Demystifying the practice of prayer
What has been planted in time, talent and treasure must be watered by prayer.
PRAYER IS A
SKILL
The Practice of Prayer takes practice.
The Lord’s Prayer
Luk 11:1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
Luk 11:2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Luk 11:3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
Luk 11:4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.” —NKJV
Here are some basics on Prayer
- We grow in it
- We can feel frustrated that we aren’t better at it
- We can feel guilty that we don’t enjoy it
- We can feel frustrated that we don’t see more results or answers to prayer.
“I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn’t resolve. But I was outside the Bagdad Theater in Portland one night when I saw a man playing the saxophone. I stood there for fifteen minutes, and he never opened his eyes.
After that I liked jazz music.
Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.
I used to not like God because God didn’t resolve. But that was before any of this happened.” —― Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality
How would you pray if you genuinely believed that:
- God wants to hear from us and respond to us in love.
- God is for us, not against us.
- God is good 100% of the time.
- God wants you to commune with Him more than perform for Him.
- God will reveal more of His face as we yield to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.
- God will change you to become more like Him and fill you with purpose.
PRAYER IS THE
NOT THE
- God Himself is the destination or the goal.
- Faith is the Fuel.
- The Destination is MORE OF GOD
What would we be willing to exchange/pay for more of God?
Thanksgiving and Prayer
Eph 1:15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
Eph 1:16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
Eph 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
Eph 1:18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power —NKJV
PRAYER
OUR
, OUR
AND OUR
- Prayer increases capacity, which makes room forgot to move. Prayer doesn’t move God as much as prayer moves me and make space for God to move.
The spirit of wisdom and revelation is not given to make us smarter but to make us more aware of unseen realities. The purpose of this spirit or anointing is to give us wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. It works not merely to increase our understanding of kingdom principles but also to reveal the King Himself. Presence always wins out over principles. When we encounter His divine presence, transformation occurs that goes beyond the reach of merely good ideas—this is transformation that first takes place within us that we might cause transformation around us. —Bill Johnson, Face to Face with God, New Expanded Edition. (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2015), 2.