ARTICLE ONE
Do Your Prayers Have Power?
Jennifer Kennedy Dean
"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16).
Do your prayers have power? When you pray, do you consistently see the power of God
manifested on the earth? Does your experience in prayer match God's descriptions of
prayer's power given in His Word?
"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective," we read in James
5:16. Is that how you would define your prayer life--- powerful and effective? The
words "powerful and effective" are translated from a single Greek word meaning
capable of producing results; to have or exercise force. Prayer, James says, has force
and produces results. Prayer impacts lives and situations on the earth. True prayer
works.
Many believers are discouraged about prayer. Secretly, many have reached the
conclusion that prayer doesn't work or that prayer only works sometimes. Promises in
the Bible regarding prayer seem unreliable, the outcome of prayer unpredictable. As a
result, we have watered down or scaled back the scripture's descriptions of the power of
prayer. We expect less from God than He longs to give. After all, how silly we felt
having prayed boldly and with great conviction, believing with all our might, only to see
our prayers go unanswered. Our faith takes a hit from which it never recovers. Next
time, we are more circumspect with our requests. Next time, our expectations are more
in line with reality.
Having reached this point, we need to look for ways to explain away the power
promised in scripture. "It's not for today" is a favorite saying. How did we reach that
conclusion? What is the authoritative basis of it? Certainly not scripture. Trying to
explain the lack of powerful praying, we have tried to reduce prayer to an activity that
will match our experience, rather than looking for the source of prayer's failure in
ourselves.
Suppose you consult a doctor about an ailment and he prescribes a medication.
Imagine that the doctor promises that this medication will cure your ailment. "Take this
medicine in the prescribed dosage three times a day every day for ten days," he instructs.
Suppose that you go home and follow his instructions for a few days. You see little or
no improvement, so you begin to doubt the efficacy of the medicine. You take it
haphazardly and finally quit taking it at all. When you return to the doctor for a checkup, you say, "That medicine didn't cure me as you promised it would." Is your
accusation accurate? Did the medicine fail? Of course the medicine did not cure your
illness. You didn't apply it correctly. You made your own rules. You wanted the
medicine to work on your terms. The failing is not in the medicine but in your method of
applying the medicine.
This is a picture of how we have come to think of prayer. "Prayer doesn't work
like the Bible says it will work," we say. Why not? Could it be because we have tried to
make prayer work on our terms and that the failure is not with prayer itself but with our
way of praying? Remember that God's Word clearly states that God's power produces
results on the earth when a righteous person prays. (James 5:16)
I challenge you to look at your prayer life honestly and without pretense. Set
aside your past experiences that have caused you to feel disillusioned about prayer and
its effects. Would you be open to God's Word as He speaks it through His Spirit into
your understanding? In response to His Word, are you willing to change the way you
view prayer? Would you put your life at His disposal and give Him access to your mind
so that He can bring understanding?
I look forward to exploring prayer in this series of articles, looking for the deep
truths that take us past bumper-sticker theology and into the riches stored in secret place.
(Is. 45:3)
In the next issue, we will look at myths and misconceptions about prayer that rob
it of its power.
(Adapted from Live a Praying Life by Jennifer Kennedy Dean. Used by permission.)
ARTICLE TWO
Misconceptions About Prayer Part 1
Jennifer Kennedy Dean
Misconception #1: Prayer is the way we get things from God.
In the previous article, we began by asking, “Do your prayers have power?” This series
of articles will progressively explore what makes prayer work the way the Scripture says
it will work—releasing the power of heaven into the circumstances of earth.
Misconceptions about prayer limit us. These misunderstandings are perhaps not
articulated, but they are obvious in our approach to prayer and our expectations about
prayer. The truth about prayer will free us to pray with the boldness God intends.
Some pray as if prayer is the way to get "things" from God.
Does God tell us to ask Him for the material things we need? Yes, He does. Is it
wrong to ask God for material things? No, God encourages it. However, this is not the
primary purpose for which God ordained prayer. If your prayer life is limited to placing
your orders with God and expecting Him to fulfill them in a timely manner, I imagine
you have often been disappointed.
Prayer for material needs is presented by Jesus as the very simplest kind of
prayer. This kind of prayer requires the least amount of spiritual energy. Jesus teaches,
first of all, that your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Then He goes on
to tell His followers that they do not have to worry about what to eat or what to wear. He
points us to nature and the splendor with which the Father clothes the lilies of the field
and the care with which He watches the birds of the air. He says, speaking of material
things, "Your Father knows that you need them." You do not have to convince Him of
your need.
Not only does He know your need, He also cares about your need. You are more
important to Him than the birds and the lilies. His provision for them is ample evidence
that He will provide for you. You do not have to persevere and struggle in prayer for
material needs. Since that's the case, you can expend your spiritual energy seeking His
kingdom and His righteousness, certain that your needs will be met.
Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little
children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:3). To see the kingdom
of God clearly, one must leave behind adult pretenses and sophisticated arguments.
Often, we come to God prepared to do battle with Him, convince Him of the validity of
our need and give Him reasons to meet it.
What a contrast to the way a little child comes to his or her parents. A
child simply assumes that the need or desire is potent enough to speak for itself. All that
is required is to bring that need to Mom or Dad's attention. The request assumes the
answer. The child's only thought is to bring the need to the source of supply.
Look at the requests of those who knew Jesus well. Mary, Jesus’ mother,
when confronted with a need, turned to Jesus and simply spoke the need to Him. She did
not feel compelled to plead or cajole or convince. She did not know what Jesus would
do, but she knew He would meet the need. “When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said
to him, ‘They have no more wine’” (John 2:3). Simple faith in the character of Jesus
moved the burden from Mary’s shoulders and set the stage for His power and provision.
You don't need to build a theological case for why God
should want to meet your need. He wants to meet your need because He's
your Daddy and you are the apple of His eye. Jesus highlights the
simplicity of supplication by saying, "Ask and it will be given to
you...For everyone who asks receives" (Matt. 7:7-8). The Greek word
translated "ask" is used to ask for something to be given, not done. It is
the simplest, most straight-forward picture of asking for something you
need.
When a person seeks to use prayer as nothing more than a means of
obtaining material things, that person will never discover the overwhelming and aweinspiring power available through prayer. It is very simple for God to supply your
material needs and He does so willingly.
(Adapted from Live a Praying Life by Jennifer Kennedy Dean. Used by permission.)
ARTICLE THREE
Misconceptions About Prayer Part 2
Jennifer Kennedy Dean
Misconception #2: Prayer will give God new information or inspire in Him new ideas
Do your prayers have power? That’s the question we are addressing in this series of
articles. What makes prayer work the way the Scripture says it will work—releasing the
power of heaven into the circumstances of earth? Last month, we started examining
misconceptions about prayer that keep us from experiencing prayer the way God intends
for us to experience it. This month we’ll consider misconception number two: Some
pray as if prayer will give God new information or inspire in Him new ideas
Some approach prayer as if it is the responsibility of the petitioner to decide what
God needs to do and then talk Him into doing it. This kind of pray-er sees himself as
constantly having to overcome God's objections, or His inertia, or His procrastination.
This person feels that God always starts out against him and has to be won over. Prayer
of this kind pits the prayer against God. It feels like a battle of wills.
As with every misconception about prayer, this error causes the praying person
to expend spiritual energy, needlessly, on the wrong target. The person who prays in this
way tends to look for the right formula, or the right words to say, or the right order in
which to say them. This person is always on a quest to find the approach to God that
will finally get Him to act.
This person believes the myth that it is hard to get God to answer prayer. The
truth is that God longs to do His work on earth in response to prayer. Prayer is His idea.
God thought up prayer, not us. God put prayer into the equation as the means by which
my need could find His supply. E. Stanley Jones says it this way, “Prayer is … the
opening of a channel from your emptiness into God’s fullness.” (Abundant Living)
God answers prayer, but He doesn't follow instructions. God reprimands those
who attempt to instruct Him. "Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or instructed
him as his counselor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him
the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of
understanding?" (Is. 40:13-14).
God has established prayer as the conduit through which His power and
provision flow out of heaven and into the circumstances of earth. Jesus prayed like this:
“Let Your will that has been done in heaven, now be done on earth.” I’m paraphrasing
Matthew 6:10. Why would Jesus pray the will of God from heaven onto the earth unless
He knew that prayer was necessary to seeing God’s will activated in the earth?
He doesn’t need our advice, or our suggestions, or our ideas, but He loves our
prayers. He rejoices in them. They bring Him pleasure. His heart is attuned even to our
sighs and groans, never missing the most inarticulate cry that rises from the hearts of His
people.
You don’t have to win God over. You don’t have to convince Him. You don’t
have to inform Him. You don’t have to perform empty rituals to get His attention. Just
open your life to His power and provision.
(Adapted from Live a Praying Life by Jennifer Kennedy Dean. Used by permission.)
ARTICLE FOUR
Misconceptions About Prayer Part 3
Jennifer Kennedy Dean
Misconception # 3: Prayer is the means of cajoling God into releasing His carefully
hoarded riches.
What makes prayer work the way God says it will work? How can we experience the
power in prayer that Scripture promises? In this series, we have been exploring the
myths that have crept into our prayer theology, robbing prayer of its full potential to
release the power and provision of God in our lives. We have looked at three myths: (1)
Some pray as if prayer is the way to get "things" from God; (2) Some pray as if prayer
will give God new information or inspire in Him new ideas; and 3) Some pray as if God
sometimes forgets or tries to renege on His promises and is depending on pray-ers to
remind Him of them. Today we add a fourth. Some pray as if prayer is the means of
cajoling God into releasing His carefully hoarded riches.
"Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance, but laying hold of God's
willingness."(Martin Luther) God offers us His resources. He invites us to take His gifts.
He does not have to be convinced to let go of His blessings. His Word says that He
lavishes on us the riches of His grace (Eph. 1:8) and that He lavishes His love on us (1
John 3:1). He is extravagant in His gifts. He pours them out. He showers us with them.
He doesn’t trickle them out or sprinkle them on us. Scripture never uses language that
would portray God as stingy or hesitant to give. Instead we read that He "richly blesses
all who call on him" (Rom. 10:12).
When we pray as if we are trying to wrestle goodness from God’s grasp, we
expend spiritual energy needlessly trying to convince God of something of which He is
already convinced. Giving you every good thing gives Him joy; it delights Him. Jesus
assures us with these words: "'Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been
pleased to give you the kingdom'" (Luke 12:32). He has set His heart on you.
In prayer we are cooperating with God. We are not working to try to persuade
Him. God does not need to be cajoled into wanting the best for you and for the ones you
love. Rather, we are yielding to Him, letting our hearts be pliable and moldable so that
He can recreate His own desires in us.
“Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart”
(Ps 37:4). The word translated “delight” in this statement is a Hebrew word that means
soft or pliable. To delight in the Lord means to be molded by Him. To be compliant to
His desires. To be open and available to His transforming presence. When He has access
to your malleable heart, He can shape it to match His. He can imprint His desires on
your yielded heart. When you pray the desires of your heart, your prayer is the
expression of His desires.
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything
according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we
know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15). The primary focus of
prayer is God’s heart. His heart’s desires are all for your benefit and for your good. He
does not need to be convinced to love you and will the best for you. So turn your
attention from trying to persuade Him and, instead, allow yourself to be persuaded by
Him. Move from working to get Him to yield to your requests and, instead, yield your
heart to Him. Allow Him to make your heart the repository of His desires.
(Adapted from Live a Praying Life by Jennifer Kennedy Dean. Used by permission.)
ARTICLE FIVE
Misconceptions About Prayer Part 4
Jennifer Kennedy Dean
Misconception #4: God sometimes forgets or tries to renege on His promises and is
depending on pray-ers to remind Him of them.
God does not need to be reminded of His promises. He made promises and
bound Himself to us in a blood-sealed covenant so that we would know exactly what we
could expect from Him. The purpose of His promises is to give us confidence and peace.
Instead, sometimes we pray as if we are responsible for finding the scriptural promise
that can be construed as guaranteeing the outcome we have prescribed, then taking that
promise to God to hold Him to His Word.
This kind of pray-er treats God's Word as if it is a catalog. He decides what God
should do, looks through the Bible to find a verse that will match his plan, and orders it.
In doing so, as in catalog shopping, the pray-er skims over everything that holds no
appeal. He picks and chooses.
Remember, Scripture is not Gods words; it is God's Word. Scripture is a whole
and cannot be cut apart and pasted together to match my agenda. His Word is not a
catalog. It is His promise in writing.
When we approach prayer this way--as if God might try to get out of meeting our
need, but since we have His promise, we can hold Him to it--once again, energy is spent
in the wrong direction. What a burden it is for me to search the scripture and find
exactly the right verse to bring to God's attention. Instead, as I turn my heart and my
mind toward Him, He reminds me of His promises. He reminds me of what I can count
on. The promises are not for me to use in getting my way with God, but they are for God
to use to inspire faith and confidence within me.
I know there are sentences in Scripture which some have interpreted to mean
that we are to remind God of His promises. For example, “Remember your word to
your servant, for you have given me hope. My comfort in my suffering is this: Your
promise preserves my life” (Ps 119:49-50). This word translated “remember” means
to put a mark on something so you can find it again. In our day, it would be like to
highlight text on a page. Make it stand out. Emphasize it. Certainly David was not
fearful that God had forgotten His word.
Now let’s look at a n incident in which it appears that the petitioner was
reminding God of His promises. Right now, read 2 Chronicles 20:1-29 and take note
of Jehoshophat’s prayer. Notice that it sounds as if he is reminding God.
Let’s dissect that some. Jehoshaphat came before the Lord to inquire of Him
and to seek help from Him. The promises of God and the past faithfulness of the Lord
began to fill Jehoshaphat’s mind. What sounded like the petitioner reminding God,
was really God reminding the petitioner. Notice who Jehoshaphat’s faith and boldness
grew with each declaration of God’s promises. God was building a foothold for his
faith.
God is watching over His word to see that it is carried out, according to
Jeremiah 1:12. Every word He has spoken and every promise He has made live
forever and are settled in the heavens. Rather than working to find a promise of which
you can “remind” God, instead be still and let God remind you.
(Adapted from Live a Praying Life by Jennifer Kennedy Dean. Used by permission.)
ARTICLE SIX
Leaving Behind the Misconceptions and Moving Forward in the Truth
Jennifer Kennedy Dean
The most limiting misconception about prayer is that its secret lies in the words we
sandwich between “Dear God” and “Amen.” God has so much more to give us than just
those things we know to ask Him for. He wants to give us Himself. And what does He
want in return? Everything. Prayer is not an activity, but a relationship.
Teri bought an abstract painting from a junk store in California for $5.00. Ten
years later, she discovered that the “junk” she purchased was likely an original Jackson
Pollock painting and could be worth more than $10 million. Let’s project our
imaginations into the future and suppose that Teri has been paid $10 million for the
painting that cost her $5.00. Let’s imagine that she is sitting in the palatial mansion the
money has afforded her and that she is dripping in jewels and draped in fine designer
clothing, none of which she could have afforded previously. Imagine that I ask her,
“What did that Jackson Pollock painting cost you?” How do you think she would answer
that question? I think she would say, “Cost me? It cost me nothing. It gained me $10
million and afforded me everything I own.” When the profit far outweighs the
investment, we call it gain. The initial cost is swallowed up in the benefit it obtains, and
it shows up on the “profit” side of the balance sheet.
Jesus challenged those who would be His disciples first to count the cost.
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the
cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is
not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to
build and was not able to finish’” (Luke 14:28-30). He made it clear that to be His
disciple would cost a person everything. But Jesus also challenged those who sought to
be His disciples to count the reward. After you count the cost, then count the reward. “If
you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and
the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). When the benefit far outweighs the cost, we
call it gain.
“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What
is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider
them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a
righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith
in Christ-the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith” (Phil. 3:7-10).
Do you see what Paul is saying? He said that he gave up everything he valued
because when he compared it to “the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my
Lord,” everything he valued was rubbish. It was nothing. It was less than nothing. The
worth of everything he valued was swallowed up in the surpassing greatness of knowing
Christ. If we could ask Paul, “What did radical discipleship cost you?” I think Paul
would answer, “Cost me? It cost me nothing and gained me everything.”
The Cost of Discipleship
The call is radical. His call to you is that you surrender everything to be His disciple.
And when you have emptied yourself of everything you have, He will fill you with
everything He has. What does Jesus have to give you? “All that belongs to the Father is
mine” (John 16:15). Once you have counted the cost, then count the reward.
(Used by permission.)
ARTICLE SEVEN
If Prayer is Working, Why Am I Hurting?
Jennifer Kennedy Dean
Many people feel that prayer had failed them when life brings disappointment and
difficulty. I have had this question addressed to me time and time again, in one form or
another: “If prayer really works, then why did this hard, disappointing experience
happen to me?”
Let me remind you of the purpose of prayer: Prayer is the conduit through which
the power and provision of God flow into the circumstances of earth. Prayer is NOT a
mantra or a set of magic “abra-cadabra” words that will transform all of life into a fairy
tale that you author. Prayer is bigger and better than that. Through prayer, God is
working in your life to accomplish all of His purpose for you and for others in your life
and for generations to follow. Some of that purpose is accomplished through difficulty.
What you can be sure of is this: God will not allow any circumstance into your life that
has purpose other than for your benefit. All of His plans for you are good, and all of His
plans for you are designed to give you a future and a hope.
Explore this thought with me as we look at a statement the Lord made about the
country of Moab.
“Moab has been at ease since his youth;
He has also been undisturbed, like wine on its dregs,
And he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
Nor has he gone into exile.
Therefore he retains his flavor,
And his aroma has not changed” (Jer. 48:11, New American Standard Bible)
The Scripture is the living Word of God, so even those passages addressed to a
particular audience in a specific time regarding a unique event have layers of meaning.
Even those passages that are spoken within the context of time echo into eternity,
speaking fresh truth to God’s people in any given moment.
This passage is describing the nation of Moab regarding situation that is framed
in time. But it speaks to me through the present Voice of the Living God.
God says that Moab has been left undisturbed. He is describing what a person is
like who has never been challenged and forced to face disappointment or disruption of
his life. He is like wine on its dregs. Wine left to sit on its dregs becomes bitter and
harsh. It is unpalatable. It is useless.
The art of winemaking involves stages. A wine must be moved from vessel to
vessel along the way. Each stage of winemaking requires a vessel of different size,
shape, and construction. Each stage accomplishes something different for the final
product—the wine that is becoming. At each stage, the dregs have settled to the bottom
and must be strained out to prevent the ruin of the wine. The stage at which a wine must
be emptied from one vessel to another is not a static and predictable period. Only the
winemaker can tell.
God, the Great Winemaker, is fermenting a rich and perfect wine in you. Do you
feel yourself being emptied from vessel to vessel? You get used to the shape and the feel
of your life, and then find yourself being emptied out. During part of the process, you
have been poured out, but not poured in yet. You know that your old vessel has been
emptied out, but you do not feel yourself having arrived in a new vessel yet. There is a
transition period, a pouring. It is disorienting and uncertain. Then you find yourself
poured into a life of a completely different shape and size and made up of new materials.
It is new to you and it doesn’t feel like it fits.
Learn the ways of the Winemaker. Don’t be discouraged or frightened when the
shape of your life and the construction of your days seem to be changing. God will not
let you sit on your dregs. Unlike Moab, you will not stay in the same place. You will not
be locked into your immaturity, retaining the same aroma as in your youth. He is
ripening you, fermenting you, enriching you.
Rejoice! You are being emptied from vessel to vessel.
(Used by permission)
ARTICLE EIGHT
Prayer: The Key to Everything
Jennifer Kennedy Dean
Prayer is the key that unlocks all of the treasures of the Kingdom of God. It is a key that
He has placed in your hand and invites you to use. Prayer is the conduit through which
all the power and provision of God flows.
One of the questions people often have about prayer is: “If God knows what I
need, why do I need to ask Him for it?” Jesus tells us in Matthew 6 that we do not need
to worry about things because the Father knows everything we need (Matt. 6:31-32). He
says in Matthew 6:8, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Yet, He
teaches us to pray, “Give us today our daily bread” (Matt. 6:9). He states the need to ask
in even stronger terms when He says, “Ask and it will be given to you” (Matt. 7:7).
Don’t you find that interesting? Jesus assures us that God knows everything we need,
yet tells us to ask Him for it. Consider why God has set things up so that prayer releases
into our lives what He knows we need and wants to give us.
God Wants Our Hearts
It’s simple for God to meet your needs. Everything in the universe is His.
Everything is at His command. It would be easy for God to do for you and provide for
you everything you need without waiting for you to ask. But that is not how He has
structured it.
God loves you and desires to live in intimacy with you. Prayer is more than the
words you say that come sandwiched between “Dear God” and “Amen.” Prayer is an
openness to and awareness of His presence and His power in your life. He wants full
possession of your heart. He wants you to live in the experience of His love for you.
Imagine what it might be like if God met your needs without engaging you in the
process. You would never recognize His provision. It would seem to you to be
coincidence or “just the way things are.” But because you have the privilege of seeing
Him meet your needs in response to prayer, you experience Him. You see how He
provides for you even in the smallest details. You learn that a life lived prayerfully is a
life lived beyond your limits.
In asking, you are recognizing the Source of everything. “Don't be deceived, my
dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father
of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:16-18).
God tells you to ask for what you need because this interaction keeps you aware that no
matter what avenue of supply He chooses to make use of, He is the source.
Sometimes God is waiting for you to ask because until you see your need, you
will not recognize His supply. He waits until the need is real to you. He waits until you
have come to the end of your own resources; until you have tried everything you know
to try. He waits for you to turn to Him as the one and only Source.
Prayer is a Relationship
The foundation of a prayerful life is knowing God. A promise is only as good as
the person who makes it. When you make knowing Him your focus, you will come to
trust His promises and the power of prayer will become your reality.
How do you come to know Him more personally and intimately? Soak yourself
in His Word. Let your life marinate in it—absorbing its truth and wisdom into your
heart. Live in uncompromising obedience to Him. Set aside a time every day for
focusing on Him without distractions. Regularly be in fellowship with other believers
who share your passion for knowing Him. As you keep your life open to Him through
these disciplines, you will come to know Him intimately. Trust in Him will come
spontaneously. Peace will be the most natural state of your soul. You will find that you
have moved from “saying prayers” to “living prayer.”
(Adapted from Fueled by Faith by Jennifer Kennedy Dean. Used by permission)
ARTICLE NINE
Top Ten Reasons for “Prayer Fatigue”
Jennifer Kennedy Dean
1. Thinking of prayer as one more thing on your already crowded “to do” list.
Prayer is not an activity, but a relationship. You live continually in that prayer
relationship. It is not something you do, but something you live.
2. The feeling that your job in prayer is to convince God or to move Him to do your
will.
Prayer is initiated by God. He moves in your heart, convincing you and moving you to
respond to Him and to open your life to His power and provision. Instead of feeling that
you have to work on Him, relax and let Him work in you.
3. The feeling that God is grading you in prayer and you are making a barely
passing grade.
God is not criticizing you and scolding you. He is not withholding His blessings from
you because you did not say your prayer correctly. The Holy Spirit has perfected your
expression of prayer in the spiritual realm and God is responding to the cry of your
heart, not the cry of your lips.
4. Trying to follow someone else’s pattern for prayer and feeling that you fall short.
God has created you with a unique personality type and your own ways of expressing
yourself. The forms of prayer or the structures for a devotional time that works for one
person may not fit you at all. God delights in you and in your expressions of prayer.
5. The feeling that in one time-frame—maybe you call it a quiet time—you have to
fit in everything included in a pre-determined prayer formula.
Prayer outlines are helpful if you keep them in the right perspective. Let them function
to keep your focused when necessary, but not to become a legalistic burden. When you
remember that you are living in a prayerful relationship, you will be freed of needing to
“cover all the bases” every time you set aside time for focused prayer.
6. Being stuck in a prayer rut.
Vary your forms of praying. Sing your prayers sometimes. Walk through your house
and pray room by room sometimes. Prayer walk your neighborhood. Find ways to liven
up your prayer experiences
7. Struggling not to let your mind wander.
If your mind wanders, my first suggestion is to feel free to follow it and see where it
might be going. Maybe God is trying to lure you out of your tightly controlled agenda
and take your prayers in a direction you had not considered.
8. Feeling that prayer is having no effect and is wasted time.
Many times the key to powerful prayer is persevering prayer. Most of what Jesus spoke
about prayer was encouragement to keep praying when it seems that nothing is
happening. As you develop a deeper understanding of the dynamics of prayer you will
come to know what you cannot see (Heb. 11:1). God is at work in response to prayer,
whether you can see what He is doing or not.
9. Feeling that you have to perform some kind of spiritual ritual to get God’s
attention before you can pray.
God’s attention never wanders from you. You have His full attention 24 hours of every
single day. He keeps you as the apple of His eye (Ps. 17:8). That means that if you could
look into His eyes, you would see your face reflected. He keeps you there—He never
looks away.
10. Feeling that you are not good enough to pray and always feeling ashamed in
God’s presence.
Your enemy’s favorite lie. He dresses it up in religious-sounding phrases so that it only
makes sense that you should feel like a failure in God’s presence. The truth is that God
delights in you, sings over you, adores you. He will deal with you in areas of your sins
because He loves you and is not willing to see you diminished, but He is not always
waiting for your attention so that He can criticize you. Jesus PAID IT ALL. The offense
to the cross is when you will not receive that which He paid so high a price for you to
have.
(Used by permission.)
ARTICLE TEN
Praying God’s Promises
Jennifer Kennedy Dean
A promise is only as good as the person who makes it. The character of the
promiser is what gives the promise its value.
As we learn to pray God’s promises, the starting point is the nature of God. The
essence of God’s character is in itself a promise. Who He is determines what He will do
and how He will act. Through the Scripture, each time God reveals something of His
nature, He is promising us that He will be true to that nature in any circumstance.
Sometimes the promises of God don’t come packaged in declarative statements, but
instead are implied in the revelation of His being.
God has always dealt with His people by communicating promises to them. By
promising first, then performing what He has promised, He awakens in us the desire and
expectation that find their outlet in the prayer of faith. His promises prompt prayer.
I might illustrate that process like this. Recently, I saw an ad in a magazine for
noise-cancelling headphones. Until seeing that ad, I had no desire for noise-cancelling
headphones. I did not experience the lack of noise-cancelling headphones in my life. But
once I knew they were available, I began to desire them. I began to notice how loud the
world was and to imagine how it might be if only I had noise-cancelling headphones.
Knowing they were available awakened in me the desire to possess them. Knowing
where to find them motivated me to seek them out.
God makes promises to us for much the same reason. He is letting us know what
He has available if only we will ask. His promises are meant to ignite faith and
expectation and desire, and then to point us to Him. His promises act to bind our hearts
to His. His promises turn our eyes toward Him.
Many people have been disappointed when they have prayed God’s promises
and then did not experience what they believed God had promised. Maybe you have had
that experience. If so, you are not alone.
Let me suggest some things for you to consider.
First, remember that there is a difference between believing in an outcome and
having faith in God. I have discovered in myself the tendency to decide what God
should do, then construe a promise so that it matches my expectation. I might pray that
promise, with the subtext being my definition of how that promise should impact my
situation. Over all the years that the Lord has had me in His school of prayer, a lesson
that I have to keep learning at deeper levels is how to let the Word of God speak to me
without my preconceived expectations being imposed on it.
For example, suppose that someone felt a strong desire to be married. Certainly
there is nothing wrong with that. But let’s imagine that person picks out a promise like
“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4).
The person says, “The desire of my heart is a spouse. If the Lord is true to His promises,
then He will give me a spouse.” Here I believe is the misunderstanding: we tend to
mistake the desire of the moment for the desire of the heart. God created the desire of
our hearts and He knows it better than we do. In this case, the desire of the heart is for
companionship and intimacy. Often, God fills part of that desire with a spouse.
However, all married people will agree, if they are honest, that a spouse does not fill that
need fully. A spouse is not the desire of that person’s heart. Rather, a spouse is one
means for fulfilling that desire. God wants to fulfill the desire of your heart. A person
who is seasoned in praying the promises knows to let God fulfill the desire of your heart
in His way at His time. If prayer is focused on the subtext we have imposed on the
promise, then we might experience disappointment. If, instead, we are focused on God,
then we will never be disappointed.
(Used by permission.)
ARTICLE ELEVEN
Trust and Obey
Jennifer Kennedy Dean
"'Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land.
Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety” (Lev.
25:18-19).
God’s desire is for your good. He wants you to live the abundant life that He has made
available in Christ. The Promised Land of the Old Testament Scriptures was a
foreshadowing of the full and rich spiritual life into which Jesus has ushered us. The
promises of God belong to you. By making promises to you, He is telling you what He
has for you and what He wants you to experience. Prayer is accessing the promises of
God.
In this passage from Leviticus 25:1-18, we read God’s commands to His people
about how to care for the land. These ancient populations did not have the scientific
knowledge of agriculture that we have in our age. They did not know the concepts that
would put these commands into a context of why the land needed to rest and be
replenished. Our modern understanding of agriculture makes these commands sound
reasonable and sensible. But to the ancient Hebrews, they must have seemed arbitrary
and whimsical. It didn’t matter that they didn’t understand the reasons for the
commands. If God commanded it and desired it, then that was reason enough for them to
obey. The pattern never varies. Even in His instructions about caring for the land, the
principle stands. Our obedience to God’s commands put us in the path where His
promises are fulfilled.
Jesus explained how He lived in the experience of the Father’s love: “If you
obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's
commands and remain in his love” (John 15:10-11). How did Jesus remain in the
experience of the Father’s love and care for Him? By obeying the Father’s commands.
How did He say that we could live in the experience of His love and care for us? By
obeying His commands.
Do you notice how He brings the list of commands to a close in Leviticus 25:18?
“If you want to live securely in the land, follow my decrees and obey my regulations.”
The promise crowns the commands. This is a principle that we encounter time and time
again in the Word of God. Our obedience positions us to experience the promise. We
don’t have to earn the promise. Our obedience doesn’t make us deserving of the
promise. Our obedience just makes us available for that which God has made available
to us. It allows us to “to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed
me” (Phil 3:12). When we are living in obedience, then we find ourselves positioned
perfectly—at the right place at the right time—to experience the fulfillment of the
promises. This is how a praying life, expressed in obedience, is the conduit that brings
the desires of God into the circumstances of earth. Andrew Murray said, “The Lord
Jesus tells us to desire the will of the Father, the will that is done in heaven and makes
heaven so blissful, the will of God that can be done on earth. Thus we become like those
in heaven. Set your heart on it, long for it, and pray, ‘Thy will be done, as in heaven, so
on earth.’”
The commands that God gives us are not arbitrary. They are not whims. Even
when we don’t see the reasons behind a command, we can trust that there are reasons.
Our obedience to God is our “yes” to His promises. Every time we obey Him, we are
praying the promises.
Be alert to every command. Let your spiritual ears be attuned to His voice. Let
the Holy Spirit’s whispered guidance be amplified in your heart. Offer every obedience
as an offering of love to the Father.
(Used by permission.)
ARTICLE TWELVE
Lord, Teach Me to Pray
Jennifer Kennedy Dean
Jesus, while on earth as a man, spent much time in prayer. He often prayed all night
long. He rose up hours before dawn to be alone and pray. He withdrew to pray after
ministering to the crowds. He prayed spontaneously as He walked along with His
disciples. Prayer marked His life. As Jesus lived out His life on earth—day by day,
encounter by encounter, event by event—His life exhibited a power and a joy that were
so enticing that it caused His disciples to ask Him, “Lord, teach us to pray.”
Until they encountered Jesus, the disciples’ models for prayer were primarily
ritual, scheduled, public, memorized prayers. Not the passionate, free, honest
outpourings they heard from Jesus. This was new to them. Never had they heard a
person address God with such audacious intimacy and heart-felt love. Can you imagine
their conversations as they waited for Jesus to finish yet another extended time of
prayer? Perhaps as they waited, impatient to get on with the day’s business, they began
to ask each other, “What do you suppose He does all that time? What is He doing for
hours and hours alone with God? Could it be that this—all this prayer—is the secret to
His power, His peace, His joy?” When finally they saw Him coming toward them, they
were bursting with their newfound desire. “Lord!” they exclaimed. “Teach us to pray
like You pray!” They didn’t need to know how to pray in some generic, memorized
way. They already knew how to say prayers. They wanted to know how to live prayer.
They wanted to know how to pray like Jesus prayed.
If the disciples were enthusiastic about their request, their enthusiasm was more
than met by Jesus’ response. His lessons, I’m sure, were animated and punctuated with
His own experiences. Notice that Jesus did not correct their request that He would teach
them to pray. He sat down and began to teach them to pray. He instructed them. Do you
see? Prayer can be learned. In fact, prayer must be learned.
Learning to Pray
Prayer is an art or a skill. It has to be learned and practiced. It has to be honed and
polished. Does that surprise you? Look around you. Whom do you know who seems to
have power in prayer? Does your own experience in prayer seem weak and ineffectual
in contrast? It is not because that person is more loved by God than you are. It is because
that person has, with patience and perseverance, become skilled in the art of prayer.
When a person is born with an innate talent for music, that talent must be
cultivated if it is to reach its fullness. A person may be born with a gift for music, but
that doesn’t give the person the ability to read notes or play an instrument. The skilled
musician is one who has taken lessons, watched and imitated the masters, studied, and
above all, practiced. Practiced, and practiced, and practiced. The mature musician has
mastered the basics. The fundamental laws of music have been drilled into him through
diligence and discipline. Finally, the basics have become part of him. As automatic as
the blinking of his eye. Then he begins to find his own, unique style. The music
becomes his focus rather than the fundamentals. He is able to use the fundamentals to
compose his own music. He has honed his skill and has moved from diligence and
discipline to delight.
You, my dear friend, when you were born into the kingdom of God, were born
with the innate talent for prayer. It is encoded into your spiritual DNA structure. It is
written into your spiritual genetic blueprint. No one, living or dead, has more prayer
potential than you do. The fact that you have picked up this book and have read this far
tells me that you are beginning to awaken to that innate talent. There is a stirring, a
restlessness that pushes you to look for answers. It is the Spirit Himself, calling you to
develop the art of prayer.
When we learn how prayer operates, we discover that prayer is simply
responding to God’s love, saying ‘yes’ to what He offers, receiving from Him all that He
desires to put into our lives.
Lord, Teach Me to Pray
More than anything, I want to be a skilled and trained intercessor. I want my life to have
optimum effect for eternity. I want continually to progress in the art of prayer.
There is only one Prayer Teacher. Jesus Himself will teach you to pray as you
yield yourself to Him. Right now, enroll in His school of prayer.
(Used by permission.)