Study of the Watchtower, Let's improve our prayers, Week of July 10 to 16, 2023, Comments and Practical Answers.

Study of the Watchtower, Let's improve our prayers, 10-16-July-2023, Comments and Answers. 

"Pour out your heart before him" (Ps. 62:8).

1. What does Jehovah invite us to do? (See also pictures).

Jehovah invites us to talk to him constantly through prayer. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 shows us that we can do it with confidence and as many times as we want, since he does not set a limit for us.

ILLUSTRATION

In the images we see as a brother now Jehovah often alone or accompanied or by different aspects of life. At night before going to sleep he prays, perhaps thanking Jehovah for the good things of that day or to leave tomorrow's affairs in his hands. He prays with his family to give thanks for the food. To ask for the Holy Spirit before preparing for meetings. Pray and meditate while observing creation, also to ask Jehovah for help in the face of a concern or a problem to be solved and perhaps because he needs strength to face some difficulty or wisdom to make an important decision.

Images of a brother who prays in different places and times of the day: 1. Before getting up. 2. Before eating with the family. 3. Before preaching by video call. 4. In a quiet place outdoors. 5. Before going to sleep. We can often pray to Jehovah and ask him to guide us in all aspects of life. (See paragraph 1).

2. What will we see in this article?

In this article we will see the example of Jesus. We will learn to take time to pray and we will also see how we can improve our prayers if we include five important things in them.

JESUS ​​MADE TIME TO PRAY

3. What did Jesus know?

Jesus knew that prayers are very important to Jehovah. Before coming to Earth, Jesus saw his father answer the prayers of his servants. Among these: those of David, Ana, Elias, and many others. Hence, he asked his disciples to pray often with the confidence that Jehovah would hear them.

4. What good example did Jesus set for us?

Jesus gave all his disciples the example of praying frequently. Also the example of taking time to pray even if we are very busy or surrounded by many people. That is, he gave us the example of not making excuses for not praying continuously.

In the Bible Jesus gives us several examples. In Mark 1:35, we see that Jesus got up early to be alone and talk to his father. This is an example that can limit people who have a very busy day or who are always surrounded by people.

In Luke 6:12,13 it is said that Jesus prayed all night before making an important decision. This is an excellent example that we should imitate and although it is not necessary to give all night, it is important to do it before making more important decisions, in order to ask Jehovah for his guidance and Holy Spirit.

A very important example is given to us by Jesus in Matthew 26:39,42,44. There he says that Jesus prayed again and again to Jehovah, for he knew that he had the most difficult part of his ministry on earth ahead of him. We too must pray intensely to Jehovah when we are going through difficulties, when we know that he will have to face great obstacles, when we lack strength and when we feel that we are alone or tired.

5. How can we imitate Jesus?

We imitate Jesus when we often pray to Jehovah, even when we are tired or surrounded by many people. We also invite him and get up early in the morning or go to bed a little later at night so we can pray. We also imitate him and get up early in the morning or go to bed a little later at night so we can pray. In this way, like Jesus, we will be showing Jehovah that we value the gift of prayer.

Someone who invites me to Jesus and values ​​the gift of prayer is Sister Lynne mentioned in the paragraph. She recounts that when she learned that Jehovah was there to listen to her at any time, she began to see him as a friend, so she set the goal of improving her prayers.

FIVE IMPORTANT THINGS TO INCLUDE IN OUR PRAYERS

6. According to Revelation 4:10, 11, what does Jehovah deserve to receive?

Jehovah deserves to receive the glory, the honor and the power because he is the creator of everything that exists. Just as the Angels do, we too must recognize that Jehovah is the only one deserving of receiving glory, honor, and power. In addition, we have plenty of reasons to wash him with our prayers for his qualities and for all the things he does and has done.

7. In what ways do we praise Jehovah in our prayers?

In our prayers we praise Jehovah when we tell him what we like about him and why we admire him. When we tell him what we feel when meditating on his qualities. When we thank him for helping us personally and for helping our brothers and when we tell him how happy he makes us for protecting us and always looking out for us.

8. What are some things we can thank Jehovah for? (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, he shows us that Jehovah likes us to be grateful and to give thanks for everything we have, since everything comes to us from him. So in our prayers we can thank you for our beautiful planet, for the Wonders of creation, for life, for our family, for our friends and for our hope. But especially, for his valuable friendship.

9. Why is it not easy to be grateful?

It is not easy because this world is ungrateful and people focus on what they want and not on being thankful for what they have. That bad attitude can make us ignore the reasons we have to be grateful to Jehovah. From there, what should we continue to cultivate gratitude and strive to thank Jehovah for everything he gives us.

10. How did being grateful help a sister? (See also image).

Sister Kyung-Sook was diagnosed with advanced stage lung cancer. This devastated her and made her very afraid. She recounts that every night before going to sleep she went up to the roof to talk to Jehovah and thank him out loud for all the good things of the day. Being grateful to her reassured her and motivated her to tell Jehovah how much she loved him. Seeing firsthand how Jehovah supports her servants when they go through difficult times, she was of great help and she was able to perceive that there are more blessings than problems.

ILLUSTRATION

A sister is praying on the roof of her house. It is night and, next to her on a table, she has a Bible and a notebook. Thanking Jehovah helps us endure. (See paragraph 10).

11. Why did Jesus' disciples need courage?

Today's disciples of Jesus, like those of the past, need a lot of courage to preach, since we face opposition, persecution, threats, jail and sometimes even the risk of losing our lives because of the work of the Kingdom. Hence, our prayers can ask Jehovah to give us courage to preach even if the authorities order us to stop doing so. 

We have an example of this in the apostles Peter and John. they were brought before the Sanhedrin. There they ordered them to stop preaching and threatened them. So they needed to be brave to continue their preaching.

12. According to Acts 4:29, 31, what did the disciples do?

In response to threats from the Jewish religious leaders, when they were released, Paul and John met with other disciples and together they prayed to Jehovah to help them continue to do his will and Jehovah answered their heartfelt prayer by influencing them with the Holy Spirit. so that they would continue to proclaim their word with great courage.

13. What do we learn from Jin-hyuk's example?

We learn that when the authorities forbid us to tell others about the Bible, we can pray to Jehovah to give us courage and tact to take advantage of any opportunity that comes our way to do so. This was what the brother did and Jehovah heard his prayer and gave him courage and wisdom, so the brother could not only preach to the prisoners in isolation, but start many Bible courses at the cell doors And preach by cards.

14. What will help you deal with problems? (Psalm 37:3, 5).

Asking Jehovah for help will help us deal with problems. Psalm 37: 3,5, assures us that if we open our hearts wide to Jehovah and vent to him as we would with a good friend, we can be sure that Jehovah will act on our behalf.

15. How does prayer help us endure when we have difficulties? Give an example.

Prayers help us endure when we have difficulties, because Jehovah knows everything his servants go through and Psalm 145:18,19 assures us that Jehovah hears our cries for Help.

An example of this we have in the sister Kristie mentioned in the paragraph. She recounts that as a pioneer, she fell into depression from one moment to the next and shortly after her mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness. She adds that she prayed intensely to Jehovah to give her the strength to carry on as she worked fulfill all your spiritual activities. And although she did not immediately improve, Jehovah answered her prayers giving her inner peace, which meant a rescue for her as 2 Peter 2: 9 says.

16. Why do we need Jehovah's help to resist temptation?

We need help because we are imperfect and Satan does everything in his power to make our fight to resist harder and harder. Hence, we must ask Jehovah to help us resist temptations while striving to avoid anything that could feed them and lead us to sin.

17. Besides praying, what should we do to resist temptations? (See also pictures).

We know that Jehovah will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. But to resist temptations, it is not enough to pray, we must do our part to expose ourselves as little as possible to the ideas that hurt us and that are so popular in Satan's world. We must also protect our mind and fill it with healthy thoughts, read and study the Bible, go to meetings and participate in preaching.

ILLUSTRATION

In the Illustration for paragraphs 16 and 17 we see a brother praying to Jehovah for help in resisting temptations. He knows that praying is not enough, so in the second image we see him putting his hands to work to protect his mind and fill it with healthy thoughts by reading and studying the Bible, preparing meetings and preaching.

Images of a brother who puts his hands to work to resist a temptation. 1. He prays to Jehovah insistently. 2. Delete a tablet app from it. 3. Read the Bible. To resist temptation, 1) ask Jehovah for help, 2) do our part, and 3) strengthen our friendship with Jehovah. (See paragraphs 16 and 17).

18. What do we all have to do?

We must all pray more than ever to remain faithful in these last difficult days. Therefore, we must take time to open our hearts to Jehovah in prayer, praise him, thank him for everything he does, ask him to give us more courage to preach and to help us face problems and resist any temptation that comes our way.

WHAT WOULD YOU ANSWER?

How do we know that Jesus was a man of prayer?

We know this because he always prayed to Jehovah at all times, he always saved a place to talk with his father.

What things can we include in our prayers?

We can give thanks for one more day of life, give thanks for food, pray for our brothers who suffer persecution or our brothers who are seriously ill, or perhaps struggling against adversity and we can also pray for our family.

What do you intend to do with your prayers?

I always make it a point to ask Jehovah for more wisdom when I have to defend my faith or talk to others about Jehovah.