Broken Before the King: Power of Prayer
Hey y’all! I’m back with the first blog post of the year, let’s dive right in. Lately God has been stirring my heart about prayer. I must admit, in the past I've had a love hate relationship with praying. Sounds horrible, I know! But I have to keep it real because that's just who I am. I used to be worried about saying all the right things, praying scriptures, praying for my friends, family, co-workers, enemies, the trash truck driver, the person in the drive thru window--- the whole world. It was a lot of pressure! My ludicrous standards and way of thinking, hindered my precious moments with the King. Thank God for the Holy Spirit who now speaks to me and gentle guides me in prayer time. I no longer have to worry about what to say or wonder what should I pray for today?? I simply ask Him to teach me how to pray (Romans 8:26), I sit silently and I wait for my heart to hear the response, and I simply speak. One of the new ways I have been developing my prayer muscles is by writing my prayers out in a prayer journal rather than only speaking them aloud. In doing this, I’ve found that I have opened a new vortex in my prayer life. When I begin to write my heart is connected to my pen and the words are an outpouring of everything I so desperately want to share with my Father. I don’t have to think, I just write. I am actually writing this blog now as a direct result of writing a prayer this evening. As I sat in my car balling my eyes out while writing, I felt the Lord say that the things that I am experiencing now are all a part of my testimony and that I should rejoice and share my struggles with His other daughters. So that is just what I am going to do. There are 4 prayer topics that I want to share with you and challenge you to take time out over next few days during your quiet time, to pen your own. One of the ways I have learned to write my prayers is through the acronym PRAY: Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield. Here we go!
- Prayer for engaged faith: Much like the title suggests, this prayer is where I am encouraging you to pour your heart out and pray to have your faith stretched further than just believing God’s will but doing His will, whatever and wherever that may take you. Go all in! Here is a little piece of what I wrote: Lord I come before You first to give thanks. You are Lord of Lords and King of Kings. You are alpha and omega, You sit on high and You still look low. You are my provider, my protector, my strong tower, my confidant, my refuge, and my strength. Thank You for my life and Your mercies that are new every day. Thank You for Your loving-kindness towards me. Lord I pray to have engaged faith. I pray that I don’t sit around and expect for You to do things You have already given me the power to do. Help me to see where You would have me to step out on faith so that I’ll go. Lead me and I’ll follow. Lord go with me, allow me to experience Your manifest presence before me so that I know I have Your favor and approval. Lord I pray to have a faith like Abraham and go wherever You tell me to go and sacrifice whatever You tell me to sacrifice. Lord help me to have engaged faith like the woman who had no oil (2 Kings 4). Help me to get the empty jars in my life so that You can fill them by my act of faith…
- Prayer of Surrender: Surrender means to acquiesce, yield, and submit to authority. This is a powerful prayer (at least it was for me). I want you to get down to every little aspect of your life that you’ve been relentlessly holding on to… and yup you guessed it, place them all at His feet. I’m talking about your love life and that man you’ve been with but shouldn’t be with or the healthy desire you have for a husband that’s become an idol because you won’t give it to God, that job you’re going crazy over, that love one that works your last nerve and you want so desperately to be saved, your husband, your kids, and whatever else you’ve been holding onto. You know what those things are and I trust that you will get naked before God and finally let go of the baggage you were never intended to carry. If you have any trouble surrendering and submitting all of who you are to God, take a look to Jesus as an example (John 6:38, Matthew 12:50, Matthew 26:39).
- Prayer of Repentance: It is so important that we take time every day to repent of our sins, known and unknown. We must confess our sins and vow to turn away from them each and every day. I want you to be brave enough to repent of sins past, present, and future. Ask God to reveal hidden areas of sin to you, go deeper than you’ve ever gone before! I promise you it will be therapeutic and freeing. 1 John 1:19 tells us “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us of all unrighteousness”. Get cleansed!
- Prayer for freedom from people bondage and hidden insecurities: I don’t know about you but I’ve noticed that I care wayyyy too much about what people think about me and I have begun to look to their approval as my guide to if what I am doing is good enough. The Lord wants us to serve Him and serve His people, not have the people serve our egos. Galatians 1:10 is where Paul sums it up best, “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ”. BOOM, you cannot please both people and God, point, blank, and the period! Another verse to look to before writing your prayer is Isaiah 2:22. There is absolutely no use in trying to please people who change daily. We serve an immutable, unchanging God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, so break free of the chains of people and any other bondage.
Okay that’s all I have for now. My prayer is that these 4 prayers grow you deeper in your relationship with Christ and sincere dialogue with our heavenly Father. I pray that they are the gateway to a more fulfilling and freeing Christian experience. Please share if you’ve found my suggestions useful. Praying for you!!
Love,
-allthingsjeus