Session One
DEVOTED
TO PRAYER
WEARING KNEE-HOLES
IN HARDWOOD FLOORS

Devote yourselves to prayer.
Colossians 4:2
Romans 12:12; Acts 1:14; 2:42

Session One OBJECTIVES
! Cover a few administrative details
! Clarify the aims of this seminar
! Describe the risks of a seminar on prayer
! Identify some prerequisites to prayer

Seminar AIMS
1. A focus on PERSONAL more than public prayer.
2. A focus on prayer that changes US,
not God.
3. A focus on SPIRITUAL, not material prosperity
from prayer.

Seminar RISKS
! Talking about prayer, even listening to teaching
about prayer, is not prayer.
! Feeling guilty about a lack of prayer is not prayer.

Seminar RISKS
! Trying new systems, and/or tweaking old systems
of prayer, is not prayer.
! Checking prayer off the list like a legalist is not
prayer.

PREREQUISITES for Effective Prayer
1. Repentance
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
Psalm 66:18

PREREQUISITES for Effective Prayer
2. Humility
God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand
of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you,
casting all your anxieties on Him,
because He cares for you.
1 Peter 5:5b-7

PREREQUISITES for Effective Prayer
3. Belief
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives
to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting....For that
person must not suppose that he will receive anything
from the Lord; he is a double-minded man,
unstable in all his ways.
James 1:5-8

PREREQUISITES for Effective Prayer
4. Righteousness
If one turns away his ear from hearing the law,
even his prayer is an abomination.
Proverbs 28:9
The LORD is far from the wicked,
but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
Proverbs 15:29

PREREQUISITES for Effective Prayer
5. Understanding
Understanding of God’s Will
Matthew 6:10; 1 John 5:14-15
Understanding of One’s Wife
1 Peter 3:7

PREREQUISITES for Effective Prayer
6. Spirituality
[P]raying at all times in the Spirit,
with all prayer and supplication.
Ephesians 6:18
Romans 8:26-27

TAKE-AWAYS
If you’re not devoted to prayer (as much as you want to be):
Grunts Warriors
• Examine salvation. • Examine humility.
• Examine and confess sin. • Examine Spirit-filledness.
• Pray for God’s help to take • Pray for God’s help to take
new steps. a step up.