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The Meaning of the Crosshairs Symbol
- THE CROSS in the middle reminds us that successful prayer begins with a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and faith in His shed blood on the cross. (John 14:6, Ephesians 3:12; Colossians 1:15–20)
- THE VERTICAL LINES in the cross, as well as above and below it, remind us to stay vertically aligned with God and His Word in prayer. (John 14:13; 15:7; 1 John 5:14)
- THE HORIZONTAL LINES in the cross and on both sides remind us to stay right with others. This includes forgiving, apologizing, and also praying in agreement with others. (Matthew 5:23–24; 18:19–20; Mark 11:25)
- THE INNER CIRCLE means to maintain a pure heart in prayer. When you pray, you should keep no unconfessed sin or bitterness in your heart and you should approach God humbly, repentantly, submissively, and in faith. (Psalm 66:18; Mark 11:24; James 4:7–10)
- THE CROSSHAIRS remind us to aim our intercession and to pray specifically, strategically, and persistently. (Matthew 7:7–8; John 15:7; James 5:16)
There is power in prayer. PRAY every day. Prayer should be both scheduled and spontaneous.
The Kendrick Brothers created a “Wall of Remembrance” in their office. Numerous framed pictures serve as visual reminders of God’s provision, each representing a clearly answered prayer. Among them is a picture of Alex as a young college student with a dream to make movies for the Lord.
One depicts a group of men in Malawi, Africa, holding up resolution commitments to lead their families, after a history in which they’d all but abandoned them.
Answered prayers aren’t merely highly unlikely coincidences. They are fingerprints of a living, loving God who invites all of us to draw close to Him, the One who made us and “is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:27–28).
The Legacy of Prayer
O You who hear prayer, to You all men come. (Psalm 65:2)
Prayer can accomplish what a willing God can accomplish.
The greatest and most spiritually successful men and women in the Bible were always people of prayer:
- Abraham (see my post “Abraham: Father of the Faithful”) walked by faith but was guided by prayer, and the nations of the world have never been the same because of it.
- Isaac’s (see my post “Isaac: The Unlikely Heir”) intercession on behalf of his barren wife resulted in the birth of Jacob, who became the father of the nation of Israel (Genesis 25:21).
- Moses (see my post “Moses: Learning to Look Ahead”) spoke with God “as a man speaks to his friend,” receiving God’s guidance and revelation for his leadership decisions (Exodus 33:11). The world still has the Torah and the Ten Commandments as fruit of it.
- David talked to God “morning, noon, and night” (Psalm 55:17) and wrote the longest book in the Bible because of it. The Psalms are filled with a plethora of passionate prayers set to song.
- Elijah was basically a walking example of answered prayer and became an inspiration for New Testament believers (James 5:16–18).
- Jesus Christ remains the ultimate model and Master of prayer. Before choosing His disciples, Jesus spent all night in prayer to God. As they followed Him, they discovered His private habit was to rise early and pray before the sun rose (Mark 1:35).
- Jesus’ first fully recorded sermon in the Scriptures explains the fundamentals of how to pray (Matthew 5–7). He gifted the world with the greatest model prayer of all time (Matthew 6:9–13) and later prayed the most powerful high priestly prayer of all time (John 17).
We have been given a rich legacy of the power and importance of prayer, both in Scripture and throughout Christian history.
The Power of Prayer
The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. (2 Corinthians 10:4)
Great Britain, under Winston Churchill, developed the first military tank in history by engineering an armored car onto the chassis of a farm tractor. The prospect of being able to move actively and thunderously toward the enemy, while being protected during the ride, spelled the end of merely digging in and hoping for the best.
Prayer is our armored tank. And when put into action by God’s people, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Prayer is our major assault weapon in battle.
Paul certainly used it in that manner. After listing the various pieces of equipment known as the “full armor of God” (Ephesians 6:13), he mentioned prayer as being an equally essential element of spiritual warfare, just like the shield, sword, and helmet. “Pray at all times in the Spirit,” he said (v. 18). Prayer, to him, was a forward moving force, a battering ram that powered him ahead in pursuit of God’s will.
Prayer means that God’s miracle-working power is always a possible solution to whatever challenge stands before us. Prayer is what frames our pressing, short-term issues with God’s eternal perspective, showing us just how temporary—and endurable, and winnable—even our most intense battles truly are. Prayer means hope. Prayer means help. Prayer means relief. Prayer means power.
The Priority of Prayer
My prayer came to You, into Your holy temple. (Jonah 2:7)
Prayer is like oxygen to our spiritual lives. It aligns the body of Christ with her Head.
Jesus once proclaimed, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a robbers’ den” (Mark 11:17). With this one violent, surprising motion, He distilled down the purpose of God’s house and the meeting together of God’s people to a central priority: believers getting together for prayer.
God never intended for us to live out the Christian life or accomplish His work on the earth in our own wisdom or strength. His plan has always been for us to rely on the Holy Spirit and live a life of obedience in prayer.
Consider them a sneak preview of what will happen if your church truly becomes devoted to prayer:
- Evangelism of the lost (Colossians 4:3; 1 Timothy 2:1–8)
- Cultivation of discipleship (Luke 11:1–2; John 17)
- True Christian fellowship (Acts 2:42)
- Wise decisions (James 1:5)
- Obstacles overcome (Mark 11:22–24)
- Needs met (Matthew 6:11; Luke 11:5–13)
- True worship ignited (Matthew 6:13; Acts 2:41–47)
- Revival sparked (2 Chronicles 7:14)
Why: The Ultimate Purpose of Prayer
Ultimately, all prayer is for the glory of God. The best answer He can give to any prayer is whatever answer brings Him the most glory. “For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven” (Psalm 148:13). This is God’s pattern. He makes His glory known progressively in your life—and through your life—from one situation to the next.
When you pray for something and ask “that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13), prepare for Him to do what He knows will bring Him the most glory.
What Is and Isn’t Prayer
As for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord. (Psalm 69:13)
Prayer is not about prayer . . . just like a cell phone is not about a cell phone. A phone’s primary purpose is not for itself but to serve as a conduit to connect us in relationships.
Prayer, at its heart, is communicating with God. Reverently and openly. Sincerely. Interacting directly with the magnificent God of the universe who is really there.
What is prayer? Prayer is communion with God in order to . . .
- Intimately know, love, and worship Him. This is the “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name” dynamic of prayer. Relationship and worship.
- Understand and conform our lives to His will and ways. Prayer doesn’t merely change things; it will change us.
- Access and advance His kingdom, power, and glory. When we pray, “Give us this day . . . lead us not into temptation . . . deliver us . . .” we are seeking to access God’s kingdom resources, for His mighty power to work on our behalf, and for Him to reveal His glory in our situation.
Again, prayer is not about prayer. It is about a Person—God Himself.
The Definition of Prayer
Prayer is communion with God in order to . . . Intimately know, love, and worship Him. Understand and conform our lives to His will and ways. Access and advance His kingdom, power, and glory.
What: Types of Prayer
I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men. (1 Timothy 2:1)
Use the acronym A.C.T.S.—Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.
- Adoration is prayer that praises and worships God. How often do you praise God while praying? How often do you stop asking and just start bragging on Him? How often do you pause to tell Him how incredible He is—that He is the greatest thing in your universe?
- Confession is prayer that gets honest about sin. Getting right and staying clean before God is necessary to remain close to Him and be effective in prayer. That’s why Jesus also included “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others” (Matthew 6:12) as part of our model, daily prayer.
- Thanksgiving is God-directed, humbly expressed gratitude. While praise focuses more on who God is, thanksgiving highlights what He has done or is doing. That’s why developing a grateful heart is a major part of God’s agenda. His Word commands it (1 Thessalonians 5:18), His works demand it (Psalm 106:47), and His Spirit inspires it (1 Corinthians 2:11–12). God’s Word says, “In everything give thanks” (1 Thessalonians 5:18), while also “giving thanks always for everything” (Ephesians 5:20).
- Supplication is asking for something from God. It means to beseech, petition, or appeal for Him to do or provide something for yourself or others (Ephesians 6:18). The Bible says, “You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2). Jesus said to His followers, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7–8). We’re invited—even commanded—to come and pray, to seek and find.
Seek a balance and learn to go deeply into all of them. Together, they make prayer a richer, more complete experience.
What Are God’s Answers to Prayer?
God’s answers to prayer form up under about five different types:
- Yes, immediately. Sometimes God’s response is even quicker than that . . . when He says, “before they call, I will answer” (Isaiah 65:24).
- Yes, in due time. A delay should not be interpreted as a denial.
- Yes, so you’ll learn from it. We should learn to pray as Jesus did, freely adding to our prayers, “nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).
- No, because your heart’s not right. Sometimes “you ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:3). If lust, greed, bitterness, or pride is at the heart of a request, God may veto an answer. The first chapter of Proverbs says, “They will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but they will not find me, because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord” (vv. 28–29).
- No, I’ve got a better plan. Sometimes we ask too small. But don’t forget that many times the only reason why we don’t have something from Him is because we never asked in the first place (James 4:2).
When: Scheduled Prayer
After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray. (Mark 6:46)
Take time solely to focus on the Lord and your relationship with Him in scheduled prayer.
If we were to say that kids play constantly or that teenagers text their friends constantly, we wouldn’t mean they never do anything else except playing or texting nonstop. We’d just mean that throughout the day, kids are often trying to integrate play into what they’re doing.
God desires that prayer become an ongoing opportunity we take full advantage of—quietly praising, thanking, and leaning on Him at any moment and context in our minds and hearts.
Even with his responsibilities as king, David said, “Evening and morning and at noon I will pray” (Psalm 55:17).
When: Spontaneous Prayer
Let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found. (Psalm 32:6)
We must be ready to engage whatever comes at us once we’re on the battlefield. This is when we learn to use spontaneous prayers. So as you engage with life, let these things prompt you to pray:
- Newness. Take time to pray whenever you begin something new. Pray at the start of each day, for example.
- Needs. We serve a God who is in the need-meeting business. Whenever you discover a physical, emotional, or spiritual need, you should allow that need to prompt you to pray. He is Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides.
- Blessings. As God provides, protects, forgives, and guides you . . . thank Him! Don’t let the routine blessings you receive each day be taken for granted. First Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything, give thanks.”
- Burdens. They come in many forms, but all should be taken to the Lord.
- Crisis. Every one of us will eventually face times of crisis. Psalm 50:15 says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”
- Worries. When worry washes over you, turn it into prayer. Philippians 4:6–7 reminds us not to be anxious or worried about anything but to go to the Lord in prayer. First Peter 5:7 also says to cast your cares on Him because He cares for you.
- Sin. Anything related to sin should prompt us to pray. Whether we’re being tempted or have already crossed the line, we should immediately turn to the Lord. 1 John 1:9 has good news. If you humble yourself and confess your sin, God will forgive and cleanse you.
How: The Postures of Prayer
Prayer is not dependent on certain decibel levels or body positions. Consider the different ways of praying:
- Bowing. To bow, for example, is a physical expression of honor and allegiance. In the second of the Ten Commandments—an admonition against serving or creating other gods—the Lord said, “You must not bow down to them or worship them” (Exodus 20:5).
- Lying prostrate. Sometimes bowing our heads or bowing on our knees still doesn’t quite reflect the devotion we intend. When Ezra the priest gave an all-morning, public reading of the law to the returned exiles in Jerusalem, “they bowed low and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground” (Nehemiah 8:6). Jesus, agonizing in the Garden of Gethsemane before His torture and death, “fell on His face and prayed” (Matthew 26:39).
- Lifted hands. Many prayers from Scripture were made with uplifted hands. The Bible talks about raising our hands—“the lifting up of my hands as the evening offering” (Psalm 141:2).
- Lifted eyes. While closing our eyes is a good way of limiting distractions and maintaining focus in prayer, a common biblical expression was lifting the eyes toward heaven, like when Jesus “raised His eyes” before praying at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:41), or when “looking up to heaven” as He blessed the five loaves and two fish before multiplying them for the crowd of five thousand (Luke 9:16).
- Silence. Beyond physical postures, what we do with our voices in prayer is also important. Sometimes the best thing we can do in prayer is be still and know that He is God . . . without saying a word (Psalm 46:10).
- Lifted voices. Along with lifted hands and lifted eyes, the Bible also exhorts us to lift our voices to the Lord in prayer. “Give ear to my voice when I call to You,” David prayed (Psalm 141:1). “My voice rises to God, and He will hear me” (Psalm 77:1).
- Crying out. “Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud” (Psalm 55:17). This crying out is a frequent descriptor of prayers spoken in the Bible.
Posture isn’t everything. It’s not mandatory or specifically prescribed. But we all can identify the difference, can’t we, between the prayers we make while flat of our backs, fighting sleep—and the prayers we make while deliberately kneeling, or raising our hands, or speaking aloud.
How: The Locks of Prayer
Surely God will not listen to an empty cry. (Job 35:13)
Over the years, the Kendrick Brothers have categorized twenty biblical principles as the “Locks and Keys” of prayer. Ten of them are principles that bog down praying and restrict its freedom and effectiveness. Here are the ten locks of prayer:
- Praying without knowing God through Jesus.
- Praying from an unrepentant heart. As the writer of Psalm 66 said, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (v. 18).
- Praying for show. “When you pray,” He said, “you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full” (Matthew 6:5).
- Praying repetitive, empty words. One thing that makes our praying land with a thud of wasted words is when we’re talking and talking but aren’t even listening to what we’re saying. Jesus said, “When you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:7–8).
- Prayers not prayed. Surely the most ineffective prayers of all are those we never even take the time to pray. As James said, “You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2).
- Praying with a lustful heart. “You ask and do not receive,” James said, “because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:3).
- Praying while mistreating your spouse. “Husbands . . . live with your wives in an understanding way . . . and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered” (1 Peter 3:7).
- Praying while ignoring the poor. When you show compassion to those in need, God shows favor on your requests. But the opposite is true as well. “He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered” (Proverbs 21:13).
- Praying with bitterness in your heart toward someone. “Whenever you stand praying,” Jesus said, “forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions” (Mark 11:25–26).
- Praying with a faithless heart. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
How: The Keys of Prayer
Here are the ten keys that make prayer more genuine, pleasing, and authentic:
- Praying persistently by asking, seeking, and knocking.
- Praying in faith. People who don’t think they’ll get what they pray for will likely not get what they pray for. But it’s not supposed to be this way . . . God is pleased with faith. Jesus said, “I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you” (Mark 11:24).
- Praying in secret. Jesus said in Matthew 6:6, “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”
- Praying according to God’s will. Prayer waits on God to show us where He’s ready for us to go (or not go). And once we sense it, “this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him” (1 John 5:14–15).
- Praying in Jesus’ name. Those words—“in Jesus’ name”—are not just the “Sincerely Yours” at the close of our prayer. Not just the “send” button. They are reflective of an unselfish, God-honoring heartbeat within ourselves. “Whatever you ask in My name,” He tells us, “that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:13–14).
- Praying in agreement with other believers. Jesus told His disciples, “If two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst” (Matt. 18:19–20).
- Praying while fasting. Another overlooked key is the dedicated discipline of fasting—going without food (or some other sort of daily need) in order to focus more fully on the Lord for a concentrated period. Jesus fasted and prayed. Esther fasted and prayed. Nehemiah fasted and prayed.
- Praying from an obedient life. “If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight” (1 John 3:21–22). An obedient child gains great favor and freedom with his or her parent.
- Praying while abiding in Christ and His Word. Jesus said, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). Abiding means staying in close fellowship with someone. Abiding means staying clean before God (John 15:3; 1 John 1:9) by not allowing “ungodliness” or sin to build up or go unconfessed.
- Praying while delighting in the Lord. In loving Him, we desire to obey Him (John 14:15), until we actually begin delighting in Him. “Delight yourself in the Lord,” the Bible says, “and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).
Vertical: The Cross of Christ
The apostle Paul said, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5).
Paul said, “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5–6).
The sixty-six books of the Bible fit perfectly together like a puzzle, and they point to Jesus as God’s solution to our human spiritual condition (John 5:37–40).
Seven Indicators of True Salvation
The book of 1 John gives us seven key indicators of genuine salvation revealing that someone is truly saved and knows God.
- A lifestyle of obedience to God. “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 John 2:3–6).
- A confession of Jesus as the Christ, God’s Son. First John 2:22–23 says, “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.”
- A lifestyle of repentance of sin. Jesus said, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). First John 3:9–10 says, “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”
- Genuine love for other believers. “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:14–15).
- The discipline of God your Father. “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are” (1 John 3:1).
- The presence of God’s Holy Spirit. “This is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us” (1 John 3:24).
- Faith in Jesus alone for salvation (and not yourself). “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:12–13).
Vertical: Repentance Versus Pride
Which attitude best describes how you approach God in prayer: humbly or pridefully? In humility we more clearly see our need for God—for His guidance, grace, and forgiveness.
Pride says, “I’m a good person. I haven’t done anything that bad. I don’t really need to repent of anything.” Pride also proclaims, “This is my life. I’m in control. I should get what I want and get the credit for what I do.”
God’s Word says, “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another” (1 Peter 5:5).
Horizontal: Unity Versus Division
Above all, put on love—the perfect bond of unity. (Colossians 3:14)
An interesting passage in Genesis 11 describes the construction of the tower of Babel. What is so striking about this passage of Scripture is that God Himself noted that when people are unified, they are able to exert tremendous power and momentum. Even ungodly people! So imagine how powerful unity can be for people who worship and obey the God of the universe. If they seek the Lord and act in unity, nothing can stop them.
What do we communicate when we remain divided? When believers fuss and debate sideline issues of faith, pushing each other’s hot buttons, digging into their various postures, leaving no room for anyone’s way but their own way, how is the world supposed to see faith in Christ as the answer?
Pray for unity. It’s a powerful weapon against the enemy.
Your Heart: Faith Versus Doubt
Here are four misconceptions about God’s heart and identity:
- God doesn’t know or understand my needs. He completely “knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matt. 6:8).
- God isn’t able to help. The apostle Paul answered this objection with one of the most resounding exclamations in the Bible, declaring that God is able not only to do whatever we can imagine Him doing, but He is “able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20).
- God doesn’t care. He says to us, “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9). Not only does He care; He cares for you more than anyone else in your life.
- God isn’t likely to do anything anyway. That’s not the impression you get from Mark 11:24—“I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.”
The Battle Plan for your life includes the kind of praying that:
- expects Him to know your heart and what you truly need from Him
- believes that no limitations apply to Him—that He can do anything
- anticipates that He will respond to you with love, compassion, and mercy
- assumes that He is there and listening, willing to come to your aid and help you
Your Heart: Secret Versus Show
The secret things belong to the Lord our God. (Deuteronomy 29:29)
Consider what Jesus said in Matthew 6:5: “Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward!”
Your true heart is best revealed in secret. In other words, the secret you is the real you.
The Proverbs, speaking wisely about a person’s human nature, says, “As he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).
Your Heart: Obedience Versus Rebellion
Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. (Hebrews 10:22)
A lifestyle of obedience—while not a condition that earns salvation—is a major key to answered prayer.
Jesus couldn’t have said it more plainly: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
Pray and obey. Obey and pray. Put those two together, and you’ve got a powerful combination.
Your Heart: Persistence Versus Impatience
Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed. (Psalm 25:3)
Jesus said in Matthew 7:7–9, “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” He further taught in Luke 18:1 that we “ought to pray and not to lose heart.” Do you get the picture? We are not meant to pray one time for our needs or desires, and then quit or throw the prayer out the window if it’s not immediately answered.
The problem is never God; the problem is our lack of patience. We are so accustomed to immediate responses.
George Müller, one of the greatest praying men of all time, documented fifty thousand answers to prayer in his lifetime, including five thousand answered on the same day he prayed them. But even at that astounding rate, this means ninety percent of his answers to prayer came later—sometimes decades later.
The Word of God
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. (Psalm 19:8)
Prayer is personal. Completely unique.
Jesus tells you to “abide” in Him and let His words “abide” in you. Those are the conditions through which you can “ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7).
The Bible is alive and active. Henry Blackaby, author of Experiencing God, has long instructed believers not to refer to the Bible as what “it says” but what “He says”—what God says.
Your copy of the Bible is not only your companion when you enter your prayer closet; it’s also your inspiration, your source, your reliable storehouse and gold mine of trustworthy promises. When you don’t know what to say, let the Bible lead your praying for you.
The Will of God
I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent me. (John 6:38)
The chief goal of God’s will is that He be glorified. In all circumstances. The primary driver behind all of life is that “God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” in everything (1 Peter 4:11). “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory” (Psalm 115:1).
God’s will is to advance His kingdom. God’s will is for Christ to be Lord.
So how do you know? What are you supposed to be looking for? You’ll know you’re staring at an opened or closed door because it will not be in contradiction to His Word and you’ll be sensing His loving peace.
“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,” the Bible says (Colossians 3:15). When you make known your sincere requests to Him in prayer, “the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
The “Whatever” from God
“Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it” (Mark 11:24). “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do” (John 14:13). “Whatever we ask we receive from Him” (1 John 3:22). “If we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him” (1 John 5:15). There’s a noticeable pattern here. A “whatever” pattern.
Jesus declared with His mouth and demonstrated with His life that He always does what is pleasing to the Father (John 8:29). How many of your desires are the kind that please the Lord when He hears them?
We serve a God who “richly supplies us with all things to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17). He delights in His amazing creation and wants us to fully delight in Him and all the good things He’s made.
The devil wants us to view God as dull and to view sin as delightful. Righteousness unpleasant and immorality liberating. But the truth is, the devil has never created anything good. Or created anything at all, for that matter. Every good and perfect gift you’ve ever enjoyed in life has come to you from God (James 1:17).
The Wonder of God’s Names
O may Your glorious name be blessed and exalted above all blessing and praise! (Nehemiah 9:5)
Because He is eternal and limitless, the many titles and descriptions used of Him in the Bible are vast and astounding. But that’s the point. Each name of God helps us to understand, value, and worship Him even more.
Some of God’s names describe who He is, independent of what He does or what He’s created: Elohim (God), Yahweh (Lord, Jehovah), El Elyon (The Most High God), El Olam (The Everlasting God).
Some names refer to a specific person of the Trinity:
- God the Father is sometimes called: God (Psalm 22:1; Isaiah 53:4), Lord (Isaiah 53:10), God and Father of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:3), Father of the fatherless (Psalm 68:5), and many more.
- God the Son is called: the Anointed One (Acts 4:26), the Lamb of God (John 1:29), the Christ of God (Luke 9:20), the only begotten Son (John 3:16), Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:8), the Son of Man (John 5:27), the Author and Perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), King of kings, Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16).
- God the Spirit is called: the Spirit of Christ (1 Peter 1:11), Counselor (John 14:16), the Spirit of the living God (2 Corinthians 3:3).
His names are hallowed, holy, honored, and higher than every other name. That’s why we must never take any of God’s names in vain or use them flippantly. He also has more formal names:
- In our time of need, God is Jehovah Jireh—the Lord our Provider.
- When we struggle with sickness, He is Jehovah Rapha—the Lord our Healer.
- When we need comfort, He is Jehovah Raah—the Lord our Shepherd.
- When we are fearful or stressed, He is Jehovah Shalom—the Lord our Peace.
- When we need to be forgiven and cleansed, He is Jehovah Tsidkenu—the Lord our Righteousness.
The Wisdom of God
“Wisdom is supreme—so get wisdom. And whatever else you get, get understanding” (Proverbs 4:7). Not many things in life come with this kind of endorsement. Whatever else you get. Whatever else you do.
Wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge to a given situation.
God has put His name on the line if wisdom is something you really want. “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:6).
The Ways of God’s Spirit
Prayer is an admission that we are not in control, and yet at the same time completely and confidently under God’s control (Psalm 103:19).
The Holy Spirit is the engine of the Christian life, guiding and empowering us to do what we cannot do on our own. He is the holy, rushing wind of God (John 3:8), breathing life through every part of our prayer lives. He reveals God and His Word to us. Jesus, describing how the Holy Spirit would remain with His disciples after He’d left the earth, identified Him as the:
- “Spirit of truth” (John 14:17)
- “Helper” who “proceeds from the Father” and testifies about the nature of Christ (15:26)
- “Guide” who “will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come” (16:13).
The Spirit prays for us. The “Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26). He guides our praying.
Praying Offensively
They go from strength to strength. (Psalm 84:7)
Jesus taught us to pray for three very important things: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:10–11). All good things to pray for, not just things to pray against.
Praying Preemptively
“A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished” (Proverbs 22:3). We must learn to pray preemptively, lifting our calendars, commitments, and coming opportunities to the Lord. Spiritually fastening our armor and asking God to guide, provide, empower, and protect us before stepping into the heat of combat.
One thing that will help you is to understand how the enemy attacks. Here are some of his methods:
- Distraction. Misdirection is Warfare 101. David wrote, “I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted, because of the voice of the enemy” (Psalm 55:2–3).
- Deception. Jesus said whenever Satan speaks a lie (which is all the time), “he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
- Derision. When he’s not lying, he’s usually running you down or running down someone else in your mind. He’s the “accuser of our brethren” (Revelation 12:10).
- Division. One hallmark of the gospel is the loving unity it brings to people of all nations, all backgrounds, all ages, and demographics. All in Christ. One in Christ. But Satan knows “if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand” (Mark 3:25).
This is what the spiritual armor of Ephesians 6 is for.
- “Truth” to wrap around our waist, dispelling his lies.
- “Righteousness”—from Christ—worn across our chests and lived out in bold, active, grateful obedience.
- “Peace” in our daily walk, not rattled by Satan’s accusations and distractions.
- “Faith” as a shield to fend off his attacks.
- “Salvation” guarding our minds from being convinced we’ve failed God too badly to be saved.
- “The word of God,” wielded like a sword, slicing through the enemy’s distortions.
- And to activate them, we “pray”—staying “on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:14–18).
Praying Defensively
Christians are equipped with everything needed for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), but many are not ready when the enemy attacks.
The following R.E.S.P.O.N.D. acronym is a powerful, biblically based battle plan to help you strategically respond to a personal attack of the enemy.
- RESIST Satan in Jesus’ name. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
- ESCAPE with Scripture. God promises to always provide a “way of escape” from temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13).
- SEARCH for unconfessed sin. The book of James says, after you’ve submitted to God and resisted the devil, you should “cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts” (James 4:8).
- PLEAD the blood of Jesus. When we admit sin and plead (appeal by faith) for God to cleanse us by His blood, He is faithful to forgive and wash us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7–9).
- OVERTAKE ground given to Satan. In spiritual warfare, we are wrestling against “principalities and powers” (Colossians 2:15)—rulers of darkness who claim jurisdiction.
- NAME someone in targeted prayer. After the apostle Paul discussed the sword of the Spirit, he said we should get busy praying for others (Ephesians 6:17–19).
- DELIGHT in the Lord. “And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord” (Psalm 27:6).
Praying Extraordinarily
I sought the Lord in my day of trouble. My hands were continually lifted up all night long. (Psalm 77:2)
“Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to law; and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16). The result of their united, above-and-beyond praying was miraculous. Notice they prayed corporately. Extraordinary prayer is a team effort.
They prayed with fasting. We’ve mentioned fasting earlier, listing it as one of the “keys” of prayer. But serious matters call for unusual sacrifice with focused devotion and dedication. We don’t say no to ourselves or our appetites easily. But by denying the daily demands of our flesh in order to focus all of our attention on God, we can go more deeply and intently into focused prayer in times of difficulty, strain, and emergency.
They prayed fervently. Persistently and passionately. Fervent prayer touches God’s heart. And “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16).
Nehemiah’s Words – How He Prayed
- “I sat down” with humility
- “wept and mourned” with brokenness
- “I was fasting and praying” with fasting
- “I beseech You, O Lord [Yahweh] using God’s name
- “God [Elohim] of heaven” using another of God’s names
- “great and awesome” praising God’s character
- “God” [El] using another of God’s names
- “who preserves covenant, lovingkindness” praising God’s attributes
- “praying day and night” with fervency and persistence
- “on behalf of the sons of Israel” with intercession
- “we have sinned” confessing sin, interceding
- “I and my father’s house have sinned” with personal repentance
- “remember the word” praying God’s Word
- “[God’s] name to dwell” using God’s name
- “Your great power and strong hand” with praise and faith
- “O Lord” [Adonai] yet another of God’s names
- “I beseech you” supplication
- “prayer of Your servant” individual praying
- “prayer of Your servants” united praying
- “revere Your name” using God’s name
- “make your servant successful” praying specifically
- “grant him compassion” with faith and expectation
Praying for the Lost
We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20)
Here’s the next part of our prayer strategy: readiness.
Paul pled in Ephesians 6:19, “Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.”
Putting our insecurities above another’s need for hearing the truth is like saying, “My comfort level is more important to me than your salvation.” Our prayers shouldn’t be limited, however, only to those within our area of influence. We must also pray for people we’ll never meet.
Consider a prayer like this:
Lord, give me a greater heart for the lost—a heart that doesn’t ignore them or work around them, but rather breaks for them. Hurts for them. Guard me from even subtly downplaying their need for You or considering their salvation someone else’s job to worry about. Open my eyes as I travel throughout each day, watching for You to open doors so I can give effective testimony to Your goodness and faithfulness.
Praying for Believers
The hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. (Philemon 7)
Perhaps some of the most commonly spoken words from one Christian to another are “I’ll be praying for you.” And yet perhaps the most commonly unspoken words are the prayers that would have been said if those promises were truly kept.
Too often, prayer request times between believers become organ recitals. Pray for my aunt’s kidney condition. Pray for my cousin’s colon cancer. Pray for my brother’s big toe. And while we all need and appreciate prayer toward physical health (3 John 2), we must be careful not to prioritize temporary physical needs over eternal spiritual ones. Otherwise, as one man said, we will spend more time praying to keep sick saints out of heaven rather than lost sinners out of hell.
Praying for Family
I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. (3 John 4)
Pray, then, that your spouse would above all be devoted to Christ in loving gratitude, surrendered to following His Word and His lordship.
Pray that God would keep them vividly aware of His desires, knowing how to handle each day’s decisions. Pray that His Spirit would keep you actively and accurately attuned to their needs so that He can employ you as a helpful voice of clarity and insight in all their decision-making.
Praying for Authorities
Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities . . . showing every consideration for all men. (Titus 3:1–2)
Our authorities either help us in doing the will of God, or they make it harder for us to pursue.
The Bible commands us to pray for all those in leadership over us. “Entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings . . . for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity” (1 Timothy 2:1–2).
Authority basically orbits around four centers of activity: family, church, government, and employment. In our families, for instance, children should be praying for their parents; parents for their children; wives for their husbands; husbands for their wives. This is all part of how God works within a family both to bless its individual members and to make it a force of kingdom influence.
Pray for your boss and management at work. Like all those in authority, they are charged with these four overarching responsibilities, among other things:
- providing direction, instruction, and an example to follow;
- protecting with boundaries and rules;
- praising those who do right; and
- punishing those who do wrong.
You might even add a fifth—pointing others to Christ—because any leader in any job, in dedicating his or her position to God, can be used as a force of spiritual change, both in the lives of individuals as well as the culture at large.
Praying for Laborers in the Harvest
The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. (Luke 10:2)
Pray using Paul’s instruction: “Pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel . . . that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:19–20). Pray for God’s protection around your pastor’s heart, his marriage, and his home.
If missionaries could speak as a group, they might appeal, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ” (Colossians 4:2–3).
By most ways of accounting, the world is comprised of 11,500 different people groups. (People groups are those with a common self-identity, based largely on language and ethnicity.) Current data suggests that in more than half of these groups (around 6,800), their populations are less than 2 percent Christian. And half of those (roughly 3,200) do not contain any Christians at all and are not being engaged in any way by the gospel. No Bible. No churches. No missionaries. No spiritual light.
To put it in perspective: the U.S. population is around 320 million. The world population now exceeds 7 billion. America represents less than 5 percent of the globe today.
Praying for Churches and Revival
Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land. (Psalm 85:9)
American colonies, where along with Jonathan Edwards and others, the first Great Awakening would spark to life during the 1730s and 1740s.
Scripture clearly lays out the raw ingredients that have consistently led to revival. “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). “‘Even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning; and rend your heart and not your garments’” (Joel 2:12–13).
Ammunition
Rhythms of Prayer
- Weekly Prayer—Individually
- Monthly Prayer—Churchwide
- Quarterly Prayer—Community
- Yearly Prayer—Nationally
Spiritual Temperature Test
Are you hot, cold, or lukewarm?
The Gospel
If any of us claims to be a good person, we need to be honest with ourselves: have we ever dishonored God by lying, cheating, lusting, stealing, rebelling against authorities, or hating others?
What most people don’t realize is that our occasional good deeds do not take away our sins or somehow cleanse us in God’s eyes.
The good news is that God is not only just, but He is also loving and merciful. He has provided a better way for us to have forgiveness and come to know Him. Out of His love and kindness for us, the Bible says He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place and shed His blood to pay the price for our sins.
Prayer Strategy Verses
Praying for Your Husband/Wife (or Yourself): That she would love the Lord with all her heart, mind, soul, and strength. (Matthew 22:36–40)
Praying for Your Children:
- That they would love the Lord with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength, and their neighbors as themselves. (Matthew 22:36–40)
- Come to know Christ as Lord early in life. (2 Timothy 3:15)
- Be surrounded by the right kinds of friends and avoid wrong friends. (Proverbs 1:10–16; 13:20)
Praying for Your Pastor or Minister at Your Church:
- Experience the filling and anointing of the Holy Spirit. (John 15:4–10; 1 John 2:20, 27)
- Honor Christ in his heart, words, and actions. (Psalm 19:14; 1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 5:4)
Praying for Governmental Authorities over You:
- That they would be blessed, protected, and prosperous in their role. (3 John 2)
- Submit to the authority and ways of God and His Word daily. (1 Peter 2:13–17)
Praying for Those Who Don’t Know Christ:
- That God would connect them to genuine believers and the simplicity of the gospel. (Romans 1:16; 1 Timothy 2:5–6)
- Disconnect them from influences that are pulling them away from Christ. (John 7:47–52)
Praying for Other Believers (or Yourself):
- That they would fully surrender their lives to the lordship of Jesus Christ. (Romans 10:9–10; 12:1–2)
- Be baptized and stay in fellowship, service, worship, and growth at a Bible-teaching church. (Matthew 22:36–40; 28:18–20; Acts 2:38)
- Learn to abide in Christ, be filled with His Spirit, and live according to His will. (John 15:1–17)
Praying for Laborers in the Harvest:
- That God would open the eyes of believers and give them hearts of love and compassion for the lost. (Matthew 9:27–28; John 4:35; Romans 5:5; 10:1)
- Call out a new generation into ministry and service of God’s kingdom. (Matthew 9:38)
- Give them faith, courage, and initiative to obey God’s call. (Mark 13:10–11)
Praying for Your City:
- That God would bless your city and make it a safe and prosperous place for families to freely live, grow, worship, and serve Him with their lives. (Psalm 122:6–9, 3 John 2)
- Raise up strong pastors and healthy churches throughout the city to be a light and a spiritual force for good. (Matthew 5:16; Acts 16:4–5)