Prayer is the most powerful communication we have. It is more powerful than speaking through a public address system. It is more powerful than Facebook or Twitter.
Prayer is the most powerful and intimate form of communication that a human being can experience.
After all, when you pray, your words do not simply stay in the room. Nor is God somehow drawn by yo
ur eloquence. No, when you pray, there is a sense in which you ride the wings of the Spirit into the very throne room of the living God.
As we pray, we have his attention. Our words, our thoughts, and our concerns are heard. Even when our words do not come out just right, the Spirit knows our longing and communicates them to the Father.
Five powerful ways to pray:
1. Pray that God will use you as he carries out his kingdom dream for this world. (Such a kingdom dream will bring renewal and a grand sense of purpose to a Christian.)
2. Pray that God will give you an absolute passion for him and for his will. (We will only become passionate about something that is awesome, overwhelming, and absolutely incredible. Let us see what a big God he is and how desperately we need him.)
3. Pray for your children that God would be the center of their lives and that you as a parent would be a bridge and not an obstacle. (Far too many parents pray for their children and then later discourage them from missional living or giving their lives to a cause which bears some risk.)
4. Pray that the grace of God would refresh today’s church and that his Spirit would bring real revival.Include those who teach/preach and lead. (I am convinced that nothing is more important for the future church than the prayer of the present church.)
5. Pray for God to do what would be impossible without an answer to prayer. (Far too often, we limit our prayers to what sounds reasonable to us.)
Question:
What do you pray for that only God could possibly deliver?
Lately I have become enamored with the Prayer of the Trinity I heard from NT Wright:
Almighty Father, Maker of Heaven and Earth
Set up Your kingdom in our midst (only God can deliver that!)
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God,
Have mercy on me, a sinner (only God can deliver that!)
Holy Spirit, Breath of the Living God,
Renew us, and all Your world. (ditto)
I’m also praying, pretty much non-stop, for a door to open so that I can serve Mission Lazarus in Honduras in February. I can’t see how I’ll be able to put together the funding for that without God delivering!
Nick, thank you for sharing both of these prayer concerns with us. I look forward to hearing more about the possible Mission Lazarus trip.
Well, put me in the category of “you wrote this posting just for me.” This came along at a time I really needed it. Thanks.
As for the question, there are a few youth, my own and others, that continue to need God’s guidance. You know that after a certain age you have to simply set them free and place things in His hands. Of course I don’t mean we abandon them, but our influence does diminish, at the time when it seems like they need us most.
Dave, I am glad that this spoke to you in some way. I’m always impressed with how God will often put what we need most right in front of us (or at least this is what I often experience in my own life). You are exactly right about our children (and those of others who we care deeply about). It has been humbling for me to realize that I really do have to depend on God more regarding my adult children. Thanks.
What an inspiring question!
There are the immediate responses – a person’s health, another’s marriage. But it really opens my mind to think of praying for the “impossible”. Things beyond the usual. Things only God can do and I can only imagine
Betsie, Thank you very much for this. I think it is an important question that might have a way of reminding us all that we pray way beyond our own ability to make things happen. Hope you are doing well.
Jim, your question, “What do you pray for that only God could possibly deliver?” Is a great one. I have been preaching through Hebrews 11, unpacking the stories behind each entry. We were workshopping Sunday’s lesson a few Wednesdays ago, and I asked “What impossible thing do you never pray because you are afraid of failure?” Personally, I feel that, experientially, God is teaching me new lessons about faith. Recently, I had committed to pray with a young single man for he and I to be used to share the gospel with a single man or college student. While we were praying this, I began to feel that this prayer was by sight. I was prompted to begin praying for a ministry that could reach many people in this area. I was specific asking God to bring people who could help serve. I happenned to travel to L.A. and while I was out there, I spoke to a minister, trying to find out information on where his church was meeting while I was in town. He had looked up my contact information that day because he had a young man who was moving to Little Rock that weekend who fit the description I had been praying about. I met with him before leaving town. He is now in Little Rock and working to help reach out to people in this place in life. God is not far from us and is ready to listen immediately and particularly when we begin to aline our will with his as we are praying. Thanks for the post. I’m encouraged.
Lannie, thanks very much for the kind words about the post. I especially want to thank you for the encouraging and powerful story that you shared. Such a reminder that God hears our prayers and responds. You are right, he does listen immediately and particularly as place our will underneath his as we pray. Thanks again, Lannie.