PRAYER CHANGES THINGS

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

When it comes to trials and difficult times, many people often tend to throw in the towel before they even go to God in prayer. Prayer is intimate communication with God. For many, the extent of their prayer life is at the dinner table or before they go to bed. The devil doesn’t mind those types of prayers because they go nowhere.

If we want to experience something powerful and new in our lives it will come through prayer. The powerful fervent prayer of a righteous man can do much. Prayer is not measured by its length; it is measured by its depth.  It has been said that faith moves mountains, but prayer moves God. Isn't it amazing that our prayers, whether grand and glorious or feeble and faint, can move the heart of God who created the universe?

What kind of person has an effective prayer? A righteous man, (a lover of God); if you want your prayers to be effective, you must first be a lover of God. What good will your prayer be on Sunday, if you go out and live your life the way you want to during the week? Effective prayer changes your character. You no longer desire to do the things you used to do. You no longer want to satisfy your desires (Prov. 15:29). If you live your life to please God, then God will make every effort to please you.

Our understanding is limited to our vision. But when our understanding becomes God's understanding, our vision is expanded. We see things differently. Not by our own eyes, but through His eyes. Prayer changes our vision. We no longer think like ourselves, but rather, we have the mind of Christ.

We can read books and get counseling to correct our spiritual vision, but nothing works like prayer. Our vision is limited. But when we close our eyes and pray, we see things through God's eyes. When we don't pray, our vision stays narrow, and we stay in our limited perspective. The best vision we can have is when we close our eyes and pray. When we close our eyes, we take on the mind of Christ, and our vision is multiplied.

If I were to ask the question, "How many of you believe that you need to spend more time in prayer?” Everyone would raise their hand. If we know that we need to increase our prayer efforts, then why do so few of us actually do it?  What is the problem? We want to pray, but we don’t plan to pray.  The saint who wages war against the devil fights best on his knees.

MATURING IN PRAYER

SEEKING THE HAND OF GOD: (Praying only because of needs) John 6:2, 26

The lowest form of communication with God is praying only because of a personal need. This is considered "seeking the hand of God." During the earthly ministry of Jesus, multitudes of people sought out and followed Him, but very few of them were interested in committing their lives to Him in real discipleship (vv. 60, 66-68). To them, Jesus was not more than someone who could satisfy their needs. He could heal their sick bodies when they needed healing. He could give them food when they were hungry. Only a very few ever thought of Jesus as someone they could enjoy fellowship with, and who desires fellowship in return. Most believers unfortunately are living on this level of a relationship with Jesus. Their prayer life is almost non-existence until a serious problem arises. Then they know right where to go.

SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER: (Survival Prayer) Matthew 26:40-41

The very minimum every Christian should pray to live a victorious life is at least one hour a day. That won't make you an intercessor or a prayer warrior, but it will probably be enough to maintain your present relationship with Jesus. This one hour a day is referred to as survival prayer. This describes the prayer life of most Christians. How many Christians pray at least one hour every day? You must pray for one hour just to overcome temptation, but do you believe that revival will come because of this kind of praying? (Mark 14:37-38) If you are not regularly praying for one hour, make this your first goal, but not your final goal. At least an hour of prayer every day is required to overcome temptation and to help us live in a way that is acceptable to Jesus.

SEEKING THE FACE OF GOD: (Revival praying) II Chronicles 7:14

You will notice that prayer and seeking God's face are listed separately in this scripture. Prayer is not necessarily seeking the face of God. It could be seeking the hand of God. It could be a survival prayer, to keep what we already have in God. Seeking the face of God involves more than that!

SPIRITUAL WARFARE: (Prayer from the throne of authority) II Corinthians 10:3-4; Ephesians 6:12

Whenever a person becomes a Spirit-filled believer, he acquires new enemies, Satan, and his kingdom! Before we came to Jesus, we were a part of the “world system,” over which Satan rules (Ephesians 2:2-3). Some of us didn’t even know Satan existed until we became a believer. We were already involved in spiritual warfare before even being warned that there was such a thing.

No wonder the Apostle Paul encouraged Timothy to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ (II Timothy 2:3), “and fight the good fight of faith” (I Timothy 6:12). Yes, we are in a battle, and to be successful we need proper knowledge concerning our enemy so that we can identify and defeat him! Seeking the face of God is a higher level of prayer than the one-hour prayer. It involves doing whatever it takes to get the answer! It involves humbling ourselves before God. It involves getting our relationship right with God.

INTERCESSORY PRAYER: (Prayer before the throne for others) I Timothy 2:1, 3-4

Many people who sincerely seek the face of God continually will eventually become intercessors. An intercessor is a person who prays on behalf of others, he stands in the gap between God and men. We seek the face of God because of spiritual thirst. In seeking the face of God, we pray often to become more like Jesus and to become more useful in the kingdom of God. God's answer to these prayers is to fill us with His love, and a burden to pray for others. We become intercessors because of that burden and love.

IMPRECATORY PRAYER: (There are many examples in the Psalms)

Imprecatory prayer is a theological term. The word “imprecatory” is derived from “imprecation”, which is a synonym for “curse”. It is the word for prayer that attacks and seeks to destroy its object. It is, in fact, the Christian equivalent of putting a curse on something (never on someone). The furthest we can go in that direction as Christians is to pray for justice. We should pray for the end of the evil we are attacking, and pray for the forgiveness, and salvation, of those who are involved in it. 

There are many Biblical examples of it, especially in the Book of Psalms. Imprecatory prayer is highly effective in stopping evil, and for that reason is something that every Christian should learn to do. With this type of praying we can aggressively attack enemy targets and destroy them.

Effective praying is our most powerful weapon. Our prayers are more powerful than you think, and the devil knows it!