8/05/98

Powerful Prayer is available to all of us. Whether you wish to become a mighty prayer vessel or just increase the effectiveness of your personal prayers, if you follow these guidelines, it will be so.

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I will cover here the actual steps I feel are required to pray with power. At first glance you may think you are in great shape and question why your prayers still seem to go unanswered. You may even fall into the trap of taking for granted that the answer to your prayer must have been NO. DON'T!!

For centuries we have made subtle excuses as to why our prayers are unanswered. Even Seasoned Ministers have been left clueless and sometimes think that if anyone's prayers were going to be answered, theirs would, so they have taught half truths to their followers who then live life as powerless individuals afraid to really seek God in Prayer less they get no answer.

Thousands of people from around the world read these writings. From all religions, and all denominations of Christianity, and every walk of life. I have no idea of what you the individual have been taught, or how well.

Therefore, I seek to find a starting point of reference from which I can begin this discussion. A point from where you accept that my desire is to bring all readers to the same kindergarten level perhaps, without heavy restrictions placed upon you as some churches or teachers may do. I do not say your teacher is wrong, or that anything you believe is wrong, and if you already know all I say, or even more, then GREAT!

But to start, you may well need to take the cloak of nonbasic Christian teachings you have been taught and lay them aside for now. No, I am not saying not to be a Christian, only to allow the possibility that some of your teachers, whom I am sure meant well, just may have caused you to accept something less than truth in some areas of you overall Christian walk.

Many whom have taught you things in your life were not teachers, but schoolmates, relatives, and strangers, from whom you have gathered thoughts and ideas from. Lay aside the details of speculation, and the comments made in passing about prayer, and what you overheard as a small child. Then for now, just stay open to the possibility that if I say something that goes against what you believe about prayer, at least give me the outside chance that I may be right. That's all. Just allow yourself to accept the possibility, that what you read here may, just may, be of some value to you.

After you read this, without the resistance and unnecessary arguments going on in your mind, Then pray about it and seek guidance from your True Teacher, The Holy Spirit of God, and follow the answer given then. You may also wish to seek counsel from your pastor, but if he does not know what I say here, (the words that is), or does not have a powerful prayer life himself, then he may not have an answer for you. However, you must do as you feel to be right, for I am not your pastor. You are not in my charge, nor are you one of my followers, since I have none, and I seek none.

NOTHING I SAY IN ANY WAY REFERS TO A PERSONAL VISITATION FROM GOD WITH INSTRUCTION FOR YOU TO DO SOMETHING, I AM SPEAKING OF THE NORMAL DAY TO DAY WAY OF LIFE. MOST WOULD TRY TO DO WHAT GOD WANTS US TO DO IF WE WERE VISITED BY HIM. EVEN IF WE NEED COACHING, LIKE JONAH. I would tell a story here, but space is limited, and that would be a "whale" of a story.

Nothing here is about Right or wrong. Nothing here is a choice of sin or blessing. But everything here is just observation of fact and possibility, without religious judgements.

Now, if you are ready, let us begin.

If there is any mistrust, lies, or fears between you and God, these will have a hindrance on your relationship with God, and to your ability to pray with Power. Being Honest with God is easy once you get past the first step. I do not say be perfect, I say be honest with God who already knows everything about you anyway. I am not speaking of being sin free either. Just let God know the truth.

You may wish to take this

Simple Test and then read some more on this subject I have provided for you.

Many times we come into a situation and begin a prayer with no idea of what we want. Sometimes this is going to happen, and it is not necessarily a bad thing. However you should make every attempt to know what it is you want. How can even God give you what you want when you do not know what it is? I learned this one the hard way myself. If you need an example, see My Letter to God

  Powerful Prayer requires focus. The more of your focus and attention you give the greater the results will be. Clear your mind of all the other activity and clutter that normally fill your thoughts. Enter into your closet so to speak. Wherever that place is where you can remain undisturbed for the time required for you to pray. Depending on your prayer, and your ability to silence your mind, this may be as short as 2 minutes.

With practice, you will find yourself able to do this even in the middle of a noisy crowd.

  Most of us have noticed that we can actually feel a difference between our normal thoughts and the thoughts that are present when we have our most meaningful prayer-times. Before we begin our Prayer, we should attempt to make a meaningful connection with this feeling. Just desiring that God hear your prayer for a couple of moments can be enough to achieve what I refer to as "The Presence". Even if you feel nothing that is OK, the desire to pay complete attention to God as you make your Prayers known will make a difference.

  In your mind, you always see things, or think things, and these many times show themselves as pictures. What we desire to do here is make sure that if you are seeing your thoughts, or anything in your mind, that it is supportive of your request, in spite of what may actually be happening at the moment.

You do not want to see Grandma in her sickbed with tubes in hers arms while you are asking for her health to be restored. Your silent thoughts are prayers too. Teach them to pray with you and to be of "one mind".

If you cannot imagine Grandma when she was healthy and in good cheer, then envision her as a spiritual being of light without exact form, or just imagine you are seeing a post card or something with her name on it. Any vision or thought or feeling that does not take away from what you desire is acceptable.

  Now, with Granny, we want her to be of good health. Sure we would also like for her to be happy, able to afford a better house, have a new car, and maybe a dozen other things as well. But for now, we need to be well focused on her health only. We also have a habit at times of being far to thrifty with our prayer time. By this I mean, that " Oh well, while I am here, I might as well add Uncle Harry and Aunt Susan to my list". DON'T!!

I have a story ( you may have noticed by now, that I always seem to have a story),that will explain this in a better way for you to understand, and I would suggest reading it for a better image of what I mean. Butterfly Prayers is short, sweet, and has nothing to do with Theology, but it does get my point across.

  There seem to be various levels of power in prayer. These levels I speak of have to do with the way I envision the prayer to be delivered, or the force behind the prayer if you will.

  The circumstance you will be in during time of prayer will vary. The most effective method of prayer "under the current circumstances" will vary too. The prayer methods described will be in an order for prayer under "normal" circumstances. Which method proves to be most effective for you may differ too according to personality and individual abilities. The idea with methods is to fulfill as many of the requirements of Powerful Prayer as possible, not to just follow any steps. Mainly in this section, the need to focus and clearly define your needs during prayer.

The methods I refer to are, Silent, verbal, emotional pleas, and written.

I go further into detail on each method here.

  These are the prayers delivered and expressed by thought. God of course hears these prayers, and will answer them as well. However, this statement should trigger a grand awakening in your thought processes already. "If God hears my silent prayer which is created in thought, does He hear all my thoughts as well"? YES! For this reason alone you should be very careful what you allow your mind to dwell upon.

Please read (Help, My Silent Prayers are killing me!)( coming soon )

Now we are getting somewhere. Have you yet tried to stop all those thoughts and focus on only one yet? Well, it is not real easy, and may take some time to even get close. So, I place Silent Prayer down close to the bottom of my list when used under "normal" circumstances. There are circumstances and other ingredients that can make these very effective and powerful. More on this later.

Verbal Prayer is like talking. However you do it, but using words that can be heard by another human if they are present and close to you. You may choose to use These and Thou's if you wish, but if you are honest with God and have a hard time understanding the Old King James Style, then I suggest you talk plain language. Honesty with God is far more important than the act of portraying respect.

Being louder than Silent Prayer, you are more focused when you talk aloud. You also hear the words you speak, and may edit them if you hear an error. These facts alone make verbal Prayer More effective than Silent Prayer in most circumstances. I say most because humans sometimes focus more on what "others" will hear than what they really want God to hear. If you are in fear of saying a prayer that the group you are in may not rate in the top ten, then don't say one. Either ask that another say it, or accept that the weakness of fear may well inhibit your prayer. You can always say another prayer when the heat is off too. I wont tell, and it surely couldn't hurt.

The next two can easily be questioned as to one being more or less effective than the other. Since "Emotional Pleas" usually do not occur under "normal" circumstances though, I will list it first mainly because it will be used less often, We hope.

  When we are in a serious situation of fear, pain, remorse, and/or suffering, we tend to get real serious about our prayers. These are the "now or never" prayers. Sometimes these opportunities are the only time some of us pray at all. These prayers can be very effective.

You find yourself standing on the edge of a 600 foot cliff with a pack of mad dogs trying to tear you apart. Now it is time to get tight with God. These prayers though can go either way, depending on your abilities at the time. If you are so confused or tormented, you cannot focus even your thoughts, then your prayer may be answered because of the seriousness of the event, more than your ability to call upon God for assistance.

God is always there, and will always help as best the situation and conditions allow. But if you have trained yourself through practice and have an honest relationship with God going into this type of situation, you will find far greater ability to focus your thoughts and words, and the emotions will only better fuel your prayerful desire into completion.

I have experienced both. Either I am focused, or I have just fallen apart, and have witnessed desirable results in both types of situations. When possible, when under intense emotional stress, fear, or long term suffering, then you may experience far better and faster results in the written prayer.

  Written Prayer is my choice for the most effective method of prayer. Of course, if you write the prayer, edit it for exactness, read it out loud, and silently, it is better still.

When we write we usually focus more of our senses on what we are writing. You are thinking the words, reading them silently or aloud, and rereading them as you spell check, if you spell like me you do anyway. The more focus you place in a prayer the greater it's effectiveness. The more potential it has to being more exact when it comes into completion. However, if you write sketchy prayers, then do not blame God when you continue to get sketchy results.

  Knowing what you want is of most importance. Remember that God also created attorneys, and they do not know anything about loopholes that God does not already know. Do not leave a lot of loopholes in your prayers, fill them with some details. You will also find it impossible to focus on anything that has no details attached. A house? How big, what color? Located where? In what price range? If you do not know what you want, you will most likely never get it.

  "Well, all I want is a house, I don't care much about the details." OK, then when you get the house, and find the roof falling in and the payments three times what you can afford, then don't blame God.

  Remember item number 3 and 4 above? Those items go a long way towards helping you know you have been heard. Faith precedeth the miracle. Faith is an absolute companion to powerful prayer. Remember, the more of these items you fulfill, the greater your success will be. Faith is like the hot coals that continue to produce heat even after the flame has gone out. Faith is what will prevent you from interfering with the prayer. The more you believe you prayer was heard and will be answered, the more likely you will be to leave it alone and not dwell on the "what if" fears that would otherwise follow.

It is important to let it go. If you have ever tried to fix a toy for a small child that keeps wanting to help you do it, then you know what I mean. God cannot fix anything if you keep taking it back and trying to fix it yourself.

Now I must deal with a common problem we all must deal with at some time or another. Our lack of faith in some circumstances, usually when we are surrounded with deep emotions.

Knowing God has heard your request is faith, however he does not get angry if you explain several times for the same thing, this shows your true level of desire. He also understands your fears at these times.(Luke,18:1-8)

Christ prayed concerning the cup, several (3) times.(Matt,26:39,42,44) It is believed he prayed Father forgive them over and over again on the cross, because of the way the words is used in the verse.(Luke,23:34)

Ever hear the phrase "practice, practice, practice"? Well, now you have heard it again. You must pray at least daily to be able to pray in the time of needs and emergency.

Practice, practice, practice train the mind. Just like driving a car, the more practice you have the more automatic it becomes. Perhaps you will someday understand what Paul meant when he said we are to "pray always".

It just so happens, that I have a short story that will give you a picture of what I am speaking of. This story will also explain the difference of the casual prayer person, and the dedicated vessel. It is not necessarily theologically correct, but you may enjoy reading The switchboard or the Intercom.

  The more your life is in order with what you believe to be right, the easier it will be for you to believe God will answer your prayers. The more history you have of using God's power for the benefit of the many, rather than just the self, then the greater the opportunity God has to use you to bless others, and yourself.

  Many people spend a lot of their prayer time seeking forgiveness for their past sins. If you have understood item number 1 above, then you should have a better understanding of the importance of this need as well. Item 1 deals with your vision of God and honesty, this deals with your vision of yourself and how you believe God sees you. If you have honestly sought forgiveness for your past sins, then let them go. Just like a prayer request for anything else, you must have faith that your prayer was answered. How else are you going to do any of these requirements if you do not believe God heard and answered your prayer of forgiveness?

The greatest gift you can give of yourself is a grateful attitude. Always give thanks. Giving thanks affirms that you know God heard, and that your request will be answered. Yes, Granny may not leave her hospital bed, but you will be aware that your prayer was answered. I cannot relate as to how, but you will know. A new atmosphere of peace about her passing may come to you. She may tell you something herself that will let you know she is indeed ready. I have seen great unexpected results myself during these times, and all I can promise, is that your prayers WILL BE ANSWERED AND YOU WILL KNOW IT, if you trust and are aware.

(Two Pennies)

I list this last as step 15, but it is not the least. Prayer will work with or without calling upon Jesus Our Lord to assist. The steps and requirements can call upon God directly and bring about results. They will even work if you hold true to the steps and do not directly call upon God. But know this! God is the only creator in existence. Whether you acknowledge His existence or not, it is His Power that will bring your prayers into reality. His is the only Power. If you Pray with Power, you will be using the only Power, that being God's Power and knowing God has all the copyrights on Power is a wise thing to know. If you are a Christian though, I strongly suggest you call upon the assistance of Jesus and His Holy Name to consign your requests. After all, we as Christians are of His fold, and under His protection.

Jesus is The Son of God. He said He would help us if we asked Him to. He is the Savior and your Intercessor between you and Our Father, AKA God.

Giving God and Jesus Christ the Glory assures several things. First, you are showing gratefulness to Them. Second you are releasing your pride in the event but giving credit to another. You are acknowledging that only God's Power can do it, and you are being humble to Him. Never let Powerful Prayer results cause you to be prideful. Never think you now know all the secretes. Never think that God, your Father, will not use all means to teach you otherwise if you do. Always leave room for the discovery of newly found laws, and for Divine Intervention or Miracles.

There are many Positive Motivational books on the market today. When the guidelines they spell out are followed, they work. Guidelines like writing your goals, reading them often, having smaller goals that lead to victory in the larger ones. Think on this for a moment. Does not all these steps merely bring about various levels of prayer, (silent or otherwise?) Do they not help you to spell out exactly what it is you want, (Focus and details?) Do they not assist you in expecting success, (Faith and Hope?) And last but not least, do not "most" of them also say you should give thanks to God when you have achieved your goals?

There are many other things that will effect your prayers. Some will effect every aspect of prayer, most will effect individual requests depending on the circumstances. Things like who will benefit? Or is it really needed, how many people are effected? or all the events of your past, present, and even your future. However, I have found that these listed items are of the greatest importance to a general and noticeable improvement in every area of your ability to Pray with Power.

There are links that will go into greater detail of some of the how-to's on various topics we have covered here. Many have been linked within this document, others are on the INDEX linked below. I have experienced these things, and have been blessed by being shown how to effectively bring God into every event and to release the pain attached to the situation. No matter how much you hurt, no matter how much you hate, no matter how much you suffer, these links can show you a way to move out of the current place of darkness and into the light of Truth and a better peace. Your greatest need in any time of suffering is hope, and I offer you that now. God grants you all your needs, I offer you living proof of hope that you will be able to receive all the grace, love, and mercy that God is so willing to give to you now. The Simple Truth is, that I have survived because of the Grace and Love of God. I only offer you how I did it, and why it seems to have worked for me and the many others who have followed these same steps.

REMEMBER, The only unchangeable statement I will ever make is this. I maintain full right to completely change my mind about everything I have ever learned or stated if I discover a higher Truth that leads me to do so.

Remember, that no matter what the circumstances in life may be, that if you are happy and at peace, nothing else really matters. I do not prefer being stuck in the mud, but a pig would call that heaven.