How many of you are inspired by Art? Motivated by music? Stirred by a poem? Touched by colors, patterns, and designs? Moved by nature? Changed by Relationships? In a very similar way – we should be inspired, motivated, stirred, touched, moved, and changed by our Prayer Life.
Prayer – The Whisper of the soul in search of harmony with the heart of God.
Do you ever wonder why your prayer life feels like “Gone with the Wind”, in black and white, stuck on replay? Perhaps you have memorized your prayer lines so well that, like Gone with the Wind, it feels like you’re praying to the Wind and not the Word. “I Can only Imagine” how wonderful our prayer life would be if we upgraded “The Godfather” – and prayed in high definition, to God the Father. Prayer is one long overture. No, you don’t have to audition in order to speak to God. Everyone has a part. Everyone has role. Everyone has a prayer, which is always heard, no matter how simplistically it may be spoken. But sometimes, we stumble over the dialogue to get it just right, we become too afraid to pray – especially out loud, in front of others, our audience. But there is no perfect dialogue and prayer is not about impressing an audience. But as we pray, we gain confidence, and more importantly, we gain a connection with God.
That’s the only reason it might be wise to add new screenshots of creativity to our prayer life. A fresh approach to prayer won’t affect our ratings with God, but a colorful background may add dimension to our relationship with the Great Producer - the Majestic Composer.
And together we will discover that every prayer has 4 dimensions:
1. glorify Him 2. Build a relationship with Him 3. Align our hearts with Him and His holy and perfect will 4. Rejoice in Him – because of answered prayer
The Real Power in Prayer is in simply praying. Like Nike – just do it! Power appliances are useless unless we plug them into a power source. God is our power source. And that power source is Alive – He is a live wire - listening and answering the prayers of his children. But He can’t answer prayers that aren’t being uttered.
The Mystery of prayer connects God to mankind
The Power of prayer changes our frame of mind
Prayer changes us. If we don’t believe that – we might as well stop right here. Because if we don’t believe in the power of prayer – there’s no reason to pray. There’s no reason to make prayer a priority. There’s no reason to pray without ceasing.
From the time my children were little, we got on our knees every night and prayed to God. I found out years later from my son that he was trying to run from God when he was a junior in high school. But, it was impossible. God would not let him go. When I asked him why God wouldn’t let him go. He said, “You can’t run from God when you’re on your knees every night praying with your mom.”
I cried. Yes, cried tears of joy. I never knew my son was fighting God and that our prayer time was that glue that would not let him go. You see, “Prayer is the glue that fastens our heart to God and focuses our mind on God.”
What’s the best way to love another person? Pray for them. Pray with them. Jesus set the example for us – he often prayed for others and with others – and even now – He is at the right hand of the father praying – interceding – for us.” If Jesus felt the need to pray – and still feels the need to pray – to intercede for us - should we do less than Him? I think not.
“Prayer is the breath of the soul in sync with the song of the Savior”
*Prayer isn’t a haphazard – throw up a few words to the pie in the sky and hope he hears and answers. And, like I said, our goal in prayer should never be to impress others.
The message God has laid upon my heart today isn’t about upgrading our prayers to impress, it’s about splashing our prays with creativity to grow – to grow in our relationship with Him - to move past the mentality that prayer is simply an avenue to ask God for what we want. Prayer is so much more.
There are many ways to Power-Up our prayer life, we can’t cover them all, but let’s look a few.
First – we can address God in numerous ways.
The manner in which we approach His holy throne stimulates our mind in a particular direction. Most of us have a pat beginning we’re comfortable with. But instead of saying Dear Heavenly Father or Dear God every single time we pray, what about:
Most Holy and Merciful God, Lord of Creation, God of Wonder, Lord of Light and Love, Precious Lord, Compassionate and Forgiving Father, Crucified Savior and Risen Lord, Lord of Heaven and Earth, Good and Gracious Shepherd, Abba Father, Author of Life, and the list goes on and on. These are so many beautiful scriptural names for God. In fact, there are 208 different names for Jesus alone used in scripture. Why not use some of them when we pray?
*Word of Caution - make sure you address God according to scripture. The names God uses for Himself.
You see, by using different names to address God we have an automatic stimulus for prayer direction. For Example: If we begin our prayer with “Lord of Creation/Author of Life”: our minds will focus on the heavens declaring the glory of God, on praising Him for His handiwork, on praying for wisdom to use our resources wisely, on forgiveness for being wasteful with our earthly blessings. Etc. On the other hand, when we address God as “Compassionate and Forgiving Father”, we’re probably headed down a path of Confession. I’m simply suggesting that we experiment a little – and enjoy how BIG our God is.
2. Another way to Power up our prayer life – and this might be my Favorite is to pray with a Variety of Action Verbs –action verbs allow the heart to write the love song to God on its own.
Listen to these action verbs.
Hallowed
Give
Forgive
Lead
Deliver
Recognize them?
Yes, Jesus’ disciples asked him the profound question – Teach us to pray Lord. So he gave them a pattern for prayer in Matthew 6:9-13
Our Father, who art in heaven
“Our indicates a close relationship – God is family” and he is in heaven preparing a home for us – that we read in John 14:3 “I go to prepare a place for you and if I go to prepare a place for you – I will come again and receive you unto myself – that where I am – there you may be also.”
HALLOWED be thy name
He is holy – so as we approach God in prayer – there is a sense of worship
Thy kingdom come
The disciples were told to pray for his second coming – he is coming again
Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
His agenda comes first – and we must always be conscious of His will – and think like the familiar – What Would Jesus Do?
GIVE us this day our daily bread
We must realize that we are dependent upon God for our daily needs – sometimes we forget that in a nation so blessed
And FORGIVE us our trespasses
As we FORGIVE those who trespass against us
This petition cannot be separated – we forgive because we are forgiven. We need to get our hearts right with God and each other – package deal
And LEAD us not into temptation
But DELIVER us from evil
This is spiritual warfare for sure. We fight the evils of this world but we cannot win battle alone – That’s why we pray for God to deliver. He is the great Deliverer.
For thine is the kingdom, (God rules) and the power, ( He is majestic)
and the glory (our victory is through Him) forever and ever. (it’s unending)
Amen.
*Action Verbs automatically lead us into a pattern of prayer straight from the soul.
Bottom row: Shoulder our pain - Manifest our weaknesses - Shield us from sin
Besides the action verbs found in the Lord’s Prayers – we have a pattern of prayer which can act as our “Approach TO” prayer.
First – our Approach to Prayer:
Praise His Holiness
Recognize our sin
Ask for Forgiveness
Yield to His Will
Express our Requests (through Christ)
Receive an Amen
Now – let’s see where this approach to prayer is exemplified in the Lord’s Prayer –
Our Pattern for prayer:
Praise His Holiness – hallowed be thy name – God is holy – we show Him reverence – He’s holy and we are to be holy too
Recognize our sin – forgive us our trespasses – or sins
Ask for forgiveness – forgive us as we forgive others who sin against us – these two parts are seen as one petition
Yield to His Will – thy will be done - sometimes the answer is NO – just like we
tell our kids no
Express our requests – give us our daily bread ( our basic needs)
lead us not into temptation -
deliver us from evil – do you see how these verbs – give, lead, and deliver have a future pretense to them as well? And they signify the spiritual battle we are in every day
Receive an Amen – when praying in public – the response should be amen –
meaning – we all agree
The Lord’s Prayer or The Disciple’s Prayer as it is called sometimes – provides a patterned prayer to guide us in our prayer life.
In the Lord’s Prayer we see that from the first word to the last word the focus is on who? God. On adoration of Him – on His worthiness – His glory.
Prayer should not be an attempt to persuade God to see life the way we see it.
It should not be an avenue to beg for the worldly things we covet. Give me, give me, give me.
Prayer should be the sweetest conversation we’ve ever had. A time where we affirm God’s holiness – His sovereignty – His righteousness, His majesty.
A time we seek His will – His wisdom – His leading.
A time to give Him all the glory He deserves.
Here is a second acrostic to help us remember the “Advantages OF” prayer. So, we have the Lord’s Prayer – which is our “Approach TO” Prayer
And now the “Advantages OF” prayer.
Presence of God activated – we are talking directly to God!
Rejuvenates our spirit – we never leave prayer time quite the same
Alters our mental/emotional state of mind – he can wipe away our sorrow
Yields new outlook – a dark day finds sunshine
Eliminates our sin – we don’t have to carry the burden/guilt any longer
Readjusts our thinking – God will help us overcome our weaknesses
I read this excerpt from John MacArthur on the Lord’s Prayer – I found it thought-provoking – so I share it with you:
The Our reflects unselfishness;
Father reflects family devotion;
hallowed be Thy name, reverence;
Thy kingdom come, loyalty;
Thy will be done, submission;
give us this day our daily bread, dependence;
forgive us our debts, penitence;
do not lead us into temptation, humility;
Thine is the kingdom, triumph;
and the glory, exultation;
and forever, hope.
Prayer is exciting. But sometimes, as I mentioned, it helps to Power it Up. Shake it Up. Change it Up. From personal experience I can tell you that writing my prayers down and keeping them in a prayer journal has been a blessing. I offer 15 ways to Power-Up your prayer life:
1: Write a Prayer in which you Address God (whether it be the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit – or all three) in a manner you have never uttered before. (But keep it scriptural: Lord of Creation; God of Wonder, Father of Lights)
2: Write a prayer using Action Verbs, like we see in the Lord’s prayer. Action verbs will lead you to an active prayer life
Lord of Creation and Author of Life,
Restore our broken relationship
Fashion our thoughts that we might dwell on the good and shun the evil.
Examine our hearts and you will know that we love you and desire to serve
you with every breath we take.
3. Alter your Environment:
If we always pray in the morning – praying at night – or vice versa. Or pray by candlelight or in the woods or in the rain. By changing our prayer environment, we just might change the power of our prayer life.
4. Vary your Voice – literally:
Instead of praying silently, we can audibly whisper the words embedded in our hearts. Perhaps include music as part of our prayer life. Music itself can be a prayer.
5. Be Still and Know that I am God:
Sometimes we are too busy doing all the talking to hear what God is saying. Relationships need input from both sides. We need to Clear our minds from the clutter of the world and listen to the still, small voice of God. Listen. And be blessed.
6. Meditation in Motion:
Walk, run, stretch, cycle, do some form of physical exercise, while praying; we’ll feel the rhythm of our prayer meld into one with the rhythm of our body.
7. Read prayerful Reflections (including scriptural prayers):
“There is none holy like the Lord:
for there is none beside you;
there is no rock like our God.
(An excerpt of Hannah’s Prayer of Praise! I Samuel 2)
8. Write a prayer of “Pure Praise” (no requests)
Most Holy and Merciful Lord,
Your holiness is a breath of fresh air
cleansing our souls.
We praise you for the wonder of your creation.
The beauty of the changing leaves,
and the warmth of the harvest sun
remind us of the warmth of your constant love.
There is no beauty that can compare with Your love.
You, and You alone, are worthy of our Praise!
9: Write a prayer while listening to music – any genre – preferably NO words. As you listen, focus your thoughts on God and let the music move you closer to Him.
10: Turn a Scripture passage into a prayer
11: Go on a prayer walk through your town and pray specifically for the businesses or people as you pass them by. I think Pastor Denny mentioned this.
12: Pray without speaking a word. Let your heart do the talking. Just breath in and out and allow the prayer of your heart to connect with God.
13: Pray while holding an object in your hand. If it’s hard to forgive someone who has hurt you try holding a stone – (he/she who is without sin cast the first stone. Your object will remind you that you are not sinless either. It should make it easier to forgive.)
14: Write out your prayer of confession, then rip it up and put it in the garbage. Once you throw it away, don’t take it back.
15. Adopt a Prayer Partner:
Team up with a prayer partner. Accountability keeps us on track. My best friend and kindred spirit in the Lord sent me these verses from Colossians 1:9 -12 –it has become the heart of our prayer partnership.
“So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father.
He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.”
Prayer is more than a pathway – it’s the prize of the Christian Life. It is a glorious gift from God. Our prayers please God –and then can and will change you and me. James 5:16: “The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.”
Abba Father – thank you for the gift of prayer. Ignite our hearts, renew our minds, and draw us closer to you, through a stronger, more dedicated, and more powerful prayer life.
Amen
