The Privilege of Prayer - COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT PRAYER

To whom should we pray? Jesus taught his followers to pray to "our Father in Heaven."  (Matthew 6:9)  He also said: "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)  So we should pray only to Jehovah through Jesus.  What does praying through Jesus mean?  For Jehovah to accept our prayers, we need to show respect for the special assignment  Jehovah gave to Jesus.  As we learned, Jesus came to earth to save us from our sin and death. (John 3:16; Romans 5:12) Jehovah has also appointed Jesus as High Priest and Judge. - JOHN 5:22; HEBREWS 6:20.

Do we need to be in a specific position when we pray?   No, Jehovah doesn't ask us to kneel, sit, or stand when we pray.  The Bible teaches us that we can talk to Jehovah in any respectful position.  (1 Chronicles 17:16; Nehemiah 8:6; Daniel 6:10; Mark 11:25)  What is most important to Jehovah is, not our position when we pray, but that we ask him with the right attitude.  We can pray out loud or silently wherever we are and at anytime during the day or night. When we pray to Jehovah, we can trust that he will hear us even when nobody else does. -NEHEMIAH 2:1-6. 

What can we pray for? We can pray for anything that is acceptable to Jehovah. The Bible says:  "No matter what we ask according to his will, he hears us." (1 John 5:14)  Can we pray about personal things?   Yes. Praying to Jehovah should be like talking to a close friend. We can tell Jehovah anything that's on our mind and in our heart. (Psalm 62:8)  We can pray for him to give us his powerful holy spirit to help us do what's right.  (Luke 11:13)  We can also ask Jehovah for wisdom to make good decisions, and we can pray for strength to cope with difficulties.  (James 1:5)  We should ask Jehovah to forgive our sins. (Ephesians 1:3, 7)  We should also pray for others, including our family and our brothers and sisters in the congregation. - ACTS 12:5; COLOSSIANS 4:12.

Next time: The Privilege of Prayer - Conclusions of COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT PRAYER

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