THE DOCTRINE OF PRAYER II

Definition and Description.
Prayer is that function of the Royal Priesthood whereby the Church-age believer has access and privilege to present two categories of requests to God the Father.
1. Petitions--prayers for yourself.
2. Intercessory prayers--prayers for others.
Your prayers for others become a ministry unto themselves. However, many times your prayers for yourself indicate either lack of understanding of the problem-solving devices or the failure to properly utilize them. As a part of your equal privilege in election, you are a royal priest. And it is the unique function of the royal priesthood and equal privilege and opportunity for every believer to have an effective ministry. The most effective service is invisible service such as prayer. In past dispensations, there were specialized priesthoods in which certain people functioned as priests. A priest is a person representing the human race (believers) to God.
However, every believer is a priest and therefore any system of specialized priesthood in the Church-age is a false system. In reality, all believers in the Church-age are Catholic priests.The word "Catholic" simply means "universal or concerning all mankind."
You have the right to represent yourself before God the Father in the name of the Son and through the power of the Spirit. God the Father receives our prayers through the person of Jesus Christ in the filling of the Holy Spirit. So prayer is communication with God for the expression of personal needs in petition and the function of intercession for others.
Prayer is also a weapon and is meant to be used offensively, not defensively, as in the prayer, "Oh God, help!" Prayer is a weapon which supports pastors and missionaries.Prayer is thought; therefore, it requires vocabulary, thinking, doctrine, and concentration.A misconception about prayer is how long you should pray. Prayers should be brief; this indicates concentration. The approach to prayer is a part of the predesigned plan of God (PPOG) of the Royal Family of God; it is to be a precise correct procedure. All prayer is offered to God the Father, not to Jesus Christ or to the Holy Spirit. Any prayer offered to Christ is automatically cancelled, since it fails to follow God's procedure for prayer. Paul said in Eph 3:14 "For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father,Peter said 1Pe 1:17 "And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man's work,"So prayer is addressed to the Father, Mat 6:6-9. This is also illustrated by the model prayer for the disciples; the Lord said in Mat 6:6-9 "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.
Therefore do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him. Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.'"So all prayer is to be directed to the Father. It is to be in the name of or through the channel of the Son, Joh 14:13-14 "And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it."