The Study Watchtower, "Article 20", Week of July 10 to 16, 2023, Let's improve our prayers, Answers.

The Study Watchtower, «Article 20», 10-16-July-2023, Let's improve our prayers, 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 get closer to him, to be his friends and this is only possible by speaking directly with him, through prayer, it is because he invites us, encourages us and insists that we pray to him and tell him our feelings, emotions and uncertainties, as well as problems we may have. All this constantly, with constant prayer as we read in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

ILLUSTRATION

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?

We are going to study and analyze the example of Jesus about prayer and the relationship he had with his father, how we can take time to pray and how to open our hearts to God by improving our prayers with five important aspects.

JESUS ​​MADE TIME TO PRAY

3. What did Jesus know?

Jesus knew that prayers for Jehovah were fundamental as we know, it is a gift that he has given us to communicate with him through sincere prayers so that we can know him and be his friends. If we pray like this, we will see how our prayers are answered.

4. What good example did Jesus set for us?

Jesus, regardless of the moment of his life or a complicated situation, always prayed to God and even more so in these difficult moments. In addition to this, he took time to pray and talk with Jehovah, for example, he would get up early to be alone with God or spend whole nights praying for a difficult decision.

5. How can we imitate Jesus?

We will imitate the example of Jesus if we also take time to pray to Jehovah, because it is the most important thing in our lives, no matter how busy we may be. And just as Jesus did, we must schedule moments in our day to day to dedicate them exclusively to prayer.

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 all the glory, honor, and power that is possible for being the creator of all things and our heavenly father. For this, we have to praise God in every facet of our life and that all our actions are for the honor of Jehovah, treasuring Christian qualities that he teaches us through the Bible.

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

We praise Jehovah by identifying qualities that he wants us to imitate when we study his Word in the Bible. And once these qualities are identified, we must reflect and meditate on them in order to apply them in our lives and be Christians as Jehovah wants, to his praise. Likewise, we can talk about these qualities in our prayers with God.

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

There are so many things to give thanks for, that the quoted text says to give thanks for everything. And it is that everything we have we owe to God, from the planet and the creation that surrounds us, to our life, family, friends, the hope of a better world. Everything we have and surrounds us, what we achieve and achieve, we owe to Jehovah and we have to give thanks for it.

9. Why is it not easy to be grateful?

It is not easy to be grateful, not only for our imperfection, but for what this current society of meritocracy teaches us and to look after only our own well-being. This makes us focus on our desires and what we want, and each time want more and more. But this attitude does not allow people to be grateful and cultivate the quality of gratitude through which we value what we have and are aware that we have to give thanks.

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

The sister's world fell when she was diagnosed with this disease. It is a very complicated situation that we cannot imagine and that can end anyone's will to live. But this sister, she prayed to Jehovah and saw how God valued her and supported her every day by giving them good things. Thanking Jehovah helps us see her hand and power in action and gives us the stamina we need to endure any trial.

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?

The disciples of Jesus had to have courage to continue preaching the name of Jehovah and even more so when they arrested Peter and John and took them before the Sanhedrin. Jesus already said that we would be persecuted for the work of God and there they were threatened to stop preaching or teaching anything in the name of Jesus as we read in Acts 4:18, so they had to be brave and have courage and faith.

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

The disciples' reaction was courageous and they left the matter in Jehovah's hands, they did not back down and continued doing the will of God, who answered their prayers. One aspect that we have read in Acts 4:29, is the fact that they said “great value”. We see that the disciples not only acted and asked Jehovah: courage, but great courage. The current persecution requires all of us to have great courage.

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

Brother Jin is in a difficult situation, without freedom, imprisoned and doing prison jobs with a complete ban on speaking about his faith. And if he does, it could have important consequences, but Jin had great courage, and above all he prayed to Jehovah, asking him for wisdom and courage to speak about the Bible in the opportunities he had, and so he did, Jehovah answered his prayers and told him he endured to live in this prison having bible courses with other prisoners.

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

Without a doubt, Psalm 37:3, trusting in Jehovah, opening our hearts to him will make him answer our prayers and give us the stamina and hope we need to face all kinds of problems: physical, emotional, family, pandemic or wars, etc

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

Jehovah answers our prayers, in one way or another, he gives us endurance through another brother or sister or his people or directly to overcome and have hope. Be that as it may, he answers our prayers and we see his hand in action, as was the case with Kristie, who was facing two serious situations: her health, which caused her depression due to not being able to give the same in the ministry, and due to her terminal illness. from his mother. Kristie prayed a lot to Jehovah, and he comforted her and gave her all the strength and hope she needed.

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

Inherited imperfection causes us to have temptations and desires that may be contrary to what the Bible constantly teaches and Satan not only knows this, but also tries to take advantage of this by offering us unhealthy entertainment that we must reject to avoid dirty or impure thoughts. the eyes of Jehovah.

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

Apart from prayer, we have to do everything in our power to expose ourselves as little as possible to ideas and situations that may cause damage or a stumbling block to our faith, we must protect our mind at all times and fill it with clean thoughts and of teachings of the word of God, so we have to study it, attend meetings and preach the name of God.

ILLUSTRATION

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 have, as we have seen in this article, to look for specific moments in the day to pray and open our hearts to him in each prayer to thank him for everything we have, put into practice the teachings he left us and imitate the perfect example of his son Jesus , so we will see his answer to our prayers and his hand in action.

WHAT WOULD YOU ANSWER?

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

Jesus, in a complicated decision, spent the whole night praying to Jehovah, likewise, he took time to talk to his Father, for example, he got up early for it and always thanked him for everything. What teaches us to imitate his example and put prayer as a priority aspect in our lives and in our service to God.

What things can we include in our prayers?

In our prayers we have to include and we must give thanks for everything we have, for everything that Jehovah provides us day after day, praise and thanks to our heavenly father, as well as ask for courage and strength to preach, to fight against the threats of this system and to cope and overcome the many problems that we have at different times in our lives, resisting the many temptations that Satan puts in our lives.

What do you intend to do with your prayers?

We should not let anything or anyone prevent us from praying to Jehovah, since perhaps at some point we have felt that this is part of our daily life, and in reality this is so and we say this because, not doing it is as if we would have stopped doing something very important, which would make us very attentive or with the need to pray to Jehovah and not fail him in our prayers.