Sure, the Lord's always been an Expert in meeting the needs of people who pray. Got any needs today! Q: Do you look to God daily to meet all of your needs, or none of them (cuz you forget or something..), or just some of them?
Isn't prayer something that we offer up to some cosmic force out there just hoping that Karma or something sort of electric-like will help make things better here? Nope, ain't like that.
What is it really..effective prayer? What's it not?
Thanksgiving is almost here — let’s express some honesty and gratitude! I challenge you to!
Types of Prayer?
1. Prayer of Thanksgiving
Got another day to know and serve the Lord! So let’s express vertical gratitude when God answers a prayer, gives deliverance, or there’s a recognition of how GOOD He is and has been to you.
“for he is good; his love endures forever. Cry out, ‘Save us, God our Savior; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, and glory in your praise’” (1 Chronicles 16:34–35).
“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, And into his courts with praise: Be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; And his truth endureth to all generations.” (Psalms 100:4–5).
2. Prayer of Adoration
This is focusing on worshiping Jesus the Lord out of deep love, respect, and simple admiration.
“Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens” (Psalm 148:13).
3. Prayer of Confession
Calling sin what it really is for repentance-sake and specifically confessing our sins is important. This keeps the lines of loving fellowship open, believer. We ignore the overly tolerant world that says “Calling sin.. sin.. is the worst sin imaginable.”
“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin” (Psalm 32:5).
4. Prayer of Vows
We always want to keep our promises to God and people! It’s a good witness. We want to underpromise and over-deliver on those, but praying an honest promise to the Lord is indeed a prayer.
“In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. And she made a vow, saying, ‘Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head’” (1 Samuel 1:10–11).
5. Prayer of Quiet Meditation with Reflection
Let’s learn to hear from our “Lord of all” and allow Him to guide our steps. Meditation in the world is about emptying minds, but we believers meditate filling our minds with solid truth. Prayers of stillness with listening and silence draw us away from prayers filled with our own words and human opinions as we call God’s Word and promises to mind.
“On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night” (Psalm 63:6).
When you hurt, are sick or diseased you ask for healing — you go to the right Source (to God in Jesus’ Powerful Name. He knows all of you better than you do). Too many run in stupid, wrong directions for a lame solution.
“Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise” (Jeremiah 17:14).
7. Prayer and Praise for Deliverance and Help
Do you have some challenges, hardships, unfair unrighteous opposition, hurts, or oppression and need a breakthrough?
“Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress” (Psalm 107:6).
8. Prayer of Intercession
This is for others in need. Jesus often prayed for others. The Bible instructs us believers to pray for one another and to intercede on someone else’s behalf. JOY = Jesus first, Others second, and then Self
“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:9–12).
“Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16).
“Jesus said, ‘For where two or three gather together in my name, I am there with them’” (Matthew 18:20).
“[Jesus said,] ‘This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one’” (Matthew 6:9–13).
“Devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4).
Let’s talk some more about prayer. It is not some type of “energy” that can heal us in and of itself. We never need any crystals or religious beads to work in this respect. Rather, prayer is the means of heart-to-heart candid communication whereby we receive what we need from God.. whereby we express ourselves and hear from the Lord. Having Jesus, being close is better than having everything else. God Almighty can still speak and He keeps all His promises with perfect timing. Do you ever remind him of His Bible promises?
Of course, there are a lot of distractions (good things and bad things) to keep us off of our knees and NOT praying while here.
It's the spiritual person, the on-fire reborn Christians who look to God through Christ ..to meet ALL of their needs. Daily.
When you get blessed it motivates you to pray more short simple prayers -- you long to see all your loved ones and friends blessed as well. We are blessed to be a blessing. It's a JOY for God to see you blessed as well as your friends blessed.
He isn't mad at you really (cuz of the Cross), He's really mad about you!
And God in love for His kids meets far more needs than they even know about.
It's the natural man who doesn't think to look to Christ to meet their needs, or even their greatest need (free forgiveness from Christ).. not enough to actually pause, confess, repent, and believe.. not enough to actually request of God.
It's the carnal Christian person who looks half to this world system and half to God to meet their needs or looks partially (or to some other degree) to God to meet their personal needs.. or regarding any of the needs of those they dearly love.
George Mueller had a big heart for needy children back in the day. Ever read about him?
Some false teachers and church folk today -- some so called churches constantly assert, that we can speak things into existence (from nothing) through prayer. For instance, teachers of the so called Word Faith Movement advocate that you can pray this way speaking things into existence from zip because they claim "you are a little god." I've heard them say that, "You are not a little like God, you are gods!"
Yes, I've heard the fools say this on TV: "You can simply speak and it will happen -- you must speak by faith. And if you don’t, it won’t come to pass."
Please don't listen to them for your sake. Listen to what the Bible says instead.
It is SO wrong to believe that we can give God our directives. He ain't my bellman. We don't order God around as if He's our Forbes butler. No, we obey His directives not visa versa.
- Longest prayer in Bible - 7 min by Nehemiah
- Longest NT prayer - 5 min.
- The High priestly prayer - 3 min.
- Moses' prayer = 4 verses.
- Elijah taunted the false doctrine and prayers to Baal back then. he offered up a 2 verse prayer and God's fire fell.
- All of Paul's recorded prayers are pretty simple and short huh! Go check em out.
A person who has spent some time alone with Jesus Christ will be a person of prayer.
How can any two persons here on earth be best friends unless they spend a lot of time together.. unless they share what's on their hearts and minds together? It's like that with the Person of Jesus Christ. It's about close relationships this Christianity, not religion. I don't need to earn anything--I don't need any beads.
"Prayer is not informing God; prayer is inviting God. When I call out to the Lord in prayer and offer my petition, I’m not informing God of something He doesn’t already know. I’m inviting God into my situation, into my challenges, and into my problems." ~ Greg Laurie
“Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?” ~ Corrie Ten Boom
“Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach, but only how to pray.” ~ D.L. Moody
Can we learn how to do both better? We can prayerfully learn allowing Jesus to be Lord by His Spirit. They are praying Persons. With them we learn by doing.
"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 through wordless groans.mAnd he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people by the will of God." Romans 8:26-27 niv
Does Jesus also pray for us?
“Prayer is the idea of wishing for something from the depth of our hearts and bringing that desire forward to the throne of God.” ~ Greg Laurie
When prayers are not answered in the affirmative, it's because they are outside the will of God.
Once we have discovered God’s will, we can then pray aggressively and confidently for this. We can pray, believing this will actually happen, because we know it is not something we dreamed up. It's God's idea.
Remember that a forgiven person will by God's help be a forgiving person. A true disciple will harbor no grudge toward another person. The real disciple knows it will hinder his or her prayer life and walk with the Lord.
The greatest privilege a Christian has is the privilege of prayer. Not only is it a privilege, but it is also the responsibility of every believer. Jesus said that we “ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1).
It's conversational. We give God time to speak to our hearts. Yes, prayer is simply talking to God, letting our concerns and requests be made known to Him. When we pray, we admit our need for God and our utter dependence on Him. Only through a relationship with Jesus Christ do we have access to God (see 1 Timothy 2:5). We approach God in Jesus’ name, not our own.
Prayer is not a means of trying to get from God what we want, but rather a means by which we enable God to give us what He wants.
We pray to connect with the most powerful Person in the universe! We’re to pray because God commands it (see 2 Chronicles 7:14; Luke 18:1). Through prayer, we receive things (see James 4:2), experience fullness of joy (see John 16:24), and find help in times of trouble. Prayer is the cure for worry (see Philippians 4:6) and also helps us resist temptation (see Matthew 26:41).
“Let your prayer be completely simple. For both the publican and the prodigal son were reconciled to God by a single phrase.” ~ John Climacus
How often pray.. when do we do this? We are to pray always (see Ephesians 6:18). The Bible instructs us to “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
There are 651 prayers recorded from Genesis to Revelation.
2,451 Psalms -- 28% of the Psalms are laments (prayers). Yup, 60 chapters.
Psalm 119 -- that is the language of prayer.
Long one? See that 5 minutes is thee LONGEST New Testament prayer prayed. See John 17-26 verses.
The quality of your prayer is more important (got some trust, what's your faith like?), not the quantity of prayers. I'm not talking about some religious or highbrow-eloquence of higher educated type of language in prayer. See Elijah's four-sentence prayer (below) and God's response. Elijah was livin' the life and being a decent witness for the only God that loves people. Elijah didn't get a "No" or "Wait" did he?:
Just one guy with one short prayer. Wow! "At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. O LORD, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.” Immediately the fire of the LORD flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The LORD—he is God! Yes, the LORD is God!” 1 Kings 18:36-39 nlt
Like with Elijah, does God really care about the little things that happen in your life, and happen in my life?
Yes, of course, our heavenly Father cares about all the little things in our lives, because everything is SO “little” compared to our BIG God!
"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 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. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops." James 5:13-18
God cares about you! See what Luke 12:7 says, “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” God takes the time to keep up with how many hairs we have—now that’s a God of detail!
Throughout Scripture, we see that God is interested in more than just the highlights of our lives as His children. He cares about every aspect of who we are, because we are His creation made in His image (see Genesis 1:27). He cares for all of His creations, including plants, animals, and the environment. Yes, check out the foul and their chicks. Matthew 6:26 says, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” If God even meets the needs of birds who are not made in His image, who have no will to choose Him or reject Him, how much more will He care for our needs in detail? Because of God’s care, we can trust Him: “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8).
Throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry, we see that He was interested in the specifics of people’s lives. Jesus has always been more interested in quality than quantity. Jesus was sent to save the lost and bridge the gap between man and God since the fall, but He still took the time to meet the immediate needs of the people He encountered.
In Matthew 14:18–21 we see a clear picture of Jesus’ compassion on the hungry crowds. One meal in the lives of so many is but a detail, yet we have an amazing account of His earnestness in providing a heaven-sent meal for over 5,000 men, women, and children.
Jesus and the Holy Spirit deeply care about you too. Sure, every moment--He can't take His eyes off of you. You are SO LOVED TODAY AND EVERY DAY!
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| Photo by Patrick Fore |
Compared to how HUGE GOD IS..with HIS AMAZING GRACE AND GLORY..AND COMPARED TO HIS MAGNIFICENT ABLIDITES.. our whole lives are made up of those really “little things.”
Psalm 139:17–18 says, “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them, Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I am awake, I am still with you.”
Prayer Facts: Often God answers with a "No" or "Wait" at the moment for the bigger "Yes" in our lives later on. Father knows best, and He lovingly delights to answer every prayer we pray. I sometimes get confused between a real need and a real want -- Lord help me pray unselfishly and simply like Elijah did.
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| Photo by Samuel Martins |
When you think about your friends at school or work, or about their friends.. or about your family members at home what do you say to God?
Personally, I like this simple prayer: "Hosanna, God save now."
This word, Hosanna (הוֹשִׁיצָה נָּא), is mentioned only once in the OT. Where? It's in Psalm 118:25, a psalm which in its context thanks God for deliverance.. but really in this specific verse it is actually a petition for deliverance to arrive. Have you ever needed God to meet that kind of need?
He can--He is so able!
While the word Hosanna ain't found in English translations of the Old Testament, in the transliterated Hebrew text of Psalm 118:25 guess what.. we find this word "hôšî`â nnä´"!
"O LORD, do SAVE (Hebrew = הוֹשִׁיצָה נָּא = hoshiya na'); Lxx = sozo in the aorist imperative), we beseech You; O LORD, we beseech You, do send prosperity! 26 Blessed is the ONE who comes in the name of the LORD; We have blessed you from the house of the LORD." Psalm 118:25-26
Hosanna (5614. See the 6 uses below). The word hosanna in English is a transliteration (not a translation) of a Hebrew phrase composed of two Hebrew words (hoshiya + na' - spelling varies depending on the resource consulted) is used only once in Ps 118:25).
What's it mean? In the original Hebrew, the phrase goes something like "Please save!," "Help, I pray," "Save now," or "Save now, I pray!" (the exact wording depends on the source you consult).
In Jesus' day the word Hosanna while originally signifying a cry for help, over time was not only a prayer for help (salvation), but also an invocation of blessing, an exclamation of praise, and/or a shout of celebration.
In the scriptural context of Jesus' "Triumphal Entry" down into the city of Jerusalem, the spontaneous shouts of Hosanna from the crowd seem to have had all three nuances. John Piper says that hosanna would have been a term familiar to everyone in Israel which accounts for the crowds shouting out "Hosanna" at the time of this Triumphal Entry of the Messiah into Jerusalem.
It's a simple prayer. The modern Webster's Dictionary defines Hosanna as "a cry of acclamation and adoration." The 1828 Webster's Dictionary adds that Hosanna is "an exclamation of praise to God or an invocation of blessings. In the Hebrew ceremonies, it was a prayer rehearsed on the several days of the Feast of Tabernacles, in which this word was often repeated."
How did a life of simple praying start for George Müller? He said:
"When I surrendered myself totally
to God, the love of money was
gone, the love of a home was gone,
the affection of wealth was gone,
the love of worldly things was
gone. God has become my
everything I found everything in
Him, there is nothing else I
wanted. And I stayed with Him, a
happy man, a very happy man,
seeking to only accomplish the
things of God."
Herr George Müller wrote of the day that he repented and looked to God to meet His greatest need (of forgiveness). He wrote of what it was like when he got saved (reborn from above).
"It is sufficient to trust in the living God and not to worry about earthly things, for the beginning of worry is the end of faith, and the beginning of faith is the end of worry."
Sure, check out what the birds in nature are doing and not doing. They are busy gathering for their families, but are they taking time to ring their talons together worrying about where they will find their next worm or something else to eat or feed to their little chicks? Nope.
Why waste time worrying about all that you personally need if you have Jesus living as Lord inside of you?
Did George Mueller have the gift of faith? Why can't you have the free gift of faith in your Provider if He's your father too? Specifically, ask Him for what you need today and for what those around you need.
"The joy which answers to prayer give, cannot be described; and the impetus which they afford to the spiritual life is exceedingly great. The experience of this happiness I desire for all my Christian readers. If you believe indeed in the Lord Jesus for the salvation of your soul, if you walk uprightly and do not regard iniquity in your heart, if you continue to wait patiently, and believingly upon God; then answers will surely be given to your prayers. You may not be called upon to serve the Lord in the way the writer does, and therefore may never have answers to prayer respecting such things as are recorded here; but, in your various circumstances, your family, your business, your profession, your church position, your labour for the Lord, etc., you may have answers as distinct as any here recorded." ~ George Müller Fish4souls.org
Praise and Adoration
Through praise and adoration, we acknowledge God’s goodness. We must recognize that when we pray, we enter God’s presence (see Matthew 6:9). As we genuinely reverence the Lord by communing with Him in prayer, our relationship with Him becomes more intimate and our love more tender.
Honest Confession and Repentance
Confession and repentance are prerequisites for approaching God. The Bible assures us of forgiveness if we confess our sins to God. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).
Thanksgiving
I feel grateful for what God has done and is doing in my life. We should continually thank God for what He has done for us. We’re to thank Him during the good times, as well as the bad times, “giving thanks always for all things..” (Ephesians 5:20). We’re also to make our requests to God “with thanksgiving” (Philippians 4:6).
Need to know more on the sacrifice of thanksgiving in Psalm 116:17?
Supplication
We are to pray for our needs and ask God for help in our daily affairs. We must never think that our requests are too small or too big to bring before God. As Christians, we are to pray about everything, being confident that God hears us, cares about us, and acts on our behalf.
How should a Christian respond to unanswered prayer?
Intercession
Intercession means to pray on behalf of—and for—other people (see 1 Timothy 2:1). We’re to pray for our family, friends, leaders, our country, and whatever else God lays on our hearts. We are to pray for them as seriously as we pray for ourselves.
What is intercessory prayer?
Prayerlessness and unbelief -- that's common in our world, but it's such sin. Samuel said, “Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you” (1 Samuel 12:23).
Taking time to pray, that's something that we all need to be doing. In fact, it’s something the Bible commands us to do. God cares about you and what's going on in this world. First Thessalonians 5:17 tells us, “Never stop praying” (nlt).
Prayer is not an option in the Christian’s life. It’s both a privilege and an adventure. And it’s something that we need to keep learning about for the rest of our lives.
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