Pray Powerfully

We all know how important our prayer life is to our spiritual growth. We should not only be praying each day, but we should be praying multiple times throughout the day. Actually, as Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." The pray without ceasing part should be our ultimate goal. (Look, I know it is not just something you jump right in and do. You have to work yourself up to it. That is part of what spiritual growth is all about.)

But, the focus of my post today is to impart a little nugget of wisdom to you. If you want your prayers to be more powerful--if you want them to truly come alive and wield the power of God--then start praying the Word of God. There is nothing more powerful than echoing the words of Jesus Christ, but you must do so with conviction in your heart!

Not only are there tons of scriptures that are prayers in the Bible that we can pray, but there are scripture models that help us guide our prayers. Paul has numerous prayers we can follow. Many of the Psalms are prayers. We can take basically anything from the Word of God and turn them into our own prayers. We simply must be awake and intentional in using them for ourselves. (We also get a vast education in all the things we can praise and thank God for as well!)

So, there are also many times in life when we might not know exactly how, or even what to pray, and again, the Bible comes in handy. You can read the Word and find a variety of prayers that can apply to your situation. This is just another one of the countless reasons why it is vital to read the Word each day and to stay grounded in it. This is also why the Word is alive and breathing--its contents are as valuable and needed today as they were thousands of years ago. (See Hebrews 4:12)

What if you can't put your prayers into words, even after all of this? Well, the beautiful thing here, is that even if you can't put your prayers into words, or even intelligent thoughts, the Lord knows our hearts. In Romans 8:26 Paul shares with us, "...but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God."  The Holy Spirit fills in for us! He takes the groanings of our heart and turns them into intelligible prayers that God can hear, understand and answer! Hallelujah!

When we pray the Scripture, we can be ensured that our prayers are being shaped by God's Word. And, that is where the power lies--and that is the key to making our prayers truly powerful.