CENTRAL THOUGHT
A prayerful Christian is a powerful Christian.
HYMN: What a friend we have in Jesus.
INTRODUCTION:
There are some situations as we run the Christian race when answers to our prayers appear to be delayed or not forth coming. The reasons for this may not be immediately known by the believer. Under such situations some Christians become discouraged and may even abandon praying. But this is the time he/she should persevere in prayer and not to faint.
A believer should realize that the battle with our arch enemy is not yet over. The devil uses situations like these to wear a believer out and make him or her to lose hope in God’s word and His unfailing promises.
Travailing in prayer calls for perseverance and persistence in prayers until something happens. Daniel travailed in prayer seemed delayed (Dan.10:2, 3, 11-13). Jesus travailed in prayer leaving us an example (Lk 22:40-46). In this study we shall be looking at those ingredients that will help us to get back on our knees in prayer.
Lesson Objectives:
- To understand the meaning of prayer and Travailing prayer.
- To appreciate the place of travailing in prayer.
- To highlight the derivable challenges in Christ prayer in the garden.
BIBLE TRUTH:
QUESTION 1.) WHAT DO YOU UNDERSTAND BY PRAYER AND TRAVAILING IN PRAYER?
John 17:1-5, Acts 4:24, Matt. 26:39-42.
Prayer simply means to express one’s desires, to commune with, to intercede, to ask earnestly and reverently, to make request from a higher power or authority. In our context the higher power or authority is God the Creator of the universe.
God is the one who takes the initiative in communications between Himself and His creatures. He offers us the invitation to commune with Him in prayers ( Jer.29:12). The basic nature of prayer is a response to God’s initiative. Prayer is very important in the life of any Christian, as the individual cannot live a successful Christian life without it. The patriarchs, prophets of Old and many others including the Lord Jesus Himself, always prayed to gain victory and have their needs met by effective communication with God. (Gen. 18:22-23; Ex.15:24-25, 1 Sam. 1:15-16, Luke 18:1, James 5:17).
Travail means strenuous mental or physical exertion while travailing in prayer means exerting a lot of energy in prayers or praying tenaciously in requesting something from God.
QUESTION 2A.) WHERE DO WE TRAVAIL IN PRAYER?
DAN.6:10, MATT.6:6, ACTS 12:5
Travailing in prayer is always successful in one’s closet. That is a place where there is no distraction.
Daniel when he knew that the writing was signed, went into his house, knelt down and prayed. Jesus our Savior commanded that we go to our closet to pray and the church also prayed; the garden of Gethsemane was the closet the Lord chose before facing the sufferings and death at Calvary.
Although general prayers can be said anywhere, once a believer wants to make success in his/her prayer life, he/she has to get separated.
QUESTION 2B.) IN WHAT LANGUAGE DO WE TRAVAIL IN PRAYER?
Travailing in prayer can be made in any language. The Almighty God who is being communicated hears and understands all languages because He created them. Whether it be Greek, Latin, English, etc; He understands them; and each one of us should travail in his own smoothest language to God. Praying in the Holy Ghost is the highest level of travailing in prayers.
QUESTION 3A.) HIGHLIGHT THE CHALLENGES/ LESSONS WE CAN DERIVE FROM THE PRAYER OF CHRIST IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE.
There are many challenges believers can derive from the prayer of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane. Some of them are as follows:
i. He took time to pray despite the fact that He knew that His time was up. Believers should be prayerful despite their condition in order not to give up on the way. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says that there is time for every thing. A Consistent prayer life helps the believer to walk according to God’s time.
ii. He was consistent in His prayer point. That is, He prayed without mincing words. Believers should not be running away from trials or temptations because the God that allowed such will surely glorify His name through such problem.
iii. He allowed the will of God to prevail even while He was in pains. Believers should always allow God’s will to be done in their lives no matter how painful it might be. Many believers have fallen into the temptation of losing their faith by asking why God should allow such and such trial to come to them, thereby feeling that either God is being wicked or can no longer keep His promises of protecting, providing etc. for them.
QUESTION 3B.) USING THE LIFE OF THE DISCIPLES DISCUSS THOSE FACTORS THAT HINDER PEOPLE FROM TRAVAILING IN PRAYER, MATT.26:40-45.
There are many factors that hinder people from travailing in prayer. There were seen in the lives of the disciples and they are as follows:
i. A believer that sleeps away his/her time can never travail in prayer. Prov.6:10-11 warns that too much sleep turns one to poverty.
ii. Unwatchfulness also hinders believers from travailing in prayer. A believer that is not watchful cannot pray and no prayerless believer can travail in prayer.
iii. Faithlessness can hinder one from travailing in prayers; believers should therefore believe in God’s word for all seasons.
QUESTION 4.) DISCUSS HOW THE FOLLOWING TRAVAILED IN PRAYER AND THE CHALLENGE FOR THE CHRISTIAN TODAY.
i. Daniel- Daniel 10:2-13
ii. Jacob- Gen. 32:24-32
iii. Moses- Exodus 17:8-13
iv. The Church- Acts 12:1-14
The class should examine and discuss how each of these travailed in prayers with the separate circumstance. Christians have no excuse why they should not pray because evil has fully multiplied to the extent that people hardly differentiate between sin (unrighteousness) and righteousness. It is penitent that believers pray more than ever before.
DAILY LIVING APPLICATION
Gethsemane is not a place of pleasure but a place of agonizing in prayer. We will not wait outside or stop at the gate but must get in the garden itself. We must pray and not sleep like Peter who woke up to remember nothing but his sword. (Matt.26:51). For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. 2 Cor. 10:1-4.
MEMORY VERSE:
LUKE 18:1
“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faith”.
DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE:
Mon: THE LORD TRAVAILING IN PRAYER AT GETHSEMANE.
Matt.26:39-44
Tues: THE GARDEN WAS THE LORD’S CLOSET BEFORE CALVARY.
Matt.6:6; 26:36
Wed: THE SPIRIT AIDS US TO TRAVAIL IN PRAYER.
Rom. 8:26,27
Thu: DANIEL TRAVAILED IN PRAYER.
Dan.10:2-13
Fri: JACOB TRAVAILED IN PRAYER.
Gen.32:24-32.
Sat: THE CHURCH TRAVAILED IN PRAYER FOR PETER.
Acts.12:1-14.