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Do You Know What Prayer Is ... and How to Pray? By Dr. Frederick K.C. Price Pastor of Crenshaw Christian Center Los Angeles, California |
- Prayer of Intercession. (Romans 8:26) This is when you pray for somebody else totally and completely: and when you pray for someone else (or some other things) without knowing what the circumstances and situations are.
There are two sides of intercession - one where we get in agreement about somebody or something and pray for them in English, telling God what we want. The other - the very high end of intercession - is where you may not even know who you are praying for. The Holy Spirit will place a strong urge in your spirit to pray for something or someone. Sometimes the Lord may even place someone before you and you will have a mini-vision and see someone, but you do not know what you are supposed to pray about or you do not know their problem or what they need. This is where you get into true intercession, you will not do this in your native language, because you will not know what to pray for. This is what Romans 8:26 is referring to.
- The Prayer of Praise and Worship. It is a prayer between you and the Lord, and all you are doing is telling Him how much you love Him, just like you do your sweetheart. You are not asking Him for anything. You are sending up a sweet savor unto Him or adoration, appreciation and thanksgiving.
- Prayer of Consecration and/or Dedication. This is a prayer whereby you place yourself in a position to be used of God. You have to use "If it be Thy will" in this type of prayer, because you cannot find God's will in the Bible.
Example: When the Lord called me to preach the Gospel, there was no scripture in the Bible that I could go to and find my name, designating the exact place I would go to minister. So I had to pray a prayer of consecration and dedication and say, "Lord, You have called me and I accept and acknowledge Your call upon my life. I am prepared to do whatever You want me to do. If it be Thy will that I go to Long Beach, California, to establish a ministry, I am willing to go - not my will, but Thy will be done." What you are doing is placing yourself in a position to be used of God and giving Him license and acknowledging His claim over your life.
This was the type of prayer that Jesus prayed before He went to the cross. In Jesus' case, it was going to cost Him His life - not only physically, but it was going to cost Him by being separated from the Father God, and He had never known separation.
But you never use a dedication and consecration prayer when you are trying to pay your bills. If you tack an if it be Thy will onto a petition prayer, you are praying in doubt. To do so would be to cancel out the prayer.
Now that I have shared with you what prayer is and how to do it, you need to know what to do with what you know how to do. In other words, you can know how to start up an automobile, but that does not mean you know what to do with it once it gets started!
If you will learn to apply the following ingredients, I can guarantee you on the authority of the Word of God that every prayer you pray will be answered. (I am dealing here with petition prayer, which is the prayer that has to do with you and the Father - just the two of you):
Ingredient #1: Decide what you want from God; then find the scripture that promises you that.
If you do not know what you want, that is exactly what you are going to get - nothing. And that is why some of you have not received anything - because you have never been specific.
Your foundation for prayer is the clearly revealed Word of God. If you are praying outside the will of God, the prayer is doomed before it leaves your mouth. You find out whether it is outside God's will by finding out what the Word of God says. Do not pray for something if you cannot find scripture that promises you that. You will have to use wisdom in searching the scripture, because you are not going to find in there a Cadillac or a new Rolls-Royce or a new house on the hill specifically stated.
When you have decided what you want from God and the scripture that promises you that, and you are standing on that scripture, be prepared for a fight. If you are not prepared for a fight, you are not prepared to pray, because Satan is going to contest every inch of ground that you try to reclaim.
Ingredient #2: Ask God for the things that you want, then believe that you have them.
I did not say believe that you are "going to get them," but believe that you have them. That is present tense. It might not make sense, but we are not dealing with the senses, we are dealing with God's Word and with faith in His Word.
You must ask! There is no such thing as a silent or unspoken request. There is such a thing as silent in the sense that I might say something so softly and inaudibly as far as you are concerned that you will not verbally hear me say it, but I am still saying it. Even if I whisper - I am speaking.
Whether you hear me does not make any difference, as long as the main Man hears, and that is Who I am talking to. A whisper is not thinking, a whisper is talking - it is just not loud talking.
How did God create this world? The Bible says that God said, let there be, and behold there was. It did not say God thought. Nothing came into existence until after God said it. And nothing is coming to you until after you say it.
Ingredient #3: Let every thought and desire affirm that you have what you ask.
Guard against and resist the negative thoughts Satan will try to intimidate you with. Do not accept anything other than what you have asked for.
Some people do not have much patience, but you have to be prepared to stand for 10,000 years, if it takes that long, for the manifestation of your answer.
Ingredient #4: Thoughts are governed by or controlled by observation, association and teaching.
You need to stay away from all places and things that do not support your affirmation that God has answered your prayer. That means you might have to stay away from some churches, and from some Christian television and radio. I appreciate the wonderful things some men are doing, but you cannot listen to everything - not unless it affirms the fact that you have what you asked God for.
What affects your thinking will affect your talking, and what affects your talking will affect your faith, and what affects your faith will affect your life. Be careful what you read, and be careful who you associate with. You cannot afford to be around negative people. Love and pray for them from afar, but do not let them drag you down.
Never bring God's Word down to the level of human experience. Every experience must come up to God's Word. If the experience doesn't measure up to the level of God's Word, cast it out. Bring every thought into obedience to the Word of God. If you want to stay stable and consistent, you have to stay with the winner, the Word of God.
Ingredient #5: Think constantly on the promises on which you have based the answer to your prayer. (Proverbs 4:20)
If you take a steady diet of God's Word, it will keep you healthy. Do not think on the problem, think about the solution. Do not talk about the problem, talk about the solution. See yourself out of the problem. Base the solution on God's Word.
Ingredient #6: In your waking moments, think on the love, mercy, goodness and blessings of God, and it will boost your faith.
You talk about a shot of heavenly adrenaline, it will shoot your faith right up to the top. Think about how good He is. Constantly praise Him for what He is doing in your life. The word says, "Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord (Psalm 150:6). It will keep your faith vibrant.
Ingredient #7: Make every word relative to what you have asked a statement of faith. (Romans 10:17)
Make your word a statement of faith, rather than a statement of doubt and unbelief. God says you have enough faith so you say you have enough faith. Learn what God says about you in His Word.
In Christ by the power of His Spirit, you can finally find out who you are from the One Who created you. Come before God expecting to talk to the Father God and expecting that He will hear you and grant you the request that you ask Him when you make that request based on His Word. Make every statement a confession of faith, not a confession of doubt.
Titus 1:2: That scripture is telling us something very important. God cannot lie. If He cannot lie, then that means He can only tell the truth. If He can only tell the truth, when He tells me to pray and believe I receive and I shall have, bless God, it is on its way. I have it; it is mine!
You ought to know His will before you pray. If you do not, you do not have any business praying.
Remember, never put an if it be Thy will in a petition prayer or a prayer of agreement. You will be praying in doubt if you do. First find out His will, and what the covenant says about it, and pray the Word.
You can have a strong confidence in the fact that when God tells you to do something, you can count on it.
One reason many people have a difficult time believing the Word of God and standing on it with confidence, without any doubt, is because they are so used to not telling the truth, they do not believe anybody else can tell the truth, and that includes the Father God!
The reason I get all my prayers answered is because I pray the Word. I find out what He says about the need or desire I have which is consistent with a godly life and I just pray the Word. And the Bible says He confirms His Word with signs following. (Mark 16:20).
Since God is no respecter of person, and only confirms His Word, you, too, by praying correctly and living a godly life can receive an answer to every prayer you pray.
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