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The Power of Prayer: How to pray effectively

Power-prayer

Do you believe there is power in prayer? Our prayers should control our lives, not the other way round. God loves it when we pray and prayer costs nothing. It is one of the few free things in the world and yet it has the highest returns.

In the post Conversations with God, we discussed how to have a Quiet Time (QT), of which prayer is one component. In this post, we look specifically at prayer in more detail.

Where can we pray?

We are certainly not limited to church and prayer meetings, or when the prayer warriors are around. Take Jonah, for example, he prayed from the belly of a whale!

When I travel away from home, as much as I enjoy traveling, I always feel a little unsettled that I am leaving my comforts, my support structure and all that is familiar to me. My heart and mind rest easy when I remember that God is with me and present no matter where I am in the world. I can’t ‘forget’ to take Him or go without my prayer times until I get back. I don’t have to fit Him into my luggage or my budget. He is there, unobtrusive, free and present…without compromise. How reassuring is that?

Although God is available to hear our prayers from anywhere, we need to ask ourselves if it is appropriate in some places.  In Mathew 5 and 6, Jesus says don’t pray in a public place so people can see you, this is hypocritical. Go into a quiet place, pray to your Father and He will reward you. Jesus often withdrew to a quiet place and sought solitude when He wanted to pray to His Father. There are times when it is necessary to pray in groups and this is perfectly acceptable. But God knows your heart, so if it is a prayer between you and Him, keep it private. Guard your heart and search your motives, you can’t fool God.

Confess your sins and ask for forgiveness

Daily as well as before we pray, we should confess our sins and ask for forgiveness so that when we pray, we are in right standing with God. You never know when you might need to pray an urgent prayer or on the spur of the moment, so be prepared and live righteously.

James 5:16 says “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

2 Chronicles 7:13-14 also says “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

 

Power of Prayer

Who should we pray for?

Anybody and everybody. There are the obvious people we pray for: Family members; friends; the sick; those going through trials. Then there are the less obvious: Our leaders, good and bad; specific causes; our enemies. Leaders are particularly vulnerable to burn out and attacks from the enemy for the work they do, so pray for them regularly. The power of prayer is applicable and relevant to any situation. Have a prayer list you can refer to daily and tick off as prayers are answered.

Discernment of wrong behavior is God’s call to intercession, never to faultfinding. Instead of telling that person off, pray for them. Depending on the situation you may be able to give them Godly counsel, but intercession (praying on their behalf) is the most important thing.

What should we pray for?

Prayer is not only for emergencies and desperate situations, we should pray continually for guidance on all our important decisions. Hand everything over to God.
Prayer is more about getting to know the heart of God than our shopping list. God wants to help us in our everyday lives and when we pray, God reveals what He wants to do through us and guides us as to how we should go about it. He won’t tell you something and then leave you, He gives us the power through His Spirit to complete the task. Listen out for what God is telling you for a situation and pray into that.
Dr Caroline Leaf says prayer can positively affect our brains. Social interaction, compassion and sensitivity increase the activity in our brains and intentional prayer can change physical matter. Toxic thoughts can cause brain damage but prayer can reverse it according to Dr Caroline Leaf.

Couldn’t resist this cute photo of a baby elephant ‘praying’ in the Kruger National Park : )

Prayer and faith 

Have you watched “Facing the Giants” yet? There is a part where Mr Bridges relates a story of the two farmers who prayed for rain, both believed for rain but only one prepared the field. Who trusted God more? It is not enough to pray and believe, it takes a step out in faith to accomplish what God has promised. Pray and then exercise your faith.
Faith is even harder when prayers go unanswered. How do you carry on when you don’t see results? You keep your eyes on God and His promises. Faith is believing God is in control, no matter the outcome. We don’t always see the bigger picture but He does, so the best we can do is trust Him.
I love this word from Bill Johnson: “When I listen to the voice of a problem, more than I listen to the Word of the Lord, faith will always be an uphill battle. Faith comes from hearing the voice of the Father who loves us.” Romans 10:17.

When we can’t pray

There are also times when it seems we don’t know what to pray, we feel helpless or too emotional to think of what to say. At times such as these, focus on God, think about Him and His word, pray to Him, and think about Him again. Once we pray, Paul says we’re to force ourselves to think about the things of God and not what’s bothering us. It is not easy, that’s why it’s called a battle, but the way to fight is to change what we think about.
Andrew Murray stresses the importance of being in continual communication with the Lord in order to receive the power to pray, don’t wait for a crisis to hit. The desires of our heart for worldly things can drown out the words of prayer, guard your heart against these things.

Do not babble when you pray

God is not listening out for how eloquent we are, this is not a speech competition. Some people are afraid to pray because they fear they will say something wrong. No friends, God looks deep into your heart. He knows your needs before they leave your mouth. The words are for your benefit so you can see God’s glory when He answers your prayer. You need to know what you prayed for.
One night I was anxious for my mother who was going for a risky procedure the next day and I felt no peace. I remembered God’s word: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6).
Well, that’s what I was doing; I was praying over and over again but I still couldn’t get any peace or sleep. Then I realized I was babbling like the pagans do (Matthew 6:7-8), thinking many words would make God hear me better, and just in case He didn’t know what was going on, I had to inform Him of every detail. I was so worried if I didn’t say just the right thing, mention every possible problem or pray with the right attitude, God wouldn’t hear my prayers. When I realized I was doing it all wrong, I simply gave it over to the Lord. The relief freed me immediately and I was able to fall asleep. (Mom was fine by the way)
Tell God what’s burdening your hearts, give it over to Him and let it go. It doesn’t matter if it is all jumbled, God doesn’t mind. We are told to stop thinking about our problems and let Him deal with them. When we do that, we find peace.
Power of Prayer

Prayer and Fasting

There are several ways to fast and pray and we will cover these more in a post on fasting. I only want to say here, if you want to really see the Power of Prayer, particularly if there is a stubborn issue you can’t seem to get over, then fast and pray about it. I have seen the power of God move mightily when we fast.

Activities

There is a miraculous story of a young girl who was critically injured in a car accident, on Christmas Eve 2018. Her parents, who lead a church, were told to prepare for the worst. Mom Jaci has blogged about their journey from Day 1 and you can read the story on her blog www.jacimungavin.com/blog. It is the most incredible evidence of The Power of Prayer and an inspirational read.

 

Power-prayerPrayer Corner

If you need prayer, somebody to chat to or advice, you are welcome to:

  • Email me directly kerrys@thewateringwell.com
  • Send me a private message on Facebook
  • Post your request in the comments section below
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