Lecture 1
The Many Forms of Prayer
Of all of the pieces of armor that we discussed, this one is the one that I really feel that I do not have to go much into depth about because so much information is already provided about prayer online.
It almost seems as if there is confusion over exactly how many different types of prayer there are based on the fact that there are so many lists that says different things. One says four, another says five, another says seven, another says nine, and it goes as far up as 24 types of prayer.
I decided to compare five of the different lists provided by Google. I compared the lists that had five, seven, nine, ten, and twenty prayer types.
All five were in agreement that Thanksgiving and Intercession were a part of the “all manner of prayer” that we were to pray.
Four were in agreement that our prayer should include adoration/worship of and confession to the Most High God to be included in the “all manner of prayer” that we were to pray.
Yet, when it came to supplication as a form of prayer, I believe that it was simply an issue of perception and semantics that caused the differences in the lists. For example, while 2 out of 5 simply said supplication and grouped with it petitions, one listed petitions and supplications separately; and another list did not outright say supplication or petition, but instead, it listed what the supplications and petitions would be for – prayer for healing, prayer for deliverance, and prayer for transformation and/or prayer for blessing.
The Prayer Type That Must Be Avoided
Notice that I highlighted one of the prayers in red. This is to warn you against this type of prayer.
A prayer of imprecation is a curse. We are not to pray curses over anyone.
Many times people will refer back to some of the prayers that King David prayed that are recorded in the Psalms such as in Psalms 7, 55, and 69. What we need to remember is that David lived and died long before Jesus came to earth and gave us a new covenant with instructions regarding how to deal with our enemies, such as,
- Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Matthew 5:39,43-44
- Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you. Luke 6:27, 28
There are more instructions given to us in the New Testament about blessing and not cursing (Romans 12:14), but what I want to take a moment to look at is an interaction that Jesus had with his disciples regarding calling down a curse on others. I want you to see what Jesus said to them:
Found in Luke chapter 9, Jesus and his disciples were headed to Jerusalem. Upon doing so, they had to pass through Samaria and they looked for lodging but were refused for no other reason except that they were going to Jerusalem. James and John, angry over the situation, asked Jesus if he wanted them to “call down fire to destroy them.” Luke 9:54.
This is what some of the manuscripts say that Jesus said to them,
And he said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of, for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”
Luke 9: 55-56
It is quite possible that James and John got that idea from what Elijah did, as recorded in 2 Kings 1: 10-15. But take note that Jesus rebuked them for that idea.
So that is one prayer that you do not want to pray is the prayer of imprecation.
I would encourage you, as you do your research into the various types of prayers in your endeavor to pray using “all manner of prayer”, to not get caught up in the various lists of how many types of prayers there are. It would be better to research and study all of the different prayers that were prayed in the bible. Learn about the one who prayed and why they prayed. Look at the prayer itself and what they prayed for. Finally, see the response that they received to their prayer. Let’s look at some now.
Bonus Question:
Is there a difference between the manner of prayer and the type of prayer?
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