ADDITIONAL STUDIES IN PRAYER
Copyright © Rosemary Bardsley 2002
The Studies in the Lord's Prayer on this website are to be seen as foundational studies on prayer; the contents of 'Additional Studies in Prayer' seeks to address some questions about prayer not immediately contained in the Lord's Prayer. It must be said that, even with this additional material here, there still remains much more that could be understood about prayer from the Scriptures, and these two study series on this website ought not to be considered as either a complete or an exhaustive presentation about prayer.
OUTLINE OF STUDIES
STUDY ONE: WHAT IS PRAYER?
PART ONE: SYNONYMS FOR 'PRAY'
- 'Seek the Lord'
- 'Waiting on the Lord'
STUDY TWO: WHAT IS PRAYER?
PART TWO: PRAYER IS THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF GOD
- Personal confession of God as our God
- Prayer is praise and adoration/worship
- Prayer is rejoicing in the Lord
STUDY THREE: WHAT IS PRAYER?
PART THREE: PRAYER IS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF DEPENDENCE
- Dependence on God as Creator and Sustainer
- Dependence on God as Saviour
- Prayer as repentance/confession
- Prayer as thanksgiving
- Prayer and Sacrifice and Offering
- Fasting and prayer
STUDY FOUR: WHY PRAY?
- Because God commands us to pray.
- Because Jesus prayed.
- Because we are human.
STUDY FIVE: BOUNDARIES IN PRAYER
- Prayer must be directed to the one, true God
- True prayer is an expression of true faith in the one, true God
- True prayer to the true God is God-oriented
- True prayer leaves the decision/answer/response in God's will
- True prayer is always prayer in Jesus' name
- True prayer comes from a mind/heart in touch with the mind/heart of God
- True prayer is confident of God's favour and goodness.
STUDY SIX: DIFFICULTIES IN UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT OF PRAYER
- Prayer and the Sovereignty of God
- The Problem of Unanswered prayer
- Prayer and Unbelievers
STUDY SEVEN: MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS ABOUT PRAYER
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
The following books were consulted during the preparation of these studies.
- Barth, Karl: Prayer and Preaching, SCM, London, 1964.
- Calvin, John: Sermons on Ephesians, 1973, Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh.
- Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1970, Westminster Press, Philadelphia.
- Coppes, Leonard: Writing in Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 1980, Moody, Chicago.
- Fosdick, Harry: The Meaning of Prayer, 1915, Student Christian Movement Press, London.
- Hanegraaf, Hank: Christianity in Crisis, Word Books, Milton Keynes, 1995.
- Hendricksen, W: The Gospel of Matthew, Baker, Grand Rapids, 1973.
- Mangalwadi, Vishal: Missionary Conspiracy: Letters to a Postmodern Hindu, 1996, Nivedit Good Books, Mussoorie, India.
- McDowell/Stewart: Concise Guide to Today's Religions,1988, Scripture Press, England.
- Morris, Leon: The Gospel According to Matthew, IVP, Leicester, 1992.
- Murray, Andrew: Waiting on God, 1961, Oliphants, London.
- Packer, J.I.: Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, 1963, IVF, London.
- Scaheffer, Francis: Whatever Happened to the Human Race? 1982, Crossway Books, Illinois
- Schaeffer, Edith: The Life of Prayer, Crossway Books, Wheaton. 1992.