There are a lot of things about prayer that you may not have known, that will surprise you. In this article, we have accumulated fifteen
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When you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. Jeremiah 29:12(NIV)
Does your prayer life feel burdensome? Does your mind wander when you pray? Ever started praying then dozed off shortly after?
Most of us struggle to pray. We try different methods of prayer, but nothing seems to work. But just because we struggle doesn’t mean we should quit or condemn ourselves.
Prayer is something that every believer should do so that they can remain in communion with God. It is a powerful weapon that every Christian should use to fight against the enemy. You don’t need to complicate your prayer life. Simple words of prayer will cause God to delight in you.
3 Keys to Answered Prayer.
There are so many promises in the Bible that we can claim over our lives. But God has put some conditions that we need to follow for our prayers to be answered.
Yes, we don’t like conditions, but thankfully God’s conditions are not hard.
You do not have to do something special to draw God’s attention and find favor with him. His conditions are simple and require child-like faith.
Here are three keys to answered prayers:
Key #1 Ask.
It seems simple right? But James 4:2, says we don’t have what we want because we don’t ask God.
The Christian religion has taught us to pray a certain way. So most of us do not tell God what is in our hearts. We tell him what we think he wants to hear.
Look, God already knows your heart. You do not have to hide your desires or fears from him. Open up to him the way King David did in Psalm 22:1-5, and he will listen to your prayer.
When you ask, make sure to do it with the right motives. Do not ask God for a car just because you want to show off to your friends.
Key #2 Believe.
When you pray, do you believe that God hears your prayers? You may be surprised that most Christians pray for the sake of it. They don’t think that God actually listens to their prayers.
Others believe that he hears their prayer, but he will not answer them for one reason or another.
You don’t need to feel the tangible presence of God for you to believe that he listens to your prayer.
God is with you always, and he says if you call upon him, he will answer. You have been bought at a price, you are now a child of God, he listens when you pray.
Key #3 Receive.
Receiving does not happen when you see what you’re praying for physically. It happens when you see the answer to your prayer in your imagination.
God promised Abraham many descendants as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore.
Why did he use stars and sand? To help Abraham see the promise in his imagination.
Your imagination is a powerful tool. It can help you see and receive the answer to your prayer before it manifests physically.
Here are 15 things about prayer that you may not have known:
Prayer Builds Relationships.
How do you build relationships with your friends? Through constant communication with them, right?
When you pray, you communicate with your heavenly Father. Constant communication with him enables you to understand who God is, how he works, and his character.
If you want to build a close relationship with God, know that prayer is the key.
Related Article: Memorize Scripture: 15 Hacks that will Help You.
Prayer Changes Us.
Religion makes prayer sound like a means through which we try to change God’s mind, but it is not. God is unchangeable, so we cannot change him.
Prayer improves our attitude towards God, others, and ourselves.
It exposes our selfish motives and opens our eyes to see why God is holding back some things from us.
It helps us to understand why God wants some things in our lives, even though we do not want them.
Since we have to wait patiently for God’s will to prevail, prayer teaches us how to be patient.
Prayer is a Means of Preparation.
At times we ask for things that are within God’s will but with wrong reasons. God will, first of all, change your motives before he can grant you the answer to your prayer.
The situation you’re praying about may have gone from bad to worse right now.
Maybe it’s the devil hindering your prayer. Or perhaps it is God teaching you how to steward whatever he’s about to give you.
Prayer makes a Difference in the World.
Great things have happened in this world because some people prayed. George Muller was able to take care of orphans through prayer.
He was fully dependent on God for provisions for his orphanage. He never asked for money directly from anyone.
Joshua asked God to make the sun standstill, and it did until Israel was able to avenge itself Joshua 10:13. Elijah prayed, and fire came down from heaven.
Gary Starkweater, the man who invented the laser printer, credits God for his successful inventions.
Yes, prayer changes things and makes a difference in the world.
Not Meant to Give God Orders.
The truth is most of us pray when we want to ask things from God. But that is not what prayer is all about.
True prayer is communication, and like in any communication, the parties involved need to listen to each other.
Do not just tell God what you want and then walk away from your prayer closet.
Prayer is about talking to your Father and listening to him as he speaks to us.
In fact, the best prayer is one where you spend much of your time listening to your heavenly Father as he speaks to you.
You will Still Face Challenges when you Pray.
Let no one lie to you that all your problems will go away once you pray. The hard truth is you will still face challenges in this world even when you pray.
As a matter of fact, the devil might intensify his attacks when you get deeper in prayer.
Now, this is not meant to scare you. You need to know the truth so that you can fight. You need to stand firm in prayer and remember that the battle has already been won at the Cross.
Do not quit, fight back with the word of God through prayer.
It is not Meant for Recognition.
When the Pharisee prayed, he told God how good he was and how bad the tax collector was.
He wanted God to recognize him for his goodness, forgetting that God looks at the heart, not outside appearance. (Luke 18:9-14)
The Pharisees were also fond of saying loud prayers in the synagogue so that they could be seen by people. But that is not what prayer is all about.
You should not pray for people to praise you. Pray because you want to spend time with your heavenly Father
Praying for a Few Minutes can Change Everything.
As you have seen in the previous point, the Pharisees loved to say long prayers. But do you know what Jesus said about them? He called them hypocrites.
So praying for long hours does not necessarily mean that you are super spiritual.
Don’t get it wrong, saying long prayers is not wrong. We have different ways of praying. But do not say long for the wrong reasons.
Praying for a few minutes or a second can make a difference in the world. Saying “God help me” can bring change in everything that you’ve been asking for all this while.
As long as it comes from the heart, God will hear and answer you.
You can Pray Continually.
The word of God tells us to pray without ceasing, that means prayer should be continuous.
Seems impossible, right?
Prayer does not mean kneeling down, lifting hands up, and praying for long.
It is okay and great to lift holy hands because it is an act of worship, but you don’t have to do it all day.
You can be in constant communication with your heavenly Father even as you go about your daily tasks.
God Hears Prayers.
Are there times when you feel like your prayers have not gone past the ceiling of your house? Yes, I know that feeling.
Ever noticed that sometimes these kinds of prayers get answered faster than the ones you pray when you are “super-spiritual”?
When you pray, believe that God is hearing your prayers. Do not go by your feelings, believe the word of God which says, call upon me, and I will answer you. (Jeremiah 33:3)
Prayer Makes you Spiritually Stronger.
Spending time in prayer means opening up your heart to God.
When you open up your heart to God, he also opens up his heart to you. The closer you become to him, the more you become spiritually stronger.
Spiritual things become more real to you than physical things when you pray fervently.
Satan is Constantly Trying to Hinder our Prayers.
We are in a battle with an enemy that wants to steal, kill, and to destroy. He will try everything he can to keep you from receiving answers to your prayer.
When Daniel prayed, God answered him by sending an angel to him.
But Satan and his demons tried to hinder Daniel’s prayer by fighting the angel until angel Michael came to help him. (Daniel 10:12-14)
We should not become angry at God because of delayed answers. Maybe the enemy is trying to steal your answers. Like Daniel, continue asking God for that thing until it manifests.
Remember, the only time God says no is when we pray against his will. Or when he has something better than what we are asking for.
Not Meant to be a Burdensome Task.
How do you feel when you hang out with your friends? Great, right?
We should not cringe on the inside every time we think about prayer. We should always be excited about talking with our heavenly Father and spending time with him.
He is not only our friend but our Father and the creator of the universe who loves us so much.
Faithless Talk Dilutes Faith-filled Prayers.
Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please God.
How many times have we prayed faithful prayers but started having faithless conversations shortly after with our friends and family?
For example, you may ask God to heal you but start magnifying the disease when talking to family and friends.
You should not pretend that you are not sick when asked. But you should not speak words that contradict the word of God.
James says that a double-minded man will not get anything from God.
(James 1:6-7) Your words need to align with your prayers and the word of God for you to get answers from God. Without faith, you cannot please him.
Helps you Establish a Personal Relationship with God.
Wouldn’t it be cool if God spoke to you directly as he did with Moses?
Well, the Bible says God is not a respecter of persons. If he spoke to Moses, he can talk to you. Unfortunately, most of us do not hear directly from God.
Religion has made some of us believe that only special people can hear God. Others are so distracted they cannot hear the still small voice of God that is continually speaking to them.
Going deeper into prayer enables you to get acquainted with God’s voice. Knowing God’s voice helps you to establish a personal relationship with him.
You will be able to differentiate his voice from yours and the enemy. When this happens, it becomes easy for you to follow his leading and his ways.
Conclusion:
Prayer should not be ignored by anyone who professes to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
Prayer will reveal to you who God is and his love for you. It will help you to become spiritually strong and change you in ways that you never imagined.
Give prayer a top priority because through it and the word, God can use you to change the world.
Do not look at prayer as a burdensome task. It will help you build an intimate relationship with God. If you are struggling with your prayer life, ask God to help you pray without ceasing.
if you follow 15 things about prayer that you may not have known your prayer life will never be the same.
LINKS
https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/george-muellers-strategy-for-showing-god
https://www.focusonthefamily.com/faith/the-power-of-god-given-imagination/