Opening the Gates of Heaven Perry Stone

pray.” The where is insignificant. With some individuals there are questions on how to pray. Even Christ’s disciples said, “Lord, teach us [ how ] to pray” (Luke 11:1). This is somewhat of an odd question coming from men with Jewish backgrounds, who would have been familiar with synagogues and would have sat in a Jewish synagogue often. Both the synagogue and the temple were places of prayer. However, in both sites the prayers were often more of a routine or ritual, repeating the same words and phrases daily, weekly, or during a feast. No doubt the followers of Christ observed that His prayers were actually answered and were not some rustic formula handed down for generations. They wanted to know how to pray, and Christ gave them a pattern (Luke 11:1–4). In Romans 8 Paul said we do not know what to pray for as we should. In the context of the chapter, Paul is speaking of creation and expresses that all of creation is travailing and groaning for the day of deliverance (vv. 21– 22). In verse 23 he states that even believers, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, also travail, waiting for the redemption of the body—the day when we receive a resurrected body and are delivered from this body of death. He reveals that “we do not know what we should pray for as we ought,” revealing that it is the Spirit who “makes intercession for us with groanings” (v. 26). This can be witnessed in the lives of mature believers as they reach their later years. Some have great health and