Cultivating intimacy and power in prayer starts with the understanding and awareness that prayer is a relationship with God and people. Here are four practical ways to grow your prayer life.
1. Listen to the Lord and to your Brothers and Sisters in Prayer.
Our goal in prayer is to pray the will of God; spoken another way, we want to see or hear what the Lord is doing and agree with that, invite that to happen by our prayers. If you review the prayers of Paul, for example Eph. 1:15-13, you will see that Paul has a clear sense of what God wants, is doing, with a group of people and he prays for that to happen.
2. Drop your list, or at least put it off until last.
Let your prayers be formed by the current Word God is speaking to you from His word, or by what you hear going on around you. Humble yourself and listen, becoming part of the united prayers of the group you are praying with. If you are alone, listen to the Lord and His word first. Quiet your heart and ask Him to guide you. Our first thoughts in prayer should not be what we need, but “God what are you doing?” John 5:19 has one of my favorite demonstrations of Jesus model for us in life. Jesus said, “I only do what I see the Father doing.”
3. Make the glory of God the abiding theme of your prayers.
Consider that fact that in every picture of Heaven seen in the Scriptures worship is happening. How much more can we invite the will of God and discover the current working of God than by being constantly in praise and worship. God is always good, always winning, always redeeming and we should always be worshipping and thankful. This will keep your heart near to God and focused on His will.
4. Use the Word as the foundation of your requests.
This may seem obvious, but I am constantly amazed to see how infrequently the content and form of biblical prayer is not seen in a prayer meeting. Consider the prayers of Jesus and Paul as templates for your prayers. When we do get around to our list of needs, having the promises much on our lips will keep us focused on God and praying in effective ways. Having these promises as our foundation show us who, and what, our loving Father is like, and is constantly willing to do for us. God is good, all the time!
Keep on Praying,
Dave Knaup