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Unleash the Power of Prayer

Someone has observed that you can do much more after you have prayed, but you can do nothing of significance until you have prayed. Survey the Scriptures, and you will discover that those men and women who stood tallest for the Lord

were those who knelt lowest before the Lord. Here are four ways to practice a powerful prayer life.

1. Pray privately. Prayer is a conversation with our heavenly Father. When we pray aloud in front of others, it is too easy to become distracted by the wrong concerns: the choice of our vocabulary, the length of our prayers, or the reactions of others. That is why Jesus advised that we pray in private (Matthew 6:6).

2. Pray honestly. Too often we censor our prayers, thinking, God wouldn’t want me to ask for that. Yet the apostle Paul encouraged us to pray about anything and everything that truly concerns us (Philippians 4:6). Yes, we should pray for those things we know God desires: the conversion of unbelievers, God’s glory in the world, reconciliation of broken relationships, and our own moral purity. But we should also be honest with God about the other things we desire.

3. Pray specifically. Whenever the prophet Elijah prayed, he pleaded with the Lord to grant specific requests: the drought in Israel for three years, the raising of the widow’s son from the dead, the fire to fall from heaven on Mount Carmel, and the rain to pour on Israel again. I suspect the main reason we are hesitant to pray with specificity is that we don’t want to embarrass God or disappoint ourselves when He doesn’t answer our requests. So we pray generally without ever experiencing the exhilarating joy of answered prayer or the disappointment of unanswered prayer. There is nothing extraordinary about that kind of living.

4. Pray persistently. Sometimes God answers our specific request immediately. Other times God delays His answer. If you want to experience an extraordinary life, learn how to pray at all times and not lose heart (Luke 18:1). Do not just pray when the answer seems possible but also when the answer seems impossible. Then keep on praying until God answers with a definitive yes or no.

Write down an honest, specific prayer that you can take before God privately on a regular basis until you hear His clear answer.