How amazing to pray like Jesus prayed.

What do you think it was like when Jesus went off by himself at night to pray? He was separated from His Father in heaven, so those times must have been sweet hours of reunion. I wonder if the mount of transfiguration was a regular occurrence for Him. Did people He knew from heaven come to Him often?

It really makes me wonder what our prayer time could really be like. I wonder if what Jesus experienced shouldn’t be something we all do. What was it that Jesus did to commune with God like that? He did not come to earth as the Son of God, He came as the Son of Man, setting aside His own authority. That means we can do what He did.

Imagine going to God in prayer and seeing all of heaven open up to you. Imagine being so filled with the presence of God that your face shines like Moses’ when He came off the mountain. You would change the atmosphere in the room when you carry that presence.

I think we short change ourselves by not going after what Jesus showed us to do. There is so much more to our relationship with God if we spend our hearts on Him. So much more.

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Repentance makes us clean.

There is so much that God can do in us when we allow ourselves to be humble. Are we willing to do anything He asks? Are there some things we just draw the line at? Why? There’s something ugly behind a refusal to be obedient in all things.

We have to be willing to be cleaned up in all the places of our heart that we have hidden. Unless we  give Jesus access to those closed doors, He can’t trust us to do the amazing things He’s called us to do. But then we fret and complain and wonder why we aren’t moving on in our lives.

Repentance is not a dirty word. It’s a scrub brush that cleans away what is sinful and foul. We usually don’t have to be told what to confess. The Holy Spirit convicts where we need to be cleaned up. And we can never be who we are meant to be until we lay open our heart and ask for help.

Cleansing our hearts is a lifelong process. Don’t ever assume that you’re done. If you’ve been there and done that, then go back. There’s probably still more. And the more you get rid of, the more room you have for blessing to fill you.

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God’s answers can come in disguise.

God loves to mess with us sometimes. We pray for something we really need and He sends something that doesn’t look at all what we asked for. But what exactly has He sent? Maybe it is our answer in disguise.

When Israel was up against the Philistines with no victory in sight, God sent them a boy. No one believed that David was the answer to their problem. If they lost, the entire nation went into slavery. It was a huge gamble. A HUGE gamble. But God’s answer was exactly what was needed. Not only was Israel delivered from oppression, they found a new king who would usher in the greatest age that Israel has ever known.

God, send us more Davids! Ask God to help you see His hand action so you don’t dismiss the very answer you are looking for. Are you looking for treasure? Then don’t throw you the ugly looking oyster. It may have your pearl of great price.

Knowing when to recognize God’s provision when it’s not obvious requires communion with Him. If you spend quite, devotional time with Him, you begin to recognize the move of His Spirit. You develop hearing, so when you ask for confirmation, you’ll hear His voice. Spend time with Him, then look around. The answer may be waiting for you already.

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You have nothing to do with miracles.

There are some  things about prayer that we’ve been taught wrong, and it’s probably why so many prayers go unanswered. Basically, it’s not about you, or I, or what we pray that brings the answer. It’s  God.

When we put all our focus on what to pray and how to pray, we are essentially focusing on ourselves. Let’s say we’re praying for someone to be healed. Our well-meant fancy prayer does nothing to bring healing. Our quoting Bible verses does nothing to bring healing. Our sympathy to see that person healed does nothing. And the reason is because we have focus on the problem and our efforts to do good.

Jesus is the answer. Turn your focus to Him. You don’t even have to say a lot. Once you realize that it’s the power of His name to heal, save, and deliver, you take your eyes off the problem and off of yourself. You release Him to act in the situation. It’s not about you. It’s all about Him.

The next time you face a prayer situation, turn away from the problem and turn to the One who has all power. Celebrate His goodness. Be thankful in His greatness to answer. Bless and rejoice. The answer lies in joyful acknowledgement that God can do all things.

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Agree together in prayer and change the world.

If we only understood the power of agreement, nothing would stop us from changing the world. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. (Mat 18:20)

There’s a difference between standing together and praying and standing together in Jesus’ name. Not everyone is engaged with Jesus when we pray together. No every one has come into agreement with Jesus as Lord. Not everyone who cries Lord, Lord will enter into the kingdom of God.

But when we are in right standing with our God and gather together and lift up prayers to heaven, heaven comes down. We actually receive the presence of Jesus when we pray in agreement. The power of individual prayer is amazing, but the power of combined prayer in agreement is massive. It’s not double power if there are two people praying together, it’s exponential power.

That’s why it’s so important to agree together and lift up our needs with each other. A room full of believers calling out to heaven can change history. The power of combined prayer is explosive and is ignited when Jesus comes to be in the middle of it. Be serious in your prayer times because you have no ideas what you are unleashing.

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Learn to Linger with God

Don’t be too hasty with God. When I was younger, I was considered dangerous with a little knowledge. I would listen to a new concept, grab the parts that I understood, and run. In my eagerness to implement something new, I wasn’t always patient enough to learn everything that I needed to know.

It’s easy to be that way when we pray. We have our checklist of things that we want to give to Him and we run through them like we’re dictating our requests. In fairness, most of the time, we are heartfelt in our prayer. We bring God our legitimate needs, but we stop short of the intimacy that He wants from us.

Learn to linger. Once you spend quiet time in His presence, you’ll hear Him woo you to stay with Him. Don’t leave just yet. Stay a little longer. Just bask and soak in His love. That time is so precious to Him.

When I decide to linger and enjoy my God, I’ll hear Him say, Now show me your list. Let’s go through what you want. It comes after we exchange our love, in the peaceful place under the shadow of His wings.

You’ll find more breakthrough in the quiet place of lingering than all the pleading times of prayer.

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May the dew of heaven be yours.

I love the blessings of the Bible. When Issac blessed Jacob, he said, Therefore may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. (Gen 27:28)

The dew of heaven–what ever that is, I want it. I’ll take the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine, but the dew of heaven would be my first choice. Can you imagine? Anything that drops from heaven has got to be permeated with the fragrance of God and blessed with grace.

Dew will completely cover the ground. There aren’t some spots here and other spots there. Anything that is exposed to the sky will be saturated with moisture. God’s blessing saturates abundantly. He gives more than we ask. It falls from the throne like rain on dry ground.

May the dew of heaven cover you with all the goodness, the grace, and blessings of God. May you be blessed with the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. May all your days be filled with joy and sweetness. And may you pass your blessing along to everyone around you.

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Believe God for Answered Prayer

Receiving answers to prayer requires some positioning on our part. It is an attitude adjustment to believe that, when we are in right standing with God, we can ask what we will and He will answer. But if we don’t actually  believe that He will answer, then we lose out on what is ours.

Think about the answer to your prayers coming down like rain. If you definitely know it’s going to rain, you can set out a rain barrel and collect it. If you don’t believe it’s going to rain, all that water will come down anyway, but will be wasted and lost. You will not even be aware that you missed it and get mad at God for not answering.

When we are right with God, He will answer. He promised that He would and God does not lie. We’re used to being lied to by the enemy, so God’s promises seem almost too good to be true. But His word is truth. Not only does He want to answer your prayers, He wants to bless you with more than you asked.

Decide now to believe Him. Set out your rain barrel and hold open your apron. Answers will come and you really don’t want to miss them.

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Be specific in your prayers and you’ll get specific answers.

Suppose your teenager came to you and said that walking so far to school was really hard, especially having to carry books. What do you want?, you ask. Your child shrugs and says, All my friends are either driven to school or ride a bike or a car or a motorcycle. So what do you want?, you ask again. You see the need, but what specifically does he want?

We need to stop asking for general blessing. God wants us to get specific. Name the things that you want to see happen in your life. How will you know that God is moving for you if all you ask for are vague what-ever-is-your-will requests. If you ask God for that computer because it will do everything that you need, then ask for it.

We short change ourselves all the time by not being specific. Don’t be afraid to ask God what you need, and don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. Lift up your dreams and let Him know what it is about them that you love. He wants to delight you, so let Him know what’s really on your heart.

God is a God of blessing. Ask and it will be given to you, but don’t ask vaguely, or you’ll get a vague answer.

Another post on prayer: Learn To Wait With Expectation

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