6 P’s of PRAYER

Prayer needs to be THE priority in your life, not A priority. Last week, we learned that prayer should include five essentials: a time to pray, a place to pray, prayer out loud, prayer for specific named people, and prayer with each other.

The Lord’s Prayer is key to praying like this and making prayer a priority in your life.

Leviticus 6:13

This is an Old Testament scripture describing the altar as a place of prayer where the fire never goes out. Today, your body is the temple of God, where there should continually be a fire of prayer.

There is an innate longing to communicate with God. Genesis 3:8 describes the time of day when God walked in the cool of the garden and talked with Adam and Eve. They didn’t have any problems to bring to God, no petitions or prayers; they were just there to be together. That’s what prayer should be—just to be with God.

Truth be told, it is a sin NOT to pray.  1 Samuel 12:23 tells us that it is a sin against God to cease to pray.  If you forget to pray, you are forgetting God. If you don’t have time to pray, you don’t have time for God. It actually comes down to this—if you don’t pray you are going to dry up, you are going to die. It’s up to you.

If you don’t start praying now it won’t matter what you go through. If we don’t start praying for this country it won’t matter if the day comes the enemy is in total control of our country.  It is interesting that President Trump made a statement that can be viewed as prophetic – this election will be the last time Christians will have to vote. Could that be a prophetic warning that Jesus will return to the earth before 2028 and there will no longer be any elections?

Keep this in mind: when you read the Bible, it is God talking to you. But when you pray, it is you talking to God.

Develop your prayer life and be consistent with it every day. Note that some of the greatest miracles were performed during prayer, which was typically between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

This isn’t for other people. This is for you.

Some of the greatest miracles were performed at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., which were the typical times that people prayed.

See: Elijah in 2 Kings 18:36, Daniel and Gabriel, Acts 2:15, 3:1, and 10:3

Miracles will break out in your life as well when you start to pray like this. You may say you can pray anywhere, anytime, and that is true. However, there is something special about having a sacred place where you go to be alone with God with no distractions and do nothing but pray.

The Apostles asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. The Lord’s prayer is a pattern of how we should pray.

1. PRAISE – start with praise. Don’t start asking, start with praising. Enter his courts with praise. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
2. PRIORITY – God’s Kingdom is the priority. Seek His Kingdom first and all will be added to you on earth. Your will be done in my life and the lives of my family and neighbors, at my job, in this country, etc. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
3. PROVISION – God supplies all your needs, but realize there is a difference between needs and wants. Give us this day our daily bread
4. PARDON – Lord, cleanse me, forgive me my words, commission, and omission; thank you, Lord, for the blood of Jesus that gives me forgiveness. But remember, you can’t be pardoned if you don’t pardon someone else. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others.
5. PROTECTION – Watch and pray that you do not fall into temptation. You cannot overcome temptation without you, lord, for the blood of Jesus that forgives me. you can’t be pardoned if you don’t pardon someone else
6. PRAISE – Praise God and give Him the glory for all that He has done.

Jesus tells us in Luke 11:2 that when you pray… SAY. Speak your conversation with God out loud. Your faith needs to hear what you are saying. Faith comes by hearing – especially when you hear God’s Word coming from your own mouth.