Prayer Warriors

“All I can do now is pray about it...”

How many times have we heard the quote above? So many times we underestimate the value of prayer! Prayer is powerful!! When we consider the great things done by prayer, we should be eager to pray and expectant of God-sized results! For goodness sake, Jesus received the courage and the strength to go up and die for our sins because he stayed in prayer! His prayers were powerful enough to bring him from Hell back to Heaven!! Sheesh! For most of us, prayer is a last resort. We pray when we need something or when we are afraid... but how many of us pray when we are happy and relaxed? How many of us pray like our lives depend on it?

1 Thessalonians 5:17 says Pray without ceasing!!

This isn’t one of those verses that means something hidden (I’m sure it actually does mean something hidden... but we can take it at face value, for now). It literally means pray without stopping. Be CONSTANTLY in communication with God. If only we realized how our lives actually DEPEND on God hearing our concerns... There are things that God won’t release to us simply because we haven’t PRAYED about them. 

Why can’t you focus while studying? Have you asked the God of the universe who holds all wisdom and understanding to help you understand how he made the human body? Have you asked God to help you understand your communication or journalism class?... After all.. he is the one who makes man mute and the one who makes great orators (Exodus 4:11). Have you asked God to help you out of the sin you are struggling with? He is the one who provides grace and strength! (READ JAMES 5:13-14) Have you asked God to help you fulfill your purpose on Earth? Have you asked him to help you with the hopes and dreams you have that HE has given you? The bible says in Psalm 37:4 that if we take delight in the Lord, he will give us the desires of our hearts. I believe this has two-fold meaning. He will place desires in our hearts that are God-sized desires AND he will deliver them to our hands. He will GIVE us the desires then he will help us ACHIEVE them. How will we be able to cure cancer without God, who has all healing and perfection in his hands? How will we stop genocide without God, who promises that “no weapon formed against us will prosper?” (Isaiah 54:17) We must come to the realization that without God we cannot live. Prayer is absolutely necessary for living! 

So, WHAT is prayer? Prayer is literally just communicating with God. It is so simple! We communicate ALL THE TIME! It is natural!

HOW should we pray? Pray how you want. Only law will tell you that we must pray a SPECIFIC way for God to hear us. If ANYONE tells you that you must pray a certain way, be very skeptical. We are no longer under law, we are under GRACE!! If you feel like you sound stupid when you pray... Remember that the Spirit intercedes on your behalf and he makes your requests known to the Father (Romans 8:26-27). The Holy Spirit KNOWS what you meant to pray, he will communicate it to God properly! Don’t worry about that part! You can literally pray... “Hey Daddy!!! I missed you!...” God is not only God, but he is your Father. He loves you!! He simply wants to hear from you! 

Now, Jesus gives us a template of prayer in Matthew 6:9-13... It is a wonderful template! It is complete! Please go read it so you can see how Jesus advised us to pray. However, don’t feel that if you don’t pray exactly that way every time that you are not praying correctly. It is just that, a template. With anything, with any prayer, it can become ritualistic and pointless if you do it again and again without meaning it!!! For instance, the Hail Mary prayers that Catholics say... If they say them with meaning and passion, wonderful! If they say them because they feel that they have to... and just to get through it... That’s just like the pagans who kept babbling on and on because they felt like they would be heard because of their many words (Matthew 6:7). They might as well say what is really on their heart. THAT is what God wants to hear. He wants to hear that you had a bad day. He wants to hear how badly that person is treating you. He wants to hear that you are having sooooo much fun in school (or that you’re bored at school, more like it). He wants to hear that you are having a hard time trusting him. He wants to know your sins and your triumphs. He wants to hear it ALL!! Don’t think that you are hiding anything from God by not praying about it... He already knows EVERYTHING!! You might as well admit everything to him so he can fix it. He wants to help you. He longs to have you talk to him about everything and show him what is on your heart and mind. THAT is the heart of prayer. 

Be careful of saying “Oh merciful, boundless, wonderful, loving, Heavenly father whom I adoreth for all of mine days forevermore... Thine love is wonderful, thou workest a good work in thine servants...” If that is how you pray and if that's how you feel... Wonderful! If you are praying that way because you feel that that is the only way God will hear you (or to impress anyone besides God), STOP. You can literally say “What’s up Dad? I am about to go chill with my friends and such. I be loving you long time.” God understands you! He might even speak to you in the language that makes you most comfortable. Not many people that I know hear God speak to them in Thou and thine and thus language. They hear God say things like “You got it, son”... “I love you, guy” and whatever else they relate to most! For those of us that are saying...”Well... no, I don’t think that God can speak that way... That’s too... Not God-like.” Think again! God can do as he pleases. Please tell me that you don’t think that God only understands “King James English”!!!  He speaks in Igbo, Japanese, Swahili, Hindi, and Eebonix if you need him to! All are verifiable languages and dialects, and God does not turn up his nose at any of them! 

WHEN should you pray? Pray at ALL TIMES!! How do you do this? This takes renewing of your mind! (Romans 12:1-2) When you get down to it and do things intentionally to bring glory to God and live in a way that makes him happy, this is also like a prayer to God. You are communicating to him that you accept his dominion over your life! When you intentionally seek to include God in your life, you will experience an intimacy like no other. Ask God what you should wear today, ask him what you should eat, even ask him his favorite foods! He has them, I promise! Go “hang out with God”! I have date nights and coffee dates with God all the time, it is absolutely wonderful! You take time to hang out with your friends, right? Why not your Father? He will bless that time with peace and wonder if you allow him in! So, allow God to occupy every part of your life! 

You should also take time out to pray. Take time to spend time with God (refer to last email). This includes praying, worshiping, and LISTENING to God. When you pray, you can literally ask God a question and wait for him to answer you. If he doesn’t, then I assure you, he will later.

1 John 5:14-15 says that we have this CONFIDENCE in approaching God. If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us and will grant us what we ask. 

How many of us are truly CONFIDENT in approaching God? 

Hebrews 4:16 says that we should approach the throne of grace with CONFIDENCE!

Like I said, God wants to hear from you! Don’t think you are not good enough to pray, don’t think your prayers are not eloquent enough. I assure you, every time you pray, God is shouting to the angels up in heaven, “LOOK!! MY DAUGHTER IS PRAYING TO ME AGAIN!! DO YOU HEAR HER VOICE? SHE IS HONORING ME! LISTEN, LISTEN!! HUSH, GABRIEL! HAVE YOU EVER HEARD A VOICE SO SWEET? MY DAUGHTER WANTS A PONY??? I CAN’T RELEASE IT TO HER ON EARTH RIGHT NOW.... LET ME MAKE SURE IT IS WAITING IN HER MANSION WHEN SHE GETS BACK TO ME!! OH WOW, THIS IS HER LONGEST PRAYER EVER!! I LOVE HER SO MUCH!”

Don't pass up the opportunity to pray, remember that Jesus died so we could have this relationship with God (In your prayer closet at home, if you aren't led to pray in a gathering, so be it). The idea is to get to the point where we pray all the time, all day every day. The idea is to get as used to talking to God as we are talking to our best friend, boyfriend, or, in my case, parent. He desires to be our all and he desires for us to give him our all.

So, my brothers and sisters, Let us pray.

Love you guys!!
Lise, A4C

P.S. This is not an exhaustive note on prayer. I encourage each of you to explore your own ways of praying. Look at sermons (with biblical references) and read books and essays about prayer. More importantly, allow God to teach you about prayer and listen to how HE wants you to pray!