Petitions

One of the ways we go to the Lord in prayer is through petitions.

Philippians 4:6 (CEB)

6 Don’t be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks.

Petition (or supplication) is from the Greek word de'-ā-sēs

Vine’s Expository Dictionary defines de'-ā-sēs as "a wanting, a need", then, "an asking, entreaty, supplication," in the New Testament it is always addressed to God and always rendered "supplication" or "supplications", "prayer" or "prayers".

Luke 1:13 (NKJV)

13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

In the above verse the word prayer is the same Greek word de'-ā-sēs as it is many times spoken in the New Testament.  So why is this word important?  And why should I spend time detailing this one word as opposed to so many others?  The reason is simple, it is a matter of attitude by willingly bringing our requests before the Lord for consideration, because we are asked to do so.

The Lord’s Prayer is a perfect example of how we are to pray:

Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV)

9 In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

10 Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

13 And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

In the Lord’s Prayer the first part is 'in exaltation', calling into remembrance of whom you are praying to.  He is Holy, He is sovereign, He is God, Most High.  Call into remembrance his faithfulness to you in the past and the manifestation of His love for you by way of Jesus Christ. In this your faith begins to stir.
Check out this detail below:

OUR FATHER (His love),

IN HEAVEN (exaltation),

HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME (exaltation),

Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (exaltation),

give us this day our daily bread (petition)

and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors (petition),

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (petition).

Notice the three exaltations, as if to say HOLY, HOLY, HOLY.  Just like in the book of Isaiah where the seraphim cried out in exaltation within the temple.

Isaiah 6:1-3 (NKJV)

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

The whole earth is full of His glory!”

In prayer follow with your petitions and end with your words of Thanksgiving.

The Lord's prayer is so amazing as it teaches us how to approach a Holy God in a respectful and honorable way.  It also teaches us how to present our petitions to God without fear or reprisal, all we need to is ask according to God’s will (or His purposes).

There is something amazing which happens when we pray according to God’s will, we become in-tune or connected with the mind of God and His purposes for His world and the lives of others.  This is actually the beginning of intercession where the Holy Spirit leads us, and creates within us the desire to pray.

So, what if we believe our petitions remain unanswered? 

I will be the first to say that God does answer prayer.  I have seen God answer many of my prayers, and that has built my faith and trust in Him.  I have also had some prayers which God has not answered in ways I would have desired Him to answer, and this fills me with questions which I personally do not have answers for.

I still remain firmly convinced that God does answer prayer, and I hold to that testimony. Sometimes God's answer to our petition is WAIT.  Truthfully, all of our prayers have been answered long before we even asked them, our response should be for us to stand in the victory of God's completed work.  I believe we all have experienced times when it seems like God is not answering our petitions like we want Him to, and when we want Him to, just like Habakkuk did with this response:

Habakkuk 1:2a (NKJV)

2a O Lord, how long shall I cry,

And You will not hear?

We also may share in David’s anguish in anticipation of God’s promise:

Psalm 22:2 (NKJV)

2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;

And in the night season, and am not silent.

The key to remember is that answered prayer is not a reward for praying correctly, anymore than supposing that unanswered prayer is a punishment for praying incorrectly.  We must understand that first God is sovereign, and not given over to whims or the fancies of man.  Yet He loves us and desires that we dialogue with Him.  We tend to humanize God to such a degree that we believe that He should answer all of our prayers in the way that we would want Him to answer if we but pray, but not all prayers are answered in a way that we would desire them to be answered.  Nonetheless, Paul still encourages us to continually pray and give thanks, for this is God’s will for us.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Prayer and petition is what God wants from us, an ongoing dialogue which opens us up to spiritual possibilities in a natural world.  God raises up people like you and I to speak with Him relationally and conversationally, not to just know about Him, but actually befriend Him and know Him, and to be able to know His heart for us, for others, and for His world.

Pray and prevail! That is the standing order of the day.  Let your requests or petitions be known to God, and in all things give thanks. 
We have been given the promise of God that He will prevail over the wickedness or evil of this earth, and His kingdom will be established on this earth in righteousness. Be encouraged and never give up, even though it may seem hopeless. God is bigger than every circumstance, and bigger than any enemy that stands in the way of love.  

We are called as 'watchmen who stand on the wall' to pray and petition God for this generation, for salvation and an outpouring of His mercy upon others.  
Always keep in mind, Love wins in the end!

My prayer for you is that you grow in your relationship with the Lord Jesus, and have the freedom to explore His love for you, and His love for others.  And may you make your petitions known to Him with a thankful heart knowing that through Him we have an advocate with the Father who not only hears us, but He fights for us, all for the sake of love.

God is good all the time―all the time God is good!

Stephen Barnett

Knockin’ on the door of Heaven

Words and Music by: Matt Redman, Steve Cantellow

       Verse 1

 We will give ourselves no rest

 Till Your kingdom comes on earth

 We've positioned watchmen on the walls

 Now our prayers will flow like tears

 For You've shared Your heart with us

 God of heaven

 On our knees we fall

       Pre-Chorus

 Come down in power

 Reveal Your heart again

 Come hear our cries

 The tears that plead for rain

        Chorus

 We're knocking

 Knocking on the door of heaven

 We're crying

 Crying for this generation

 We're praying for Your name

 To be known in all of the earth

 We're watching

 Watching on the walls to see You

 We're looking

 Looking for a time of breakthrough

 We're praying for Your work

 To bear fruit in all of the earth

 (In) all of the earth

©1996 Kingsway’s ThankYou Music 
The lyrics above are copyrighted by the respective artists and are demonstrated here for educational purposes only and not for profit.