Praying all Prayers

Friday 6 October
READ: Eph. 6:10-24     
MORE LESSON:  Rom. 8:26-27

Since our focus is on Jesus' prayer, our study will be incomplete if we do not examine the issue of all manner of prayer. Jesus taught and prayed all manner of prayer. In His prayers you find praise, supplication, dedication, forgiveness, intercession, confession and corporate prayer. In some places, He taught the prayer of faith. Study more about the different types of prayer to find out when and how each is done. This  is because it is not only important to pray but to pray the right prayer at the right time.

Paul admonishes us to pray always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit. Only one or more types of prayer may be needed on one occasion. If you yield yourself to making supplication in the spirit, the Spirit will direct you to what is needed. But if you are ignorant of the types of prayer you will become limited in using them. Pray always! Pray all manner of prayer.

There is also the need to pray in the spirit; this means to pray in tongues or by the leading of the Spirit. Praying in tongues for at least one hour a day is healthy for believers and can turn both  your prayer life and destiny around for good. Many great men of God have testified of this and I have also found it to be fantastic! It should even become a habit for believers to constantly pray in the spirit.

But then, it is not every key that opens every padlock; there is usually a particular key for every particular door and padlock. When Daniel began to pray for the release of Isreal from captivity, he didn't start with petitions (Dan. 9:1-5). When Jesus prayed at Lazarus' tomb, he started with thanksgiving and Jesus prayer at Gethsemane was more of consecration.

There are as many types of prayer as there are needs. The same goes for songs; it is the occasion that determines the type of song. Even as a preacher, it will be strange to preach a funeral sermon at a naming fellowship or vise-versa. In all, the direction of the spirit must be the priority to the type of prayer for a particular need. Spiritual connectivity is the most important prerogative at prayer. It is like network to a phone call. No connection, physical and spiritual, no call.

Prayer/Action
* Ask for direction to pray appropriately always.
*Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you to pray and equip you with power to pray.
*Ask God to help you when you need to mention crucial issues of life in prayer.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
By the power that made the heavens and the earth, today will continue to be a memorial of goodness, strength, grace, abundance and celebration for me, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Praying in the Spirit

Thursday 5 October
READ: Luke 3:21-22 
MORE LESSON:  II Pet. 1:21; Rom. 15:13

When Jesus stepped into the water at His baptism, unlike others, He was praying. The result was that Heaven opened unto Him; then the Holy Ghost came upon Him and empowered Him for all His assignments, including praying. With the power of the Holy Spirit helping Him, prayer became easy even at difficult times.

Strengthening this position, Paul writes; Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered: Rom. 8:26. Part of the functions of the Holy Spirit, released at Pentecost, is to abide, help and strengthen us in the place of prayer. That's why Paul again writes; ...I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also...: I Cor. 14:15. Praying in the Holy Ghost is a great misery and a wonderful help of God, which all His children should desire and use.

Unknown to many, Jesus spoke in tongues at crucial times in His ministry. First, in Mk. 7:34 while ministering to a deaf and dumb man He said, ‘...Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ Second, in Mk. 5:41, He said to the dead girl ‘...Talitha cumi...’ and finally on the cross He cried,  ‘...Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?...’ (Matt. 27:46). We must follow in His footsteps and pray in the spirit and in understanding. Kenneth E. Hagin (Snr) once said that Jesus told him to spend at least one hour a day praying in tongues and all his life time he did so and the result was phenomenal.

Praying in the spirit is the only communication between man and his God that Satan cannot intercept; For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries: I Cor. 14: 2. Therein lies the power of praying in the spirit.

There is no strength in prayers outside of praying in the spirit. As a person, I spend hours in the place of prayer and as a church we have done 24hours in the place of prayer. Presently we have a 365 day prayer chain in our church. All these exploits are possible only by the Spirit and the result is phenomenal. To connect direct to God in heaven, bypassing all protocols, pray in the spirit.

Prayer/Action
* Receive the power of the Holy Spirit to pray right, in Jesus’ name.
*Ask that the help of the Holy Spirit shall be available for you in the place of prayer.
*Ask for the infilling at the Holy Spirit when you pray.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
As the Lord lives the workings of October will operate for my good and destiny, in the name of Jesus.

Prayer of Agreement

Wednesday 4 October
READ: Matt. 18:18-20     
MORE LESSON:  Gen. 11:1-8

Agreement in prayer is another powerful weapon that Jesus encourages us to use inorder to muster strength in the place of prayer and to deal death blows to the enemy. This is like a metaphor taken from a number of  musical instruments set to the same key, and playing the same tune. It means perfect agreement of hearts, desires, wishes and voices of two or more persons praying to God. It also indicates that as many musical instruments when skillfully played, are pleasing to the ears of men, so are persons united together in warm, earnest, cordial prayer, highly pleasing in the sight and ears of the Lord.

The word ‘agree’ implies that any congregational or group prayers, which lack sincere unity and agreement cannot enjoy this provision for answered prayer. Ordinarily, agreement is a powerful weapon for couples, groups and congregations; but to be effective you must have strong unity of purpose and desire. Therefore, don't pray a prayer of agreement with a friend who does not agree with you on an issue or else don't expect any result. Before you pray a prayer of agreement with anybody, no matter how close to you, ask whether he or she agrees with the prayer point. If he does not, then look for someone else who does. As long as agreement is guaranteed and the request is scriptural, expect not only an answer but a speedy answer. This is the strength of corporate prayers or having a prayer partner, which many don't have today.

Prayer of agreement is so crucial to me that I don't keep a friend or company with people I cannot pray with. One major condition for choosing a friend is the possibility of being a prayer partner. If I can't pray with you, why walk and talk with you? The prayer of agreement is one of the strongest prayers on the earth; it has the capacity to do and undo anything from the earth to the heavens. It has such an endless possibility in prayer that cannot and should not be ignored by any believer. It has the same possibility that the unity of the Tower of Babel has, to which God Himself attests, ...and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do: Gen 11:6.

Prayer/Action
* I  ask God to give you partners that are like-minded and committed to prayer, in Jesus’ name.
* Pray that as you agree with a partner in prayers, answers will come speedily to your request, in Jesus’ name.
*Ask God for unity in Spirit whenever you pray as a family or group.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Every defiant situation will hear and obey my commands this month and there shall be joy, in the name of Jesus.

By Prayer and Fasting II

Monday 2 October
READ: Luke 4:1-15    
MORE LESSON:  Exo. 34:28-35

Looking deeper into yesterday’s study, you will appreciate why Jesus did not start His ministry until He had given Himself to fasting and prayer. Although He never gave a command that we must fast like He did for prayer, soul winning, love, communion etc, His pattern and teachings to His disciples are instructive enough. Fasting and prayer is crucial, especially for all who want to do the work of God, combat satanic strongholds, do what Jesus did and more; it must be by prayer and fasting.

Fasting helps to humble us, reduces the influence of the flesh, helps us to concentrate in the place of prayer and proves to God that we are desperate about a matter. It promotes discipline and self-denial, which advance prayer or help us to pray better because fasting without prayer will amount to hunger strike. So, we must not fast to the point of not being able to pray. Jesus said that the two go hand in hand; we must fast and we must pray.

When we combine the two the result is phenomenal:  And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all: Lk. 4:14-15.

Here we see four results of Jesus' fasting and prayer life:
(1)He returned in the power of the Spirit.
(2)His fame spread throughout all the region.
(3)He had open doors to preach to those who opposed Him.
(4)He was glorified by all.

All these, which people seek for from the occultic, are available in God by fasting, prayer and Christ-like living. Don't be tempted to ask for them outside of God; just pay the price of praying and fasting and they are all yours.

Prayer/Action
* Ask the Lord to strengthen your inner man so that your flesh may be subdued in the place of prayer and fasting.
* Pray that God will do exceptional things in you and through you each time you fast and pray.
*Ask God for more grace for you to pray more until result comes. 

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
This tenth month, I shall not dance to the music of my enemies, I shut them down, never to sound again, in the name of Jesus.