What Is Prayer?
Prayer is simply communication with God.
This communication is not one way at all, but two way. When you pray to God, you wait and listen to Him in silence. If He has your attention 100%, He can and will speak to you if He wants to.
There is power in silence and God speaks when you are silent. Whenever I stay silent for 30 minutes to 1 hour, listening to God, He will speak to me, either by the still small voice or by short revelations.
Our memory verse for this teaching is Luke 11:2-4:
"And He said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil."
We will dissect the Lord's prayer in full so you understand it fully and apply it in your daily prayer life.
But let's finish with the introduction first.
Since prayer is communication with God, we need to understand that communication is in levels and all communication is based on relationship. The type and level of communication a man may have with his wife is totally different from that of a child and his mother, a brother and his sister, an employer and an employee etc.
God doesn't want us to communicate with Him based on religious dogmas and church doctrines, rather He would have us communicate with Him freely on the basis of a father and son or father and daughter relationship. Does anybody teach a little girl how to talk with her father? I think not. God doesn't want us calling Him God; rather He wants us to call Him endearing names such as Father, Daddy, Dad, Popsy, Abba etc. It is considered disrespectful for you to call your earthly father by his name, how much more our heavenly Father?
The reason for this is because before Adam and Eve had children, God was a father on earth. Adam was said to be the son of God, and God came down in the garden of Eden to communicate with Him, not as God, but as His father. How awesome!
The same principle applies to Jesus Christ, who was said to be the second Adam. Jesus always prayed to God the same way a little boy speaks with his father. The same principle should also apply to us as disciples of Jesus Christ. For one to be a christian, one must first of all become a disciple.
I personally don't call God God, rather I call Him "Daddy."
I have never known God the Father until my earthly father died and God the Father began to reveal Himself to me as my one true father.
The summary of this section is that God is the first father that ever walked on this earth and we must communicate with Him on the basis of father and Son/Daughter relationship, in order to have an intimate relationship with the Godhead.
Dissection of The Lord's Prayer. (Luke 11:2-4).
The Lord's prayer is a guideline on prayer given by Jesus Christ to His disciples.
Through this prayer, Jesus revealed to His disciples the right way to approach God and communicate with Him successfully.
The first principle or mystery of prayer revealed by Jesus in the Lord's prayer is the principle of relationship.
You have to pray to God or communicate with Him based on your relationship with Him. I personally communicate with God on the basis that I'm His son David of this generation, or as Elijah or as Paul.
The second mystery or principle of prayer is priorities.
God's priorities in order of importance are:
1. His Holiness
God's holiness is the most important thing to Him both in heaven and on earth. That is why the angels and saints in heaven always declare His holiness, by crying, "Holy, holy, holy..."
In fact, God is so holy that even the heavens are not holy in His eyes. That is the reason He has declared in His word that He would create a new heaven and a new earth. What this means is that in communicating with God, you recognize that He is holy and you being a sinner who is on earth should not approach Him or come into His presence with your filthiness and sins clinging onto you; rather you must wash yourself in the spotless blood of the lamb. How do you wash yourself?
By the confession of your sins and the prayer of mercy. We will teach about the prayer of Mercy later today.
2. His Kingdom
God's second highest priority is His kingdom. He wants His kingdom to manifest physically on earth the way it is in heaven. So He wants you to pray that His kingdom will be fully manifested on earth.
3. His Will
God's will is His third most important priority. God's will and the law of light is what everyone follows in heaven. Nobody thinks or says or does anything in heaven that is against God's will. So God wants you to pray for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. But before you can pray such prayer, you must be willing to know what is God's will for you personally and be obedient to it.
It is the will of God that you be saved and make heaven. It is the will of God that you repent, pray, praise and worship Him, love Him, love everyone, pray for others, have knowledge, wisdom and understanding, be protected, build a house and live in it (God doesn't like tenancy), marry, have children, be prosperous, be healed, enjoy divine health, have food to eat, be clothed and so many other things.
4. Your Needs
Your needs (physical and spiritual) are God's fourth most important priority. God wants you to present your needs before Him so that He will meet them. God is interested in meeting your needs, not your wants. Your needs include: Food, clothing, shelter (House), medication, companionship (Husband/wife), children, job (Source of income) and a few other things.
God as our loving, merciful and compassionate Father has in His goodness made ample provision for all of His creation both in heaven and on earth. Every good thing you can see on earth have versions of them in heaven that are 1000 times better than the ones on earth. The enjoyment available on earth is too little compared to what is in heaven. In other words, there is nothing on earth that should make you miss heaven.
5. Forgiveness
God's fifth most important priority is that you forgive everyone who offends or sins against you, even as He has forgiven you for the sake of Christ. If you don't forgive others, you tie God's hands and make it impossible for Him to forgive you. The mystery of the gates of heaven is that they open only to someone who has learnt to love and forgive while on earth.
6. Manifestation
God's sixth most important priority is that you individually and collectively manifest His Kingdom, His power and His glory right here on earth, not when you get to heaven. So a true disciple is never afraid of death, neither is he ever in a hurry to go to heaven.
Romans 8:19 puts it this way:
"For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God."
This dissection of the Lord's prayer conclusively shows you what to pray for and how to pray according to God's will.
In the next section of this teaching on prayer, we will examine the types of prayers that God doesn't fail to answer, no matter what.
There are three types of prayers God will always answer, no matter what.
1. Prayer of Mercy
Memory verse:
Matthew 9:13:
"But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
There are tens and hundreds of verses that deal with the prayer of mercy, but to save time I will not mention them.
To understand the prayer of Mercy, you first of all need to understand what Mercy is.
What is Mercy?
Mercy is a person; the second person of the Trinity, popularly known as Jesus.
Before Jesus Christ was born on earth as the Messiah, the name God the Father gave Him is Mercy.
Just as Buhari's official name is president of Nigeria and his real names are Muhammadu Buhari; that is how Jesus Christ is Mercy's official name for the purpose of salvation of mankind.
The real name of the Holy Ghost is Grace, while that of God the Father is Favour.
Mercy has His own personal angels called angels of Mercy. God the Father has His own, called angels of Favour and the Holy Ghost has His own also, called angels of grace.
In heaven, God the Father has His own Kingdom called kingdom of Favour and it is located in the northern part of heaven. Jesus has His own Kingdom called kingdom of Mercy, and the Holy Ghost has His own Kingdom, called kingdom of Grace. The angels have there own called kingdom of Goodness. But despite all these, there is no division at all in heaven.
The angels of Favour look exactly like God the Father, but the difference between them and God the Father is that they are small while He is big. The fire that burns on God the Father's head is as big as the continent of Africa.
Among the Trinity, it is only Jesus Christ that looks exactly like a man. The other two are so huge that human brain cannot measure their size accurately, even though they have the shape of a man.
It is good to note that Favour, Mercy, and Grace are equal in power, glory and in everything else.
Mercy is the only thing that qualifies a person to receive any good thing from God. It is Mercy that has made it possible for any human being to make heaven.
Whenever you pray the prayer of Mercy, what it means is that you are asking God the Father and God the Holy Ghost to send Mercy (Jesus Christ) to you. When Mercy comes to you as an answer to this prayer, He will wash away all your sins instantly, conduct deliverance on you, heal you, bless you and fight your battles for you. It is impossible for God not to answer this prayer. Whenever you want to approach or communicate with God, it is the prayer of Mercy that you should pray after thanking God.
The long form of the prayer of Mercy is found in Psalm 51. You will do well to study it carefully.
The short version of the prayer of Mercy is found in Mark 10:46-47: "And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.
And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me."
This is how I pray the short version of the prayer of Mercy: "Daddy, have mercy upon me... Daddy, have mercy upon me..." Continuously for 30 minutes to 1 hour. And at every opportunity I get through out the day. You pray it silently so that people will not know that you are praying, since it is personal between you and your heavenly Father. The prayer of Mercy will draw Jesus to you like iron to a magnet, depending on when and how fast He wants to come.
The prayer of Mercy has everything to do with the covenant of the sure mercies of David.
2. The Prayer of Thanksgiving
Memory verse:
1 Thessalonians 5:18: "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
Have you noticed that Jesus always gave thanks to God whenever He is talking with the Father? (Matthew 26:27; Mark 8:6; Luke 22:17).
The prayer of Thanksgiving is the highest sacrifice you can offer to God, which He values more than money and animals.
If you are not thankful to God, your tank can never be full, and the person is liable to being stranded in life and eternity. Whenever you thank God, regardless of whether things are good or bad for you, it drives Satan crazy the way noise drives me crazy.
The prayer of Thanksgiving is really simple, yet powerful.
This is how to pray it: "Daddy, thank you... Daddy, thank you." Continuously. You can also pray it as a prayer of intercession for another person, by saying: "Daddy, thank you for David... Daddy, thank you for David..." Continuously.
There are a million and one reasons to thank God on a daily basis. While praying the prayer of thanksgiving, you think of as many of these reasons as you can. This prayer is mobile, in that you can pray it anytime, anywhere without anyone knowing that you're even praying.
3. The Prayer of Praise
Memory verse:
Psalms 22:3: "But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel."
The prayer of Praise is the twin brother of the prayer of Thanksgiving.
Praise is exulting and extolling the name of God either in words or in songs.
The mystery behind Psalm 22:3 is that whenever you pray, God will usually send an angel to the earth, with the answer to your prayer. If you are not very strong and persistent in prayer, the angel carrying the answer to your prayer could be hijacked by demons and the answer stolen on his way to the earth. That is how Satan gets the blessings that he gives to those who serve or worship Him.
But whenever you praise and worship God, God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, come down where you are and be nodding their heads and be enjoying your praise and worship. They will never leave that in the hands of an angel. Whatever blessings they have for you, they give it to you there instantly.
Whatever burdens or troubles you may be having are dealt with by their glory.
Before you praise and worship God, make sure you pray the prayer of Mercy first.
The order of priority is that the prayer of Thanksgiving comes first, followed by Mercy, and then praise.
There are higher and mysterious levels of prayer that has to do with the Greater Works that Jesus spoke of in John 14:12-13:
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."
I cannot teach you such prayer at this time because you cannot handle it.
Praying these three prayers will prepare you to be able to receive the teaching in the future and make proper use of it.
You have learnt much today.
Wisdom is putting to best account the knowledge you have. I pray that God will give you grace to make use of what you have learnt for your quick spiritual maturity. Amen.
It is these three prayers coupled with voracious study of the word of God that will usher you into the realm of divine encounters.
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