How to Launch Your Prayer Life

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2 How to Launch Your Prayer Life by Mike Harding Copyright 2018 All rights reserved. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Pastor Mike Harding Love Gospel Church P.O. Box 4482 Apache Junction, AZ For videos and audios of Pastor Mike s teachings, go to or 2

3 Colossians 4:2 tells us to "continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving." All serious Christians believe in the importance of prayer, but many don't know what a devoted and effective prayer life really looks like. They may genuinely want to get serious about the call to prayer, but they often feel clueless. They are not always well-equipped to spend an extended period of time in prayer, nor to pray effectively. A determination to become a powerful prayer warrior can sometimes end ten minutes later with a wandering mind and a vague sense of defeat. The purpose of this mini-book is to give you a framework for developing a real prayer life. To be more specific, this booklet is designed to help you pray effectively and fruitfully for an extended period of time without losing focus. Prayer Is the Foundation and Fuel for All Fruitful Ministry "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples." John 15:4-8 With just hours to go before His betrayal and arrest, Jesus took the opportunity to give His disciples one more teaching in preparation for their soon approaching apostolic ministry roles. He taught them about the major shift about to take place. The old covenant would end, and the new covenant would begin. No longer would they be seen just as individuals called to obey God's commandments under the Mosaic covenant. Now they would be supernaturally connected to Jesus, the Anointed One, by the Holy 3

4 Spirit. They would literally become part of Jesus - as living members of His growing body. Jesus said that He would be the Vine, and they would be the branches. They would be spiritually connected to Him; His life and power would flow in them and through them. By "abiding in Him", they would become increasingly fruitful in their ministries. After the resurrection, and after experiencing the new birth, the disciples could truly say that they were "abiding in Him", because abiding in Him means living in Him. Any born-again believer is spiritually alive in Jesus. But it's pretty easy to see in this passage that Jesus is talking about more than just being spiritually alive. He is really talking to disciples, not just to believers. And He is talking about bearing fruit, meaning that people will get saved, lives will be transformed, and the kingdom of God will advance in this world. He actually used the words "bear fruit", "bear more fruit", and "bear much fruit" in this teaching. Clearly, Jesus is wanting an ever-increasing measure of fruit, and He is plainly telling us how to accomplish that as His disciples. The secret is to "abide" in Him. What does that mean? Here's the hint: Jesus concludes the teaching with the idea that God will be glorified because we are bearing much fruit...and we are bearing much fruit because we are "asking what we desire". Jesus isn't talking yet about preaching or teaching or about learning cutting edge leadership skills. Jesus is plainly saying that the secret to bearing much fruit is to "abide in Him" and to "ask what we desire". To ask means to pray. Abiding in Him really means to purposely and proactively spend quality time in His presence and in prayer. In other words, a purposeful devotional life and prayer life is the foundation and engine for all fruitful ministry and all real kingdom advancement. Jesus modeled this for us in His own life and ministry. Matthew 14:23 says, "And when He (Jesus) had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray..." In this verse 4

5 and in many, many other New Testament passages, we see that Jesus set apart time from His public ministry solely for the purpose of devotional time and prayer to the Father. Here is an interesting question: Did Jesus really need to spend time in prayer for His ministry to be effective? Or was He just doing it as a model for us? I'm certain you could find different answers by asking different people, but I'm personally convinced that Jesus genuinely needed to spend time in prayer to fuel His messianic ministry. Why? We know that Jesus is God incarnate. And if Jesus was living and ministering as God incarnate, He certainly wouldn't need to pray. He would have had unlimited, divine power. But Jesus had to live completely as a man (a man who obeyed God the Father perfectly without sin) in order to be our legal representative and our substitute on the cross. He had to legally undo what Adam had done. The fall came by a man, and the redemption had to come by a man as well. So Jesus lived and ministered as a man in dependence upon the Father and the Holy Spirit throughout His earthly ministry. He could not "cheat" by using His own power or ability as God incarnate. It would disqualify Him from being our substitute on the cross. Therefore, Jesus genuinely had to maintain a devotional and prayer life in order to fuel His ministry as the Anointed One, the Messiah. He ministered - as a man - by the guidance and power of the Father and the Holy Spirit. Philippians 2:5-8 confirms this: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." In His earthly prayer life, Jesus was modeling something that He was also genuinely living. If Jesus needed a devotional and prayer life to fuel His ministry, how much more do we need to do that? Trying to be fruitful in our life and ministry without a strong prayer life would be misguided and very presumptuous. 5

6 The early apostles knew this very well. Acts 6:1-4 says, "Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, 'It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.'" The twelve apostles arranged their time and priorities so that they could "give themselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word." Please notice that prayer was listed first, with the ministry of the word following. As the recognized leaders of the early church, the apostles knew that their limited time had to be assigned to the highest priority activities so that the newly born church of Jesus Christ could continue to grow and advance. So their first priority was prayer, and their second priority was preaching and teaching the word of God - after being fueled by prayer. Most other things could be delegated. The Hour of Prayer We also see in Acts 3:1 that the apostles Peter and John observed a designated hour of prayer: "Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour." Did that mean that they prayed for an hour? Or did it just mean that they prayed at a certain designated time of day - "the ninth hour"? From the Greek, the meaning is probably that they had a designated prayer time every day. We don't know how long they prayed. But it is really helpful just to see that they observed a daily prayer time in order to fuel their apostolic ministries. 6

7 But we get a clue in Matthew 26:40: "Then He (Jesus) came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?" When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying for the strength to go through with the plan of the crucifixion, He asked Peter and John and James, "Could you not watch with Me one hour?" Jesus seemed to mention one hour as a unit of measure for prayer. In the Greek (and in many other languages), the word "hour" can be either literal or figurative. It can be either a length of time or a certain time of day. So it would be a huge mistake to legalistically impose a rule saying that Jesus mandated an hour of prayer. On the other hand, he mentioned it in a way that seemed to indicate an hour as a reasonable unit of prayer time. It would be wrong to legalistically impose it. It would also be a mistake to ignore it, because Jesus plainly suggested it. I would suggest this approach: if you identify as a disciple of Jesus, and you want to be fruitful in your life and ministry, I would suggest setting a goal of an hour of prayer per day, but with the realistic understanding that sometimes it just won't happen. Some days you can pray more. Some days you can pray less. It will depend on your schedule and the demands you have on your time. But set a realistic time that you can devote to prayer, and keep it as consistently as you can. Prayer time will always be contested by the enemy. You can pretty much count on it. But it's worth defending and fighting for - because Jesus said that it's how we bear fruit! In my opinion, one of the greatest pastors of modern history is Pastor Yonggi Cho, the pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea. Yonggi Cho was raised as a Buddhist, but was dying of tuberculosis as a teenager. Then a girl gave him a Bible and told him about Jesus. He began to read the Bible and pray to Jesus. He was soon miraculously healed of tuberculosis and became a Christian at the age of 17. Cho became a minister and began a church in Seoul, Korea. The short version of the story is that Cho learned to pray...and he prayed a lot! Throughout all of his 7

8 ministry, he has prayed at least an hour a day, and often as much as three or even five hours a day, depending on the need for prayer that he felt at the time. Cho's books and writings reveal that he sees an "hour of prayer" as a minimum unit of prayer time for someone who identifies as a disciple or minister of Jesus and who wants to be fruitful in that calling. Cho has been very fruitful in his calling. His church at one time numbered 830,000 members - most of them converted from Buddhism. South Korean churches are known for fervent devotion to prayer, largely because of Cho's apostolic influence. In Cho's lifetime, South Korea has gone from being almost entirely Buddhist or nonreligious to now being about one third Christian. Cho openly credits prayer as the cause for that ongoing change. I personally credit Pastor Yonggi Cho's books on prayer for being an influence and an inspiration to me. Some of the ideas developed in this booklet were originally inspired by Cho's teachings and his prayer life. So, assuming that you identify as either a disciple or a minister of Jesus Christ, and assuming that you have a real desire to be fruitful in that calling, how can you spend at least an hour in devotion and prayer without losing focus? How can you pray effectively for that hour - or even more? Of course, there is not just one "right way" to do this. Whatever works, right? But I have a favorite way of spending an hour in prayer that I will share with you. It quickly brings me into the manifested presence of God. It keeps me on track and engaged. It brings me closer to God. And it covers a lot of important ground in prayer. My favorite method is to use the Tabernacle of Moses as a guide, or track, for my devotional and prayer time. Before I go on, I want to clarify that the first half of my prayer time is really more of a devotional time. During that first half hour or so, I am mostly drawing close to God and praying into my own spiritual growth. This is where I mostly use the tabernacle of 8

9 Moses as a guide or track. The second half of my prayer time is where I really enter into intercessory prayer for others. During this half hour or so, I use "expanding concentric circles of prayer". I will explain that when we get there. But first... The Tabernacle of Moses as a Devotional Guide The tabernacle of Moses was a portable temple that God instructed Moses to make as He was leading the children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. God Himself would live in that tabernacle in the midst of His covenant people, Israel. And the tabernacle would be moved whenever God led Israel to move camp. God also instructed Moses how to set up the temple priesthood - a group of priests to minister in that tabernacle. The priests would represent the people of Israel to God, and they would also represent God to the people. The tabernacle was the center and focus of Israel's spiritual life. Everything in the tabernacle of Moses, including the priesthood, was somehow symbolic of Jesus, the prophesied Savior. It was also symbolic of everything that Jesus would do for us in the future New Covenant. (Luke 24:27) So today, we are living in the New Covenant...and that tabernacle represents you! You are now God's temple! "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16 The temple priests also represented Jesus in some ways...but they also represent us as New Covenant believers. "Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ... 1 Peter 2:4-5 9

10 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light..." 1 Peter 2:9 Now we serve as New Covenant priests, ministering to God in praise and worship, and we also serve as intercessors on behalf of the people God asks us to pray for: "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name." Hebrews 13:15 "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:1-4 So, the Tabernacle of Moses can serve as a model for our progressive relationship with God. It prophetically illustrated all that God would one day accomplish for us in Christ. It also now illustrates how we progressively receive and experience all that Jesus accomplished for us. As we walk through the it, you will see how the tabernacle represents stages in your Christian growth. The tabernacle can also serve as a model or guide for our daily devotion and prayer time. We can walk through the tabernacle on a daily basis, praying into our own spiritual growth, and drawing closer to God. Let's go ahead and learn about that now, and see how it all works. 10

11 The tabernacle was designed with three parts: the Outer Court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies (or Most Holy Place). These three parts correspond to the three parts of a human being: spirit, soul and body. In that way, the tabernacle represents us as the New Covenant temples that God lives in. The outer court represents your body, the Holy Place represents your soul, and the Most Holy Place represents your inner spirit. Only God's designated priests were allowed to carry out ministry functions in the temple. But you are one of God's New Covenant priests, ministering to God in the tabernacle where God lives...and YOU are that tabernacle! God also designated specifically what items would furnish the tabernacle, as well as how they would be constructed. This all happened when God spoke with Moses on the top of Mount Sinai, at the same time God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. "Now the glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. The sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights." Exodus 24:16-18 Later, God said to Moses, "And you shall raise up the tabernacle according to its pattern which you were shown on the mountain." Exodus 26:30 In the outer court, we find the bronze altar and the bronze laver for washing. In the Holy Place, an enclosed place entered through a veil, we find the Golden Lampstand, the Table of Showbread, and the Altar of Incense. Inside the Most Holy Place, through another veil, we find the Ark of the Covenant, covered by the Mercy Seat, and God's manifested presence abiding there. 11

12 The following diagram and pictures may help. 12

13 How do these articles in the tabernacle represent our Christian life and experience? And how can they help us as a daily devotion and prayer guide? I will give you a simple explanation of the tabernacle and how to apply it to our prayer lives today. Psalm 100:4 says that we "enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise." As Christians now, this is how we begin our devotion and prayer time - with thanksgiving and praise for anything you wish to honor God for. Also, this begins to turn our minds and our attention to God, and shuts out distractions. After thanksgiving and praise, we come to the BRONZE ALTAR. (See Exodus 27:1-8 and Hebrews 13:10.) The bronze altar represents the cross of Jesus Christ. The cross is the first necessary step in entering into a relationship with God. An Israelite who knowingly committed sin was required to bring an animal sacrifice to the priest in order to atone for his sin. He would lay his hand on the animal and symbolically transfer his sin onto the animal. The animal would then be sacrificed, and its blood would be poured out before God on the bronze altar. Part or all of the animal's body would be burned with fire upon the altar. The innocent animal was punished with death for the sin committed by the Israelite. Thus God's justice was satisfied and forgiveness was attained. Both the bronze and the fire speak of God's judgment against sin. In this way, the bronze altar represents the cross of Jesus Christ where our sins were judged and forgiveness attained. We begin our Christian life by receiving forgiveness and salvation through the cross of Christ. We likewise begin our devotion and prayer time with the grateful acknowledgment of the cross. We also take time to confess any sins or failures that are on our conscience at the moment, embracing God's gift of forgiveness and reconciliation. This may also be a time of repentance from wrong attitudes and actions, as well as a time of fresh surrender and dedication to God's will, before moving on to further prayer. 13

14 And because healing was provided by His stripes on the cross (Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24), this may also be a time to pray for any needed physical healing. Next we move to the BRONZE LAVER, which is essentially a washbasin for the priests to wash in. (Read Exodus 30:17-21, Exodus 38:8, 2 Corinthians 3:18 and Ephesians 5:25-27.) The bronze does not here speak of judgment. Rather, the mirrors of that day were made of polished bronze, and the laver was actually made of bronze mirrors. Reading the New Testament references above, we see that the bronze laver speaks of the "washing of water by the word" that progressively transforms us into a glorious church-bride for Christ, without spot or wrinkle. It also speaks of a spiritual "mirror" where Jesus progressively reveals Himself to us through His word and His Spirit, and where we are progressively transformed from glory to glory into His image. After receiving our initial salvation at the cross, we are to open the word of God - the Bible - and begin to renew our minds with God's word (Romans 12:1-2). This begins the process of "sanctification". Likewise, we move further into our devotion and prayer time by praying for Jesus to further reveal Himself to us, and for greater personal transformation as a result. We also pray that the Holy Spirit would personally teach us from the Bible, and that God's word would become revelation and faith to us. We may pray that all lies or falsehoods that have found a place in our thinking would be exposed and cast out - because all lies are planted by the thief to steal or kill or destroy (John 10:10). We pray instead that the Holy Spirit would guide us into all truth (John 16:13), because truth makes us free and empowers us (John 8:31-32). From there, we move into the Holy Place behind the first veil, and we come to the GOLDEN LAMPSTAND. (See Exodus 25:31-40, Exodus 27:20-21, Mark 4:21-25, John 8:12 and Revelation 1:12-14

15 20.) The lampstand has seven golden lamps of fire, fueled by olive oil. The lampstand itself represents Jesus as the light of the world. The gold speaks of Christ's divine nature. The number seven speaks of spiritual perfection and completion. Both the oil and the fire represent the Holy Spirit as our source of of truth and revelation, illuminating the otherwise dark place of our soul. So the golden lampstand represents Jesus and the Holy Spirit as our perfect and complete source of truth and personal guidance. After beginning to learn the word of God, we begin to seek and experience the personal guidance of the Holy Spirit as He illuminates our souls. He personally teaches us (John 14:26) and helps us with personal decisions and guidance (Romans 8:14). Likewise, we continue our prayer time now with prayers for God's guidance and wisdom for every challenge we face and every decision we make (Colossians 1:9). Directly across from the lampstand in the Holy Place is the TABLE OF SHOWBREAD. (See Exodus 25:23-30, Leviticus 24:5-9, John 6:31-35 and 1 Corinthians 10:16-17.) The wood and gold construction of the table speaks of Jesus as both man and God. The bread itself represents Jesus as "the bread of life that comes down from Heaven". The twelve loaves originally represented the twelve tribes of Israel. Now they represent the bread of the Lord's presence for all of God's covenant people - the New Covenant church born from the twelve apostles of Jesus. We also see in Matthew 15:21-26 that the healing and deliverance ministry of Jesus is the children's bread - originally for Israel, but now for all who believe in Jesus as Messiah. In the progression of our Christian life, we begin to experience the intimacy of the Lord's presence. His presence becomes our daily life, our strength, and our nourishment. We rejoice in His presence, and we always hunger for more. Likewise, we take this time in our daily devotion and prayer time to ask for the fresh 15

16 bread of His presence. We receive His nourishment for our whole being. We receive His healing and His deliverance. We ask for His presence to always be with us. We ask for His presence to grow greater and stronger in us day by day. Finally, still in the Holy Place, we come to the ALTAR OF INCENSE before the veil into the Most Holy Place. (See Exodus 30:1-10, Revelation 5:8 and Revelation 8:1-6.) From the New Testament references, we see that the altar of incense represents both our worship and "the prayers of the saints" ascending to God. In the progression of our Christian life, we become passionate worshipers of God, and we also become people who embrace the call to pray, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) We become people who intercede for others, praying that they find salvation in Christ and that they grow spiritually. Likewise, in this prayer track, we spend a few more moments in pure worship...and we are now prepared to experientially enter into the throneroom of God for a time of effective intercession and prayer. Now we step through the veil into the Holy of Holies. We encounter here the ARK OF THE COVENANT (also called the ARK OF THE TESTIMONY), with the MERCT SEAT upon it. (See Exodus 25:10-22.) The ark was the most important item in the tabernacle. Entire books have been written about the symbolism and history of the ark of the covenant (and a few cool movies too!) But simply put, the ark and the mercy seat represent the throne of God. This is especially clear if you compare the cherubim (angelic creatures) in Isaiah 6, Ezekiel 1, and Revelation 4-5 to the golden cherubim on the mercy seat above the ark. The ark of the covenant and the mercy seat represent God's Throne of Grace in Heaven. (See Hebrews 4:16.) Our access to the throneroom and to this throne of grace was purchased for us by the blood of Jesus on the cross (the bronze altar). (See Hebrews 10:19-20.) This throne is where 16

17 we are now seated with Christ at the right hand of God in Heaven (Ephesians 1:20 and Ephesians 2:6). This is the place of perfect union and communion with God. This is the place where God said He would meet with us and speak to us (Exodus 25:22). Since the Most Holy Place represents the spirit of a born-again person, the ark and mercy seat now represent the throne and the presence of God abiding inside our hearts right now! In other words, we have direct access to the throne of God in Heaven, but the access door is now located right inside our hearts! Think it through... The Bible says that we are now seated in the throneroom of God, and that the throne of God is also inside of us! The Bible says that we are now in Christ, and that Christ is inside of us! It could melt your brain if you really think about it! Union and communion with God in the throneroom is something that we actually have access to the moment we are born again. But our understanding and our experience of it increases over time as we grow in Christ. That's why the tabernacle of Moses is such a beautiful symbol of our growing relationship with God as Christians. Likewise, our daily devotional time has been leading us to this point, where we now have the sense of being at God's throne of grace, and where we can begin to intercede effectively for the people God wants us to pray for. Here, we can begin to pray effectively for God's kingdom to come through our lives and our ministries. Here, we pray Spirit-led prayers. Here, we pray from the position of the finished victory of Christ. Here, we pray from the revelation and dominion of Heaven! Expanding Concentric Circles of Prayer At this point, our prayer time will be an expanded version of what Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:10 - "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." The second half of our prayer time is given to intercessory prayer for others. 17

18 We will now pray in expanding concentric circles of prayer coverage. Start closest to home, and then work your way out to the rest of the world. 1. Start by praying for your family and any other loved ones. 2. Next, pray for the leadership of your church, followed by your whole church family. 3. After that, pray that new people will be drawn into your church to become followers of Jesus also. 4. Move on to pray for the community that you live in. Pray for the people that live there, and for the government and the schools and the businesses and the churches. 5. Now pray for your country. Pray for the seven mountains of influence in every culture: government (all three branches), family, church, business, science, education and media. 6. Finally, pray for foreign nations and missions as God leads you. What, specifically, should we ask when we pray for these circles? Pray for God's will as it is revealed in the Bible. Here are several scriptures that reveal God's will for the people and communities you are praying for. 1 Timothy 2:1-4 - Pray that people who don't know Jesus will come to salvation by the working of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 4:19 - Pray that Christ will be formed in the people you pray for - the nature and character of Christ, the love of Christ, the ministry of Christ, etc. Ephesians 1:15-20 and Ephesians 3: Pray for people that they will be filled with God's truth, power, strength and love. Acts 2: Pray that God will pour out His Spirit upon those you are praying for, and that they will call on the name of the Lord to be saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. Colossians 1: Pray that people will receive the knowledge and revelation of God's will for them. 18

19 3 John 1:2 - Pray that people will prosper and be in health as their souls prosper in God's truth and love. Luke 10:2 - Pray that God will send laborers into the harvest to bring the gospel of Christ to the people you are praying for. Colossians 4:3 - Pray that God would open doors for the gospel message to be introduced into new social circles; pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance and power to share Jesus with others. 1 Chronicles 4: Pray for yourself, and for any ministry or church you are active in, that God would bless you greatly and expand your ministry and your influence. Pray for His mighty works through your ministry, and for His protection. Matthew 6: Pray for God's kingdom to come and for His will to be done in people's lives; for the bread of His presence and provision; for the grace of His forgiveness to flow freely through all of us; for deliverance and protection from all of Satan's works. Matthew 6:13 - Always acknowledge that all of our prayers are for the advancement of God's kingdom, by God's power, and for God's glory. This keeps us centered in God's heart and God's will. It keeps us from becoming self-centered or self-exalting or selfserving in our prayers. Colossians 4:2 - Always end with thanksgiving for what God has done, and for what He will do now in answer to our prayers. These are just a few examples. As you pray, the Holy Spirit will bring other scriptures to your mind that will reveal to you how He wants you to pray. Over time, prayer will become something you do in active partnership with the Holy Spirit. With this guide, you will easily learn to spend quality time in focused and effective prayer. God will certainly show you other effective ways to pray as well. My prayer is that this guide will help you get launched into a fruitful prayer life. Remember why we are doing this? Jesus taught that the secret to being a fruitful disciple or minister is to "abide in Him" and to "ask what you desire". Commit yourself to a devotional and prayer life, and watch the Lord's promised fruitfulness begin to happen in your life and ministry! 19

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