Ladies Bible Studies
Developing Your Prayer Life
Last month we talked about “Hearing the Voice of God” and how you train yourself to hear from God.
Today I would like to elaborate more, take some of the areas we discussed last month and
Spend time talking about them.
Today, we are going to talk about developing your prayer life.
Samuel 1:13-15: “Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk.
So Eli said to her, "How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!''
And Hannah answered and said, "No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord.”
This is a simple but complete definition of prayer. Speaking from your heart and pouring out your soul and heart to God.
Philippians 4: 6-7: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
If this verse is not marked in your Bible, it should be, in one short statement it gives you the basic formula of prayer.
There are several different aspects or types of prayer. They can be prayed alone or in combination with other types. Most of the time you are already doing this and don’t even realize it!
Let’s look at the different types or aspects of prayer.
The first and most basic and yet the most important is:
The Prayer of Salvation:
Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Romans 10:9 tells us that if we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead we will be saved.
The first prayer a believer prays is the prayer of salvation. Everyone of us have to admit we were a sinful creature, away from God and that we needed A Savior to restore or redeem us. We each believed in our heart on The Lord Jesus and confessed with our mouth and were saved.
What a glorious, wonderful gift God has given us!! Amen?
Another type of prayer is:
The Prayer of Agreement:
Matthew 18:19: “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.”
We quote this verse all the time, but what does it really mean?
One of the key word here is agree, if two of you agree on Earth.. it will be done for them…
The word agree, according to Strong’s Greek Dictionary is the Greek Word sumphoneo.
Transliterated: sumphoneo
Phonetic: soom-fo-neh'-o
Text: from 4859; to be harmonious, i.e. (figuratively) to accord (be suitable, concur) or stipulate (by compact): --agree (together, with).
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Agree means stipulate, be suitable, concur. In other words you have to believe the same thing as the person with whom you are praying. When you have a need, and you ask someone to agree with you, you are asking them to go to God with you and add the power of their prayer to yours for your need to be met.
This is not a casual thing. You need to know something about the person with whom you are praying. Do they believe the Word of God is infallible? Do they believe God will keep his promises? Do they know the Word of God? Are they praying in Faith.
The prayer of faith is the basic component of all prayer. If you cannot believe in your heart that what you say will come to pass then you are praying in vain.
Mark 11:23-24: “23. "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, `Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says.
Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
You do not want your prayers to be in vain.
The other part of the definition of agree is harmonious.
The Amplified Bible tells us that it means harmonize together, to make a symphony together. If all the instruments in a symphony are not playing the same notes, you have nothing but noise. What this means to us spiritually is that we must be in accord, we cannot be angry, bitter or in strife with the person with whom we are praying.
If you are mad at your husband, you cannot sit down and agree in prayer about anything.
If you are resentful and holding a grudge against him, about something, you cannot agree with him. You cannot pray with someone you just had a “screaming fit” with!…(unless it is a prayer of forgiveness)!
If you have been offended by someone, you can’t pray with them until you forgive them, the same holds true for them, they can’t pray with you if they hold unforgiveness in their heart. This applies to your husband, your children, you in-laws, your family, your best friend, anyone who may ask you to pray.
Acts 1:14: “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.”
This is very important for the corporate body, the church. We must be in accord when we pray as a local body and as the Body of Christ. We cannot let petty differences or offenses stand between us and God. We have The Father’s Business to conduct. We cannot let the enemy use disagreement and strife to keep the body out of agreement. Amen?
If the disciples and other followers of Jesus had not been in agreement in the upper room, the Holy Spirit could not have come at that time. One of the main components of that miracle was that they were “in one accord.” If we want to see the power of the Lord manifested in these last days, we must be in one accord as a body.
This is hard for many of us, it takes walking in forgiveness, it takes humility, kindness, and just walking in love to accomplish this.
Another type of prayer is:
The Prayer of Petition:
Psalms 143:1: “Hear my prayer, O Lord, Give ear to my supplications! In Your faithfulness answer me, And in Your righteousness.”
Job 6:8: “"Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant me the thing that I long for!”
A petition is a solemn request or entreaty. The prayer of petition is the most common type of prayer prayed. It is actually another major component of all prayers prayed. Most of the time, when we pray we have a specific purpose or need and we go to the Lord in Petition and ask for an answer.
Matthew 6:8: "Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him”
Psalms 37:4-5: “Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.”
Matthew 6:33: “"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
When you make your prayer of petition, remember that Father God, already know your needs, before you petition, make sure you have delighted yourself in the Lord and sought a
Relationship with Him first. This is so important, get yourself right with God, keep your relationship with Him first and foremost and you will find, that your petitions will be in line with God’s Word. You will find, as you go deeper with the Lord, the desires of your heart will change and your desires will change. The main desire of your heart will be to do and have nothing if it will not glorify Him. When you spend time feeding on the Word and taking it in, you will realize this to be true.
John 14:13: "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
John 15:7-8: “"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”
So we see, that we must abide in and dwell in Christ, seek Him first and it will be done for us, That the Father be glorified.
I urge you to stop the next time you are praying for something and ask yourself, will this bring glory to God? If the answer is no, then rethink the desire, because it may stem from selfishness.
The last, but not all, of the types of prayers we are going to discuss today is:
The Prayer of Praise and Worship:
If you were in church a couple of Sunday nights ago Pastor Terrell talked about putting on the garment of praise out of Isaiah 61:3.
Praise is the way we acknowledge God, Who He is and what He means to us.
We as mere humans get tired of people constantly criticizing us, or asking for something and never giving in return. If we need praise, do you not think God the Father, God the Lord of Hosts, is due praise and honor??? After all, we were created to worship and fellowship with him. Part of a healthy human relationship is positive feedback, telling each other the good things about each other. This is absolutely essential in your relationship with God. You need to spend time just praising God, telling Him how wonderful he is, acknowledging His power and majesty and all the things he has done.
Quote praise Scripture to Him, make up your own psalms and personal songs during your private worship. Take the time to spend a special prayer time in nothing but praise.
You will be surprised at the change in your prayer life and your life in general.
We need to acknowledge through praise Who God is and all He has done!
Let me give you a few Scripture references to enrich your life and stress the importance of praise.
Ephesians 5:19-20: “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,”
Hebrews 13:15: “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”
Hosea 14:2: “Take words with you, and return to the Lord. Say to Him, "Take away all iniquity; receive us graciously, for we will offer the sacrifices of our lips.”
6.
Psalms 22:22-23: “I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the congregation I will praise You.
You who fear the Lord, praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!”
Worship is the formal setting in which our devotions and reverence to God is expressed.
We generally think of Worship in the formal setting of the Church on specific days or times.
Praise and worship go hand and hand, you cannot do one without the other, you pretty much do both at the same time, whether you are in a formal setting, in you personal prayer closet or driving down the road listening to praise and worship songs.
Wherever you are, let it burst from you spontaneously – at all times!
Let’s close for today with the following:
Psalms 71:5-14: “For You are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth.
By You I have been upheld from my birth; You are He who took me out of my mother's womb. My praise shall be continually of You. I have become as a wonder to many, But You are my strong refuge. Let my mouth be filled with Your praise And with Your glory all the day. Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails. For my enemies speak against me; And those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together, Saying, "God has forsaken him; Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.'' O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!
- Let them be confounded and consumed Who are adversaries of my life; Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor Who seek my hurt.
- But I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more.