People of prayer don’t just pray occasionally; for them, prayer is a lifestyle. They wake up praying, fall asleep praying, and they carve out time in their day to pray. They don’t surrender their time in prayer for anyone or anything. And they are marked by certain godly traits. Because they devote themselves to prayer so fully, their spiritual qualities stand out like bright lights.
Often, when you pray, God’s desire is to cause you to become an answer to prayer. More than it will change anyone or anything else, prayer will change the one who prays. Prayer is not about persuading God to change His will - no one can persuade God. Rather, prayer is about becoming an active participant in God’s will.
Unceasing prayer is spontaneous, in the moment, fluid. It is practiced during even the most mundane portions of your day. Unceasing prayer is carried out in the car, quietly within your heart, on the job, at school, and so forth. It can fill any gap of time, and can be practiced in any circumstance. But there is also a ceremony to prayer that must be regularly observed. Ceremony—that is, preparing the atmosphere—is necessary for intentional prayer. Intentional prayer takes place when I set the atmosphere to sharpen my focus on the Lord.
You don’t know what tomorrow holds, and any moment can be your miracle moment. By the end of the week, you may be celebrating the miracle. All things are possible. Only believe. He makes a way where there seems to be no way. Persist in praying according to the will of God, for nothing is impossible with God.
If you could see into the realm of the Spirit, if you could watch the Holy Spirit pray for you, you would see Him with tears streaming down His face. You would hear Him praying with such force that His booming voice, the very same which spoke the world into existence, would shake the room. I dare even say that you would see Him pounding His fist on the floor as He prayed.
As a person will try to make up with volume what lacks in connection during a spotty phone call, so some believers try to make up in emotion and hype what is lacking in connection during prayer. The connection is there, but they allow matters of the flesh to disrupt what would otherwise be a moment of powerful prayer.
Our pleading is too loud. Servants beg. Strangers beg. Sons come boldly with faith. Desperation is a great initiator but a terrible sustainer. Desperation initiates, but only faith sustains. Desperation is what brings me to the Lord, but once I have Him, why would I ever be desperate again? You don’t enter the glory through noisy desperation; you enter through faith-filled confidence. Confident faith, not desperation, is the way to know the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Whatever strengthens my Spirit weakens my flesh. So if my spirit is strengthened through fasting and praying, then my carnal nature is weakened by the same. Therefore, every benefit that you can receive from a weakened flesh or from empowered prayer, you can receive from fasting. Though there are many more, here are 10 benefits of fasting:
When teaching his disciples how to pray, Jesus began by saying this:
Matthew 6:9
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Notice that Jesus didn’t begin His prayer with a plea to be heard. He did not beg for God’s attention. He did not cry out to be received. He prayed with a confident knowing. Assured of His identity, Jesus prayed with a holy boldness.
The key to praying with boldness is knowing that God is your Father and that you are His child. We find our confidence when we can sincerely pray, “Our Father.”
When the believer is assured of his divine identity, he can pray unhindered by doubt and shame. Doubt and shame are the great destroyers of your prayer life. Doubt tells you that God can’t hear you; shame tells you that God won’t hear you.
And both doubt and shame can be overcome by knowing one simple yet powerful truth. That Truth is found in the book of Hebrews.
Hebrews 4:15-16
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Because of what Christ accomplished on the cross, because we have a High Priest representing us before the Father, we can approach the throne of God with confidence and boldness.
The disciple of Christ does not doubt God’s existence, but the disciple of Christ does, at times, doubt God’s ability to perform His Word. And it’s not that we imagine that God is powerless. Instead, we imagine that we ourselves are unable to receive. That’s the great hindrance of doubt. In the same way, shame causes us to question whether or not God will hear our prayers.
Shame and doubt go hand-in-hand. Shame and doubt energize one another, and they are rooted in the same lies.
“Your past isn’t forgiven.”
“God is unwilling to hear you.”
“You’ve made too many mistakes.”
“It’s too late for you.”
Shame and doubt can hinder your prayer life, yes. But there is a holy boldness within - a boldness that has the power to destroy the weakening bondages of shame and doubt.
When you begin to pray, start from the place of identity. Maintain a divine audacity. Know to Whom you belong. Know that you are accepted and forgiven. Cry out, “My Father!” Let the Holy Spirit persuade you. Let Him convince you that you belong to God.
Romans 8:15
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."
Trust the voice of the Holy Spirit. Ignore the voices of doubt and shame. When you pray with boldness, you’re not afraid to ask of God. When you pray while free from shame, your confidence in the Lord is renewed.
Imagine how much time you could save while praying if, instead of begging God to hear you, you simply believed that He already did. Imagine how boldly you could approach the throne if you knew the sin that causes you shame was wiped from God’s records. You’re already His. You belong to Him. Remember: we don’t pray to connect with God; we pray from connection with God. Go boldly before God.
The more I knew of Him, the more I wanted to know. There was a beautiful and energizing grace that compelled my every spiritual act. There was a flow to my prayer and devotion. But then, seemingly out of nowhere, I felt a growing distance between God and myself. The clear image of Jesus, that the eyes of my heart had so clearly beheld, began to fade.
