Romans 8: 26 Commentary

A CONTRAST BETWEEN THE WORDS OF JESUS & HIS BELIEVERS AND THE UNBELIEVERS REGARDING PRAYER…

According to unbelievers prayer is:
Source: http://www.gdargaud.net/Humor/QuotesReligion.html

“Pray /v/: to ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a single petitioner confessedly unworthy.”
“Prayer /n/: how to do nothing and still claim you’re helping.”
“Every prayer reduces itself to this: ‘Great God, grant that twice two be not four’.” — Ivan Turgenev (1818-1883).
“Prayer won’t cure AIDS. Research will.” — Public service advertisement of the American Foundation for AIDS Research, dropped because of complaints by religionists, from Freethought Today (1997).
“Pray to God, but keep rowing to shore.” — Russian Proverb.
“As long as there are tests there will be prayer in public schools.”
“You don’t pray in my school, and I won’t think in your church.”
“Two hands working do more than a thousand clasped in prayer.”
“The most ridiculous concept ever perpetrated by H. Sapiens is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of his creations, that he can be persuaded by their prayers, and becomes petulant if he does not receive this flattery. Yet this ridiculous notion, without one real shred of evidence to bolster it, has gone on to found one of the oldest, largest and least productive industries in history.” — Robert A. Heinlein about prayer.
“To think that the ruler of the universe will run to my assistance and bend the laws of nature for me is the height of arrogance.” — Dan Barker, Losing Faith in Faith.
“Ashcroft went on to say that our way of life is being threatened by a group of radical religious fanatics who are armed and dangerous. And then he called for prayers in the schools and an end to gun control.” — Jay Leno.
“When I was young I used to pray for a bike. Then I realized that God doesn’t work that way, so I stole a bike and prayed for forgiveness.” — Emo Philips.
“The world presents enough problems if you believe it to be a world of law and order; do not add to them by believing it to be a world of miracles.” — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis.
“If you talk to God, you are praying; if God talks to you, you have schizophrenia.” — Thomas Szasy.
“Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day; Give him a religion, and he’ll starve to death while praying for a fish.”
“Another philosopher suggests that saying prayers is equivalent to believing that the universe is governed by a Being who changes his mind if you ask him to.” — Steve Allen.
“Two hands working do more than a thousand clasped in prayer.”.
“There are none more ignorant and useless, than they that seek answers on their knees, with their eyes closed.”
“He prayed on Fridays with the Muslims, on Saturdays with the Jews and on Sundays with the Christians. ‘Since each religion claims that it is the only true one and that the others are invalid’, the king explained, ‘I have decided to hedge my bets’.” — Ibn Rustah (10th century) about a king of the Caucasus.
“When did I realize I was God ? Well, I was praying and I suddenly realized I was talking to myself.”

ACCORDING TO JESUS & HIS BELIEVERS:
SOURCE: http://www.allaboutprayer.org/bible-verses-on-prayer-faq.htm
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: 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” (1 John 5:14-15).

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

“…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18).

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express” (Romans 8:26).

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:3).

The Teachings of Jesus
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:5-8).

“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.” But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted”‘” (Luke 18:9-14).

“‘Have faith in God,’ Jesus answered. ‘I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, “Go, throw yourself into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins’” (Mark 11:22-25).

“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:13-14).

By TIUCHE (wrote 2755 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)
Posted on: 12/19/2011 11:54 am

THE SPIRIT TEACHES US WHAT TO PRAY, PRAYS WITHIN US & FOR US- in situations where we cannot anymore help ourselves, in words which we ourselves could not form or could not even remember afterwards…experienced this?

I experienced this many times mostly in critical situations when there was no more time to think what i should pray…the Spirit of God help us in our weakness!

By TIUCHE (wrote 2755 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)
Posted on: 8/21/2011 02:40 am