Wednesday, October 8, 2014

WALKING WITH GOD PRAYER BOOK--complete online version



A.C.T.S. Prayer Guide
Want to pray, but not sure how?  We begin buy recognizing thagt true prayer is simply having a conversation with God. Pretned that God is in the room, and talk to Him about your life.

But to build on that, the ACTS Prayer model is an easy, and effective way to organize our prayers.  Sometimesyou may use all 4 componetns.  Other times you may use just one.  You decided.

“A”is for AFFIRMING  God’s presence with you now, and for expressing ADORATION.

“C” is for confessing ypur sins, in the knowledge that through Jesus, we will be forgiven is we ask for it.

“T” is for THANKING GOD for all Hismany blessings, which he has already given us or for His answering of prayer.

“S” is for SEEKING GOD’ help (also known as ‘SUPPLICATION.”

“A”  is for AFFIRMING THE PRESENCE OF GOD with you now.
God promises to be present when you praY.  So, acknowledge that He isd present by greeting Him and calling Him by one of His many names, such as “Father, “ “Jesus, “ “Lord,” “God,” etc.  The verses affirm that God is with you today:

Isaiah 7:14  “The virgin will give birth to a Son, who will be caslled, “Immanuel,” which means “God-is-with—us.”

Joshua 1:9 “Do not be frightened or dismayed, because the Lord your God is with you.”

Exodus 3 “God said, “I AM WHO I AM.  I AM WITH YOU.”

Matthew 28:20   Jesus said, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of thid age.”

Hebrews 13:5 God said, “Never will I leave you.  Never will I forsake you.”

“A” is also for ADORATION
WHY PRAISE THE Lord?
When we consider the reasons why we should praise God, we find a list of His attributes. He is full of glory (Psalm 138:5), great (Psalm 145:3), wise and powerful (Daniel 2:20), good (Psalm 107:8), merciful and faithful (Psalm 89:1), and much more. This list of attributes is complemented by a list of His wonderful works. He is the One who saves us (Psalm 18:46), keeps His promises (1 Kings 8:56), pardons sin (Psalm 103:1-3), and gives us our daily food (Psalm 136:25). To try to list all the things God has done is impossible, but it is a wonderful exercise because it turns our hearts back to Him and keeps us mindful of how much we owe to Him.
Read more:http://www.gotquestions.org/praising-God.html#ixzz37dxDAMne


SIMPLE PRAYER WHICH ACKNOLWEDGES GOD BEING PRESENT, AND WHICH ALSO EXPRESSES PRAISES & ADORATION:

O God, I love You.


2 Samuel 7:22“This is what makes you so great, Master God! There is none like you, no God but you, nothing to compare with what we’ve heard with our own ears.  You rescued your people from slavery in Egypt, so that one day all your children will be free; and we all will be your people permanently. And you, God, will forever be our God to helps us.

1 Chronicles 16:23-27  Sing to God, everyone and everything!    Get out his salvation news every day! Publish his glory among the godless nations,    his wonders to all races and religions. And why? Because God is great—well worth praising!     No god or goddess comes close in honor.  All the popular gods are stuff and nonsense,     but God made the cosmos!  Splendor and majesty flow out of him,     strength and joy fill his place.

Psalm 9:1-2 O Lord, I will praise you with all my heart and tell everyone about the marvelous things you do. I will be glad, yes, filled with joy because of you. I will sing your praises, O Lord God above all gods.

Psalm 57:9-11  I will sing your praises among the nations. 10 Your kindness and love are as vast as the heavens. Your faithfulness is higher than the skies.
11 Yes, be exalted, O God, above the heavens. May your glory shine throughout the earth.

Psalm 34: 1-4 I will praise the Lord no matter what happens. I will constantly speak of his glories and grace. I will boast of all his kindness to me. Let all who are discouraged take heart. Let us praise the Lord together and exalt his name.For I cried to him and he answered me! He freed me from all my fears.Others too were radiant at what he did for them. Theirs was no downcast look of rejection! This poor man cried to the Lord—and the Lord heard him and saved him out of his troubles. For the Angel of the Lord guards and rescues all who reverence him.
Oh, put God to the test and see how kind he is! See for yourself the way his mercies shower down on all who trust in him. If you belong to the Lord, reverence him; for everyone who does this has everything he needs. 10 Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those of us who reverence the Lord will never lack any good thing.

Psalm 63:1-3, 6-7 O God, my God! How I search for you! How I wish I could go into your sanctuary to see your strength and glory, for your love and kindness are better to me than life itself. I lie awake at night thinking of you— of how much you have helped me—and how I rejoice through the night beneath the protecting shadow of your wings.


Psalm 66:1-4 1-4 All together now—applause for God!   Sing songs to the tune of his glory,  set glory to the rhythms of his praise. Say of God, “We’ve never seen anything like him!”
    When your enemies see you in action,
    they slink off like scolded dogs.
The whole earth falls to its knees—
    it worships you, sings to you,
    can’t stop enjoying your name and fame. Hallelujah!  God made sky and soil,
    sea and all the fish in it.
He always does what he says—
    he defends the wronged,
    he feeds the hungry.
God frees prisoners—he gives sight to the blind, 
 he lifts up the fallen.
God loves good people, protects strangers, takes the side of orphans and widows,
 but makes short work of the wicked.

Psalm 95  Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord! Give a joyous shout in honor of the Rock of our salvation! Come before him with thankful hearts. Let us sing him psalms of praise. For the Lord is a great God, the great King of all gods. He controls the formation of the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains; all are his. He made the sea and formed the land; they too are his. Come, kneel before the Lord our Maker, for he is our God. We are his sheep, and he is our Shepherd. Oh, that you would hear him calling you today and come to him!

“C” is for CONFESSION
The apostle Paul wrote, “To the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding” (Ephesians 1:6-8). This forgiveness is referring to salvation, in which God has taken our sins and removed them from us “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12). This is the judicial forgiveness that God gives us upon receiving Jesus Christ as Savior. All our past, present, and future sins are forgiven on a judicial basis, meaning that we will not suffer eternal judgment for our sins. We still often suffer consequences of sin while we are here on earth, however, which brings us to the question at hand.

The difference between
Ephesians 1:6-8and1 John 1:9is that John is dealing with what we call “relational,” or “familial,” forgiveness—like that of a father and a son. For example, if a son does something wrong to his father—falling short of his expectations or rules—the son has hindered his fellowship with his father. He remains the son of his father, but the relationship suffers. Their fellowship will be hindered until the son admits to his father that he has done wrong. It works the same way with God; our fellowship with Him is hindered until we confess our sin. When we confess our sin to God, the fellowship is restored. This is relational forgiveness.

“Positional” forgiveness, or judicial forgiveness, is that which is obtained by every believer in Christ. In our position as members of the body of Christ, we have been forgiven of every sin we have ever committed or ever will commit. The price paid by Christ on the cross has satisfied God’s wrath against sin, and no further sacrifice or payment is necessary. When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He meant it. Our positional forgiveness was obtained then and there.

Confession of sin will help to keep us from the discipline of the Lord. If we fail to confess sin, the discipline of the Lord is sure to come until we do confess it. As stated previously, our sins are forgiven at salvation (positional forgiveness), but our daily fellowship with God needs to stay in good standing (relational forgiveness). Proper fellowship with God cannot happen with unconfessed sin in our lives. Therefore, we need to confess our sins to God as soon as we are aware that we have sinned, in order to maintain close fellowship with God.

Read more:
http://www.gotquestions.org/confession-forgiveness.html#ixzz37dxsRk1o

SIMPLE PRAYER OF CONFESSION
TO GOD:
I am sorry.
2 Samuel 24:10
10 But when it was all done, David was overwhelmed with guilt because he had counted the people, replacing trust with statistics. And David prayed to God, “I have sinned badly in what I have just done. But now God forgive my guilt—I’ve been really stupid.”

Psalm 32:3-5 I prayed  to you again and again,    but I did not talk about my sins.   So I only became weaker and more miserable.Every day you made life harder for me.  I became like a dry land in the hot summertime. Selah
But then I decided to confess my sins to the Lord.    I stopped hiding my guilt and told you about my sins.
    And you forgave them all! Selah

Psalm 38:17-18 I know I am guilty of doing wrong.     I cannot forget my pain.
18 Lord, I told you about the evil I have done.     I am sorry for my sin.

Psalm 51 (abridged)
God, be merciful to me
    because of your faithful love.
Because of your great compassion,
    erase all the wrongs I have done.
Scrub away my guilt.
    Wash me clean from my sin.
I know I have done wrong.
    I remember that sin all the time.
I did what you said is wrong.
You want me to be completely loyal,
    so put true wisdom deep inside of me.
Remove my sin and make me pure.
    Wash me until I am whiter than snow!
Let me hear sounds of joy and happiness again.  Let the bones you crushed be happy again.  Don’t look at my sins.   Erase them all.
10 God, create a pure heart in me,
    and make my spirit strong again.

Psalm 130:1-4  Lord, I am in deep trouble,     so I am calling to you for help.
My Lord, listen to me.   Listen to my cry for help.Lord, if you punished people for all their sins,  no one would be left alive.
But you forgive people,  so they fear and respect you.



Jonah’s Prayer, Chapter 2
While Jonah was in the stomach of the fish, he prayed to the Lord his God. He said,“I was in very bad trouble.
    I called to the Lord for help,
    and he answered me. I was deep in the grave.   I cried to you,   and you heard my voice.    I went down, down into the deep sea.     Seaweed wrapped around my head. I was at the bottom of the sea,     the place where the mountains begin. I thought I was locked in this prison forever,      but the Lord my God took me out of my grave.  God, you gave me life again!  “My soul gave up all hope,      but then I remembered the Lord.  I prayed to you,   and you heard my prayers.  I will make special promises to you,     and I will do what I promise.”  Salvation only comes from the Lord10 Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out of its stomach onto the dry land.

1 John 1:8-10  If we say that we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us.But if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can trust God to do this. He always does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrong things we have done. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we are saying that God is a liar and that we don’t accept his true teaching.


“T” is for THANKSGIVING
Question: "Why is giving thanks to God important?"

Answer:
The Bible is filled with commands to give thanks to God (Psalm 106:1;107:1;118:1;1 Chronicles 16:34;1 Thessalonians 5:18). Most verses go on to list reasons why we should thank Him, such as “His love endures forever” (Psalm 136:3), “He is good” (Psalm 118:29), and “His mercy is everlasting” (Psalm 100:5). Thanksgiving and praise always go together. We cannot adequately praise and worship God without also being thankful.

Feeling and expressing appreciation is good for us. Like any wise father, God wants us to learn to be thankful for all the gifts He has given us (
James 1:17). It is in our best interest to be reminded that everything we have is a gift from Him. Without gratefulness, we become arrogant and self-centered. We begin to believe that we have achieved everything on our own. Thankfulness keeps our hearts in right relationship to the Giver of all good gifts.

Giving thanks also reminds us of how much we do have. Human beings are prone to covetousness. We tend to focus on what we don’t have. By giving thanks continually we are reminded of how much we do have. When we focus on blessings rather than wants, we are happier. When we start thanking God for the things we usually take for granted, our perspective changes. We realize that we could not even exist without the merciful blessings of God.

First Thessalonians 5:18says, “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” We are to be thankful not only for the things we like, but for the circumstances we don’t like. When we purpose to thank God for everything that He allows to come into our lives, we keep bitterness at bay. We cannot be both thankful and bitter at the same time. We do not thank Him for evil, but that He is sustaining us through it (James 1:12). We don’t thank Him for harm He did not cause, but we thank Him when He gives us the strength to endure it (2 Corinthians 12:9). We thank Him for His promise that “all things will work together for the good, to those who love God and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

We can have thankful hearts toward God even when we do not feel thankful for the circumstance. We can grieve and still be thankful. We can hurt and still be thankful. We can be angry at sin and still be thankful toward God. That is what the Bible calls a “sacrifice of praise” (
Hebrews 13:15). Giving thanks to God keeps our hearts in right relationship with Him and saves us from a host of harmful emotions and attitudes that will rob us of the peace God wants us to experience (Philippians 4:6–7).

Read more:
http://www.gotquestions.org/giving-thanks-to-God.html#ixzz37dyX1usX



SIMPLE PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:

Thank You.

2 Samuel 22:48-51
Live, God! Blessing to my Rock,
    my towering Salvation-God!
This God set things right for me
    and shut up the people who talked back.  He rescued me from enemy anger.
    You pulled me from the grip of upstarts, You saved me from the bullies.
    That’s why I’m thanking you, God,
    all over the world. That’s why I’m singing songs     that rhyme your name.
God’s king takes the trophy;
    God’s chosen is beloved.

1 Chronicles 16:23-27
23-27 Sing to God, everyone and everything!     Get out his salvation news every day! Publish his glory among the godless nations,  his wonders to all races and religions.  And why? Because God is great—well worth praising!  No god or goddess comes close in honor.
All the popular gods are stuff and nonsense,  but God made the cosmos!
Splendor and majesty flow out of him,
    strength and joy fill his place.

Psalm 30:1-4  O, Lord, you have saved me from my enemies. You refuse to let them triumph over me. O Lord my God, I pleaded with you, and you gave me my health again. You brought me back from the brink of the grave, from death itself, and here I am alive!  Oh, sing to him you saints of his; give thanks to his holy name. His anger lasts a moment; his favor lasts for life! Weeping may go on all night, but in the morning there is joy.


Psalm 50:14-15  Spread for me a banquet of praise,  serve High God a feast of kept promises, And call for help when you’re in trouble—     I’ll help you, and you’ll honor me.”

Psalm 50:23   But true praise is a worthy sacrifice; this really honors me. Those who walk my paths will receive salvation from the Lord.

Psalm 100 Shout with joy before the Lord, O earth! Obey him gladly; come before him, singing with joy.
Try to realize what this means—the Lord is God! He made us—we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Go through his open gates with great thanksgiving; enter his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. For the Lord is always good. He is always loving and kind, and his faithfulness goes on and on to each succeeding generation.

Psalm 136  Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his loving-kindness continues forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his loving-kindness continues forever.Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his loving-kindness continues forever.Praise him who alone does mighty miracles, for his loving-kindness continues forever. Praise him who made the heavens, for his loving-kindness continues forever. Praise him who planted the water within the earth, for his loving-kindness continues forever. Praise him who made the heavenly lights, for his loving-kindness continues forever: the sun to rule the day, for his loving-kindness continues forever; and the moon and stars at night, for his loving-kindness continues forever. 10 Praise the God who smote the firstborn of Egypt, for his loving-kindness to Israel continues forever.
23 He remembered our utter weakness, for his loving-kindness continues forever. 24 And saved us from our foes, for his loving-kindness continues forever.
25 He gives food to every living thing, for his loving-kindness continues forever.26 Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven, for his loving-kindness continues forever.


 “S”  is for SEEKING GOD & SUPPLICATION
Question: "What is a prayer of supplication?"

Answer:
. The Hebrew and Greek words most often translated “supplication” in the Bible mean literally “a request or petition,” so a prayer of supplication is asking God for something.
FOR OUSELVES
The Bible includes many prayers of supplication.
In the New Testament, Jesus tells us to ask for our daily bread in
Matthew 6:11, which falls into the category of a prayer of supplication. In addition, in Luke 18:1-8, Jesus teaches us not to give up praying for what we need. In James, however, we find a balance: on the one hand we don't receive because we don't ask (James 4:2). On the other hand, we ask and don't receive because we are thinking only of our fleshly desires (James 4:3). Perhaps the best way to approach supplications is to ask God in all honesty as children talking to their kind-hearted Father, but ending with "Your will be done" (Matthew 26:39), in full surrender to His will.

Here we see another crucial aspect of the prayer of supplication—the necessity of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who belong to Christ also have the indwelling Holy Spirit who intercedes on our behalf. Because we often don’t know what or how to pray when we approach God, the Spirit intercedes and prays for us, interpreting our supplications so that, when we are overwhelmed by trials and the cares of life, He comes alongside to lend assistance with our prayers of supplication as He sustains us before the throne of grace (
Romans 8:26).   Read more:http://www.gotquestions.org/prayer-of-supplication.html#ixzz37dyz9KQb

              FOR OTHERS
Question: "What is intercessory prayer?"

Answer:
Quite simply, intercessory prayer is the act of praying on behalf of others. Christ is pictured in the New Testament as the ultimate intercessor, and because of this, all Christian prayer becomes intercession since it is offered to God through and by Christ. Jesus closed the gap between us and God when He died on the cross. Because of Jesus’ mediation, we can now intercede in prayer on behalf of other Christians or for the lost, asking God to grant their requests according to His will

The following is only a partial list of those for whom we are to offer intercessory prayers: all in authority (
1 Timothy 2:2); ministers (Philippians 1:19); Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6); friends (Job 42:8); fellow countrymen (Romans 10:1); the sick (James 5:14); enemies (Jeremiah 29:7); those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44); those who forsake us (2 Timothy 4:16); and all men (1 Timothy 2:1).


God calls all Christians to be intercessors. It is God’s desire that every believer be active in intercessory prayer. What a wonderful and exalted privilege we have in being able to come boldly before the throne of Almighty God with our prayers and requests!
Read more:
http://www.gotquestions.org/intercessory-prayer.html#ixzz37dzlE179


SIMPLE PRAYER OF SEEKING OR SUPPLICATION:

Help

1 Chronicles 4:10   JABEZ was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!” And God granted him his request.


2 Chronicles 20:9
They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’

James 5:16  (For Healing)
The  earnest prayer of  righteous
 person has great power and produces wonderful results.

Proverbs 15:29
The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayers of those who love and obey Him.

Philippians 4:6-7
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.


Matthew 7: 7-11   Jesus said,“Ask, and you will be given what you ask for. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives. Anyone who seeks, finds. If only you will knock, the door will open. If a child asks his father for a loaf of bread, will he be given a stone instead? 10 If he asks for fish, will he be given a poisonous snake? Of course not! 11 And if you hard-hearted, sinful men know how to give good gifts to your children, won’t your Father in heaven even more certainly give good gifts to those who ask him for them?