Acts 1:14… They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

• Jesus prayed. The early church prayed! Today many Christians struggle in the area of prayer. Many don’t even have a prayer life.
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• As children of God – we need to know the truth about praying…

1. Ephesians 6:18…It is clear that as Children of God – we are called to pray to God. Some Christians say that since God is omniscience – He knows everything – so there is no use for praying. As parents it is always a joy to have our kids express their hearts to us. It is the same with our perfect Father. He loves to hear His kids expressing our hearts to Him.

2. Romans 3:22& James 5:16…Everyone who is in Christ is righteous. And the bible says – the prayer of the righteous man – is heard. Some Christians believe that God will only listen to righteous people (like pastors and church leaders). That is a lie! All who is in Christ is righteous.

3. Hebrews 7:25…The bible says that Jesus is always interceding (praying) perfectly for God’s children.

• John 11:41… Jesus prayed when He stood before Lazarus’ tomb. Jesus said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.” We must note that Jesus prayed those words before Lazarus came out from his tomb alive.
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• John 11:42… Jesus knew that His prayers would always come to pass because the Father always hears Jesus.
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• Hebrews 4:14… Today Jesus is our Great High Priest. Our Great High Priest is interceding for us perfectly whenever we pray to God in His name!
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• Leviticus 1:14–17… The burnt offering of birds to God in the Old Testament is an aroma pleasing to God. Because Jesus is our High Priest, we can and must understand what is really happening when we pray to God in Jesus name. We can understand what is happening when we offer our prayers to God by looking at what happened when the high priest of the Old Testament offered burnt offering of birds to God.

1. In the Old Testament, birds are brought to the high priest. Today when we pray in Jesus name – we are bringing our prayers to the Great High Priest!

2. In the Old Testament, the high priest removes the bird’s feathers after killing it. Today Jesus our Great High Priest removes all the imperfection (what is not required and unclean) from our prayers. So often our prayers are imperfect – filled with our self-centeredness.

3. In the Old Testament, the high priest offers the bird as a burnt sacrifice, a sweet aroma to the Lord. Today Jesus our Great High Priest adds His perfection, beauty, excellence and fragrance to our prayers. And Jesus presents our prayers to the Father as the perfect prayer.

• We must believe that Jesus presents perfect prayers on our behalf to God; we don’t have to run to a pastor or CG leader to pray for you. Run to Jesus! We just need to pray our prayers in Jesus name! The children of God must take advantage of Jesus’ intercession. And when Jesus prays for us, His prayers will always be answered because the Father always hears His Son when He prays!