In praying we are coming into the audience chamber of the King of Kings, but lest this

should daunt us, we remember that this glorious One is also our Saviour and our Head.

2. True prayer gives fellowship and communion with God.

When believers speak of fellowship, they usually mean spiritual intercourse with one

another, and this is a beautiful feature of the Christian life. The Apostle John, however,

reminds us of a far more important aspect of fellowship:  "Truly our fellowship

(koinonia) is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ" (I John 1: 3).

The Greek koinonia means something that is shared or one has in common with

someone else, so leading to the thought of communion. Thus, in a wonderful way, prayer

brings us into communion with our Heavenly Father and we have the joy of talking with

Him at any and all times. God forbid that we should ever regard prayer as a Christian act

to be engaged in only when we want something, but rather learn, in a practical way, what

day be day fellowship with the Father means.

Just as breathing is the natural expression of physical life, so should prayer be the

normal and continuous expression of our spiritual life.

3. True prayer puts God first, others second, and self last.

In the prayer which our Lord taught His disciples, which is a model prayer for the

subjects of the earthly kingdom, the Lord commences with: "Our Father which are in

heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done . . . . ." Thus we

have four references to God before we reach "Give us this day our daily bread".

Likewise the recorded prayers of the Apostle Paul abound with concern for others.

Rom. 1: 9-12; I Cor. 1: 4-7; Eph. 1: 16-23; Phil. 1: 4-11; Col. 1: 3-6; I Thess. 1: 2-4.

These references not only make this clear, but also contain the element of thanksgiving

which is most important. As long as we are conscious of the Lord's abiding goodness to

each one of us, we are not likely to stray from the path of His revealed will. It was when

Israel of old ceased to be thankful that they forgot God's lovingkindness and wonder

working on their behalf and their heart turned back to Egypt (a type of the world) and its

It is also true of the nations at Babel. They knew God yet glorified Him not as God,

neither were they thankful (Rom. 1: 21), and thus started the terrible declension that the

remainder of this chapter reveals. A thankful heart is a great preservative against evil and

we are not ever likely to weary the Lord by including it continually in our prayers in a

heartfelt manner.

4. True prayer rests upon and claims God's promises.

It is a significant fact that all the outstanding characters in Scriptures have been men

and women who knew how to pray and a careful study of their prayers will show that

these are based upon the Word of God and the promises contained therein.

We may think of Elijah. James, in his epistle, brings forward Elijah as an example of

effectual praying (5: 17). He prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on