Rev Hooker Pastor's Bible Study on Unselfish Prayer: The Introduction and Overview on Unselfish Prayer

To get us right to the heart of this vital practice, we will examine several key biblical passages to guide our thoughts and hopefully, beyond our thoughts our prac- tice of prayer. Before we get to these exciting and inspirational Bible passages, however, we must spend some time reflecting on the meaning and modeling of prayer itself. As ordained leaders, our own ways of praying pri- vately and certainly in public worship are the main les- sons on prayer that our congregants hear. They hear us praying not only in worship but also as they step into relationships of marriage and commitment, when their babies are born, beside their hospital beds, at the graves of their loved ones, and during or after a pas- toral counseling session. These moments of prayer will have a much greater impact on their understanding and practice of prayer than any book they will ever read, however widely read that book might be.  What Prayer Is Not ◆ First and foremost, prayer is not the human-divine communion designed for a self-induced alternate reality, in which the local deity is busy trying to help those who have homes, plenty to eat, and more than all the basics. Prayer is not for helping you win the lottery or otherwise come to wealth while most of the people in the world—especially children— have barely enough or not enough to eat. ◆  Prayer is not an ongoing list of imperatives, telling God what to do. (And putting “please” in front of the request does not make it any less of an imperative that is directed toward God.) Instead of thanking God for what God is already amazingly at work doing, instead of asking, instead of considering God’s great love and full knowledge of every situation about which we might pray, we still are most inclined to give God “to-do” lists in our prayers: What Prayer Is In the following studies, based on five vital passages of Scripture, we will see that prayer is communion and conversation with God that includes plenty of time for listening and is: ◆  Respectful of God and how God works ◆  Reflective of God’s love for all people ◆  Individually and communally focused ◆  Expressed by one who is fully honest with self and with God ◆  As concerned with what God wants us to do as with what we want God to do for us ◆  Cognizant of the fact that God is pulling all human beings and societies toward wholeness