Praying With Power
In chapter two of his book “How To Pray”, R. A. Torrey explained our lack of power in three short sentences.
“Much of our modern prayer has no power in it because there is no heart in it. We rush into God’s presence, run through a string of petitions, jump up and go out. If we put so little heart into our prayers, we cannot expect God to put much heart into answering them.”
Acts 12:5 says “…but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.” The key to powerful prayer is prayer offered unto God. We are so concerned with our needs and our mind is not on God. If we were really honest, we would have to admit that usually our mind is on a million other things and most of them are about us…not God. There is no power in this kind of prayer.
If we would pray like we are supposed to, the first thing we would do is to really get into His presence. Before one word ever comes out of our mouth we need to realize that we are talking to God, the creator of the universe, and we need to believe that He is listening to us and will answer our prayer. Take time to rid your mind of all distractions and focus on Him before you utter a single word. We should be more concerned about entering into His presence than getting our prayers answered.
Notice that Acts 12:5 also says that prayer was made without ceasing. It is easy to pray without ceasing when you read the Word every chance you get. If you are going to listen to music, try listening to music about Him. Do you feel like reading a book?….read one about Jesus. If you feel like just laying back in that recliner and watching TV, why not watch something that will draw you closer to the Lord? How can you keep your mind on God when you are watching affairs, divorces, sexuality, violence, cursing, and the list goes on and on! If you are having a hard time focusing on the Lord and praying without ceasing, it could be because your filling your mind with things that have nothing to do with Him. Surround yourself with the things of God and it will be a natural reflex to talk to Him continually (and to live like Him!)
We want to pray with power, yet are not willing to pray with fasting. Daniel sought God with prayer and fasting. The first church prayed and fasted and so did Jesus. Some people think they don’t have to fast unless the Lord specifically tells them to. That is pretty lame. Jesus doesn’t need to tell us to fast; we are to follow His example. The Bible says that if we say we abide in Him, we should walk as He did. (1 John 2:6) He assumed that we would fast. In Matthew 6:16 He says, “Moreover when ye fast….”. Quit looking for excuses not to fast. If you want to pray with power, pray with fasting!
Another secret of praying with power is also found in Acts 12:5. The verse says that prayer was made without ceasing of the church. There is power in united power. In Matthew 18:19 it says, “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.” Notice that this particular verse does not say agree in asking, it says agree as touching (or concerning) anything. We shouldn’t just agree with someone in prayer just because they asked us to pray with them about something. There should be real agreement with the Spirit of God bringing two believers into perfect harmony concerning something they are asking God for. When the Spirit of God lays the same burden on two hearts, you will find prayer with power.
We are creatures of habit and it is easy to pray the same old phrases day after day. It may not be intentional but we do it nevertheless. We are not praying with our hearts; many times our prayers are absentminded words stemming from a sense of duty. No wonder our prayers don’t get answered. What is the secret to praying with power? Pray to God, pray without ceasing, pray with fasting, and pray with other believers.
PRAY WITH POWER!
FAVORITE!
