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LESSONS LEARNED THROUGH EXAMINING THE WORDED PRAYERS OF THE BIBLE
Research has revealed that there are approximately 222 Prayers in the Bible. We are going to consider that well-prepared research here. We will be considering actual worded prayers and not references to prayers. I encourage you to click on the link above so that you can be taken directly to the website where this list of prayers is considered.
Using the link above, answer the questions below:
Our Bible is a library made up of how many books?
Not every book found in the Bible contains prayers. There are some books found in the Bible that do not contain prayers.
How many books of the Bible do not contain prayers in them?
Regarding the books that do not contain prayers, some of them do contain instructions regarding what to pray, or the writer might say that they are praying. (It’s sort of like we do today when prayer is asked for and someone posts praying hands which symbolize that prayer is being said, though one might not have been prayed.
As we take a look at the 31 Bible books that do contain written/spoken prayers, know that not all of the prayers shown were favorably answered. There is much to learn from both the answered prayers and the unanswered prayers.
The list provided also shows how many words were spoken, letting us know that saying a lot of words does not necessarily mean that you will be told yes regarding whatever you are asking for.
Where in the Bible are the top two longest prayers found and how long were they?
Where are the five shortest prayers found in the Bible (5 words or less)?
So we see that the amount of words spoken does not necessarily mean that one will get a yes answer.
Read Matthew 6:7-8.
What did Jesus say about wordy prayers?
Read Ecclesiastes 5:1-2.
What does King Solomon say about the prayers we pray?
Now, let’s take a moment to look closely at the six unanswered prayer requests. Let’s examine why the prayers were unanswered so that we can know what not to do when we come before the Lord in prayer.
Two of the six are found in the book of Genesis:
I’ll do the first ones with you.
- Genesis 17:18 Abraham asks that Ishmael be recognized under the blessing that was spoken. But God did not acknowledge that prayer. Why? Because God’s promise was with Isaac. So we are not to push ahead
- Genesis 18:23-32 Abraham intercedes on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah for Lot who lived there but his prayer was conditional. Ten people were not found to be righteous so the prayer request was not answered to do the conditions not being met.
- Deuteronomy 3:24-25 Moses was begging the Lord for permission to go into the Canaanite territory and was told that he was not able to.
Continue to look through the list of 222 Prayers in the Bible and find the last three prayers shown that were not answered or approved by God, then answer Why?
It’s important that we learn from these unanswered prayers so that we don’t make the same mistakes.
Once you have finished that, you will want to now look at the answered prayers and ask the same question, Why?
What was it about these prayers that they were answered?
Please Proceed to Module 8 to hear from Battle Cry, Witness 1
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