Prayer

Originally Written: 2017-05-14 - Last Updated: 2022-11-21

We should pray for our governmental authorities and persons in positions of authority, etc., such as the President and others.

It is written:

1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for all men,
2 for sovereigns and all those who are in authority, in order that we lead a calm and peaceable life in all reverence and seriousness.
3 For this is good and acceptable before Elohiym our Saviour,
4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
5 For there is one Elohiym, and one Mediator between Elohiym and men, the Man Anointed Yahushua,
6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be witnessed in its own seasons,
7 for which I was appointed a proclaimer and an emissary - I am speaking the truth in Anointed and not lying - a teacher of the gentiles in belief and truth.
8 So I resolve that the men pray everywhere, lifting up hands that are set-apart, without wrath and disputing.

So it is clear that we should not complain or speak evil of the President or Congress or Judges or those in authority, but pray for them.

Prayer is an important part of our walk and our relationship with our Creator YHWH (Yahweh). We can see the apostles were men of prayer:

Acts 6:4 but we shall give ourselves continually to prayer and to serving the Word.

Sometimes prayer is viewed as a small thing or as insignificant, but lately (as of the date this was first written posted on the top of this page) in my own personal life I feel the Father's leading to emphasize prayer in my own life and I am encouraging others to do that as well. We are limited in our capabilities to affect or influence matters in this life, and our time and resources are limited. Yes - YHWH does work through us and can work through us miracles beyond what we would realize is possible, but there are many situations in which we find ourselves lacking the ability to know how to handle a situation or help.

There are situations in life where the flood waters of trouble or discouragement or evil appear to be overflowing in a person's life or someone they love very dearly, or where someone is isolated and nobody can get to them to minister to them how they might need, or someone overseas in another country. Where we are unable to do something, YHWH is able. And He is looking to show Himself strong among His people:

2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of Yahweh diligently search throughout all the land, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect to Him. You have acted foolishly in this, so from now on you shall have battles.

Yahushua said to pray for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done. To pray "give us each day our daily bread". Won't YHWH provide bread for us? Yes, but He wants us to pray this way anyhow. Won't His kingdom come? Yes, but we are to pray for that anyhow. So even for things we believe He will do, we can and sometimes should still pray for those things to be. This is part of our relationship with YHWH. This is part of us verbalizing our agreement and desire for the good things He desires to be done.

We do not want to view prayer as a "Chore" or as something that "doesn't matter" or as something that "YHWH is indifferent about". We need to have the perspective that YHWH LOVES US and because of that He is awaiting us to come into His presence. He is DESIRING for us to come before Him. We should not be afraid or doubting, but knowing when we come before Him that He has desired this, He has waited for it, He has longed for it, and wants that special time with us. He wants our attention. He wants our hearts. He wants to hear us come before Him with our needs and our desires (so long as those are good things, of course). He wants us to pour our beings out before Him when we are struggling and wait upon Him and call upon His Name.

After all, it is written:

2 Corinthians 2:15 Because we are to Elohiym the fragrance of Anointed among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

Although we have all sinned and our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), we have been cleansed and set-apart by the blood of Yahushua. We have died (Galatians 2:20), the old man is gone (Romans 6:4, Colossians 2:12), and the Son of His Love (Colossians 1:13) is now living in us. So we are not only forgiven, but we are loved by Him. He's not just "OK with us" - He LOVES us. We have to understand that, and take it to heart. And since we are LOVED by Him, He WANTS us to come before Him in prayer. We need to strive to want to also, and to fan the flames of love for Him.

Song of Solomon 8:7 Many waters are unable to extinguish love, And floods do not wash it away. If one would give all the wealth of his house for love, It would be utterly scorned. Zephaniah 3:17 Yahweh your Elohiym in your midst, is mighty to save. He rejoices over you with joy, He is silent in His love, He rejoices over you with singing.

We need to pray daily alone to YHWH, but praying in groups sometimes like at these phone conferences mentioned at the above link is good also.

Someone I wrote to in prison once wrote asking me to teach them to pray. In response to that, I shared many things which I will cover in the following paragraphs.

I started off by letting them know that instead of saying the word "Lord", I use the Hebrew word "Adon". Also - Instead of saying the word Heaven or skies because both Heavens and skies are the same word in Hebrew, instead I say the Hebrew word "Shamayim" which is pronounced "Shah-mah-eem" or "shah-my-eem". Here is how I pray quite often (except some at the beginning I do even more in Hebrew - I will put it in English except for the word Shamayim to keep it simple):

"Our Father in the Shamayim, set-apart be your name, let your kingdom come, let your will be done on land as it is in the Shamayim. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins and debts as we forgive those who have sins and debts to us. Lead us not into temptation or trial but deliver us from all evil and from the evil one for truly Yours is the Power and the Kingdom and the esteem and the reign forever and ever. Amein. I also pray our father in the Shamayim for the peace of Yerushalayim and all the cities where your children are at. I pray that my flight would not be on the Sabbath or in the winter or times of storms. I pray that I would be counted worthy to escape all that is about to occur and to stand before the son of Adam and that the Adon of the Harvest would send workers into His harvest and that I would watch, stand firm till the end, and be more like your son Yahushua. All these good things I pray for myself I also pray for all your children, all the seed of Avraham, and as many as are far off as you would call, for truly yours is the Power and the Kingdom and the esteem and the reign forever and ever, in the Name of Yahushua HaMashiach of Natsareth, Amein and HalleluYah! Blessed be the Name of Yahweh forever and ever."

Amein is not pronounced A-men; it is Ah-main. Amein is a Hebrew word which mean "so be it" or something like that. The above prayer I do other things a bit different but that's a general example of how to pray. Of course we can pray for many other things, also, but that's just a basic example of a way I pray regularly in addition to other things I might pray about as situations arise in life. Also, instead of saying some of it in English I say some of it in Hebrew but without being able to speak it to let you hear I am keeping it simple by typing it in English instead.

The things in that prayer are mostly from scripture like Matthew 6:5-13, Luke 11:2-4, Psalms 122:6, Jeremiah 29:7, Matthew 24:20, Luke 21:36, Matthew 9:38, Luke 10:2, Mark 13:37, Matthew 10:22, 24:13, Mark 13:13, Acts 2:38.

I also pray other things; like I pray for all of those I prayed for to believe, repent, and be immersed in the Name of Yahushua HaMashiach of Natsareth for the remission of sins and have their minds opened to the Scriptures regarding Yahushua (Luke 24:45) for any who have not yet done so. And "for them to know your Name, your Son's Name, and that your laws are not abolished". Because so many do not know the name YHWH (Yahweh) or Yahushua, and this deception about the laws being abolished is widespread.

I hope that helps you with how to pray. There are plenty of other things to pray for such as the health of others, people you know who are struggling, pray that the Father put a hedge of protection around you and all His children, pray for all of us to hear and follow the leading of His set-apart spirit and not be deceived by any false doctrines. There are all kinds of things one could pray.

Also, we need to consider the following verses:

Ecclesiastes 5:1 Guard your steps when you go to the House of Elohiym. And draw near to listen rather than to give the slaughtering of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.
2 Do not be hasty with your mouth, and let not your heart hurry to bring forth a word before Elohiym. For Elohiym is in the skies, and you on land, therefore let your words be few.
3 For a dream comes through the greatness of the task, and a fool's voice is known by his many words.
4 When you make a vow to Elohiym, do not delay to pay it, for He takes no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you have vowed.
5 It is better not to vow than to vow and not pay.
6 Do not allow your mouth to cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of Elohiym that it was a mistake. Why should Elohiym be wroth at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?
7 For in much dreaming and many words there is futility. But fear Elohiym.

Our prayer is supposed to be a pleasing offering (verse 1 above) like incense (Psalms 141:2, Revelation 5:8). The short explanation I want you to get from those verses is this: Don't speak hastily in prayer. Don't make vows hastily in prayer. Don't speak hastily at all though in prayer. When we are under a spiritual attack sometimes the best thing to do is say nothing and think more until we are sure what YHWH wants us to do or think. We need to remember when we come before YHWH to do so in a reverent, respectful manner. Yes He is our Father and Yes Yahushua said we are His friends if we do what He commands, and yes, we are His little children that He will guard and protect, but we also are His servants and we need to be honoring, reverencing, and respecting Him in how we approach the throne of the Almighty Creator of the Universe. I do not say that to discourage you from praying, but to remind everyone of these things so they don't make mistakes I've made in saying things in prayer that they realize later maybe they shouldn't have said or werent appropriate.

Oh Yeah - for praying also don't forget there are 3 times a day that are good to pray, 3rd hour (Mark 15:25, Acts 2:15), 6th hour (Acts 10:9), 9th hour (Acts 3:1). At least the 3rd and 9th because those are what I believe were the times of the morning and evening offerings (Numbers 28:1-8) but I think also the 6th hour based upon the fact that Dani'el prayed 3 times a day (Daniel 6:10, 6:13). Also, it says:

Psalms 55:17 Evening and morning and at noon I complain and moan, And He hears my voice.

The times of the 3rd, 6th, and 9th hours depend on when sunrise and sunset is in your local area… it can vary from 8 AM until 9:30 AM, 11 AM until 2 PM, and 1 PM until 4 PM approximately depending on where you live and such. If sunrise was 7 AM and sunset was 7 PM in your location then it's easy to calculate that the 3rd hour starts at 9 AM, the 6th hour starts at 12 PM Noon, and the 9th hour starts at 3 PM. But rarely will sunrise and sunset be like that in an area which means the 3rd, 6th, and 9th hours will vary on the roman time depending on when sunrise and sunset is.

There are times when we pray alone (Matthew 6:5-6) and times when we pray in groups (Matthew 18:19, Acts 1:24, 4:31, 6:6, 8:15, 13:3, 14:23, 27:29). In prayer we can face Yerushalayim (Psalms 28:2, 1 Kings 8:29-35, 2 Chronicles 6:20-26), confess our sin and our fathers' before us sins (Ezra 10:1, Nehemiah 1:6, Daniel 9:4), intercede for others (Deuteronomy 9:26), pray for healing (James 5:16), lay our burdens down and pour out our heart before Him (1 Samuel 1:10) because He is concerned for us (1 Peter 5:7), give esteem to YHWH (2 Kings 19:15, Daniel 9:4), call upon His Name for deliverance (2 Kings 19:19), remember each other in prayers (2 Timothy 1:3), giving thanks (Nehemiah 11:17, Daniel 6:10, Ephesians 1:16, Philippians 4:6, Colossians 1:3 & 4:2, 1 Thessalonians 1:2, 1 Timothy 2:1, 2 Timothy 1:3, Philemon 1:4), or many other things in prayer as seen in Scriptures. This is by no means a comprehensive study. Rather, this was first written as a Mailing List email and later converted into what you see here. I hope you were edified and encouraged!