A sister in Christ and I were recently debating subject of baptism, when she began to feel that I was questioning her sincerity. She told me that last few months had really been trying for her, and that without prayer she did not feel that she could have made it through her ordeal. She asked me, "Where do you pray?" I told her that I prayed everywhere, that I did not feel that there was any place that I could not whisper a prayer to God. God's word tells us where to pray: A solitary place (Mark 1:35); on your knees (Acts 9:40); in a place of prayer (Acts 16:16); in our closets (Matthew 6:6); and together (Acts 1:14 & 12:5). To say that we should pray in a solitary place or in a closet indicates that we should pray where we can be alone with God, just two of us. This is important for us to be alone with God as we talk with Him, so we can share with Him our innermost thoughts and cares. This also gives us opportunity to tell God how much we love Him, praise Him, and honor Him for blessings we receive. But we should also pray together for blessings that will help our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, individually and collectively as church. To be sure, we can (and do) pray in other positions. However, we should not forget that when we pray we should humble ourselves before God. Getting down on our knees is one way to do this.

Who do we pray for? I'm afraid that all too often our prayers are for what we want or feel that we need. It is important that we make our desires known to God. However, we also need to pray for others and their needs. We should pray for friends (Philemon 1:4); enemies (Matthew 5:44); fellow Christians (Philemon 1:9 & 1 Thessalonians 5:23); for harvesters (Matthew 9:38); for sinning Christians (1 John 5:15,16); for sick (James 5:16); church officers (Acts 6:6 & 14:23); for those in prison (Acts 12:5); and preachers (2 Corinthians 1:11, 8:4, & Ephesians 6:19).

Wouldn't it be great if all Christians had a very active, sincere, fervent, daily prayer life? Just imagine how much better this world would be if all Christians united daily in this kind of prayer. Unfortunately there are hindrances to prayer, and Christians are subject to those hindrances. If we have an un-Christian relationship with others, our prayers are hindered. 1 Peter 3:7-12 speaks to relationships we have with others. We should "...be of one mind, having compassion for one another, love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous..." (1 Peter 3:8a). The opposite of these causes a hindrance to prayer. Having unforgiveness in our heart also serves to hinder our prayers as Jesus taught in Matthew 6:14.

I said earlier that we should not pray for material blessings so we can have our lives more abundant in things of world. In reality, when we pray this type of prayer, it becomes a hindrance to what we should pray for as well as answers to prayer. "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures." (James 4:3). Self-righteousness serves to hinder us in our prayer life, read parable of Pharisee and Tax Collector in Luke 18:9-14. Other hindrances include Satan, lack of fasting, lack or persistence, unbelief, and iniquity in heart.

This has not been an exhaustive study of prayer, for there are more than eighty prayers in Old and New Testaments, as well as countless other references to prayer. However, I have tried to give you and overview of prayer which will teach you basic truths about prayer. Learn to pray to your Heavenly Father. Praise Him, thank Him, glorify Him, and seek His guidance in a daily time of prayer. But most of all love Him with all your heart and soul, and express that love for Him in your prayer life. Does God answer prayer? YES! Remember, "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." (James 5:16b).

Favorite Scriptures

I have many favorite scriptures that help me make it through this world and live each day in Christ Jesus. Here are just a few.

"for all have sinned and fall short of glory of God." (Romans 3:23)

"Or do you not know that your body is temple of Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?" (1 Corinthians 6:19)

"For I received from Lord that which I also delivered to You: that Lord Jesus on same night in which He was betrayed too bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance os Me.' In same manner He also took cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.'" (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, have an abundance for every good work." (2 Corinthians 9:8)

All scriptures quoted are from New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Stephen Kingery is an author, preacher, teacher and founder of The Home Bible Study Institute.

Visit our site at http://www.james1-22.org

For many of us, it is helpful if we have various Bible study aids to go along with our study of Bible. Please allow me to give you a word of caution on this subject. Earlier in this article I stated that Holy Spirit knew there would be a tendency for men to teach their own opinions rather than scriptural truth. This problem is just as prolific in written material as it is in spoke word on TV or radio. My prayer is that you will be able to determine when this is happening and "see through it." Many people today who claim to preach God's word develop a theology (an organized body of opinions concerning God and man's relationship to God - The American Heritage Dictionary) and then use isolated scriptures to "prove" that they are right. Let me give you an example. Suppose that I decided that suicide was taught in scriptures as a viable means of concluding one's own life. First I would need to locate and quote scriptures that I wanted to use to prove that this theology was correct. Which ones would I use?

"Then he threw down pieces of silver in temple and departed, and went and hanged himself." (Matthew 27:5) "And Jesus said to them, 'Go and do likewise.'" (Luke 10:37b) "Then Jesus said to him, 'What you do, do quickly.'" (John 13:27b) Now obviously suicide is not being taught in Bible. However, putting these scriptures together in this fashion, pulling them out of context, it can be made to appear that suicide is taught in Bible.

You are probably saying to yourself, "that's absurd." Friends, this is no less absurd than many of so called "scriptural truths" being taught today by men concerning salvation, baptism, deity of Christ, and where spirit of man goes when he/she dies. This is why it is so important that we "rightly divide word of truth."

The point I am trying to make in this discussion is this: Do not accept spoken word or writings of men (mine or anybody else's) as gospel. Go to scriptures, in prayer, using sound principles of interpretation and study to see if scriptures are saying what men say it is saying. What are sound principles of interpretation?

(a) Determine who is speaking. In Bible there are many different people speaking. It may be Jesus teaching His disciples. It could be one of apostles in their writings to churches. It could be a prophet, a king, Satan, or even Balaam's mule. The point is, in order to fully understand significance of statement, we must know who is making statement. (b) To whom is it being spoken to? Here again, relevance of statement depends on to whom statement was given. Is statement made to Christians, sinners, enemies of church, a person seeking to be saved, or to entire congregations. The meaning of statement could be entirely different if spoken to each of these examples. (c) What is statement speaking about? In other words, what is content and context of statement. Is it a command, a warning, about nature of God or His Son, about Israel, Christians, or church. Knowing what content is about is very important in understanding teaching contained therein. Also, what is context in which it is being used. What goes before statement and what goes after statement. What goes before and after statement can (and does) alter statement. My example about suicide shows this very well. (d) When does passage speak? Is it written for just that time, Patriarchal age, Mosaic age, or Christian age. This is just as important as is to who statement is made. God has dealt with His people differently at different times. The Christian must know and recognize difference in how God has chosen to deal with His people in various ages. We must make a distinction between two testaments. The Old Testament was for Jewish nation, whereas New Testament is for world and Christian gospel age. (e) Allow Scripture to explain Scripture. Let scriptures speak for themselves. Some passages which may seem a little unclear can be further understood in light of other passages. For example, God's plan of salvation is an excellent example of this. There are eight occasions in Acts where one or more people were converted to Christianity. In Acts 2 when three thousand were converted we have repentance and baptism specifically mentioned. In Acts 8 when Samaritans were converted, we have faith and baptism mentioned. And in Acts 8 when eunuch was converted, we have confession, faith and baptism mentioned. We can then use passages from all three occasions (and other five as well) to see that we must have faith, we must repent of our sins, confess Lord Jesus, and be baptized into watery grave of baptism to receive gift of salvation. Taking any one of these passages by itself and using it exclusively to show God's plan of salvation, we would be misinterpreting scriptures.

If we love God and give Him all our allegiance, then we must make every effort to "rightly divide word of truth." It is my prayer that this article has given you desire and ability to do this.

All Scriptures quoted are from New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Stephen Kingery is an author, preacher, teacher and founder of The Home Bible Study Institute.

Visit our site at http://www.james1-22.org