Power in Prayer

When I say there is power in prayer what comes to mind? Where do your thoughts go to? Even the word prayer turns our thoughts toward God. This is why prayer is powerful.  It is how we call on the power of God in every circumstance.

Lord Teach Us to Pray

One day when Jesus was sitting with the disciples they asked about how to pray.  These were the disciples who had been with Him, those who had heard him pray, saw miracles being performed, and living day in and day out with Him. However, they noticed that they could learn something about prayer.

No matter who you are, or how long you have been hanging with Jesus there is something we can all learn about prayer.  We learn best from Jesus Himself.

The one who was fully man and fully God prayed frequently.  He was often found alone communing with God in prayer.  In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus sweat drops of blood in anguish while praying to His Father.  About to face the cross Jesus went to His knees before God. Mark 14:32-42 So when we need help praying we can cry out for Him to teach us to pray.

See Luke 11:1-13 for the way Jesus taught the disciples to pray. 

Jesus may have not have had time to eat or to sleep, but He always took time to pray.

Hand Raising Questions

When approaching prayer there are always questions raised:

How do I pray?

Prayer is just a conversation with the Lord.  We can talk to Him just like we talk to our friends with reverential knowledge that He is God our Father.

What do I pray?

There are many hundreds of prayers in the Bible. Throughout the books of the bible there are ones of repentance, praise, anguish, rejoicing, thanksgiving, intercession, petition, confession (speaking of promises as well as confession of sin), and more.

You will hear that you don’t pray the problem.  You pray the promise.

But, if you read the Psalms you will find that David prayed both.  He began with the problem and ended with the promise.  You can pour your heart out to God, cry out to Him, but as He inputs into the conversation of prayer you remember His promises.

When do I pray?

We pray without ceasing.  Yes, without ceasing!  Having a constant conversation with God may sound strange, but when practiced we begin to wonder how we got through our day and night without it.  This doesn’t mean that we stay home alone in our closet all day praying, or that life is totally devoted to prayer.  It means that we begin our day remembering God upon waking.  We pray to Him there, and then as we go throughout our day we have an ongoing conversation with Him.  Then we end our day with prayer prior to sleeping.

Why do I pray?

Ultimately prayer is a time of intimacy between God and us.  It is a place where we can pour out our hearts before God, and declare His promises. This is not to remind Him to act, but to claim them as our own.  The way we can lean on His strength, and turn our hearts and minds toward Him and not the world or our circumstances.  God answers every prayer.  It may be yes, no, or not right now, but God hears us and He answers.

Isaiah 65:24 says “Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear.”  So God hears us before we call and He answers us.

The Help of the Holy Spirit

Prayer can be as simple as a crying out the name of Jesus.  Sometimes we just don’t know what to pray and the Spirit of God prays on our behalf.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  Romans 8:26

There is also praying in the Holy Spirit.  You can simply ask Him to pray for you and through you.  Yielding to what He places on your heart, or you can pray in tongues.

Jude 1:20 tells us that the way we build ourselves up on our most Holy faith is by praying in the Spirit.  This is known as praying in a prayer language.  A great mini-book about praying in tongues is one by Kenneth E. Hagin called Why Tongues?  It can better explain the reasons we should pray in tongues, and what it actually is.  It is a gift of the Spirit that helps us in our time of need.  Another book on the Holy Spirit is The Holy Spirit and His Gifts by Kenneth E. Hagin which will help anyone in their walk understand the Holy Spirit and the gifts through interactive Bible study.

P.R.A.Y

We can easily remember to P.R.A.Y. this way Praise, Repent, Ask/Admit , and Yield.

Praise God for who He is and what He has done, is doing, will do.

Repent of any sin, and thank Him for His righteousness.

Ask our questions, our petitions, and our intercessions.  Admit His promises.  Speak them out loud regarding what we have asked.

and then Yield to His will, His understanding of all things, and His timing.

More on Prayer

More can be found on prayer in several books below or websites.  Pray Beloved because God hears and He answers!

Stormie Omartian writes a series of Praying books that I use frequently.

I also use Joyce Meyer’s purple book The Secret Power of Speaking God’s  Word.

Her book The Power of Simple Prayer: How to talk to God about Everything is a good one.

Beth Moore has a book and several devotionals called Praying God’s Word.

Billye Brim wrote a book about the power of the blood of Jesus called The Blood and The Glory.

A great Bible Study I recommend is Live a Praying Life by Jennifer Kennedy Dean.

Kenneth Copeland wrote Prayer Your Foundation for Success.

Here is a website on all thing prayer:  http://www.bible.ca/ntx-prayer.htm

Never stop praying Beloved.  The prayer of the righteous man avails much! How has prayer effected your life?  Leave a comment below with the answer.  ❤ Melinda