Answer Key for Students

Transcription

1 Answer Key for Students A Call to Prayer: Course CTP Mount Zion Bible Institute Lesson 1 Prayer Is Needful to Salvation 1. a. Personal answer. 2. Because prayer is the manner of submissive request to God whereby one asks to be saved. 3. It is to be without God, without Christ, without grace, without hope, and without heaven; ie, on the road to hell! 4. a. Romans 10:9,10 It is with our mouth (in prayer) that we come to salvation. b. Acts 10:1-6 Cornelius had prayed to God, and this led directly to God s answer for salvation. Lesson 2 The Habit of Prayer: Mark of a True Christian 1. a. They all pray; it is one of the first signs of being born-again. b. God desires that we come persistently to Him with our request day after day; it shows our own sincerity. c. Personal answer. 2. a. God s saints in the Bible, eminent Christians from the past, the converted on the mission field. 3. a. You cannot really feel your sins; you cannot love God; you cannot feel yourself a debtor to Christ; you cannot long after holiness; you cannot desire heaven; you are not born-again; you may boast of salvation--but it is all in vain. 4. Prayer is the evidence that one believes, belief is the evidence that one is justified. The visible evidence of justification starts with prayer (see middle page 7). 5. Prayer is to faith what breath is to life. You cannot live the new life of Christ and not breath via prayer. 6. a. Ephesians 6:18 We are commanded to pray always, no exceptions! b. Philippians 4:6,7 We are commanded to pray in everything, no exceptions! c. Colossians 4:2 We are commanded to pray without stopping, no exceptions! Lesson 3 Prayer: The Most Neglected Duty 1. Such a person enjoys God s blessings (His food, air, water, and all provision), but he has not one word to say to God about it, who holds his very life and eternal destiny. 2. a. Because formal prayer is without heart ; it is words only, and no real sincerity about God s listening or granting its petitions. God simply does not listen. 3. Because our natural desire is to get away from God s righteousness, holiness, justice, and wrath. 4. Because praying and sinning will never live together in the same heart. Prayer will consume sin, or sin will choke prayer. 6. a. 1 Samuel 12:23 Ceasing to pray is a sin. b. Luke 18:1 Jesus taught that we should always pray; not praying leads to fainting away (backsliding). c. 1 Timothy 2:1 Paul taught that we should pray for all men as a first priority. Lesson 4 Prayer Produces Great Encouragement 1. By sending Christ to die on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. Now instead of fear of His wrath, we can plead the atoning blood of Jesus and find a throne of grace. The name of Jesus is a never failing passport for our prayers. 2. Jesus Christ; He intercedes for us by mingling our prayers with His own pleadings, such that they arrive before God intertwined, ours enveloped in His, so that God responds on the merits of Christ, not on the merits of us! 3. The Spirit gives us the very words to pray; He inspires us! 4. Personal answer, based on Mat. 7:7-8, 21:22; John 14:13-14; Luke 11:5, 18:1 (page Opening of the Red Sea (Ex. 13:8), water coming from the rock (Ex. 17:7, Num. 20:13), manna coming from heaven (Ex. 16:5), the sun standing still (Joshua 10:1-13), fire descending at Mt. Carmel for Elijah (1 Kings 18:38), turning the counsel of Ahithophel (2 Samuel 17:14), overthrowing the army of Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:36). 6. a. James 5:16-18 Fervent prayer avails [accomplishes] much benefit. b. John 14:12-14 We will have answers to our prayers in Jesus name. c. Matthew 7:7-11 God gives good things to those who ask. Lesson 5 Diligence in Prayer, the Secret of Holiness A Call to Prayer page 1 as of 7/16/2015

2 1. You hear the same old experiences, observe the same lack of spiritual appetite and lack of interest beyond their own little circle. 2. They are growing, pressing on, sometimes faint but always pursuing, adding grace to grace, each year noticeably more spiritually mature, zealous of good works, unwearied in doing well. They attempt and do great things, try again after failing, and think themselves only unprofitable servants. 3. Those who are not eminently holy: pray little, and those who are eminently holy: pray much. 4. They think holiness is a special spiritual gift available only to a select few. 6. Personal answer. 7. Because the Spirit alone begins the work of grace in a man s heart, carries it forward, and makes it prosper. 8. Sin cannot stand firm against hearty prayer; it cannot keep dominion when we ask the Lord to remove it. 9. Personal answer. [We strongly encourage you to make such a commitment. All progress in the Christian life begins and is sustained by prayer!] 10. a. Jeremiah 29:13 The key to finding God is not merely searching, but searching with all one s heart. b. Daniel 6:10,23 Daniel had the habit of regular, sustained prayer, and God heard him. Lesson 6 Prayer and Backsliding 1. After making a good profession, evidences include turning aside after false teachers, denying the Lord in an hour of trial, losing their first love, cool down in their zeal to do good, going back to the world. 2. a. A wounded conscience, a mind sick of itself, a memory full of reproach, a heart pierced through with the Lord s arrows, a spirit broken with a load of inward accusation. b. Because these conditions are the worst things that can befall a man on earth. Note: Ryle uses the term backslider to refer to each moment when we lose our joy in the Lord and look down at our troubles, even in the short term. The key is that we repent from doubt and look up to Jesus. 3. a. Doing the following without prayer: Bibles read, sermons heard, marriages contracted, journeys undertaken, residences chosen, friendships formed, hurrying over daily prayer, prayer without heart. 4. Becoming careless about private prayer. (Or: neglect of private prayer.) 6. a. Isaiah 1:9-18 God hates only outward religion. It is sin in His eyes. But when we repent, He answers and restores b. Psalm 66:18 When we have back-slidden, God does not hear our unrepentant prayers. c. Proverbs 15:8 God hates backslidden religious professors. d. Jeremiah 3:12-14 God calls us to repent from backsliding, and promises to restore us when we do. Lesson 7 Prayer and Contentment 1. Because when we are lovingly involved with people, we care, and then we enter into the sorrows of many others. 2. a. Taking everything to God in prayer. 3. Personal answer. [Please really considered the meaning of the scriptures.] 4. a. 1) To be ever casting all one s cares upon God; versus 2) To be resolved to keep one s cares to oneself. 5. 1) He pitied the poor and sick and sorrowful while on earth, 2) He knows the heart of man--for He is one, 3) He weeps with the weepers--for He was a man of sorrows, 4) He is able to help us--there was never one He could not help. 6. a. Happiness depends upon the state of the heart (spiritually), and not on outward circumstances. This is a life-changing truth! Please let it sink into your mind and heart! [This is one of the most important truths of the whole course. You must die to trying to be in control, and turn your life over to the Lord Jesus Christ.] 7. 1) It can lighten crosses for us--christ helps us to bear them. 2) It can open a door for us (when the way seems closed)--christ will say This is the way, walk ye in it. 3) It can give a ray of hope when all seems darkness--christ says I will never leave thee or forsake thee. 4) It can bring relief when we are filled with grief or anxious--christ says Peace, be still. 8. a. Isaiah 26:3 When we set our minds on Christ (via prayer), He gives us peace. b. Matthew 6:31-33 We do not need to worry, but rather to seek God first, and He will provide everything needful for us. c. Psalm 55:22 We must cast our burdens onto Christ (via prayer), and He will sustain us. d. 1 Peter 5:6,7 To cast our care upon Him, is to humble ourselves, and He will exalt us in His timing (which is perfect). A Call to Prayer page 2 as of 7/16/2015

3 Lesson 8 Advice to the Unsaved 1. Personal answer. [This is, of course, a most revealing question into the heart of the unsaved person. We point you to Christ in all earnestness. Your soul hangs in the balance!] 2. Prayer is simply speaking to God; you do not need to know how. Just speak to Him as a Person next to you. 3. Any quiet place will do, and we all can find such a place if we desire too enough. 4. Time can be found for the things we consider a priority. The problem for most is simply that prayer is not a high priority. 5. This is to add sin to sin--to refuse to ask God. God wants you to ask Him for faith and a new heart. 6. Personal answer. [If you have expressed a need for Christ, such an admission is no doubt enabled by the Holy Spirit. Come to Christ with immediately!] 7. a. In the day when he first prays with his heart. b. When he first pours out his heart to God in prayer (so far as we can judge). 8. a. Personal answer. b. Go to Christ now in prayer, in a private place, and earnestly ask Him to save you. c. Personal answer. 9. Tell Him that you have heard that He receives sinners, that you are a vile sinner, that you come in faith in Him--that He has invited you to come, that you put yourself wholly in His hands, that you are helpless and hopeless apart from Him. Ask Him to deliver you from the guilt, power, and consequences of sin; to pardon you and wash you in His blood; to give you a new heart and plant the Holy Spirit in your soul; to give you the grace to be His disciple and servant from now on. 10. a. It is Christ s whole purpose to save sinners (His office). b. Waiting comes from the devil--do not wait for anybody: do it now. c. Jesus can understand you. d Jesus is listening while you are speaking; if He seems to delay, it is for wise reasons. e. Personal answer. 11. a. Isaiah 55:6,7 Seek God now (do not wait), because God wants to hear and pardon! b. Matthew 11:28-30 If we will but come, Jesus will give us rest. c. John 6:27,34,35 If we will but come to Christ (which means leaving our sin), then He will meet us and satisfy our souls forever! Lesson 9 Counsel to the Saints, part 1 1. Because the devil has special wrath against us when he sees us on our knees; and because we know our hearts are wicked and vain; and because we are poor judges of goodness. 2. Reverence: because we should not rush into God s presence or trifle with Him. Humility: because if we regard iniquity in our heart, the Lord will not hear us. 3. a. To have the direct help of the Holy Spirit, and to avoid formality (soulish prayers from our human wisdom). b. Because it is easy to get into the habit of using the same choice words and promises, and walk the same ground daily without feeling of our real need. 4. Personal answer (this is not so clear in the text--even a bit of a repetition of 3b). The key is that prayer must be from our heart. [See Ryle s booklet on Formality.] 5. Because 1) God is a God of order, and 2) we must make communicating with God the great priority of every day. 6. a. 1) You have had group (or family) prayer; private prayer is therefore unnecessary. 2) Your body needs more rest time instead of prayer time. 3) You have important tasks to attend to--cut prayer time short. 7. Prayer is to be steadily persevered in every day; it should come around at regular intervals; it should never go out completely. We make prayer continuous by saying short prayers throughout the day, in the midst of other activities, [and maintaining and attitude of worship]. 8. To be hearty, fervent, and warm; to be really interested in what we are doing. 9. a. To believe that our prayers are being heard, and that they will be answered as we pray according to God s will. b. 1) By pleading the promises of God back to Him, and 2) by cultivating the habit of expecting answers to our prayer. Lesson 10 Counsel to the Saints, part 2 1. Unseemly familiarity is a casual over-confidence, even a demanding sort of expectation. Godly boldness is confidence with reverence, hope, and assurance, as with a loving father; it is like bolts shot up into heaven. 2. a. It is not vain repetitions, but rather long periods of earnest prayer. 3. Because general petitions reflect a lack of sincerity or need. Specific prayer is serious, heart-felt prayer that God loves to hear and respond to. It reflects both honesty, vulnerability, and trust. A Call to Prayer page 3 as of 7/16/2015

4 4. a. We tend to be selfish, thinking only of ourselves. b. We should stir ourselves up to name other names to God besides our own, to consciously esteem the interests of others above our own. 5. For: God s mercy (that we are not in hell), the hope of heaven, living in a land of spiritual light, having fruit of the Spirit, having opportunities of glorifying God. 6. Because prayer is: 1) the life-blood of the Christian life, the spiritual pulse revealing spiritual health, and 2) the spiritual weather-glass, revealing fair or foul in our souls. All other Christian activities depend upon this maintaining of vital communion with God in prayer. Without it, they all quickly become works of the flesh. 7. a. Daniel 10:12 Daniel demonstrated earnestness and perseverance in setting his heart and in chastening himself, and God heard Him and sent help. b. Ephesians 6:10-13,18 Effective prayer requires that we have on the whole armor of God to withstand the devil, that we might pray with perseverance and supplication for others. c. 2 Chronicles 33:10-13 When Manasseh humbled himself and turned to God, God heard. God s purpose was that Manasseh would know Him. d. Deuteronomy 4:29 Seeking God with all our heart and soul (nothing held back) will lead to our finding Him. e. Isaiah 26:8,9 We are to seek God with pure motives; God answers and reveals Himself to men. Lesson 11 Intercessory Prayer: Its Necessity and Urgency 1. It is the cry of God s people unto Him for the deliverance of the dead souls around them. 2. Saying our prayers becomes a matter of short, formal, routine prayers triggered by routine events in our lives, like before meals or bed. Intercessory prayer is more definite and persevering, continuing steadfastly, watching, praying down blessings upon others. Note: in the current printing of the new version, the questions 3 12 are misnumbered as 4 13 (having skipped number 3). This will be corrected at the next printing, DV. 3. That we should pray continually and repeatedly, with a sense of urgency,and refusing to be denied. 4. We should 1) have an urgent need, 2) feel compassionate love for others, 3) have a sense of impotence and helplessness, 4) base our prayer on faith, 5) know that importunity will prevail! 5. Personal answer. 6. Because the sense of our own helplessness, that the need is much greater than our own resources, sends us to the only One who can help us. It brings us to the end of ourselves, the prerequisite for God s acting. 7. Because it at once acknowledges that the One we ask is capable of answering, and that He will hear us, and that He will be inclined to answer. 8. a. Importunity is pereverance with urgency, pressing a plea. b. Because the one who is asking refuses to accept a denial, and continues to ask until granted his request. 9. That it is a certainty that our prayers will be answered, and therefore we are able to have complete assurance! ) The human part is the asking. 2) The divine part is the giving. There is no human part for self-effort or merit or pride. 11. a. Personal answer. b. We shall have an answer (in God s timing)!! 12. a. 1 Timothy 2:1 We are commanded to pray for others, even for all men. b. Romans 15:30 Paul requested intercessory prayer for himself, and it is to be striving. c. Romans 8:26-27 The Spirit intercedes for us, according to the will of God (a sure combination). d. 2 Timothy 1:3 Paul interceded for Timothy as a priority, which was evidently required for him to have a clear conscience. Lesson 12 God Beckons Us to Pray 1. a. The restraint, or lack, of prayer. c. To confess our prayerlessness and ask the Lord: Teach me to pray. 2. They are all strong encouragements that God wants (even commands) us to pray--and when we do, He will answer. 3. He has opened the throne of grace. He bids us to come and cast our care upon Him. He bids us to have no anxious moments, but to present our requests to God. He is our great High Priest, who can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He was made like us, so that He might be merciful. He bids us to come with gladness, for we come into the presence of our King. He waits to hear our voice; and He stands ready to answer our prayers, etc. 4. 1) We must not ask according to our own selfish desires, but seek what God wants in all things. 2) When we say God always answers prayer, it does not mean that God gives us exactly what we ask for. Rather, He gives us what is best for us, for our good [reference is made to 1 John 5:14-15]. 5. a. When we are regarding sin in our life. [ Regard is to hold in affection or esteem, to like something.] b. Psalm 66:18 God will not hear if we regard sin in our life. Proverbs 28:9 God will not hear if we are turning away from His Word. A Call to Prayer page 4 as of 7/16/2015

5 6. We can only learn to pray by praying. [Please encourage the student here that there are no right and wrong ways to pray if our hearts are sincere. God is not sitting in judgment upon how well we pray, if our hearts are sincere. He only wants us to talk to Him as a child to a loving father.] 7. a. Isaiah 43:25-26 God commands us to remind Him of our sins in confession, and He will forgive. b. Hosea 10:12 We are to seek the Lord by breaking the fallow ground, ie, the hard surface resistance we have built up in pride. We break it by humbling ourselves before Him, by confessing sin in prayer. c. John 4:23 The Father wants us to worship Him in all sincerity from the heart. Lesson 13 The Grounds of Our Confidence 1. a. The Holy Spirit is also interceding for us according to the will of God (even when we do not know for sure what that may be), and is bringing the needful words before God, when we do not know what to say! b. Personal answer, but should include the following thoughts: This encourages to pray because we do not have to feel the burden of performance, but rather can rest upon God s power. Our part is simply to talk with Him earnestly, fervently, sincerely, and with perseverance!! 2. 1) Ask for saving faith, for ourselves and for others. 2) Thank God for His many blessings. 3) Give praise to the Lord. 4) Ask God for the salvation of the lost. 5) Confess our sins. 6) Ask God to sanctify us, ie, by His Spirit to set us apart from the world to conform us to the image of His Son. 7) Ask God to make us His witnesses, and intercede for missionaries and ministers everywhere. 3. a. Because without prayer, there will be darkness, broken fellowship, and confusion. With prayer, there will be light, power, and confidence. 4. a. 1 John 5:14-15 If we ask according to His will, He hears us and will give us what we ask for. b. 1 John 3:19-22 If we have a clean conscious toward God (by confessing all known sin), then we can know that God will give what we ask for. 6. Optional Personal answer. Mount Zion Bible Institute 2603 W. Wright Street Pensacola, FL USA phone: (850) fax: (850) school@mountzion.org web: a ministry of Mount Zion Bible Church A Call to Prayer page 5 as of 7/16/2015