Skip to content
Sabbath School Lesson

Prayer Warriors

10 min study

Memory Text:

“I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live” (Psalm 116:1, 2, NKJV).

Relationships must be two-way. At least, that is the ideal. One-sided relationships are transactional and exist only for the benefits. How would you feel if someone only remembered you when they needed something from you? It must go both ways. You love, and you are loved back.

God’s love is unconditional. It doesn’t change when we stop loving Him. Yet His yearning for our love is still there. In this sense, our relationship with God is also a two-way street.

One way this bond is fostered is through prayer. What does prayer look like? And how can we improve our prayer life? These are the questions our Sabbath School lesson is built around. Read on!

Be Intentional

Prayer must not be an afterthought. It must not be something we do only when we are in trouble or in need of something. God is a person, not an ATM machine. This entails that prayer is a mode of communication, not a mode of transaction. Prayer is something we do to keep in touch with God.

Daniel 6:10 NKJV

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.

Notice how Daniel prayed three times a day. Now, that doesn’t mean he prayed only three times. It means he prayed at least three times. That was his intentional time kneeling before the God of heaven. Nothing could touch that time with Him. As we have seen the importance of setting aside time for Bible study, the same is true for communicating with the Lord. Block that time for Him!

Involve Your Mind and Body

Prayer is a physical, mental, and spiritual phenomenon—that is, it involves all our being when we engage in it.

Some of the common questions people ask regarding prayer are about posture. Is there a prescribed posture when it comes to praying? Some say it’s strictly kneeling. Others say you must close your eyes. And so on and on and on. Here are some, not all, of the postures of prayer in the Bible:

  • Standing (Genesis 18:22–33; 1 Samuel 1:26; 1 Kings 8:22; 2 Chronicles 20:5, 13; Nehemiah 9:2–5; Mark 11:25; Luke 18:11, 13)
  • Kneeling (1 Kings 8:54; 2 Chronicles 6:13; Ezra 9:5; Daniel 6:10; Luke 22:41; Acts 7:60; Acts 9:40; Acts 20:36; Acts 21:5; Ephesians 3:14)
  • Bowing the head (Genesis 24:26, 48, 52; Exodus 4:31; Exodus 12:27; Exodus 34:8; 2 Chronicles 20:18; Nehemiah 8:6)
  • Falling on the face / prostration (Numbers 14:5; Numbers 16:4, 22, 45; Joshua 7:6; 1 Chronicles 21:16; Ezekiel 9:8; Ezekiel 11:13; Revelation 7:11; Revelation 11:16)
  • Lifting up or spreading out the hands (Exodus 9:29, 33; 1 Kings 8:22, 54; 2 Chronicles 6:12–13; Ezra 9:5; Psalm 28:2; Psalm 63:4; Psalm 88:9; Psalm 134:2; Psalm 141:2; Psalm 143:6; Lamentations 2:19; Lamentations 3:41; 1 Timothy 2:8)
  • Lying on the ground (2 Samuel 12:16; Psalm 4:4; Psalm 63:6)

We could have a much longer list than that! But you get the point. Prayer doesn’t manifest in only one form or posture. Yet our posture is a manifestation of the spirit of our prayers. Kneeling signifies seriousness. Lifting our hands symbolizes praise. Our actions show what is in the heart. And so, while postures are important, the heart of the matter is the heart.

But postures are not a trivial matter, either. Our bodies send signals to the mind and sometimes direct our emotions. That is why, when we are sad, a walk helps us destress since it releases happy hormones. The same can be said for prayer. Lie on your bed, mumble a few words, and the next thing you know, you’ve fallen asleep before finishing what you wanted to pray through. So, involve both mind and body.

The hour and place of prayer are sacred, because God is there. And as reverence is manifested in attitude and demeanor, the feeling that inspires it will be deepened. – Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1917), 48.

Pray for Others

One mark of a strong prayer life is praying not merely for oneself but for the needs of others. Growth takes place when we look beyond ourselves and look to the people around us who are also in need. This doesn’t mean we don’t need to pray for our own needs. It just means that we grow in the love of God more when we pray for others. The great men of the Bible prayed for others.

Exodus 32:31-32 NKJV 

Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! [32] Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.“

Here, Moses was praying for the forgiveness of the sins of Israel. After all the stress and heartaches that Israel caused Moses, he still interceded for them.

Matthew 5:44 NKJV 

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,

Not that easy, correct? But that is God’s chosen agency for our renewal. He wants us to be like Him—the One who prayed, “Father, forgive them,” despite being mocked and crucified by the very people He came to save! We can follow His example and grow in His likeness when we pray for others, especially those who’ve hurt us.

Let us pray, not only for ourselves, but for those who have hurt us, and are continuing to hurt us. – Ellen G. White, Prayer (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2002), 244.

Pray with Anticipation

1 Kings 18:41 NKJV 

Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.“

Elijah claimed that the drought would end and that it would start to rain again even before seeing it. He prayed seven times, each time more intense and more repentant. Then God answered his prayer.

James 5:15 NKJV 

And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

The prayer of faith can do incredible things. To avoid extremes, this doesn’t mean we can grit our way into getting God to say yes to our prayers. What it means is that we believe God will do what He said in His Word, and we claim and expect those answers in our prayers. This is why Bible study and prayer go hand in hand. Bible study gives us the strength and promises for our prayers.

Conclusion

Prayer is the heartbeat of our relationship with God. Without it, the spiritual life fades into oblivion. We may still go to church, still read our Bibles, still do all the right things, but the connection that gives meaning to it all slowly fades. And that is not what God wants for us.

We’ve seen four marks of a growing prayer life: be intentional, involve your mind and body, pray for others, and pray with anticipation. Note that none of these are automatic. They are not natural to us. They are cultivated. They are the fruit of a heart that has decided that knowing God is worth more than anything else.

Remember, prayer is not a formula to twist God’s arm. It is a conversation with the Father who already loves us, already hears us, and already knows what we need before we even ask. Yet He still invites us to come, because love is sustained by communication, not transactions. We don’t pray to inform God. We pray because that is how a relationship grows.

So block your time. Kneel, stand, lift your hands, or fall on your face—but pray. Pray for yourself, yes, but also pray for those who hurt you. Pray expecting God to move, because He always does. Maybe not in the way we imagined, but always in the way we needed.

Discussion Questions

  1. What’s stealing your prayer time?
  2. Moses offered his salvation for Israel. Who would you do that for? Why?
  3. When is prayer hardest for you?
  4. What is one thing you can change in your life to grow your prayer life?