.

However, Christianity has defined them as prayer and hidden their true nature of affirmations that bring Glory to God.

There is also the problem that Jews define prayer as: talking to a God they cannot see, so that anything said to God is a prayer (if it is Godly).

These are overall categories which we divide into many different sub-categories.*

Another problem is that people confuse prayer with the ‘Word of Command”*

So what is prayer then?

If it is just talking to God, then normal conversation is prayer, when it is directed to Him. Prayer can only be for His purposes, or it is selfish.

Asking God for what we need is wrong, because of what doing this implies, as well as the fact Jesus said we did not need to do this anyway. So does that mean we do not need to pray for our needs?

According to Jesus, we do not need to pray for or needs.

However, in one sense, there is a prayer we make when we express to God the desires of our heart, and ask Him for them. We are not saying they are a need, but a desire, and God accepts this. What Father does not like His children to tell them what is on His heart? So in a sense, this is the only prayer we can make.

The rest of what is usually called prayer, is an expression of our heart towards Him. It results in Him being given Glory, by what we express towards Him, because it is always an activity of His that causes Praise Adoration and Thanksgiving, and a need of ours that results in confession (which gives Glory to His compassionate, forgiving, Love).

So what about praying for the needs of others?

Asking for their needs implies:

God does not know our their so cannot be God.
God does not love them enough to give us our need.
He, God, lied about providing for them.
We need to continually pray religiously, to persuade God to give them what they need or to remind Him of their need.

So what is left to do for them?

There is only one type of prayer left. Using the delegated authority of Jesus to:

Remove the demons blocking the answer or attacking a weak area of their life,
Remove the demons trying to have them doubt God’s Love towards them, and/or trying to cause confusion in their mind about their relationship to God,
Remove the demons blinding them to what they need to know about their request and why God is not answering it,
Protecting them against demonic attack so the answer cannot be obscured or blocked.

Jesus never told us to ask for our needs, but He told us to destroy Satan and his works, so that the work of The Kingdom in a person, and by a person, would not be hindered.

The Holy Spirit and prayer

Prayer in a sense is asking, so when we ask The Holy Spirit for help and understanding, we are in a sense praying to Him for His help.

So when we are told to pray without ceasing, it cannot be for our needs. It has to be to warfare against Satan and hearing The Holy Spirit correctly in all we do.

Praying “In His Name”

When you pray in the ‘Name’ of someone, you are expressing their authority and ‘will,’ so it is not a prayer, but a command. So when you declare it is in the ‘Name of Jesus,’ you are stating it is His Will. To ask for something and pray, ‘In Jesus’ Name,’ is to say It is the Will of Jesus.

It cannot be a request/prayer, because it is not what we will, but what God Wills, that is declared by the use of this, so can never be used in prayer for ourselves. Besides, God promises to provide all our need, so why do we pray in the first place for our needs and say it is the Will of Jesus?

“Nevertheless not My Will but Thine be done”

You should not be praying for anything you do not know is the Will of God. If you need to say that, you should not be praying what you are praying.

So what attitude are we to have each day?

If we believe God hears us, and knows our every need and promises to provide for our every need, we are to thank Him. He knows our needs, and is meeting them the best way for us, and so, whatever happens, thank Him for it, as it is what is best for us. Then get on with Life and His Will.

 

~ Neville Salvetti

All Glory be to God!

*Amended 1/20/15

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Neville Salvetti is a deliverance minister and can be contacted via The Web Pages of Neville Salvetti and at: salvettina@bigpond.com if you desire deliverance or to know how to do it. I have been told to preach three things: ○ Deliverance. ○ How to Hear The Holy Spirit. ○ How to fight Satan. This is the need of the hour as it demonstrates The Kingdom of God, which is what attracts people to Jesus.