Prayer

 Prayer is one of the most misunderstood topics in the Bible. Yet, it is the easiest to master in practice! We think that prayer has to be groaning, mournful, long, tedious, etc. This is just not so! As you learn to pray and learn the power of prayer, you will appreciate the saying, "Where there is much prayer, there is much power; Where there is little prayer, there is little power; And where there is no prayer, there is no power!" One great man said this; "Prayer is either a force, or a farce some one once said; "Prayer is not preparation for the battle, prayer IS the battle." As you learn to pray you are learning to take authority and dominion (promised you as a child of God) over the evil spirits that plague the nation, your city and more importantly your family.

The Basics

What is prayer?
Prayer is nothing more or less, than talking with God. It is two-way communication with God. Yeah, that’s it! Nothing complicated. You don’t have to be in a certain place or in a particular position to pray. You don’t have to have your hands clasped together, saying certain words in the right order. Prayer is just you telling God what’s on your heart, mind, or soul. And then listening, to God. Remember, we said it is a two-way communication. Hearing the other side is just as important and it is the part most people leave out. Sure there are rules. Things you should do and some you shouldn’t. But, prayer is a beautiful experience! Not complicated at all!

What is prayer for?
Prayer gets your spirit closer to HIS! When you pray, you are drawing close to God. James 4:8 says, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you." When you get close to Him you become more like Him.

Prayer changes your attitude. You cannot remain under the presence of God and harbor hatred, envy, strife, etc. God is love, and when you pray, that love affects your thoughts and actions. Prayer affects the enemy.
Your prayers have great impact on the kingdom of evil. By praying we have power over demons! Even the strongest demon must flee at the prayer of God’s elect. In Daniel Chapter 10, this captive prince living in a strange land began to pray against the Prince of Persia. He prayed for 21 days, the Lord heard his prayer, and He sent an angel to assist him. Daniel turned the fate of an entire nation. The power of the prayers of one child of God is awesome.

Prayer affects heaven. Hezekiah prayed and changed the mind of God. He was to die, but his prayer added 15 years to his life. Your prayers affect the way God deals with you and those you pray for.

Prayer affects others. Your prayers touch others’ hearts. Your prayers cause God to move to the needs of others. Some of them don’t pray for themselves, so your prayers are the only things that stands between them and the devil. Your prayers change other people’s lives. Don’t stop praying!

Now how do we pray? When Jesus was asked by one of His disciples to teach them to pray this was His answer.

Luke 11: 1. “And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
2. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
3. Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.”

Jesus was not telling us to repeat these words. He was giving us instructions in how to pray. Remember, He was asked to teach us to pray. So lets look at each verse and see what He was really saying.

“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name” The first thing Jesus starts out is with praise. If you want to get Gods attention, praise Him. Even your children know how to get things out of you. They first butter you up. God does not need to be buttered up, but if we spend some time in praise, we will find that we build a relationship with Him, and this relationship causes prayer to work better.

“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.” Part of a relationship with God is to submit to his authority. When we pray for His will and what He wants for our lives, we will not pray selfishly.
James 4: 3. “…Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” Many times we ask for the wrong things and for the wrong reasons. If we stay in tune with the will of God, we will pray and receive more often. Those who pray only in selfish ways do not receive as they expect. While we are on the subject of answered prayer, I believe God answers every prayer. Sometimes the answer is no or wait. Often times when we think God is not answering our prayer, He has given us one of these answers, and we have not heard or understood Him.

“Give us day by day our daily bread.” Now and only now Jesus asks His simple request. This was after praise, subjection to the will of God, and acceptance of His answer.

“And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.” Notice here that Jesus does not load up His prayer time with a lot of idle requests. He asks for what He needs and then starts to ask for things that will make Him better. Much of what we need to fix our lives lies with making us better, not those around us.

“And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.” Now, He is asking for guidance. If we ask for His guidance, we will find that fewer and fewer emergencies will crop up to pray about.

The attitude of your prayers is very important. Matthew 6: 6: ‘But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” We are instructed to enter into a closet. Not meaning we must actually go into a closet, but to not make a show of praying to impress people. When we try to impress people, God is not impressed.

Matthew 6:7: But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” In verse 7, we are instructed and are reminded of the prayer of Jesus. His prayer was short and to the point, not long winded and full of vain talk. I am reminded of people at church prayer meetings. The ones who pray the loudest and say the most words always strike me as the ones who are weakest spiritually.

Some helpful hint when you pray.
1. Don’t watch your watch. The time will pass so slowly you will think it is standing still.
2. Set an appointed time to pray. The same time every day helps to start a habit. When prayer becomes habit forming you are on your way to a better life.
3. Make a list. Whenever I am going to speak to someone of important matters I like to use notes. The same goes for when you pray. At your appointed time you will forget half of what you want to say, if you don’t have any thing to remind you.
4. Find a place to pray that is quiet, where no one will bother you. I find it hard to pray at home. The house is too familiar, too many things get in the way.