THE POWER OF PRAYER

This book was not written simply to teach people how to ask God for things. Prayer is much deeper than asking. Prayer is communion with God. It is talking with Him, listening to Him, worshipping Him, waiting upon Him, bringing our burdens before Him, standing in the gap for others, praying His Word, seeking His direction, and learning to recognize His presence in the ordinary and extraordinary moments of life. Prayer is where faith becomes personal.James 5:16 declares that 'the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.' Those words have become central to my understanding of prayer. There is a difference between merely praying and learning to pray effectively and fervently. Effective prayer is grounded in the principles of God’s Word. Fervent prayer comes from a heart that is engaged, persistent, sincere, and hungry for God. When biblical understanding and spiritual passion come together, prayer becomes more than religious words. It becomes an expression of faith in the living God.Throughout these pages, I want to help you understand what prayer is, but also what prayer is not. Prayer is not a magical formula. It is not bargaining with God. It is not making promises to persuade Him to do what we want. It is not repeating religious words while our hearts are somewhere else. Prayer is not an attempt to manipulate heaven. Genuine prayer brings us into relationship with God and gradually brings our desires, thinking, decisions, and lives into alignment with His Word and will.We will explore the principles of prayer and the many different expressions of prayer found throughout Scripture. There are times for the prayer of faith and times for consecration and surrender. There are prayers of petition, supplication, intercession, agreement, confession, repentance, forgiveness, thanksgiving, praise, worship, fasting, and spiritual warfare. There are moments when we pray with others and moments when we need to get alone with God. There are times when we know exactly what to pray and times when we depend upon the Holy Spirit because we do not have the words to express what is happening inside us. The forms may be different, but they all bring us back to relationship with God.I have also included personal stories because I do not want this book to remain only theoretical. I have lived many of these principles. Kathleen and I learned to pray when we were young, newly married, raising children, studying, working part-time, and trying to understand God’s direction for our lives. There were seasons when finances were extremely difficult and we had to trust God for basic provision. There were doors we could never have opened ourselves. There were times when the answer came differently from what we expected, yet looking back, we could see God’s hand.I remember those early years when I was attending Bible college and Kathleen and I were trying to make ends meet. We prayed specifically about housing because we simply could not afford more than what we were already paying. Against what appeared likely, an opportunity opened for us to move into a three-bedroom subsidized apartment for less than we had previously been paying, with utilities, water, and cable included. There were times when unexpected cash arrived in the mail without a sender’s name. There were moments when we gave sacrificially while having very little ourselves and later experienced provision in ways we could never have planned.