About a year or so ago I went thru the book "Becoming a woman of Prayer" by Cynthia Heald. It was also very challenging and also encouraging to see the privilege that God has given us to enter into His presence thru prayer. Before getting into last week's lesson I want to share just a few quotes from this other study. To be quite honest there are so many great insights from many Bible scholars (and of course Scripture) that are shared I had a hard time limiting what to share.
"The eternal, sovereign, majestic God of the universe
wants to be intimate with us! He wants us to call,
to cry, to sing to Him. He longs to love, to refresh, to
encourage us. He wants to answer our call and to
tell us great and unsearchable thoughts. God
wants us to know that He is always ready to commune;
He is always ready to listen. He wants to be so much a
part of our lives that we would naturally come to
Him at all times. He tells us that we have freedom
to call to Him wherever we are, about anything on our
hearts. He delights in being involved with His children,
and prayer is His gift and His invitation to intimacy" ~ Cynthia Heald
"We look upon prayer as a means of getting things
for ourselves; the Bible's idea of prayer is
that we may get to know God Himself." ~ Oswald Chambers
"To sum it up, if you want that splendid power in prayer,
you must remain in loving, living, lasting, conscious,
practical, abiding union with the Lord Jesus Christ....
So be filled with God's Word. Study what Jesus has said,
what the Holy Ghost has left on record in this divinely
inspired book, and in proportion as you feed on, retain,
and obey the Word in your life, you will be a master
in the art of prayer." ~ Charles Spurgeon
wants to be intimate with us! He wants us to call,
to cry, to sing to Him. He longs to love, to refresh, to
encourage us. He wants to answer our call and to
tell us great and unsearchable thoughts. God
wants us to know that He is always ready to commune;
He is always ready to listen. He wants to be so much a
part of our lives that we would naturally come to
Him at all times. He tells us that we have freedom
to call to Him wherever we are, about anything on our
hearts. He delights in being involved with His children,
and prayer is His gift and His invitation to intimacy" ~ Cynthia Heald
"We look upon prayer as a means of getting things
for ourselves; the Bible's idea of prayer is
that we may get to know God Himself." ~ Oswald Chambers
"To sum it up, if you want that splendid power in prayer,
you must remain in loving, living, lasting, conscious,
practical, abiding union with the Lord Jesus Christ....
So be filled with God's Word. Study what Jesus has said,
what the Holy Ghost has left on record in this divinely
inspired book, and in proportion as you feed on, retain,
and obey the Word in your life, you will be a master
in the art of prayer." ~ Charles Spurgeon
Getting back to last week's study; Mrs. Jaynes focused on the power that we have access to thru prayer.
"One of the great mysteries of the Christian life is that God
has given us great power through prayer. ...this power comes
from God. He simply invites us to open the floodgates of Heaven
with our words. ...we are never more powerful than when we use
our words in prayer"
has given us great power through prayer. ...this power comes
from God. He simply invites us to open the floodgates of Heaven
with our words. ...we are never more powerful than when we use
our words in prayer"
Much of this chapter focused on intercessory prayer (praying for others). One passage that the author points to is Ezekiel 22:23-31. God is looking for someone to "stand in the gap" (to intercede) on Israel's behalf, yet He finds no one. We must, as believers, be willing to "stand in the gap" for our brother's and sisters. To pray for them even when we don't know the specifics, to pray that they would have strength, wisdom and to not be discouraged in spiritual battles.
At the end of the chapter Mrs. Jaynes challenges the reader to pray scripture for someone. I have found this practice to be so encouraging. Even when I have no idea what to pray I can always pray scripture. The specific passage she gives as an example is Colossians 1:9-12. Her sample prayer is below:
At the end of the chapter Mrs. Jaynes challenges the reader to pray scripture for someone. I have found this practice to be so encouraging. Even when I have no idea what to pray I can always pray scripture. The specific passage she gives as an example is Colossians 1:9-12. Her sample prayer is below:
"Dear Lord, I pray for (___) today and ask that You fill him
with the knowledge of Your will through all spiritual wisdom
and understanding. I pray this in order that (_____) may
live a life worthy of the Lord and may please You in every
way; bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the
knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power
according to Your glorious might so that (____) may have
great endurance and patience and joyfully giving thanks
to God, who has qualified (____) to share in the
inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. In
Jesus' name, amen."
with the knowledge of Your will through all spiritual wisdom
and understanding. I pray this in order that (_____) may
live a life worthy of the Lord and may please You in every
way; bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the
knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power
according to Your glorious might so that (____) may have
great endurance and patience and joyfully giving thanks
to God, who has qualified (____) to share in the
inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. In
Jesus' name, amen."
If you have never prayed scripture before I would encourage you to prayerfully seek out passages. This practice has been such a blessing and is always encouraging for me to know that when I am praying scripture and resting on God's promises my prayers are never out of His will. A great place to see this exemplified is in the Psalms. David, when he prays, often "reminds" God of His promises and prays scripture back to God.
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