Some Thoughts on Prayer

Prayer is mortal man’s way of entering into the chamber of the King. Once inside that chamber we should become so enamored with His glory that we have no option other than to get on our face before Him, praise Him, and seek His counsel on how best we can serve His kingdom. He in turn promises to endow His worshipers with power and gifts (weapons) necessary in order to accomplish His purpose. Too often we see prayer as our access into His throne room in order to have Him accomplish our desires rather than the reverse.

Here’s how Jesus defined prayer: “Our Father which art in heaven; Hallowed be thy name; Thy Kingdom come; Thy Will be done on Earth just like it is in Heaven; Give us this day our daily bread – (Just enough for today); Forgive us our sins as we forgive those that sin against us; Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory Forever.”

The results we are looking for are the results that He needs to happen in order for Him to receive glory, not what we need to happen in order to accomplish our desires. He knows what we NEED before we even ask. But, we have no idea what He DESIRES from us, unless we pray!

When we pray for the sick we are praying for the strengthening of Kingdom warriors. When we pray for financial help we should be praying for release from stress that keeps us from doing Kingdom business or the finances necessary to accomplish it. We are told to pray for harvest laborers. We are told to pray for wisdom. We are told to pray for those that are captive to sin and demonic activity. Prayer is a power encounter, a battle, and a relationship with the King.

Here is something that I have discovered when it comes to any aspect of theology. What works in America had better work in Bangladesh or Guinea-Bissau. If it doesn’t translate to the mud huts of the interior of West Africa then my interpretation of His Word is in error. This goes with prayer as well. I think that what I have stated works no matter where one is on the planet.

We approach God with our prayer list; instead we should be going to Him in order to receive His. I feel that God’s prayer list and our prayer list are rarely the same. We need to make sure that we have the proper list in hand. Once we have the right list then we can be certain that we will be praying a prayer that will accomplish its purpose.