Prayer 101

Forgive the brevity of this article, it is mostly in notes form. A lot of information is packed into each step, so read it slowly.

Step One: Believe that God exists. You really have to know that He is there. You have to believe it with your whole self. There is no doubting, no wondering if we are a dream or a joke, if the Universe is all fiction, or if there is another god who is the “right” one. Know and believe with confidance that the God of Israel is existant, that His Messiah is really on the throne of power in heaven waiting until the earth be given over to him, and that God truely has all power in the Universe. Satan was vanquished once and for all on the cross. He has no more power, all of the power of earth and the spirit realm has been handed to the Messiah and the Messiah’s annointed. Make that firm in your heart and mind even before you go on with the rest of these steps.

Step Two: Know that He is good. He is love, He is the giver of all good things. This is probably the most tricky part for Christians in the modern world; we believe that He gives us bad things to teach or something, but that is self-pitying fiction. God Himself says that he disciplines His sons through instruction from the Spirit, nothing else. He wants us to be full, fulfilled, completely healed, healthy, comfortable, wealthy, satisfied with all good things, singing and shouting with joy, completely happy 100% of the time, so that we can go crazy over His goodness, tell everyone in sight, and rejoice greatly over how amazingly abundant are His blessings! He is the King! And we are His brothers and sisters. Should the family of the King be broke, sick, sad? He wants our cups running over, life overflowing, and that means FAR more than we can ever use. We’re not useful to God broke and sick! He wants us to have so much abundantly that we give it away to others, the needy and our friends, out of the surplus of everything that He gives. And the more we give, the more we get, until we are almost literally drowning in blessings and flooding everyone around us. He wants us to smile ourselves to sleep every night, and spring up in the morning and run to the door to see what new gift has arrived, and how we can use it to help the people we know and love. And if we are not living like that, He wants us to pray for that life. But first, believe it’s possible, and His will. God IS good.

Step Three: Forgive. Whatever you hold against anyone on the earth, if there is any anger or resentment, or even fear that you have for any other person, get rid of it and forgive them. This is the first vital step in clearing the passageway for God’s power to come down upon your life. Forgiveness is one of God’s attributes, and, like God who is One, forgiveness is not split in half either. To recieve God’s forgiveness means to forgive. Forgiving and being forgiven are actually one and the same, part of the same attribute. If you refuse to forgive, then God cannot give you His forgiveness, because you are actually blocking Him. Do not block God’s power by holding Him out. Get rid of any sins and evil and unforgiveness in you even as you stand praying, and make sure the corridor is clear for God’s goodness to come flowing down. (Forgiveness is not just saying: "I forgive," but actually turning your back on any memory of the sin committed against you by another person, and choosing by your force of will to forget everything they did wrong. If you forgive, you hand the sin over to God, for Him to deal with. If the person you are forgiving is an enemy who need to be punished, God said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay." He will then take care of anything that needs being taken care of. Forgiveness against an enemy is actually the most powerful weapon a Believer can use.)

Step Four: Make request. As you pray for your need, for that good and wholesome thing that would be just so wonderful and victorious and beautiful in your life right now, remember that God is good, and gives ALL good things, and believe that He has given it to you. Simply make that ‘leap’ of faith, and believe that if it is a good thing, God will do it. Period. It’s yours. Don’t doubt and quibble over whether God would REALLY want you to have it or not. One day, while I was washing dishes, a very powerful revelation struck me deep, and I will never get over it. I suddenly realized how much God loved Jesus… Jesus was God’s most precious posession, the thing He loved most in the entire Universe. And Jesus was what God gave us! The Bible says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” So what will He withold from us? Nothing! God gave us the most important thing to God’s heart. Everything else on earth that you can possibly ask for is small fry compared to that, and if God didn’t keep back His son, He certainly won’t keep back any silly little thing that you can possibly think up! Believe me, you have everything you ask for! Everything is in God’s will to give you! If you have to ask, “but is it in God’s plan for me to have it?” your answer is automatically, “YES!”

Step Five: Dream. Imagine yourself having what you have asked for. Know deep, deep within your heart, in the very core of your being, that you HAVE it now. And if you don’t know it, go find the Bible verses that tell you what it’s like to have it, or tell you that it’s God’s will for you to have it, and then read them over and over until you can imagine it clearly. Even if facts around you aren’t changed yet, what you have asked has been done in Heaven that very moment that you believed and prayed. So act like it, think like it, talk like it, and imagine like it! People might think you’re crazy at first, but soon they will catch the dream (dreams are simply contageous), and they will start to watch you with great hope to see if your dream comes true. You are now a witness for God! Whenever you are tempted to act as if you don’t have the thing you prayed for, because your natural eyes don’t see it, stop yourself and remember the dream. Change your attitude, and act as if the dream has already been granted. After all, God says it was! He says, “whatever you pray for, believe that you recieved it, and you shall have it.” You do have it! But you have to believe you received it first. Don’t deny the miracle before it even happens! And don’t call God a liar! He said you have it when you ask!

Step Six: Patience. We must, after we know that it is His will to give us what we have prayed for, what will make ourselves and those we care for happy, rest in complete assurance and endure until it arrives. Having done all, stand. That means no wondering, “well, I prayed... but nothing happened. I guess He didn’t want to do it.” Or, “I prayed, I believed, but I feel this dissaproval in my soul, this guilt! God doesn’t want such things!” Or, “Why is it taking so long? If God is omnipotent, why can’t He just do it this instant? Obviously He doesn’t want to!” All of these things are lies. Of corse Satan is going to do everything in his little dirty bag of tricks to make you give up, as Hebrews 10:39 says, “shrink back to destruction,” and lose the reward you were due! Only you, at this stage, can cancel the order. One word: Don’t. It is coming, in God’s good time. And God is never late.

These six steps are guarenteed to work. Believing all six things in their sequence, without wavering, is the faith that we should all ask Him for: and He will give it to us.

Remember, there are basic guidelines for evaluating our beliefs. If we feel guilt, fear, worry, doubt, or dispair as a result of any thought at all, no matter how beautiful or noble that thought appeared to us, then we can be assured that that thought is from Satan. God’s thoughts are truth, and truth MAKES US FREE. It does not condemn, darken, trap, depress or despirit us. Only a thought which gives faith, joy, patience, happiness, light, understanding, strength, and a rising of spirit and blooming of peace is from God.

If anything, anything at all tries to tear down your faith during your stand, confront it with those Bible verses that you found to support your dream. Tell that thought to shove off, because you know the truth, and the truth is that you have what you prayed for the moment you prayed it. If you prayed for wealth, start calling yourself a wealthy person. Think of yourself as wealthy. Make your thoughts of the future conform to the fact that you are wealthy. Just take it for granted, literally, and forget about looking silly. They won’t be laughing when you’re standing there holding the thing you prayed for right infront of God and everybody!

It is said that once you’ve taken a stand on God’s word, and are willing to stand forever, you won’t have to stand very long. But even if it takes years, or your whole life, you just keep on believing, dreaming, acting, and talking like it’s been done. After all, it has! And if you ever dare to pretend it hasn’t happened, you’re calling God a liar, and not being humble! Don’t you dare! And congradulations, by the way, on getting what you asked for! You’ll never have to go without again. Welcome to the abundant life.

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Selected Scripture References:

He. 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” The two-step foundation of prayer.

Ps. 35:27 “The LORD be magnified, Who delights in the prosperity of His servant.” God is pleased by his servants doing well, not when they are miserable; A basic tenant that we covered in the above.

“Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.” John 16:24 The purpose of asking for things in prayer is that we have joy in life.

“Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond what we ask or think…” Ephesians 3:20 Your prayers will most likely be answered in a more wonderful way than you even expected!

“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” Mark 11:24-26 Forgiveness of others allows God to forgive you, and to give.

“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32 Nothing you can ask is more precious to God than His own Son was, and He gave the Son to you already.

“Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you.” Mr. 11: 24

“What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?” James 2:14 Without acting along with believing, we prove to God and the angels working for us both that we don’t really believe at all.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” He. 11:1 By acting as if what we’ve prayed is real, we are giving our prayer real substance, in the lives of others as well as our own life.

“But if we hope for what we do not see, with perserverance we wait eagerly for it.” Romans 8:25 The basis of faith. Once you have your hope, perservere in believing you’ll get it.

“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may recieve what was promised.” Hebrews 10:36 After doing God’s will, of believing He is good, forgiving, and having faith, your last act is to endure until you recieve your reward.

“For we walk by faith, not by sight…” 2 Corinthians 5:7 We trust and act on what we believe, not what we actually see in the daily world.