Secret Number One:
DISTINGUISHING THE MEANING OF PRAYER
He who has the spirit of prayer has the highest interest in the court of heaven. And the only way to retain it is to keep it in constant employment. Apostasy begins in the closet. No man ever backslid from the life and power of Christianity who continued constant and fervent in private prayer. He who prays without ceasing is likely to rejoice evermore. ADAM CLARKE
People do things not knowing why they do them. Prayer is something people do without realizing what it means to pray. Knowing the meaning of prayer, the function of prayer, the power of prayer, and the truth of prayer bring about 100% answers to prayers. Praying will also become a good habit.
Prayer means different things to people. Some people are comfortable with the Bible’s terminology as calling upon God for the things we desire.
Call upon me and I will answer thee, and will show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not (Jeremiah 33:3).
Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee (Psalm 50:15).
Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am (Isaiah 58:9).
Edwards M. Bounds said: Prayer is the divinely appointed means by which man comes into direct connection with God. By His own ordinance God holds Himself bound to hear prayer. God bestows His great good on His children when they seek it along the avenue of prayer.
Prayer is the direct appeal to God for some temporal or spiritual good. It is requesting God to intervene in life’s affairs for the good of those for whom we pray.
John R. Rice defines prayer with this vivid image. Prayer is …a pick-up truck – we back it up to God’s warehouse and come away with the goods. But some people pray as they window-shop they don’t go after anything and they don’t bring anything home.
John Dunlap adds a warning: Prayer is not a spiritual exercise that gets God in the mood to do something He didn’t want to do before.
When we pray we want answers. Moreover, it is the desire of God for all His children to call upon Him and to answer them. Prayer is the permission that God gives His children to talk to Him directly and to receive answers.
Homer W. Hodge said:
Prayer should be the breath of our breathing, the thought of our thinking, the soul of our feeling, and the life of our living, the sound of our hearing, the growth of our growing. Prayer in its magnitude is length without end, width without bounds, height without top, and depth without bottom. Illimitable in its breadth, exhaustless in height, fathomless in depths and infinite in extension.
My experience in ministry makes me aware that many Christians do not believe that God really answers prayers. Even when seeking counseling some people do not believe that God can answer prayer a hundred percent of the time. But why pray if you do not get results? Why pray when you know that God cannot answer or will not answer you?
Eldon Bollinger said these reassuring words
Prayer is the key in the hands of faith which will unlock Heavens storehouse.
I believe that you can have perfect results every time you pray because God’s Word guarantees us 100% results every time we pray. Jesus Christ, our role model did not say that we might possibly or maybe get an answer to our prayers; however, He said that we would get an answer to our prayers.
E.M. Bounds is very reassuring when he wrote
Prayer blesses all things, brings all things, relieves all things and prevents all things. Everything as well as every place and every hour is to be ordered by prayer. Prayer has in it the possibility to affect everything which affects us.
I was inspired to write this book as a challenge. It is written for you to know that you can receive 100% answers to your prayers. It is written for you to dismiss doubt, unbelief, and whatever the devil has incorporated in your heart. You are a child of God! Our God is the living God who hears His children. He is Omnipresent - He is everywhere at every time. He is where you are now.
It must never be forgotten that Almighty God rules this world. He is not an absentee God. His hand is ever on the throttle of human affairs. He is everywhere present in the concerns of time. “His eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men.” He rules the world just as He rules the Church by prayer. E.M. Bounds
Our God is Omnipotent – He is all-powerful! He has power over all your problems and predicament. He is unstoppable. When GOD acts on your behalf NOTHING can stop Him because He is invincible, unbeatable, unconquerable, unshakable, indomitable, impregnable, unchangeable, unassailable, insuperable, and indestructible.
Our God is Omniscience - He knows everything about every human being. God knows you more than you know yourself. He knows everything about your life. He knows the cause or causes of your predicaments and holds the solutions for all your challenges. Jesus made this promise
Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. Matthew 6:7-8
The purpose of this book is to inspire you, to heal you, and to help you get positive results for your prayers. You are a child of the living God who promises that you have 100% of His attention and the guarantee to receive what you ask for in prayer.
The Bible makes it clear …all of you are children of the most High.” Psalms 82:6
You are not a dog or a goat or a pig or other creature, but a living soul created in likeness and image of God. (See Genesis 1:26)
It is answered prayer which brings praying out of the realm of dry, dead things, and makes praying a thing of life and power. It is the answer to prayer which brings things to pass, changes the natural trend of things, and orders all things according to the will of God. It is the answer to prayer which takes praying out of the regions of fanaticism, and saves it from being Eutopian, or from being merely fanciful. It is the answer to prayer which makes praying a power for God and for man, and makes praying real and divine. E. M. Bounds
I see God answering your prayers right now! By the time you finish reading this book, you will experience 100% answers to all your prayers.
Have you ever paid attention to the teachings of Jesus? While Jesus prayed Himself, His parables and miracles were exponents of prayer. He laboured directly to teach His disciples the specific art of praying. He said little or nothing about how to preach or what to preach. But He spent His strength and time in teaching men how to speak to God, how to commune with Him, and how to be with Him. He knew full well that the person, who has learned the craft of talking to God, will be well versed in talking to men, women, and children.
As you continue reading keep in mind that nothing is too hard for God and no cause is hopeless. Almighty God is the Great Physician. Prayer embraces the very smallest things of life. Prayer takes in the wants of the body, food, raiment, business, finances, in fact everything which belongs to this life, as well as those things which have to do with the eternal interests of the soul.
Prayer is the task and duty of each new day. Pray for daily needs. Pray for your daily bread. No amount of praying, done today, replaces tomorrow's praying. Therefore, praying daily is your responsibility. Prayer is a ministry not a minion!
Beloved, never allow this great opportunity to elude you. Get up! Rise up! Take the journey of prayer; never allow deception from anywhere hinder you to do the right thing in order to get 100% answer to your prayers.
