Prayer is our lifeline to God therefore, it is one of the most important things we Christians do in our day. It sets the tone for our entire day. When we wake up in the morning with an “attitude of gratitude”, praising Jesus for the new day, we enter into our day with joy and thanksgiving. Our steps will be a little lighter, our smile a little brighter. When we close out our day with solemn prayer and meditation on the Word of God, we can enter into a more restful and peaceful slumber, trusting that Jesus is watching over us.
Zephaniah 3:17: The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness,He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”🎶
Prayer is our Lifeline to God and is far more powerful than any of us realize. 🛟The heroes of the Bible understood the power of prayer. 🙏🏻
Psalm 90 is the oldest psalm. It was written by Moses c1440BC. It is titled “From Everlasting to Everlasting” and is noted as “A prayer of Moses, the man of God.” This prayer emphasizes the eternal nature of God in comparison to mankind’s fleeting existence. In this prayer, Moses writes about the greatness of God and the sinfulness of mankind.
King David spent a good deal of time praying and writing many of the psalms (prayers)
The prophet Daniel prayed three times a day.
Jesus Himself often went into the wilderness to pray alone
The early church was taught to “pray without ceasing”
Daniel 6:10: Now when Daniel learned that the document was signed, he entered his house (and in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and offering praise before his God, just as he had been doing previously.
Luke 5:16: ButJesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.
The book of James says that the “prayers of the righteous availeth much”. (James 5:16).
In Revelation chapter 5, we see the prayers of God’s people being collected in Golden “bowls” in Heaven, filling them with a SWEET AROMA. This is similar to how incense was used by the Jewish priests as they offered up animal sacrifices to God in the Old Testament. The incense created a Heavenly aroma that rose up to God.
“Much like water park buckets, the prayers🙏🏻 of God’s people fillgolden bowls in heaven. 🥣 As these bowls fill, the prayers are mingled with incense creating a pleasing aroma to God. Then as the bowls brim over, an angel takes the censor dipped in incense and prayers and showers the fire of God 🔥to the earth.”
“The “fire from the altar” is the power of God 🔥released from heaven to change the earth. As our prayers are lifted up to God, the golden bowls are filled until they reach a point when the bowls tip and pour out God’s power and provision on the earth.” – CBN
As Christ followers, we are to “pray without ceasing”, filling up the spiritual prayer bowls in Heaven and releasing Heaven to earth.
1 Thessalonians 5:16Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing,18in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Psalm 141:2: May my prayer be set before You like incense, my uplifted hands like the evening offering.
How do we “pray without ceasing”? I don’t think this means spending all of our time in formal or focused prayer. But it does mean living a very prayerful life. We need to involve Jesus in all of our decisions, especially the important ones, and in all of the areas of our life. A life that is Intentionally prayerful, always mindful that we NEED JESUS!I love to pray small, simple prayers throughout my day, keeping me connected to God. 🙏🏻
Some people call these small, regular prayers – ARROW PRAYERS. 🏹 Arrow prayers are an effective means of receiving God’s help or guidance at a moment’s notice in the middle of any life situation.
Arrow prayers are quick, spontaneous, short prayers asking for God’s help while we’re in the middle of a crisis, problem or daily activity. Arrow prayers can be intercessory (I often pray for motorcyclists when I see them out). They can be aimed at any temptation that may rear its ugly head. They can be quick prayers for help, guidance, blessings, or anything really. Do not worry about finding the right words.
We find arrow prayers in the book of Nehemiah. 🏹
Nehemiah 2:4 Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.5 Then I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, I request that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”
This passage shows that in the middle of a crucial conversation with the king, Nehemiah mentally paused to shoot a quick prayer up to God. 🏹
Praying without ceasing also means we should not give up on a particular prayer request or petition just because we haven’t seen it answered yet. God honors persistent prayer. It may take a while to fill up that prayer bowl. Keep on praying. 🙏🏻 Keep on Trusting God and believe that He hears you.
Colossians 4:2-6:Continue steadfastly in prayer🙏🏻, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
Something else to consider. 1st Samuel indicates that “Prayerlessness” is a sin. It is not a sin in the sense that it breaks the Mosaic Law. It is a sin in that it disconnects us from God, who is our Lifesource. Prayerlessness is also defiance against Jesus’ commandment to love one another. When we love one another, we will PRAY 🙏🏻for one another. Jesus even commanded us to PRAY for those who persecute us.
Prayerlessness leaves us vulnerable to temptation. In the Lord’s prayer that Jesus taught His Disciples, we pray “Lead us NOT into temptation, but deliver us from evil”. We are far more likely to fall into temptation and sin if we are not praying. A prayerless Christian is a WEAK Christian. The Trappers (devil’s) snares are always out there. We NEED direction from God if we want to AVOID THEM.
1 Samuel 12:23: Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and right way.
The prophet Samuel understood that Prayer was his lifeline to God ☎️. Samuel saw prayerlessness as a serious sin.Without God’s direction, we act like we can do life on our own. After the fall, Adam and Eve tried to hide their sin from God. They avoided talking to Him, which is the definition of prayer. God designed us to NEED Him. Dependency on God and fellowshipping with Him in prayer is essential to our RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ, who is the source of all life.
Psalm 32: 3: When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
God wants to BLESS us, but He expects us come to Him and ASK. 🙏🏻
James 4:2: You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.
Prayerlessness also shows a lack of faith in His promises.
Prayer is asking God to do what he has already committed himself to do. Prayer is not a human attempt to overcome God’s reluctance to work for the good of his people. Rather, biblical prayers are powered by God’s commitment and promise to work. God’s promises for his people motivate prayer. Prayer voices our confidence in God who has promised to do us good.”
“So, what is prayerlessness? It is a failure to trust God and his promises.” – Desiring God
Hebrews 11:6: And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
How to pray with POWER
If we want to make prayer our lifeline to God ☎️, we need to pray with power, we need to enter into prayer with a humble and repentant heart. God hears the prayers of a humble, repentant heart – one that DEPENDS on Him, one that REVERES Him, one that BELIEVES Him, one that CHOOSES His Word over their own desires.
2 Chronicles 34:27because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord.
Passion, Consecration, and Reverence prepare our hearts for deep fellowship with the Lord.
Passion: Praying with all of our heart, passion, zeal
Consecration: Living a life that glorifies God, not being conformed to the world, but being transformed by the renewing of our mind.
Reverence: Viewing God with deep honor and respect.
Finding a quiet spaceto pray and listen to God is very important for POWERFUL, focused prayer. This is a time to deeply fellowship with the Lord, especially for guidance, refreshment, intercession, and to lay down your burdens. Jesus Himself often went out to the wilderness alone to pray. Some people utilize a prayer closet. Some go outside to a quiet, serene location to fellowship with the Lord. Or even praying in the car may provide some solitude and peace. I enjoy praying in an “upper room” in my home, with a large picture window and view of the sky. 🌥️ In this age of technology, it is also important to silence our phones during focused prayer time to eliminate distractions. The only “phone” you want to focus on is prayer as your lifeline to God.
Types of prayer
Praise and Adoration
Thanksgiving
Repentance
Petitions
Intercessory
Lamenting
Spiritual warfare
Develop a powerful prayer strategy to make prayer YOUR lifeline to God. A prayer strategy is something that can help us pray more powerful, focused prayers. ACTS is a popular one, easy to remember.
ACTS: An easy way to pray guide.
L I would add one more letter here to the ACTS model and that is L for “LISTEN”. At the end of focused prayer time, it is important to quiet our thoughts and LISTEN for the Lord’s response. Even if Jesus does not speak to us immediately, He may speak to us later. I often pray about a matter and then hear Jesus speak to me about it later when I’m doing something else unrelated to prayer. Be open to hearing His voice in unconventional ways. Because prayer is our lifeline to God, it includes both speaking to and listening to God.
Prayer Journaling
Prayer is about RELATIONSHIP, so it is about both speaking and listening to God. We speak to God and He speaks to us. Jesus WANTS to speak to us!
John 16:12:“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them at the present time.
We need to prepare our hearts 💕to LISTEN to GOD. To get started journaling, we need something to write with and something to write on (pen and paper). Journaling can be useful, not only to write down what God speaks to us, but also to help us focus our own thoughts.
Here are some general suggestions to help you make prayer YOUR lifeline to God. You need to find whatever works for you! I generally include the date (day, month, year) in order to keep things organized and reference later.
List what you are thankful for
Write whatever is on your heart
Write out a list of things God has already done for you – ways He has intervened on your behalf.
Write a lament, including your sorrows, troubles or burdens
Write out a prayer of praise or adoration.
Write out petitions and intercessory prayers – with a list of names
Write poetry, similar to the psalms.
Write a prayer for direction
Write a list of sins that you need forgiveness for
List answered prayers with thanksgiving
Write out your dreams or visions
Write out what the Lord is speaking to your heart. It could be a bible verse. It could be an audible word, or one that God speaks to your spirit. It could be a word that is spoken through a friend.
Listening 👂🏻is an important part of our prayer time. We need to silence our hearts and minds so that we can HEAR GOD SPEAK. He speaks in various ways. God can speak to us through Bible verses. He can speak to us through our circumstances. He can speak through music. He can speak directly to us through the thoughts He puts into our heads. But…when this happens, we must be very DISCERNING whether or not these are our own thoughts, the enemy’s thoughts, or thoughts from the Holy Spirit. 🕊️
Whatever Rhema Word (spoken word) the Holy Spirit speaks directly into our minds will ALWAYS line up with the written Word of God (Bible) and the character of God. This is also true with dreams and visions and audible Rhema (spoken) Words.
I will just share a few ways that God has spoken to me personally. He does not speak to everyone in the same way.We just have to be open to hearing God speak. This is important. If we are not paying attention, we will MISS what God is saying to us. For instance, what one person sees as a “coincidence” or “chance”; a faith-filled believer who EXPECTS God to speak to them will see as God’s Providential Hand on their life.
God definitely speaks to me through my circumstances, things that only God could have orchestrated. I do not believe in “chance”. I believe in God’s providence. God speaks to me most often through His Written Word. He speaks to me through music. He speaks to me through dreams and visions. God speaks to me through other people (Christians) – this can include sermons. He speaks to me through other people’s dreams and visions. Holy Spirit has spoken to me through numbers (NOT pagan numerology) and through signs – like rainbows, butterflies (promises), or even spiders (warnings) or thunderstorms. He has even spoken to me through license plates. He speaks to me through a gentle whisper in my spirit that I KNOW came from the Lord and not from the enemy or from my own mind. Sometimes Holy Spirit simply downloads an instant understanding of Scripture that I didn’t have before. God has spoken to me through audible words, though for me, that is not the norm.
Our journey with God is individual and exciting! He wants to hear from us, and we should EXPECT to hear back from Him. Prayer keeps us connected to our God. It is as important as taking our next breath.
Here is a wonderful book to get you started on your prayer journey. “Simple prayers, powerful results” by Jane Glenchur – available on Amazon.
My name is TFJ, which stands for Thankful for Jesus. I'm a wife, a mom, and a grandma. I have a passion for Jesus because He literally drug me out of the pit, washed me clean, and made me new. I know He will do the same for you, if you let Him.
