Prayer is composed of a serious of dialog additions. Within prayer there is a time to praise the Lord and worship. There is a time for repentance of asking for forgiveness and within prayer there is that moment when we are free to ask. At the moment of asking is known as the petition time where we think of the things that are important; the things that worry us and make us afraid. During the petition time we remember scriptures and accompany them with our requests. During that petition time is when we exercise our faith the most, we believe that those things we ask we will receive. For those who feel that they do not know how to pray there is no special chemistry to it. Automatically, when we pray our spirit leads us to the appropriate format of prayer. Our needs lead us to pray. If it weren’t for our needs and our surrounding situations there would not be any reason for prayer.
Habakkuk 3:1-2
3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.
2 O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.
Now in Habakkuk awoke a reason for prayer. The people of Israel were waiting for deliverance and it dawn on Habakkuk at that moment of prayer to present that before the Lord. The work of God was there, but it was neglected. People became accustom to their state of spiritual dryness; death. It took an acknowledgment of Habakkuk of the condition to finally present it in petition to the Lord. Paul stated to the church of Philippians that while the need might be great do not be anxious (Ph. 4:6). Habakkuk felt an anxiety for the work in God’s people yet his petition surfaced; it became known unto God. Cornelius’ prayers and petitions came unto God for which God sent and angel with the response (Acts 10:4). Jesus said that who ever asks he shall receive (Mt. 7:8). The people of Israel were liberated from their oppression after Habakkuk prayed, in fact, their liberator came, Jesus to set the captives free.
Something needs to happen before the petitions receive an answer sometimes is a matter of waiting, but other times is a matter of relationships. In Jobs story his loses were great, his pains were beyond comprehension, but main issue God wanted to deal with was that of relationships (Job 42:10). While job was down his friends ganged up against him and tried to make sense out of something that was beyond their comprehension instead of praying for him and stand next to him they turned against him. Petitions are not answered while one has something against someone else. Job’s condition did not come to a close until he prayed for his friends, his petition could not be answered until he petition for someone else. When you pray, Jesus said, if you believe you will receive them (Mt. 21:22).