Praying Through

How often is it that you get a hold of GOD?  Do you pray until you know that you have rung the prayer bells of Heaven, or do you just say some words and hope GOD heard?  Yes GOD hears our prayers, but more than that HE sees the motives behind our prayers.  GOD hears every word we utter and think, but how do we get in touch with GOD when we pray, how do we pray so that our hearts connect passionately with HIS?  Today we will look into how to pray and pray effectively.  GOD wants our hearts, and HE knows if we mean business when we pray or if we are just going through the motions.  I pray each one of you will be blessed and encouraged as you read.  GOD Bless you :O).

Handout: Praying Through

The title of this lesson is as you can see, Praying through.  You may be asking yourself, praying through what?  Have you ever been praying and it feels like it isn’t getting past the roof of your house? Have you ever been praying and you’re mind keeps wandering off somewhere else?  Other times you can pray and it seems as if Heaven opens and you know that GOD is listening.  Why is that? 

In the book of Daniel, chapter 10, please read it, but in that chapter we learn that Daniel had been praying for three weeks, humbling himself before GOD and one day down by the river he saw a man in white linen and it tells how glorious this man looked.  Some say it was an angel, some day it was Jesus by the description of the man.  Whoever it was, we know that He was sent to Daniel as an answer to his prayer.  The man tells Daniel that his prayer was heard the first day he prayed, but that the answer was hindered.  Michael, the archangel, or chief prince, had to come and help so that he was not hindered any longer. 

This tells me that sometimes, the forces of evil can hinder our prayers.  If we really want to get in touch with GOD, we are going to have to be willing to seek Him with all our hearts, not just our words.  The Bible says that Daniel was in prayerful mourning and he would not eat any meat nor drink any wine.  He meant business.  He was seeking God about this matter with all of his heart! 
Jeremiah 29:11-13 “11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.12Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
Did you notice that?  See we rejoice reading this scripture, but do we understand verse 13?  We will find Him, When?  When we shall search for Him….WITH ALL OUR HEARTS!  That means we are going to have to get really serious and desire Him.  It’s not just some words and then going on about our business.  He wants us to pursue Him just as He pursues us.  Look at this verse in the book of James, chapter 5.
James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
I looked up the term effectual fervent; and the Greek word that was originally used there was energeo.  That looks a lot like our English word for Energy doesn’t it!  That is exactly what it means.  It means, to put forth power, to be at work, to pray with passion!   That kind of prayer is the one that avails much or is effective and successful and it cannot be done by humans alone, it must be done by The HOLY SPIRIT! 
Knowing that, how can we think that our prayers will be answered if we just occasionally bow our heads and say a prayer that has been rehearsed for us, saying them only with our mouths and our hearts are far from what we are doing?   To say GOD bless this one and that person and do this and do that and we are only going through the motions of what we have been taught by humans that prayer is.  GOD wants your heart, HE wants relationship with you.  How would it make you feel if your children or family members called you up only when they needed something, or if they called you everyday and said words to you that they had rehearsed and they just went through a routine everyday and you could tell that they really didn’t put any thought or feeling into what they were saying to you?  That wouldn’t be much of a relationship would it.  If that were to happen, we would probably just wish the person wouldn’t even call us at all until they were willing to be sincere and real.  God knows us; He wants us to get “real” with Him. 
We should ALWAYS be reverent and respectful to GOD, but I think a lot of us today are WAY too formal, as in human formality, with how we pray.  We think we have to be at church, or we have to sit a certain way, or fold our hands a certain way and say big words or read off something that someone said we had to read off to The LORD, and to someone who is learning to pray, reading a prayer is fine, but is your heart really in it?  Do you mean the words you are saying?  That is what is important.  As a writer, I write letters to GOD all the time, written prayers…I’m not saying they are wrong.  What I’m trying to get across to you Dear One, is the motive behind your prayers. 
Luke 11:9 “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
We find this verse also in Matthew 7:7.  That word seek in the original Greek transliteration is zeteo.  It means to crave something, to require it to strive for it, to desire it! 
My little boy Nathan, one day was looking for an attachment that went to a game he wanted to pay and he was just standing in the room and looking around and he couldn’t see it and came to me upset because he “couldn’t find it”.  I told him, Son, if you really want to find what you are looking for; you are going to have to look well.  Look in the game drawer and move things around so you can see what all is in there, then look down in your toy box, remove the toys so you can see what is on the bottom, get down look under your bed, you may have accidently kicked it under there.  He was doing what a lot of people do today in seeking The Lord.  He was looking, but not actually seeking!  He wasn’t willing to do the work.  Are you seeking GOD, or are you just looking for Him?  Do you just say your rehearsed prayer and hope that He hears?  Do you look around to find HIM, but if you can’t see Him easily then you give up?  Or are you getting your heart serious about getting in touch with HIM?  Beloved, you and I can be as close to The Father as we want to be.  Think about that.  You are as close to GOD in relationship as you choose to be! 
Luke 18:7 “And will not GOD avenge HIS own elect, which cry day and night unto HIM, though HE bear long with them. I tell you, HE will avenge them speedily.  Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall HE find faith on the earth?”
God wants some people who will be willing to cry out to Him day and night if that is what it takes!  He is looking for people who will say Holy Spirit pray through me, because I don’t know how!  He is looking for people who understand that prayer isn’t just a routine, but actual communication with The LORD GOD!  He’s looking for people who understand that without prayer, there is only death to the Spirit in us.
Why is it that we will do everything possible to keep our flesh alive, but we sometimes don’t care if our faith and our spirit man dies?  If we were in a desert, for days and was out of water, on the verge of death, we would be seeking that water with everything we had in us wouldn’t we?  So why then when our spirit cries within us for the Living water (John 4:10), that communication with GOD, we ignore it or it is not that important to us when our spirits are dying of thirst!  When our bodies get hungry, we will search to the ends of the earth to get some nourishment for it, but our spirits are starving to death because we won’t get the Word of GOD down and read and study it to feed our souls!
Matthew 4:4 “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
Sadly there is a majority of The church walking around appearing healthy but inwardly are skeletons!  It is a greater tragedy, for one to die spiritually of hunger than for the body to starve to death.  The only things that will last forever are the things we did for GOD.  It’s time we pull up to GOD’S table and eat and drink of HIM so that our souls can be nourished back to healthy strong warriors for our Father’s army!  How can we fight evil, when we are so weak from lack of Spiritual nourishment?  We can not, and that is why so many Christians today are living lives of defeat in chains of bondage.  Taken captive by the devil and sin, because they were not strong enough spiritually to fight back and be free. 
Ephesians 6:11-18 “Put on the whole armour of GOD, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of GOD, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of The Spirit, which is the Word of GOD: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in The Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”
 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in The Spirit!  Christians! It’s time we pick up our swords, and get down on our knees and call out to GOD with all our hearts and do not stop crying out to HIM until we KNOW that HE has heard!  There is no greater strength coming from a Christian, that there is when he/she is humbled down before The LORD in earnest prayer. 
I encourage each one of you, get serious about GOD, and make time for Him.  Each day, even if you have to get up an hour earlier, or go to bed an hour later, discipline yourself for that time and know it is the most important time of your whole day.  Yes you can pray while you are driving to work, yes you can pray when you are out working in the field or whatever work or activity you do, but are you taking time to put everything else aside and just spend some quality time with Your GOD?  Having that time of refreshing with Him, and getting in His word and talking to Him in prayer, that will keep you strong.  All the other things you have to do in a day can wait. 
Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first The Kingdom of GOD, and HIS righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
That is a promise of GOD.  Seek Him first, and He will take care of everything else.  There’s time to do what you need to do, but your number one need is to spend time daily with The LORD, just you and He alone.  If you don’t know how to prayer fervently, then ask The Holy Spirit to pray through you.  If you really want that, He will teach you.  GOD just wants your heart and your sincere effort to reach out to HIM, He will respond if you are serious about finding Him.  He will not reject the sincere prayers of His children.  Repent daily, asking Him to cleanse you of your sins, so that the barrier of sin won’t be between you and He.  Then seek Him.  He won’t reject you if you are sincere.  James 4:8 promises us that if we will draw close to The LORD, He will draw close to us.  The verse before that promises that if we will resist the devil, he will run away from us. 
Let us submit and surrender ourselves fully to GOD and see how HE will run not walk to pull us in to Himself.  I leave you all with this verse once more…
James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
Dear Righteous, Heavenly Father…
Today I come once again to You thanking You for You, for Your son Jesus Christ, and for Your Holy Spirit that is ever present with me.  LORD, I thank You for the many blessings You have placed in my life everyday that I live.  Thank You for my family and friends and for Your comfort and provision.  LORD today I am asking that You quicken the souls of Your children with Your Holy Spirit.  Teach your children more wisdom and help us to pray in the power and passion of The Holy Ghost!  Place the desire to be prayer warriors and to study Your Word and learn more about You.  Lord thank You for being patient and long suffering with us and keeping us from harm.  Please bless this ministry and help us to go all over the world telling the good news of The gospel of JESUS CHRIST!  I ask and pray all this JESUS, in Your lovely name, You are worthy of all praise!  Thank You LORD for hearing and answering my prayers!  I love you!

~*cindygirl*~
March 17, 2019