"For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds" (Job 33:14-15, ESV).
"All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord's Supper), and to prayer" (Acts 2:42, NLT).
"He is there, and He is not silent." (Francis Schaeffer)
In our prayer life, we seek intimacy with our Lord, withholding nothing and bringing everything to Him. In effect, we worry about nothing, pray about anything, and thank about everything. One will never realize the voice of God in answer to prayer apart from the Word of God, His promised vehicle of communication, though He hasn't retired dreams, visions, or voices--He primarily speaks through the Word--we should learn to be attentive to that voice. Note Samuel attending to God's Word: "And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD" (1 Sam. 3:21, ESV). Also, note that C. S. Lewis is credited with saying, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, and shouts in our pains; it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world."
It has been said that most of us don't need a lecture on prayer, we just need to pray; but this is what the disciple asked Jesus to teach them, of all things! I don't really have a well-thought-out theology on prayer, I just pray and learn by OJT or trial and error. George Mueller recorded some 50,000 answers to prayer in his life, and many other prayer warriors have prayed earnestly till they got answers; for example, Cotton Mather prayed for 20 years for revival and the Great Awakening occurred the year he died. The idea, according to Luke 18:1, is never to give up or to lose heart.
The purpose of prayer is prayer! That may sound simplistic, but we must learn to enjoy our encounters with the Almighty and realize that prayer changes us, it doesn't change God. We don't pray to get our will done on earth, but God's will done--God forbid that He would grant us our will and we end up lousing up our lives as a result of our foolishness. Bear in mind, that God knows best and sometimes He answers "no," but He will always answer--sometimes with something better! Prayer is efficacious because God has ordained this as the means to His ends, although He is sovereign and knows all things and doesn't need our prayers--it's the plan! We must learn to boldly approach the dimension of the throne room of God and be attentive and alert to His presence and anointing in our prayers.
If God has placed a burden on your heart, He wants prayer effort and support in return. We must practice prayer the best we can because it opens doors and changes things; we must always pray as if everything depends on God, while we work and live like it all depends on us. Prayer is effective according to the will of God, for this is a condition, and the more sensitive and aware of God's will we become, the more effective are the results and answers. We have a weapon in prayer in that God will always listen and we have clout as believers in Christ and children of God.
Our fellowship is dependent upon our prayer life; you cannot be walking with the Lord without ongoing dialogue and open communication and channels to His will and voice. This fellowship is a two-way street and we must become sensitive to God's will and voice (like it says that if you hear His voice, don't harden your heart--to learn to listen!). It's the same as any human fellowship (we keep in touch!)--it takes experience and practice to develop prayer muscle and to become adept at the art; for some may have anemic and feeble prayers, but God doesn't judge like we do and it's more important to have feelings without words than words without feelings--for the Holy Spirit is able to put our sighs into words that God can understand on our behalf (cf. Rom. 8:27).
Successful prayer is not one of eloquence or one that's long-winded, or emotional, but one that touches base and is in sync with God's will and has a genuine encounter with God to change us! You could say that it's an exercise to get on the same page as God and to get charged up for doing His will. Prayer is reaching out to God and making contact on His terms, submitting to His will and being changed or transformed by the encounter.
Since Jesus said, quoting Isaiah 56:7, that His "house shall be called a house of prayer," it is paramount that prayer be exercised and practiced in the assembling together of ourselves, for OJT is the best way to learn--we learn by doing! Everyone can participate in corporate prayer and learn from each other. As we gain confidence in our prayer life, we learn to keep the channel open and conversation going, as seventeenth-century Carmelite monk Bro. Lawrence called it, "the practice of the presence of God." When it seems like you have nowhere else to go, go to your knees! Soli Deo Gloria!
"All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord's Supper), and to prayer" (Acts 2:42, NLT).
"He is there, and He is not silent." (Francis Schaeffer)
In our prayer life, we seek intimacy with our Lord, withholding nothing and bringing everything to Him. In effect, we worry about nothing, pray about anything, and thank about everything. One will never realize the voice of God in answer to prayer apart from the Word of God, His promised vehicle of communication, though He hasn't retired dreams, visions, or voices--He primarily speaks through the Word--we should learn to be attentive to that voice. Note Samuel attending to God's Word: "And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD" (1 Sam. 3:21, ESV). Also, note that C. S. Lewis is credited with saying, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, and shouts in our pains; it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world."
It has been said that most of us don't need a lecture on prayer, we just need to pray; but this is what the disciple asked Jesus to teach them, of all things! I don't really have a well-thought-out theology on prayer, I just pray and learn by OJT or trial and error. George Mueller recorded some 50,000 answers to prayer in his life, and many other prayer warriors have prayed earnestly till they got answers; for example, Cotton Mather prayed for 20 years for revival and the Great Awakening occurred the year he died. The idea, according to Luke 18:1, is never to give up or to lose heart.
The purpose of prayer is prayer! That may sound simplistic, but we must learn to enjoy our encounters with the Almighty and realize that prayer changes us, it doesn't change God. We don't pray to get our will done on earth, but God's will done--God forbid that He would grant us our will and we end up lousing up our lives as a result of our foolishness. Bear in mind, that God knows best and sometimes He answers "no," but He will always answer--sometimes with something better! Prayer is efficacious because God has ordained this as the means to His ends, although He is sovereign and knows all things and doesn't need our prayers--it's the plan! We must learn to boldly approach the dimension of the throne room of God and be attentive and alert to His presence and anointing in our prayers.
If God has placed a burden on your heart, He wants prayer effort and support in return. We must practice prayer the best we can because it opens doors and changes things; we must always pray as if everything depends on God, while we work and live like it all depends on us. Prayer is effective according to the will of God, for this is a condition, and the more sensitive and aware of God's will we become, the more effective are the results and answers. We have a weapon in prayer in that God will always listen and we have clout as believers in Christ and children of God.
Our fellowship is dependent upon our prayer life; you cannot be walking with the Lord without ongoing dialogue and open communication and channels to His will and voice. This fellowship is a two-way street and we must become sensitive to God's will and voice (like it says that if you hear His voice, don't harden your heart--to learn to listen!). It's the same as any human fellowship (we keep in touch!)--it takes experience and practice to develop prayer muscle and to become adept at the art; for some may have anemic and feeble prayers, but God doesn't judge like we do and it's more important to have feelings without words than words without feelings--for the Holy Spirit is able to put our sighs into words that God can understand on our behalf (cf. Rom. 8:27).
Successful prayer is not one of eloquence or one that's long-winded, or emotional, but one that touches base and is in sync with God's will and has a genuine encounter with God to change us! You could say that it's an exercise to get on the same page as God and to get charged up for doing His will. Prayer is reaching out to God and making contact on His terms, submitting to His will and being changed or transformed by the encounter.
Since Jesus said, quoting Isaiah 56:7, that His "house shall be called a house of prayer," it is paramount that prayer be exercised and practiced in the assembling together of ourselves, for OJT is the best way to learn--we learn by doing! Everyone can participate in corporate prayer and learn from each other. As we gain confidence in our prayer life, we learn to keep the channel open and conversation going, as seventeenth-century Carmelite monk Bro. Lawrence called it, "the practice of the presence of God." When it seems like you have nowhere else to go, go to your knees! Soli Deo Gloria!
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