Principles of Prayer Lesson Three July 17, 2012 What Is Prayer? 1) Prayer is the practice of the presence of God. a. It is the place where pride is abandoned, hope is lifted, and supplication is made. b. Prayer is the place of admitting our need, of adopting humility, and claiming dependence upon God. c. Prayer is the needful practice of the Christian. d. Prayer is the exercise of faith and hope. e. Prayer is the privilege of touching the heart of the Father through the Son of God, Jesus our Lord. Types of Prayer (all with different rules (instructions, procedures, guidelines) Prayer of Thanksgiving Prayer of Praise & Worship Prayer of Adoration Prayer of Faith Prayer of Consecration Prayer of Confession Prayer of Supplication Prayer of Intercession Prayer of Petition Most Christians do not know what prayer is and why God instituted it. God wants a relationship with his children, and prayer is a means of communication and contact with our heavenly father. Prayer, combined with faith in the word of God, is a channel through which his power can be released to meet our needs, allowing him the opportunity to get involved in the circumstances of our lives. When we pray we should expect to get answers. Prayer is not a roulette game where you take as great a chance of losing as you do of hitting the jackpot. Every time we go before God in prayer, we win if we are praying correctly. There are various types of prayers and each prayer has its own rules of praying. Just like in various games we play such as football, basketball, baseball, golf, tennis, etc. Notice that each of these games involve a ball, but each ballgame has its own set of rules.
You cannot play football with the rules pertaining to baseball, nor can you play basketball under the rules that pertain to football. So it is with prayer, when we pray we need to know how to apply the right rules to each prayer. Just as there are different rooms that govern various sports activities, there are spiritual rooms that govern different kinds of praying. The Prayer of Agreement The prayer of agreement involves more than one person. This involves two or more people getting into agreement about one particular thing they are believing God for. You can of course get an answer from God without using the prayer of agreement. However, if your faith is not sufficiently developed, or if you do not believe that your faith is strong enough to bring to pass the thing you desire, you can get the job done by pooling your faith with someone else's. The Bible tells us and reveals that there are various degrees of faith. Jesus made these statements to the people in particular situations: o "I have not found such great faith", o "O you of little faith", o "according to your faith be it unto you", o "If you have the faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains". Here is an example of how more prayer can be generated through the prayer of agreement: If you have a whole that is wired for 110 V and you purchase an appliance calibrated to operate on 220 V, nothing will happen when you plug in the appliance because there is not enough power being generated to run it. You will need to increase the electrical output from 110 V to at least 220 V. Perhaps you have a sickness or disease in your body that is like a 220 V problem, but you only have 110 V of faith operating. You will need to step up your faith output to move that 220 V problem. What you can do is find a brother or sister in Christ who has entities a 110 V faith and the two of you could join your faith together. Now you have a 220 V faith to get the job done providing the two of you get into agreement on the same thing. When we are praying the Prayer of Agreement it is our responsibility to make sure that the person we are praying with have the same goal in mind. We cannot pray for someone to live, when they are choosing to die. If a person wants to die, the prayers of those who want him or her to live will not work because God does not allow us to exercise faith over someone else's will. No one can exercise his or her will over another unless that person allows it. Matthew 18:19 gives us the rule that governs the prayer of agreement. It says, " If two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they asked, it will be done for them by my father in heaven." The rules for this prayer are, 1) It requires two people to be in agreement
2) It requires two people on earth 3) They must ask for the same thing The prayer of agreement is one of the greatest ways for a husband and wife to pray because if anybody ought to be in agreement, it ought to be the husband and wife. If both parties are walking in the word and there is harmony between them this is a very effective way to pray Prayer of Faith/Petition In Mark 11:24 Scripture says this, "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you received them, and you will have them." I want you to notice something here, this prayer is for you. The Scripture above states, when you pray, you believe, and you will receive. As Christians we are not to use this prayer on other people. o Let's say that you are sick and you need healing. When you pray believe that you are healed, you will be healed. o If you are unemployed, and you desire employment you can believe for yourself and what you believe for it will come to past. When you pray the prayer of faith it is you who are petitioning God on your behalf. Often times we confuse the prayer of faith with the Prayer of Intercession. Now let s look at the rules for the Prayer of Faith/Petition. 1) Things are to be asked for 2) Believe that you will receive them and you will have them 3) There is no sight involved with faith 4) faith in God s Word is your proof it will come to past Now there's another verse that must be read and understood when praying the Prayer of Faith/Petition. Mark 11: 25 & 26, "and when you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. "But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." In essence, this means that if you go to God to exercise the prayer of faith and you have malice in your heart against someone your faith is automatically shortcircuited, and your prayer will not work. So the formula for Petition Prayer is, when you pray not after you pray; not when you see something, but when you pray. If you have confidence that you have prayed according to the will of God, you should have no doubt that He heard you. Therefore, you should not pray for the same thing a second time. This is like saying you did not get your prayer answered the first time you prayed.
Start using your faith on the little things and build yourself up to the point where you can believe God for the bigger thing. It is a process; it is progressive growth, and as you continue to grow, it will work. Prayer of Intercession This is when you pray for someone else totally and completely, and when you pray for someone else without knowing what the circumstances and situations are. There are two sides of intercession: o On one side of intercession, we get in agreement about somebody or something and prayed for them in English telling God what we want. o The other side the very high-end of intercession is when we may not even know who is being prayed for. The Holy Spirit will place a strong urge in your spirit to pray for something or someone. o Sometimes the Lord may even place someone before you and you will have a mini-vision and see a person, but you do not know what you are supposed to pray about or you do not know their problem or what they need. This is where you get into true intercession; you will not do this in your native language, because you will not know what to pray for. This is what Romans 8:26 is referring to, "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning s which cannot be uttered." When we pray in the understanding, o we pray based on our perceived knowledge, meaning that your prayers will be limited to what you know about the particular person, place or thing. o But when you pray in the spirit, two very important things happen; your mind cannot get in the way to confuse the issues, and neither can the devil, because he does not know what you are saying or what you are praying about. o When you pray in your natural language, Satan does know what you are saying, and he can interject some thoughts into your mind while you are praying. o Praying in the spirit, or praying with other tongues, is the most perfect way to pray. While praying in your heavily language, we are much more effective because we are praying in accordance with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Prayer of Praise and Worship This is a prayer between you and the Lord and all you are doing is telling him how much you love him. You are not asking him for something. You are sending up a sweet savor unto him of adoration, appreciation, and Thanksgiving.
Prayer of Consecration and or Dedication This is a prayer where you place yourself in a position to be used by God. You have to use "if it be your will" in this type of prayer because you cannot find God's will concerning the situation in the Bible. Jesus prayed this type of prayer before he went to the cross. In his case, it was going to cost Him His life not only physically, but it was going to cost Him by separating him from the Father God and he had never known separation. Jesus did not want separation, but He was obedient even unto death. He said, in essence, "Father if there is another way to redeem mankind without having to become sin, let it be done. Let this cup pass from me. But not my will, but your will be done." You never use a Prayer of Consecration and Dedication when you are trying to pay your bills, received healing, salvation, etc. If you tack on "if it be your will" onto a petition prayer, you are praying in and out and to do so will counsel out the prayer. Whenever the Bible states the will of God for our lives, we are not to use the word if when praying. The Scripture tells us that with his stripes we were healed therefore when I pray I must believe and confess God's will over my life. If I say Lord, if it be your will for me to be healed, it is because I do not know what His will is concerning healing for me. If God says I am healed, then I am not to pray contrary to what he says. This applies to all of the promises of God. It is our responsibility to make sure our lives are consistent with the conditions upon which the promises are based. In first Thessalonians 5:7 we are told to "Pray without ceasing." That does not mean that we pray throughout the day on a nonstop basis. It simply means that as Christians, we are not to give up on prayer as a way of communicating with our heavenly Father, as a way of making intercession, and as a way of making our partitions known to Him.