Intimacy through Prayer!

Colossians 4:2—Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.

Someone once said, "Why try and move the world ourselves, when all we need to do is move the Arm that already moves the world?

True revival develops the spiritual discipline of prayer through which we experience our relationship with God. Prayer is talking with God, listening to God, and enjoying the presence of God—not simply saying words or repeating formulas.

Most of us know and understand that we pray because we love God, depend on Him, and need prayer to resist temptation. We prepare our hearts for fellowship with God by confessing our sin and forgiving those who have hurt us.

Many lack the knowledge of what principles to use in prayer? Here are eight.

1. Depend on the Holy Spirit: Ephesians 6:18—Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Look to the Holy Spirit to help you, He can give you the right words with which you can pray effectively. Talk to the Holy Spirit as a person, and ask Him to help you to come to the Father in Jesus' name.

2. Realize who you are in Christ: 2 Corinthians 5:21— 21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

We come as children of God, as members of the royal family of God—NOT AS BEGGARS or STRANGERS. Therefore when we pray we should expect that God will grant results in response to our prayer.

3. Begin your prayer with thanksgiving and praise: Psalm 100:4—4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.

Thank God for answers to prayer, for your salvation. Tell Him how great He is. It is good to use the Word of God to praise God. This is not a form of flattery in order to get God to give you things, but it is only fitting to thank Him and praise Him. Thanking God will increase your faith.

4. Worship God: Psalms 95:6-7—6 Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, 7 for he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care.

In worship, we express love and admiration to God, which is a response to the revelation of who God is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. This deepens our fellowship with God, increases our faith, and pleases the Holy Spirit.

5. Petition and Intercession: 1 Timothy 2:1-2— 1I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

God is looking for people who will stand in the gap with Him in intercession for situations that are beyond their own personal interests. Allow God to lead you to pray for others in the church and their needs, national and local situations, the government, the advance of the Kingdom of God, and the growth of the church.

6. Waiting: Habakkuk 2:1—I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guard post. There I will wait to see what the Lord says and how he will answer my complaint.

This is a form of prayer in which the soul is silent and waits for God to move it or speak something by His Spirit. God promises to renew the strength of those who wait on Him.

7. Warfare: Psalm 149:6-9—6 Let the praises of God be in their mouths, and a sharp sword in their hands—7 to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, 8 to bind their kings with shackles and their leaders with iron chains, 9 to execute the judgment written against them. This is the glorious privilege of his faithful ones. Praise the Lord!

This is prayer is directed against the powers of darkness. We pronounce against them the written judgment by reading the Scriptures of judgment against them (Psalm 149:9), we command them to be bound or to leave their positions of influence or authority in the name of Jesus. (Matthew 16:19; Mark 16:17).

8. Thank God, for the results: Philippians 4:6-7—6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Pray with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving expresses your confidence that God has heard and answered your prayer even before you see the result.

Praying with full faith and confidence in God will draw you close to Him. The problem is this kind of prayer takes time and passion. I pray that these principles will develop a passion for prayer in your life.