The Power of Simple Prayer: How to Talk With God About Everything Read online

  I remember one day when I was extremely frustrated and decided that our trying to work together simply could not continue. I thought we might be better off if we tried to have a mother-son relationship without also having to deal with each other on a daily basis at work. I was tired of praying and basically made the decision to wash my hands of the whole mess. I was going to fire him, and that was that! Basically, I had given up hope that he would ever change and I simply did not want to deal with the situation any longer. I forgot that prayer is powerful, even (and especially) in situations that seem most hopeless.

  I was on my way to work to talk to him when I distinctly heard God speak to my heart, “Joyce, don’t give up on David.” His message to my heart was undeniable, and I knew that I needed to keep praying and waiting.

  Eventually, David did change. Not overnight, but little by little, just as all the rest of us do. We now enjoy a good relationship and work together in ministry. David is CEO of our world missions program and is doing a fantastic job. We travel together and are sometimes with each other almost constantly for as much as two or three weeks at a time, and we rarely ever have even a tense moment.

  God is able to do anything. All things are possible with Him, but we must not quit praying. Some prayers are answered very quickly and others require more time. If you have a child that frustrates you or some other situation you are tired of praying about, I encourage you not to faint and give up. I am really glad now that I didn’t. You will see the day when the seeds you have sown in tears will be reaped with joy. Just keep trusting God, keep believing for a breakthrough, keep remembering that prayer really is powerful—and you will see change.

  God is able to do anything. All things are possible with Him, but we must not quit praying.

  WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE PRAY

  I trust your faith is being strengthened as you read about the power of prayer in people’s lives, and I hope you realize that God does not play favorites. He is willing and able to act just as powerfully in response to your prayers as to the prayers of people I mention in this book. The power of prayer is nothing new and we find many great stories about it throughout the Bible. The prophet Jeremiah certainly was right when he prayed to God saying, “There is nothing too hard for You” (Jeremiah 32:17, NKJV). In both the Old and New Testaments, people prayed to the God for Whom nothing is impossible and He answered them in mighty ways. Just take a look at a few of them.

  Hannah

  A woman who is unable to conceive a child is in a desperate situa-tion. Today, advancements in medical technology have helped to make this more of a possibility, but in Old Testament times, there were no medical interventions available. A barren woman truly had no hope. For years, Hannah wanted a child more than anything else in the world. The day came when she prayed to God and asked Him to do the impossible. What happened? Against all odds, Samuel was born and grew up to be a great prophet and priest in Israel.

  Elisha

  Only the power of God can bring life to something or someone that is dead. Second Kings 4:8–36 tells us about a woman known only as “the Shunammite Woman,” who showed kindness to Elisha the prophet during his travels. Elisha prophesied that she and her husband would have a son at a certain time, and they did. But, several years later, the boy died and she sent for Elisha. When Elisha arrived, he knew the boy was dead, but he went in to the boy’s room, shut the door, “and prayed to the Lord” (2 Kings 4:33). At first, the boy’s flesh became warm, and then he sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

  Hezekiah

  The Old Testament king Hezekiah was so sick that he was almost dead when the prophet Isaiah visited him with a message from God. “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover” (2 Kings 20:1). But Hezekiah desperately wanted to live, so he immediately began to weep bitterly and pray fervently, saying, “I beseech You, O Lord, [earnestly] remember now how I have walked before You in faithfulness and truth and with a whole heart [entirely devoted to You] and have done what is good in Your sight.” Before Isaiah had even had time to leave the palace courts, God spoke to him again, telling him to go back to Hezekiah and say: “Thus says the Lord. . .: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you” (2 Kings 20:5). Hezekiah’s prayer had power. God not only healed him, but added fifteen years to his life (see 2 Kings 20:6).

  Zacharias

  Like Abraham and Sarah in the Old Testament, the New Testament has its story of people who are too old to have children. I am talking about people for whom it is biologically impossible to conceive a child. But, we must remember, prayer is powerful. Zacharias, the elderly priest who wanted a child with his wife, Elizabeth, had an angelic visitation in which the angel said, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John” (Luke 1:13, NKJV). This miraculous child, the result of his parents’ prayer, became John the Baptist, the one who announced Jesus’ coming.

  Peter

  As a direct result of prayer, Peter was miraculously released from prison, where he was chained and guarded by sixteen soldiers (see Acts 12:4, 6). After his arrest, the people in the church prayed for him fervently and persistently, according to Acts 12:5. God heard their prayers and sent an angel to wake him from his sleep and lead him out of prison. When the angel awakened him, his chains fell off. The angel instructed him to put on his sandals and his coat and to follow him. This situation was so miraculous that Peter thought he was seeing a vision. He followed the angel past the outer guards of the prison, to an iron gate that led into the city. The gate swung open all by itself; the angel disappeared and Peter was free. Miracles do happen when people pray!

  On another occasion, a beloved woman named Tabitha died in the city of Joppa. People there heard that Peter was in the neighboring town, so they sent for him and he came. When he arrived, he found many of Tabitha’s friends crying in her room, obviously very upset over her death. Acts 9:40 says that “Peter put them all out [of the room] and knelt down and prayed; then turning to the body he said: ‘?Tabitha, get up!’ And she opened her eyes; and when she saw Peter, she raised herself and sat upright.” Talk about the power of prayer!

  THE POWER OF JESUS’ PRAYERS

  As we close this chapter, I would like to share with you a truth that God made real to me one day, one that has really encouraged me in my prayer life. It’s about the power of Jesus’ prayers.

  I was so tired of praying and then feeling like something was not right with my prayer life that I finally asked the Lord one day, “Why do I feel like this? I’m praying every day. I’m spending a good amount of time in prayer. Why is it that I come to the end of my prayer time and feel so unsatisfied? I feel like it didn’t work. I guess I should be doing something else. Maybe I just need to pray more.. . .#8221; God answered me: “Because you don’t feel like you’re praying perfect prayers. You don’t feel like you’re praying right. You don’t feel like you’re right.”

  I realized that was true; I did not feel that I was “right.” I always had a nagging fear that caused me to say to myself: “Well, you know, I’m not praying with enough faith or I’m not praying long enough or I’m not praying about the right things.”

  God delivered me from that fear when He impressed on me, “And you know what, Joyce? You’re right. You’re not praying perfect prayers. You’re not perfect. That’s why you have Jesus as your Intercessor.”

  Then He continued: “By the time your prayers get to Me, I hear perfect prayers because Jesus intercepts them—that’s what an intercessor does. He intercepts them; He interprets them; He fixes them all up; and by the time they get to Me, they sound like perfect prayers prayed by a perfect person.”

  Once I understood that, my praying became easier because I was out from under the feeling that I had to be perfect. I was free to pray as best I could and trust Jesus the Intercessor to present my prayers acceptably to the Father.

  We know that Jesus
prays for us. In Luke 22:32, He says to Peter, “But I have prayed especially for you.. . .#8221; In John 17:9, He says concerning His disciples, “I pray for them” (NKJV). In that same chapter, He continues and says, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me. . .,” and that means you and me (John 17:20, NKJV). Also, Hebrews 7:25 tells us that “. . .He is always living to make petition to God and intercede with Him and intervene for them” and Romans 8:34 teaches us that Jesus “is at the right hand of God actually pleading for us as He intercedes.” Jesus is our intercessor, and He lives to pray for us!

  What does an intercessor do? An intercessor stands in the gap that exists between God and an individual. We all have a gap between God and ourselves. In other words, we are not as holy as He is; we are not as perfect as He is; we are not as wise as He is, but Jesus is right there, standing in that gap, bringing God and me—or God and you—together so we can have fellowship with Him and He can answer our prayers. Isn’t it awesome to know that as long as our hearts are right and as long as we believe in Jesus, He will intercept, make right, and take care of every imperfect thing we do?

  All of our prayers filter through Jesus’ intercession.

  We need to pray and we need to expect our prayers to be powerful in the spiritual realm—not because of ourselves or our praying, but because of Jesus and His intercession. We will not pray rightly 100 percent of the time, but Jesus does. Part of His ministry is, in the words of Andrew Murray, “the intercession by which our unworthy prayers are made acceptable.”4 All of our prayers filter through Jesus’ intercession. He is always interceding for us, making our prayers acceptable to God, and when our prayers are acceptable to God, He hears them and He releases power on our behalf.

  SUMMARY

  There is no greater power available to any person than the power of prayer. Even the mightiest, most awe-inspiring force on earth is impotent compared to the power of God. We need God’s power in our everyday circumstances and situations, and prayer is what connects us to God’s power and makes the release of His power possible in our lives.

  Many people have wonderful stories about the power of prayer. When you hear or read such accounts, let them encourage you and build your faith. When God moves powerfully in your life, be sure to share with others, so that they too can see how awesome God is and how much power there is in prayer.

  We never need to struggle to try to pray perfect prayers because Jesus intercedes for us. His intercession is always perfect and He is always interceding for us, so we can trust that God hears our hearts as we pray and will be faithful to answer. Prayer is powerful, so if you want power in your life, power over your circumstances, power in your relationships, power to make good decisions, power to succeed, power over anything, pray!

  Prayer Points

  • Prayer is the greatest power in the universe. It is greater than every other kind of power because it is spiritual and not natural. Prayer releases the power of God into our lives and situations.

  • Read and listen to testimonies of the power of prayer, and share your own stories. This will build your faith and the faith of others.

  • Prayer is powerful, even when you feel you must keep praying for longer than you would like and when you think an answer is too long in coming. Do not ever be tempted to doubt the power of prayer!

  • From the Old Testament days until now, people have experienced the power of prayer.

  • Jesus is our Intercessor. He will intercept our imperfect prayers and deliver them to the Father as perfect prayers from a perfect person.

  5

  Praise, Worship, and Thanksgiving

  The Bible teaches us about many different kinds of prayer, and in the next several chapters, we are going to take a look at several of them because the more you understand the different types of prayer, the more effectively you can pray. First, I want to focus on praise, worship, and thanksgiving because these are some of the simplest prayers we can pray and they will release great power in our lives. You may not have considered your praise, worship, or thanksgiving to be prayers, but they are—because each of them is a way of expressing your heart to God, a way in which you communicate with Him.

  When I use the terms “praise,” “worship,” and “thanksgiving,” I am referring to something deeper and more heartfelt than what many of us do in church. I am talking about communicating with God with all of our hearts, with total honesty, and with great passion. Trying to define praise, worship, and thanksgiving separately is a challenge because they are similar in nature and they function similarly in the spiritual realm. So, for the sake of simplicity, let me describe “praise” as our response to God for what He has done, is doing, and will do; and let me describe “worship” as our response to who He is. In other words, praise can be considered to relate to God’s acts, while worship relates to His character. “Thanksgiving” can be described as a grateful acknowledgment of God’s acts and His character.

  We often experience all three—praise, worship, and thanksgiving—in the course of a church service or conference meeting. These gatherings typically open with a hymn or a praise chorus; then someone may pray a prayer of thanksgiving and, at some point, people will sing or read something as an expression or form of worship. Sometimes, in these settings, people are really engaged in praising and worshiping God and sometimes they seem to be bored, merely going through the motions or following a prescribed form of outward behavior. But I know that praise, worship, and thanksgiving are so powerful that I must tell you: I yearn to see greater respect for praise and worship in our churches and in our services because I know the power of praising and worshiping God. I encourage you always to be in your seat at church when the service begins unless you have experienced an unavoidable emergency. I believe we should respect times of praise and worship and value them as much as we do the teaching of God’s Word. If we are late to a service for some reason, then we should quietly take a seat somewhere in the room and not disturb others who are sincerely trying to worship God.

  I long for the day when we walk into conferences or church services and see everybody praising, worshiping, and thanking God with passion, zeal, and total abandon. I am eager for us to look forward to worshiping God, to lay aside our problems and our pressures—and be filled with praise, worship, and thanksgiving, so full in fact that what is in us naturally flows out of our mouths in conversation and song. I want to see the day when we are so captivated by the Lord and so overflowing with praise and gratitude that we are not even tempted during the praise and worship part of the church service to look around to see who is in attendance or what they happen to be wearing!

  God responds to that kind of respectful, heartfelt corporate praise and worship. He sends His glory—His manifest presence and power—to people who are truly praising and worshiping Him. And when His glory comes, miracles happen, people are healed, lives are changed, and transformation takes place from the inside out.

  Whatever we are praying for, one of the best ways to start is with praise, worship, and thanksgiving.

  Isn’t that what you are really after in your prayer life? Aren’t you praying primarily because you want some kind of change or transformation in some area of your life? If you are praying for a new job, that’s change. If you are praying for a loved one to come to know the Lord, that’s change. If you are asking God to reveal Himself more to you and to help you grow in spiritual maturity, that’s change. If you are praying for your marriage to be healed, that’s change. If you are praying for the teenager who lives down the street to stop using drugs and get his life on the right track, that’s change. If you are asking God to help you not lose your temper so easily, that’s change.

  Whatever we are praying for, one of the best ways to start is with praise, worship, and thanksgiving. They will keep our hearts right before God and make a way for change to take place. They are simple prayers, but they are also mighty spiritual dynamics, and it is possible to experience their power in every aspe
ct of our lives.

  PRAISE

  Many people are familiar with the statement “There’s power in praise!” It’s true, and when we praise God from our hearts, we exert power in the spiritual realm. God Himself inhabits the praises of His people, according to Scripture (see Psalm 22:3). At my conferences, I make sure I’m in the service as soon as the praise and worship begin because I love to be in God’s presence. In fact, before I speak to an audience, I make sure I have entered into praise and worship—not because God needs it, but because I need it. I need to express my joy over everything He has done for me and everything He is going to do; I need to engage my heart to focus on Him and my mouth to speak about Him; I need to tap into the power that is released through praise and make sure I have a clear connection with heaven. I do all this because I love God, but also because praise creates an opening in the spiritual atmosphere, which enables people to hear the Word clearly, receive it, and hold on to it through faith.

  Just think about it. How many times do we walk into a church service or a conference and feel “blah” when we first arrive, but then feel better after a few minutes of praising God? You see, praise brings a release of our burdens; it takes our focus off ourselves and our problems and puts it on God—and that always makes us feel better.