Prayer to many seems religious, old-fashioned, obsolete
a superstitious ritual of the ancient past.
But there is a POWER in fervent prayer
known to very few a power that can work miracles!
MOST MODERNS have discarded such "superstitions" as faith, God, and prayer. God, to them, is unreal, vague or far off. Prayer itself is looked upon as a balm for the soul a psychological trick to calm agitated emotions.
But is prayer out of date? Is it just an emotional release? Just what IS prayer? And how can you make sure your prayers are answered?
The POWER of Prayer
When Abraham prayed, God heard, and gave him a son miraculously in his old age. When Moses prayed, an entire nation was saved from total destruction. When Joshua prayed, the sun stood still in the heavens. When Samuel prayed, an earthquake terrified an alien army and sent thousands of troops fleeing away. When David prayed, God' intervened and won battles for Israel. When Hezekiah prayed, the army of Sennacherib was destroyed in a single night, and the sun retreated ten degrees in the sky. When Shadrach, Meshach and Abed nego (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah) prayed, God delivered them from a roaring furnace of fire. When Daniel prayed, he was delivered from hungry, voracious lions.
When Jesus Christ prayed, the Father gave Him spiritual POWER to perform miracles, daily. He received power to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, and to raise the dead back to life!
When the apostles called on God, in the name of Christ, earthquakes rent the earth, miracles of healing occurred, enemies of the truth were blinded or struck dead.
Here was POWER!
But what about you?
Are your prayers answered? If not, why not?
Why So Little Power Today?
We live in an age of materialism. The world has lost the knowledge of God and the knowledge of the power of prayer. Consequently, we live in an age of very limited spiritual power. The churches, today, are empty shells. They, too, have forgotten the power of prayer and lost the knowledge of the true God!
No wonder Jesus Christ, speaking prophetically of our generation today, said, "When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8)
When people do pray today, so often it is just some sort of "religious exercise." They pray because they feel it is expected of them a duty to per form. They don't expect an answer. If there were a tremendous answer from God, why, they would be speechless, dumbfounded!
No wonder there is so little spiritual POWER in the world, today! How can YOU begin to pray more effectively with more success more POWER . . . more results?
What Prayer Is
First, let's understand just what prayer is. The most often used Hebrew word for prayer in the Old Testament is tephillah and means "intercession, supplication." It comes from the word palal, which means "to judge, entreat, intercede, pray, make supplication." The literal meaning of the word, in the Hebrew, is "to prostrate oneself," or "to bow down."
Prayer, then, is simply intercession with God or earnest, intense supplication. It is done in an attitude of humility, contrition and deep respect. Since the word itself means "to bow down," the general way to pray is on one's knees. Most examples in the Bible show the usual position of prayer is on one's knees, bowing before God. The most important thing, however, is not the literal position (one can pray hanging upside-down in a well, if he needs to!), but the ATTITUDE of humility, reverence and respect for God!
Supplication means to "make a humble entreaty, to ask for earnestly and humbly." To entreat means "to ask earnestly or urgently, intercede, plead." All these definitions are contained in the one word "prayer." To most people today, "prayer" conjures up in their minds an act of sanctimonious piety, and reciting a psalm or liturgy. Such an idea is far from the truth, but the religions of this world have perverted even the true meaning of prayer, and turned it into a thing of ridicule and superstition!
Prayer is NOT mental magic, or mumbo-jumbo. It is not a psychological "pep talk" that people give themselves to feel better.
Prayer true prayer is communication with the Almighty God, and Jesus Christ at His right hand. Prayer is talking, in an attitude of humility, reverence, awe and respect, to GOD.'
What is so weird or strange about that? But how should you pray? What should you pray for? How can you be sure your prayers are ANSWERED?
Obedience a Key
"God heareth not sinners" (John 9: 31). Sin is the transgression of God's Law (I John 3:4). Therefore, if you want to have your prayers heard and answered by God, you must first want to REPENT of any sins which separate you from God. Isaiah was inspired to write, "Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear" (Isa. 59:12).
There is the crux of the matter. Most prayers are not heard and go unanswered because of SIN! If you purposely and maliciously harbor lawlessness and rebellion in your life, you will not be heard your prayers will be an abomination to God (Prov. 28:9; Psalm 109:7).
But if a person departs from sin, and cries out to God from his heart, his prayer WILL be heard! Notice what an angel told Daniel: "Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, THY WORDS WERE HEARD . . ." (Dan. 10:12).
Our God is very merciful He will hear us from the moment that we begin to want to communicate with Him. In essence, then, a WHOLE HEARTED DESIRE is the only pre condition to prayer.
God surely does not hear sinners who want to remain sinners but God will quickly respond to sinners who want to change, even while they are yet sinners.
And notice again, what God inspired the Apostle John to write, for us: "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and DO those things that are pleasing in his sight" (I John 3:22)., In order for your prayers to be heard, you must want to serve God with a sincere, faithful, devoted heart. You must strive to obey Him, and please Him in your actions, thoughts and words. Write for our free articles "What Is Real Repentance?" and "What Is a Real Christian?" They will show why so few, today, are close enough to God to have their prayers heard.
But obedience, alone, is not enough. You must also have FAITH in God, in order to be heard!
The Power of FAITH!
The Apostle Paul wrote, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must BELIEVE that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Heb. 11:6).
Jesus Himself gave a vital principle we must understand when He declared: "ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH be it unto you" (Matt. 9:29).
Lack of real, tangible faith is a prime reason millions of prayers go unheard unanswered.
James wrote, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in FAITH, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord" (James 1:5-7).
What about you? Do you have real FAITH in God? Faith is the belief or assurance that what God says in His Word is TRUE that God will do that which He has promised.
How can you obtain more faith? There are two vital keys to increasing faith. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). If you study God's Word, and drink in of it daily, you will become stronger in faith; you will learn more intimately how God's many promises contained in His Word apply to YOU.
Faith is a gift (Gal. 5:22-23). It is not an emotion which you must work up yourself, struggling and agonizing to attain. You don't have to strive to have faith in God. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit!
As a person turns away from sin, yields his life to God, and surrenders to His government, God will give him the indwelling power of His Holy Spirit the Spirit that imparts faith, the very faith Jesus Christ had (Gal. 2:16, 20; Phil. 3:9).
If you desire more of God's Spirit, and more faith, then go before God's throne and ask Him for it. Jesus said, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Luke 11:9).
Walk With God
Another secret of powerful prayer is walking with God. Abraham walked with God. So did Noah, Moses, Elijah and David. They came to know God intimately. They obeyed God faithfully, loyally. Abraham kept all God's commands, statutes, laws and ordinances (Gen. 26:5).
These men prayed to God often. They spent long hours in prayer, communing with God. But those people who "pray" today, usually spend mere minutes (or seconds) in "prayer." No wonder they have no spiritual POWER! If you want power in your prayers, and spiritual POWER in your life, then you must walk with God.
Notice what the Prophet Micah wrote: "He hath showed thee, a man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk HUMBLY with thy God?" (Micah 6:8)
Walking with God means spending time with Him instead of with material things of the world. It involves TIME spent studying His Word, learning His truth, meditating on His principles and laws, and praying to Him for greater understanding, wisdom, guidance, and faith.
How can you WALK WITH GOD?
God will not walk with the proud, haughty, high minded and conceited. He is far off to them (I Peter 5:5). He walks with the HUMBLE in heart and mind (verses 56). The proud will not have their prayers answered (Luke 18:9-14).
But notice. God says, ". . . to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite [humble] spirit, and TREMBLETH at my word" (Isa. 66:2).
HOW Should You Pray?
The first point to understand is that prayer is for our benefit. We should look forward to talking with our Creator. Consequently, we must never allow prayer to decay into a meaningless ritual.
So there can be no set rules for when to pray, how often to pray or how long to pray. A fervent, deeply felt short prayer is obviously much better than a lukewarm, lazy, long one.
Nonetheless we do need examples to follow. And God has provided them. When should you pray? Jesus Christ rose up early in the morning to pray and commune with His Father. "And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed" (Mark 1:35).
The early morning hours, when all is peaceful and still, and your mind is uncluttered from the day's routine, is a wonderful time to spend in prayer. God wants us to give our best time to Him! Jesus spent long hours in prayer to His Father. One particular time when He was facing tremendous decisions and knew that He needed special wisdom and inspiration, He spent all night in prayer (Luke 6:12).
In the days of Christ and the apostles, it was customary to pray at certain times of the day called "the hours of prayer" (Acts 3:1). There were three such times during the day in the morning, at noon, and in the evening. David declared: "Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice" (Psalm 55:17).
The Prophet Daniel, a man greatly beloved in God's sight, prayed three times a day, even in the face of death! Knowing that the Persian government had passed a law against prayer, ". . . his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime" (Dan. 6:10).
Why was Daniel such a wise, useful, effective servant of God? Where did he get the understanding and wisdom for which he was famous (Dan. 1:17; 2:19-23)?
God gave him wisdom and understanding, because Daniel was faithful, walked with God, sought His guidance at all times, and prayed regularly. Daniel made fewer mistakes in his work, accomplished much more that was worthwhile because he stayed close to God and sought Him REGULARLY!
He did not allow daily duties, business, or physical activities to crowd out the time he spent with God in prayer, as many are prone to do today.
If YOU lack wisdom and understanding, it may well be due to your failure to pray constantly, regularly, and often to your Maker and Ruler in heaven!