How is Your Prayer Life...Really?

How is your prayer life really? I don’t care to know how much time you spend talking to God. The question isn’t, “are you praying your lists consistently”, but rather, are you partnering with God in what is on His heart to the extent that lives are changing, healing is taking place, people are broken and in awe of our Lord and mountains are being moved all for His glory. James provides us positive example of what happens when God’s people really pray: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops. James 5:16-18 (NLT)

Do your prayers exemplify the death of Christ or the power of His resurrection? Dead prayers are those Christian words we say for others and for various circumstances that sound good, but there is no Holy Spirit power drawing and moving mightily as a result. Dead prayers are really not prayer at all but feeble attempts of reading through our lists, asking God to bless “so and so” and when complete we move on feeling good about ourselves because we accomplished our pseudo-spiritual task. God wants so much more from us than mere list reading, He longs to communicate with us, to commune in intimate fellowship with Him to the extent that our heart beats with His and our breath and His are one as we speak His heart on behalf of others. We call this type of prayer intercession. Intercession is meeting and conversing with God on behalf of others. Joining God in what His heart (will) is for an individual, a people group or circumstance. It is being that peacemaker on behalf of another pleading God’s grace and power for one who is in dis-ease.

Keys to Successful Intercession:

·        Removing obstacles such as sin, idols and selfishness: Hebrews 12:1-2

·        Remain Intimate with God (Abide): John 15:1-17

·        Request according to His will: Romans 12:2

·        Request according to His name: John 14:13,14

·        Remain committed to glorifying the Father: John 14

Another thought to leave with you regarding intercessory prayer. Did you know that both Jesus and the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf to our Heavenly Father? I call it a “Holy Dance” a perfect harmonious movement of the Trinity praying for us, according to His heartbeat and will.

 

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.  And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:26-28 (NLT)  

…Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Romans 8:34 (NASB)

I don’t know about you, but this truth, this mystery that God prays to God His will for me is beyond description. What this tells me is that I may not know how to pray for a person or situation, but since the Holy Spirit and Jesus know this person or situation perfectly and are praying His perfect will on behalf of that person or situation, I only need to agree with whatever He is praying. My lack of discernment or insight need not be a prayer barrier because He is praying according to His will. A simple, “Lord I am without wisdom or words for “so and so”, I agree with You in what you desire to happen, thank you for praying for me and “so and so”.

Last note: God is more concerned with us intimately connecting, communicating with Him than He is about the method we use to pray. When you are connected with Him, you will know His heart for a person and will be able to pray more effectively. Jesus said, I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides (remains connected) in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:5 (NASB)