A few years ago, I was in communion with the Lord when He stopped me in my tracks and changed my prayer life forever. He said to me, “Anne, the quality of your prayer life is not merely hidden in your ability to describe your situation to Me, because I already knew you before you were formed and know everything you need before you ask.
It is the substance of faith in the prayer that makes your prayers attractive to My Heart. And faith has to be pegged on My Word. Ergo, inasmuch as I as your Father, will understand and embrace you as you vent and release the heavy burdens on your heart with deep emotion to Me, you will gain more traction spiritually if you sit first and study My Word concerning your situations.
Then, allow the revelation you receive from My Word to be the basis of your prayer life and not merely what you are seeing, feeling, hearing, experiencing, thinking or desiring. When you take time to meditate on My Word first, feasting on every scripture you can find concerning your situation:
1. You will not be caught up in emotional, panic-stricken, superficial prayers that are based on fear and not faith. I do not mean that My Spirit is not intense in His expression. But let Him be the one expressing Himself within you, in groans and travails on your behalf based on your faith in My Word, and not your soul, lost in the desperation of that moment.
2. You will grow spiritually no matter the situation you face: For example, if you feel afraid and immediately go into My Word and meditate on My full counsel concerning fear, boldness, courage, confidence and trust, you will find My ways and My paths with regards to this, such that next time fear knocks on the door of your heart, as a maturer son, you won’t have to cry out to Me. Instead, you will destroy that fear using the Sword of My Spirit which is My Word, because you know how to. You will receive much Wisdom from My Word.
3. You will know how exactly to pray concerning the situation. You see, My Word is a light that exposes the deep places of your heart you cannot see, and a double-edged sword that pierces through your thoughts and desires. So as you study My Word concerning your situations, My Spirit will show you roots and foundations you didn’t know were hidden in you. Then you will realise that you would have prayed shallow prayers, but now you can pray from a much deeper place because you understand better.
4. We shall become more intimate: You would enjoy spending time with someone who takes time to really understand what you think, feel, and desire concerning a situation and then request you based on your preference and standards, right? That’s how I feel. When you prioritise on meditating on My Word first, it means you are not trying to arm twist Me into doing things your way, and you’re not trying to turn Me into your errand-boy. It means that I actually matter to you and you want an intimate friendship with Me, and so you want to know what My Heart and Mind is concerning your issue of concern, before presenting your requests. Anne, I find that VERY attractive in someone.
5. You CANNOT pray amiss: You can go wrong in the expression of what you see, feel, hear, experience, because your interpretation of it could be veiled or skewed. But you can never go wrong with a Scripture-led prayer. My Word is My Heart. It is refined 7 times in the furnace. It is exactly what I desire to do. It is the full counsel of My Will. When you pray in alignment with Scripture, you can be sure that I will answer.”
I’ll give you one example of how this has been working out for me since then. Once, I was praying concerning my tongue, desiring it to be pure and dedicated to the Lord, so I went into scripture to study concerning the tongue first. It was amazing! As I studied, I realised that the tongue isn’t usually the problem – it’s the heart! I found several scriptures that taught me that one’s tongue is only a reflection of the content and condition of his/her heart. A good heart will result in a good tongue. A wicked heart…well. And so I changed direction and began to study scriptures on a pure heart, purifying the heart, the human heart etc.
I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.
Psalm 17:6 (NIV)So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:11 (NKJV)For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us. 1 John 5:14 (KJV)
The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
Psalm 145:18
Words: Grace Favour (Anne Shikuh)
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