Recommended Reading

1) Prayer and Warfare

2) Let Us Pray (pdf) esp. Prayer That Resists Satan

3) Prayer Ministry of the Church (pdf)

4) God's Work - the gifts of God.

There was once a Christian who well knew how to pray. He declared this, that all spiritual works include four steps: The first step is that God conceives a thought, which is His will: The second step is that God reveals this will to His children through the Holy Spirit, causing them to know that He has a will, a plan, a demand and expectation: The third step is that God’s children return His will by praying to Him, for prayer is responding to God’s will—if our heart is wholly one with His heart, we will naturally voice in our prayer what He intends to do: And the fourth step is that God will accomplish this very thing.

Prayers which are in accordance with God's will originate from God, are revealed to us by the Holy Spirit, and return to God through prayers. Whatever prayer is in accordance with God's iwll must begin with God's will; men merely respond to, and transmit, this will.

What are the various aspects in the work of prayer which need attention? Quite a few things require our attention in the work of prayer, among them being the following:

(1) Fellowship with the Lord in all things. We ought to bring all things in our life to the Lord, for there is nothing common or insignificant in the Christian life. To fellowship with the Lord in all things should be our daily natural habit (see Phil. 4.6).

(2) Ask and keep on asking, for the Lord delights in people asking Him. He is the rich Giver; therefore He wants men to ask. "If any of you lacketh . . . , let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting" (James 1.5,6). "Ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss" (James 4.2,3). Asking includes trust and desire. If the motive of our asking is pure, there is nothing better.

(3) Meditate and intercede. We stand before the Lord to pray for other people. Actually this is fellowship with the Lord in His high-priestly function. How He himself intercedes unceasingly for His people and their needs (Heb. 7.25; cf. Col. 4.12).

(4) Pray always. In speaking of praying with importunity we need first of all to get rid of an improper concept which holds that our God is very reluctant to answer prayer. To pray with persistency simply means that, having clearly recognized God’s need, you keep on praying. Why does the Lord not answer immediately? Why should the days of His silence be prolonged? Here are at least two reasons: (a) that God needs a full reaction from His people concerning the thing with which He is concerned and in which He is deeply interested; and (b) that sometimes such constant prayer is necessary due to a certain kind of need or environment—because of the strongholds which Satan builds, more intensified prayer is required to destroy them (see Matt. 7.7,8; Mark 9.28,29).

(5) Executive prayer. As we are united with the Lord who sits on the throne (for He is Lord of all), we may pray in His name which is above all names (Phil. 2.9).

(6) Prayer warfare. Through prayer we uplift the victory of the cross in dealing with all things. The movement of prayer follows the victory of the Lord (see Eph. 6.10-20).

(7) The prayer of faith. Under certain circumstances the Holy Spirit imparts to us a kind of inward assurance, causing us to know the will of God. Thus we will see our prayer instantly assured (see Acts 9.40).

(8) Prayer burden. Prayer is a kind of travail in spiritual birth, which is an entering into fellowship with the sufferings of Christ, with the heart of the Father, and with the groanings of the Holy Spirit—until the day of glory (see Gal. 4.19).