Topical Bible: Seeking God by Prayer

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◄ Seeking God by Prayer ►

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Topical Encyclopedia

Seeking God through prayer is a central theme in the Bible, reflecting a believer's desire to connect with the Divine, seek guidance, and express dependence on God's will. Prayer is portrayed as a vital practice for nurturing one's relationship with God, aligning one's heart with His purposes, and receiving His wisdom and strength.

Biblical Foundations

The Bible presents numerous examples and teachings on the importance of seeking God through prayer. In the Old Testament, figures such as Abraham, Moses, David, and Daniel exemplify lives devoted to prayer. Abraham interceded for Sodom (Genesis 18:22-33), Moses sought God's guidance for leading Israel (Exodus 33:12-23), David expressed his heart in the Psalms (Psalm 63:1), and Daniel prayed consistently, even in the face of persecution (Daniel 6:10).

The New Testament continues this emphasis, with Jesus Christ Himself modeling a life of prayer. He often withdrew to solitary places to pray (Luke 5:16) and taught His disciples to pray with sincerity and faith (Matthew 6:5-13). The early church also devoted themselves to prayer, seeking God's direction and empowerment (Acts 1:14, 2:42).

Purpose and Practice

Prayer is both a privilege and a responsibility for believers. It is a means of communicating with God, expressing adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. Through prayer, believers seek God's presence, wisdom, and intervention in their lives and the world around them.

The Bible encourages believers to pray with faith, persistence, and humility. James 1:5-6 advises, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, without doubting." Jesus taught the importance of persistence in prayer through the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8).

Promises and Encouragements

Scripture assures believers that God hears and responds to their prayers. In Jeremiah 29:12-13, God promises, "Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." Similarly, 1 John 5:14-15 states, "This is the confidence that we have in Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him."

Challenges and Obstacles

While prayer is a powerful tool for seeking God, believers may face challenges such as distractions, doubt, and spiritual dryness. The Bible encourages perseverance and reliance on the Holy Spirit, who intercedes for believers and helps them in their weakness (Romans 8:26-27).

Conclusion

Seeking God by prayer is an essential aspect of the Christian life, fostering a deeper relationship with the Creator and aligning one's life with His will. Through prayer, believers find strength, guidance, and peace, trusting in God's faithfulness to hear and answer according to His perfect plan.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Job 8:5
If you would seek to God betimes, and make your supplication to the Almighty;
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Daniel 9:3
And I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Prayer --Fills Man's Poverty with God's Riches
... and which the Father is to relieve. Prayer is the seeking of God's great
and greatest good, which will not come if we do not pray. ...
/.../bounds/the reality of prayer/ii prayerfills mans poverty with.htm

The Structure of the Lord's Prayer
... imply that Christ meant this prayer to be a form, but He certainly meant it for
a model. And they who drink in its spirit, and pray, seeking God's glory before ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture a/the structure of the lords.htm

To his Praise!
... Conditions of Prevailing Prayer. 1. Contrite humility before God and forsaking of
sin."2:Chron.7:14. 2. Seeking God with the whole heart."Jer.29:12, 13. ...
/.../goforth/how i know god answers prayer/ix to his praise.htm

Fenelon -- the Saints Converse with God
... The perfect heart is never weary of seeking God. ... of having purified his heart, so
that he may claim as a right that God should listen to his prayer? ...
/.../various/the worlds great sermons vol 2/fenelon the saints converse.htm

Chap. Iii a Sequel of the Same Matter.
... State, and carry them on a more perfect kind of Prayer, and so for ... the choice of
the Minutes, Imaginations, and strained Reasonings, seeking God without, when ...
/.../the spiritual guide which disentangles the soul/chap iii a sequel of.htm

Prayer and God's Work
... Then, while we are pursuing our investigation, seeking light as to whether the work
of God among His people is making progress ... Are they patterns of prayer? ...
/.../bounds/the essentials of prayer/vii prayer and gods work.htm

A Manifestation of God in Answer to Prayer
... It vividly discloses the fact that prayer can accomplish ... believers were astonished
at the marvelous visitation of God. ... the attention of a pleasure seeking world ...
/.../anderson/prayer availeth much/chapter 7 a manifestation of.htm

God Seeks Intercessors
... is teaching them that intercession, power with God, must be their first care, and
in seeking to train ... those who can "help together" by their prayer, and can ...
/.../murray/the ministry of intercession/chapter xiv god seeks intercessors.htm

How God Gives.
... persistence is that God is testing our faith, and seeking to make ... true that most
persons have unthinkingly thought of God's answering prayer as the ...
//christianbookshelf.org/gordon/quiet talks on prayer/how god gives.htm

Of Reading, which is Next to Prayer. ...
... as many good souls have done that never could read, and yet seeking God in simplicity ...
their own souls, when they treat of the several degrees of prayer and the ...
/.../chapter iii of reading which.htm