Four Secrets Of Prayer
Praying Like Jesus
God is a good God! He is merciful, kind, and gracious; He’s a Loving God. Perhaps a tragedy has happened to someone around you, or you did something wrong, and you are full of guilt and condemnation, wondering if you could be forgiven or given a second chance. I have good news for you. All your wrongdoing, past, present, and future, have been forgiven. He repeatedly voiced it out in three chapters. “He also says: “Their sins and their evildoing I will remember no more.” Hebrews 10:17. Hebrews 8:12. Jeremiah 31:34.
Prayer is a communion with God. It is fellowship, relationship, and intimacy with Him. We can also say, Prayer is a conversation. It is dialogue; it is both talking and listening. It’s one of the greatest assets of every child of God. Until we know the meaning of Prayer and how to pray, we might remain a victim.
‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ Jeremiah 33:3.
Prayer is an essential aspect of who we are as Christians; it’s our priestly ministry to pray. Jesus said, “…men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1). So often, people go through difficulties in their lives and don’t know what to do.
Not many know how to pray the right way. So God told us to pray, not for praying’s sake, but because He planned to answer. There are rules and factors of Prayer that would make our prayers more effective if and when clearly understood and applied.
When we study the Book of Acts, we will find out that the apostles took advantage of these factors in their ministries. No wonder they had such extraordinary results and a significant impact on the Gospel.
Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Ephesians 5:1.
The best way to improve in whatever you’re doing in life is to learn from those ahead of you that have undeniable results in their assignment, which requires humility. For example, the disciples were very humble to ask their master to teach them how to pray. It means they saw something different in His prayer life that makes them curious about it.
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1.
Your relationship with your heavenly Father will determine how effective your prayer life will be. For example, Jesus Christ had undeniable miracles in His prayers because He had a relationship with the Father.
That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. John 17:21.
UNDERSTANDING GOD’S WILL IN PRAYER.
Prayer is stress-free and more effective when the will of God is known.
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.’ 1 John 5:14.
Knowing God’s will allows us to know what to pray and how to ask. Prayer is communion with our heavenly Father. He is Father, and we are not enslaved people and servants; we are His child. God has adopted us with unbreakable legal binding. And we cannot be disowned by God.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39.
The Word of God is the will of God. We don’t pray to know God’s will; we study to know His will. The scripture says Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15. Frustration is inevitable when the will of God is not known. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. James 4:3.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR IDENTITY
First is to know who we are in Christ, our identity, not our right to materials or spiritual needs; no. when you know who you are, you will understand what belongs to you and how to actualize those benefits. Next, we need to be established in Christ’s identity, which will help us actualize our material needs.
God had an original picture of what man is supposed to be. The man was intended to have authority and work as a co-laborer with his Creator. The actual view God painted the man in the garden was spectacular.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. Psalms 139:14.
Knowing your identity and God’s will; will empower your confidence when praying. It will make your words forceful and authoritative. But, being bold and authoritative doesn’t mean screaming, yelling, and vibrating. I was once a victim of that, and knowledge has delivered me.
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16.
When you know and understand your rightful place in God, you will become bold and confident in approaching the Father and addressing the mountain of life. You can be in abundance and not benefit from it if you lack identity—an example of the prodigal son elder brother in Luke 15:29-31.
So he answered and said to his Father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’ “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.
So many Christ believers pray like the prodigal son and his elder brother. They pray with an inferiority complex, asking for what already belongs to them. We often pray and do not get what we want because we intend to ask for what has already been ours. Please look at his Father’s response. All that I have is yours.
Therefore, let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16.
Knowing our identity in Christ and the will of God, then Prayer becomes stress-free. We know what is ours as Christians via the Word of God.
FOUR WAYS JESUS CHRIST APPROACHED PRAYERS:
PRAY WITHOUT CEASING
We should always be ready to pray without ceasing. The Word of God is the will of God. We don’t pray to know God’s will; we study to know His will. This type of Prayer is in our thought, life, and mind when the devil brings negative thoughts and mental pictures; we need to address them immediately with the Word of God. Praying without ceasing is being ready with the Word of God to reencounter negative thoughts. You communicate with God on the go and address the forces behind negative thoughts, like what happened at the mountain of temptation. Jesus never wasted His time. He gave back to the tempter what he deserved because He understood the will and knew His identity. When faced with challenges, you won’t jump around the bush if you know your identity in Christ and God’s will.
Matthew 4:3-11. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands, they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ “ Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ “ Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
You can see that Christ never wasted His time responding. He never went home to sleep over the negative thought, but He answered them immediately. That is praying without ceasing.
THE PRAYER OF INQUIRING.
This type of Prayer often requires setting up a time and place to communicate with God, asking God’s pertinent questions, or expressing your concerns and burdens. But most of the time, Christians express themselves as helpless, homeless, and fatherless. They look forsaken, forgotten, and abandoned. Moreover, some ignorantly justify their negative expression by falsely accusing God.
God had fulfilled His promise when He said, “He would never leave us nor forsake us in Deuteronomy 31:6. Therefore, giving us the Holy Spirit and some of the Holy Spirit’s ministries is to comfort, strengthen, help, guard, counsel, teach, improve memories, etc.
If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. John 14:15-16,18,26.
We need to be in touch with the Holy Spirit if we want to experience a remarkable transformation in our prayer lives. The answers to our questions can be gotten through the moment of fellowshipping, seeking, and spending valuable time with the Holy Spirit, just like what Jesus did at Gethsemane in Matthew 26:36-44.
Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, If this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
Here at Gethsemane, Jesus was seeking, fellowshipping, asking, and inquiring about His destiny. He was not casting, and binding as most of us do all the time, so our result is few. He knows how to pray; that is why His influence was terrific. We can not ignore learning His partan if we genuinely want to succeed as believers.
Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. Ephesians 5:1.
PREPARATION BEFORE PRAYER.
Jesus waited behind for two days after receiving a message that Lazarus was sick and eventually died. In the days He was waiting, He prepared, meditated, thought, asked His Father pertinent questions, and sought scriptures to address the situation. And when He finally got to the place, His Prayer was concise and resulted effectively.
John 11:5-6,43-44. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. 43-44. Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
There is no manifestation without preparation. Every astounding miracle comes out of adequate preparations. Even in the secular world, there is no advancement without preparation.
The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But deliverance is of the Lord. Proverbs 21:31. We need to prepare ourselves if we want results in our prayer life.
SPEAK TO THE MOUNTAIN.
There are times to speak to God and talk to the mountain. We don’t tell God about the mountain; we say to the mountain about our God through the scriptures in the Bible, which is God’s will.
For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Mark 11:23.
In this type of Prayer, you speak to the mountain confronting you without wasting time. You don’t talk to God about the problem, but you use your God-given authority and relevant scriptures regarding your situation and speak to the problem.
Luke 8:24. And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.
The response from the Disciple was a typical prayer lifestyle of many believers today. Instead of speaking to the problem confronting them, they talk to God in fear, complaining, and grumbling. But, of course, you don’t do that and expect a positive outcome. Christ knows God’s will and understands His identity; his prayers were effective.
“Relationship with God [Christianity] is not about how much we work extremely hard to please God; it is about knowing who He is and experiencing Him.”
