Prayer Revolution -- A Cool Way to Pray

On Thursday, as I was driving, I was praying for someone. I prayed, "Lord, deliver him from anything that he wouldn't want anyone to know."

That must have been a Spirit-led prayer. I don't know of anything wrong in the life of the person for whom I was praying. I've never prayed like that before. But I thought, "How cool is that?" I thought about how I would love for someone to pray that for me. 

Probably most people have something in their lives that they don't want anyone to know. I sure do. I would hate for anyone to know how much I have been eating lately.  Like that's my only flaw. But we won't discuss that right now.

But what if we prayed for each others' flaws/sins? We don't have to know everything about a person. God knows. Honestly, I wouldn't want to know everything about most people. We just have to remember that none of us is perfect.

That evening I went to pray with my partners. One of them, Frank, shared this word that Holy Spirit had given him:

WWHIYP Continually

It's the end of another month of praying together. Thank God for persistence and growth. Of course we can't stop now. :-) I'm not sure where we're going with this, but we will keep going. I think we will have to have a new scripture book on prayer. There are so many promises about prayer that we have not talked about, yet.

Meanwhile, we must continue to pray.

pray without ceasing,

                1 Thessalonians 5:17 NKJV

  

Be unceasing in prayer [praying perseveringly];

1 Thessalonians 5:17 AMP

  

pray continually;

1 Thessalonians 5:17 NIV

Never stop praying.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 NLT

When I first sent out the Faith to Pray booklets, one of my friends sent an email and joked: I don't understand what Thessalonians is saying.

Yes, it's hard to miss that point. And if you didn't get it the first time, there are three other ways to say it.

What would happen if you prayed continually? Not nonstop praying as in: you don't do anything else but pray, but making prayer your lifestyle. Not only that, but not giving up on praying until you see the results – praying perseveringly. We have discussed praying in this manner, previously. We are going to put this type of praying into practice even more.

Persistent Prayer

Persistence Brings Results

WWHIYP For One Thing

WWHIYP By A.S.K.

So into August we will continue to pray until we see the results. And after we see results, we will continue to pray for other matters in the lives of our families, friends, churches, and nation. Through God by prayer, we have the opportunity to be agents of change. Let's make the most of that opportunity.

The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. James 5:16b NASB

Pray with me (continually)

Awesome God, my Father, bless Your name for giving me the honor to affect change among my family and friends, my neighborhood, my town, my church, my workplace, my world. It is an honor that You have given me the privilege to pray by the precious name of Jesus, the name that is above every name. Teach me how to pray continually, perseveringly, without ceasing, never stopping until the work is done – until the answer comes. I know that You still have awesome things to do on earth and that You will use people who are willing, obedient, and tenacious. I want to be one that You can count on to pray that Your kingdom comes and Your will is done on earth as it is in Heaven. I commit to a lifestyle of prayer. I commit to be unceasing in prayer. You will hear my voice every day in praise, thanksgiving, petition, and intercession. Thank You for being God who hears. Amen.

WWHIYP Like Your Life Depended On It

A few years ago I was praying with the intercessors at my church. We meet on Sunday mornings during first service. We were praying for different people and situations at the church, but it seemed (to me) that our hearts weren't in it like they should have been.

Then someone entered the room and said there was an accident in front of the church. They asked us to pray, however, they didn't have many details about the accident. With that request, the fervor and temperature of our prayer changed. We became highly motivated: someone's life might be in jeopardy; there is an immediate need.

My thought was, "we should have been praying like that about the other situations."

Some days are like that. There are many things to pray about, but sometimes our hearts are not into praying about everything with the highest priority and energy. But when someone's life could depend on our prayers or if there is an immediate/desperate need, our energy for prayer tends to increase.

What would happen if you prayed like your/someone's life depended on it? What would happen if you prayed with fervor? The last part of James 5:16 tells us:

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16b NKJV

These words effective and fervent mean having energy/showing power. Plus fervent implies heat or boiling. Fervor is an attitude of the heart. It is the passion that is the difference between praying for a hurt toe and praying for someone at death's door.

The Amplified Bible translates this part of the verse like this:

The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]. James 5:16b AMP

This kind of prayer with passion and according to the Word, of course, is dynamic and powerful and makes dynamic and powerful answers available. But hurt toe or life and death. Should our intensity in prayer be different if we want all of our prayers to be answered? Maybe the toe example is not the best, but my point is: should some prayers have less importance and therefore deserve less energy? I don't know the answer to this. We'll have to pray about it together. But I do believe if we're going to pray about anything, we should always pray like we want God to respond.

Pray with me (with passion):

Father, I love You and bless Your name. Thank You Lord. I just want to say thank You for a minute. . .

There is so much to learn about prayer – not that it's difficult, but You have given us many promises about prayer -- so many promises that show us that answering our prayer is important to You. Since it's important to You, I want to know how to pray correctly and effectively. My life depends on this. My life depends on my communication with You because You are my life. I want to pray and speak with You in Your way. Please help me to recognize my assumptions about prayer. I also need to recognize my presumptions about prayer. You invented prayer, not I. I dare not pretend to know everything or think that whatever I deem correct is acceptable to You. Your ways are higher than my ways. Help me to learn Your way of prayer – the way that pleases You. Please teach me how and when to pray fervently. Are there times when my prayers should be more passionate or fervent than others? I feel like the answer is "no,"

but I need the Truth. Thank You Father for helping me, for teaching me, and for being patient with me. Thank You that I can pray to You in Jesus' name. Amen.