Do You Believe in Prayer?

Do you believe in prayer?? I recently read about a church that had a "prayer chain" ministry set up through their email, facebook, and text for their church members who had a need for prayer. And what I thought was so great is that when a prayer need goes out, the person in charge of the "prayer chain" always signs it, "Prayer Works!!"

I believe prayer works and I believe in the power of prayer. Whether it be a group of people, all agreeing in prayer (read an earlier post, Agreeing Together in Prayer) or one desperate person, totally humbled and on her knees before God, I believe in the power of prayer. But I also believe there is a difference in believing in the power of prayer and knowing the power of prayer. Most people, whether they are Christians or not, will say they believe in prayer. But only a person who has experienced the power of prayer, knows the power of prayer. And ladies, when we know the power of prayer, we aren't content to just believe it.

I learned many years ago that if I want to know the power of prayer and pray in a more powerful way, then I must do four things;
1. Pray scripture based prayers.
2. Pray in God's will.
3. Pray in submission to my Father.
4. No matter the answer, agree with God.

You may be a new believer and wonder, "And just how do I do that?" Or maybe you've never known there was any other way of praying than those safe, simple prayers at bedtime or mealtime. And oh what you've been missing!!

Hope you have your prayer journal (that's in another post, too) and pen ready; here we go:
Pray scripture based prayers.
There is supernatural power in praying God's word back to Him, but in order to do that, you must be a student of the Word; can't do it any other way. I love to pray Colossians 1: 9-14 for my family. I call each family member by name, (mine, too) and I read each verse and insert a family member's name. Example;
v9; "Lord, I pray that "David" will be filled with the knowledge of Your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding", then I go through the other verses inserting his name and I do that for all 15 of us. It takes time to pray scripture, but the rewards are worth it. Facing a difficult conversation? Pray Psalm 141:3; "Lord, set a watch before my mouth, and keep the door of my lips." Afraid? Pray Psalm 27:1;
"Lord, You are the Strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid." Use your Bible concordance or get a good Bible program for your computer and when you have a need, look up or type in that word and every scripture you need will pop up in front of your eyes. Ladies I'm telling you, praying the Word is supernatural power!!

Pray in God's will.
All of us have experienced that feeling; Lord, what am I supposed to do?
1 John 5:14, 15; "This is the confidence we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if (since) we know He hears us, whatever we ask we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him."
We get a "yes" each time we pray in His will. But how do we know His will? We ask Him.
"Father, should I take this job? I want to do Your will, and I know that You will give me whatever "petitions" I ask in Your will. What do You want me to do?" And then.......sit quietly. If an answer doesn't come immediately, stay in a "quiet" state of mind before Him, even as you go about your busy life........ listening. I have discovered that noise and "stuff" can drown out His voice. (Psalm 46:10; Be still and know that I Am God.) And I must confess, there have been times I have avoided the quiet and actually enhanced the noise because I didn't want to hear Him. Elijah learned the power of God's still, small voice (1 Kings 19: 12,13) and knowing His will is in the listening. God does not want His will to remain a mystery; He loves us too much for that and He loves us so much that He wants us to naturally come to Him as a child naturally comes to his mother. Answered prayer builds our faith and He is all about building our faith. Seek His will, then pray with confidence. Learn to listen for I have learned that He speaks, just after the stillness.

Pray in submission to the Father.
Rebellion closes down communication. Rebellion erects a wall between me and God. Before we pray it is important to confess any known sin that might be standing in the way to answered prayer. When sin is forgiven, submission comes easily. When submission comes, our heart is soft and pliable in the Father's hand and He can form it any way He chooses. (Romans 9:20,21) And He always chooses what is best.

No matter the answer, agree with God.
There it is in a nutshell; powerful praying comes when we say, "Lord, whatever you choose, You are right. I agree with You." And what, dear sister, do you think God will do when we agree with Him? He will allow us to experience an intimacy with Him that surpasses human thinking and understanding, because you see, to agree with God in prayer expresses an abandoned faith and trust that defies human reasoning and pleases Him in a way that nothing else can. (Hebrews 11:6). As you see God working in your life and the lives of those you love, say those words: "Lord, I agree with You and what You are doing in my life." It changes everything, and gives us life from a spiritual perspective. No matter the answer, agree with God.

When our heart is focused on praying His Word, when our heart is praying for His will in our lives and in the lives of those we love, when our heart is in submission and we agree with whatever answer He provides, we have stepped into that unseen realm of communion with the Creator of the universe, our Creator. And that, my friend, is supernatural prayer. It is a place where absolutely nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37) It is the place where we know the power of prayer because we have experienced it.

I'd love to hear from you and I welcome your comments and questions.

Have a blest day and listen for the stillness.

Penny