What About Prayer?

When choosing new Apostles:

Acts 6:5-6 NIV
6 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

The Greek word used here for "prayed" is proseuxamenoi which means "properly, to exchange wishes; pray – literally, to interact with the Lord by switching human wishes (ideas) for His wishes as He imparts faith ("divine persuasion"). Accordingly, praying (4336/proseuxomai) is closely inter-connected with 4102 /pístis ("faith") in the NT."

When Peter and John were released by the Sanhedrin:

Acts 4:24 NIV
When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.

In this passage, the word "prayer" is not present in the Greek. The Aramaic Bible in Plain English is closer to what the actual Geek says:

And when they had heard, they raised their voice as one to God, and they said, “LORD JEHOVAH, you are God, who made the Heavens and The Earth and the seas and all that is in them.” Acts 4:24 (Aramaic Bible in Plain English)

So they basically worshiped God when Peter and John showed up.

Acts 9:40 NIV
Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, "Tabitha, get up." She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.

The Greek word used here for prayed is prosēuxato which is from the same root as used in Acts 6:6.  If you notice verse 6:6, it is pertaining to an action the Apostles took when new apostles were selected. They prayed for the new apostles to receive the Holy Spirit.

In the second example, Acts 4:24, the Apostles raised their voices in worship to God, and asked for boldness, signs, and wonders to be witnesses for Him (vv. 29-30). This is what happened next:

"After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." Acts 4:31 NIV

The word for prayed here is the Greek word deēthentōn which means "properly, to feel pressing need because of lack – hence, to make urgent appeal; to have deep personal need causing one to beseech (make earnest, specific request)."

If you continue reading from v. 24 to 31, it is all part of the same thought. They didn't pray (prosēuxato) TO God, they lifted their voices to Him to ask (deēthentōn) for boldness because they lacked it. After they made their "urgent appeal" to God, the place where they were was shaken.

In the example of Peter, his prayer (prosēuxato) accomplished something: It brought Tabitha back to life. He didn't ask God to do it, he did it himself. There is a definite correlation between what Jesus told us to do, and the word used for prayer.
 
Matthew 21:22 NIV
"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

The Greek word for "ask" is aitēsēte which means "I ask, request, petition, demand." If you look at Peter's example again, when he prayed he did not ask God anything. He did not ask the spirit of death to leave. He did not ask the dead person if she had enough faith. He demanded Tabitha to get up. This is the way Jesus "prayed": He demanded the devil and his works to leave.
 
Luke 4:35 NIV
"Be quiet!" Jesus said sternly. "Come out of him!" Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.

Jesus told the demon to be silent and come out. The Greek word for said is "legōn" which means "I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, I call, name, especially in the pass., I tell, command. So He commanded the demon to be silent and come out. This is how we are to treat the devil and his works.

Matthew 10:8
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

The Greek does not have the word "the" it simply says, "Sick heal, dead raise, lepers cleanse, demons cast out; freely you received, freely give.

The Greek word for give is "dote" which means "Administer, give, supply, furnish." If we are giving first aid to a victim, we are "actively doing" something. We are to give people healing, resurrection, cleansing, and casting out of demons. We can't ask a demon to leave, that is giving it a choice to stay; we must force it out, and the same goes for sickness and the death.

Jesus is our example and the Gospels show us how we are supposed to "do the same works as me (Jesus) and even greater works." (John 14:12)

We walk daily with God. Our dialogue with Him should be continuous. When we encounter sick or hurting people, we need not bring it to God. In Matthew 10:8 He told us to do it. He also told us that the miraculous signs would follow us in Mark 16:17. We have the same Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us that rose Jesus from the dead, we are His ambassadors, our dialogue is no longer between us and God, it is between us and the problem. We tell the problem what to do in Jesus' Name. It MUST obey because Jesus is above everything that has a name (Phillipians 2:9), and all must bow to His Name. We are to "go about doing good and healing all who are oppressed of the devil."