DAY 30 - 6 KINDS OF PRAYER: AGREEMENT

Based on the article “Six Kinds of Prayer”, by Frederick Price.  Original article can be found HERE.

Matthew 18:19-20

“I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."

Many Christians aren't aware that there are several “types” of prayer discussed in God's Word.  Consider, over the next six days, how each type of prayer might help you in your conversations with God.

The First Prayer - The Prayer of Agreement

In Matthew 18:19, Jesus introduced the prayer of agreement when He said, “If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you.”

This is an interesting concept, and something worth pondering.  There is obvious power in people praying together, bound in unity and agreement.  Too often we keep our prayers personal, restricted only to ourselves.  Yet Jesus makes it clear, that if you and another person (or several people) can be unified in belief, resolution, intent - there will be a uniquely powerful form of prayer.

PRAYER #30 - Prayer of Agreement  

Consider this challenge:  find someone to pray with.  Find another person - someone you trust, someone you find agreement with.  This could be a spouse, a friend, a mentor.  Pray with them.  Pray with boldness and expectation.  Put the Matthew 18 Promise to the test, and see what God will do!

DAY 29 - UNANSWERED PRAYERS

What should we do about unanswered prayers?  Watch and listen to how Francis Chan answers this question...

PRAYER #29 - INTROSPECTION
Listen to the Psalmist in Psalm 53:10-12

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit."

Pray that God would allow us insight to ourselves, our sin, the possible roadblocks to His listening ear.  Pray that He would give you patience with unanswered prayers.

DAY 27 - HURRY UP, GOD!

written by Steve Fuller

There’s something I’ve been praying about. 

The church where I serve as pastor needs a part-time worship leader. Our present leader has served us well, but his schedule is changing and he plans to step down. So, of course, I’ve been networking, calling, posting on church employment sites — and praying.

So far, God has not provided — and the problem is that I need him to provide soon. I can hear the clock ticking. The deadline is approaching. What are we going to do without a worship leader? Yes, I’m starting to worry.

So How Should I Pray?
I could just keep praying, “Father, please provide us with a new worship leader” — and leave it at that. But the Bible shows us more. You’ll notice that the psalmists often ask God to hurry.  This is all throughout the Psalms:

• But you, O Lᴏʀᴅ, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! (Psalm 22:19) 
• Make haste to help me, O Lᴏʀᴅ, my salvation! (Psalm 38:22)
• Be pleased, O Lᴏʀᴅ, to deliver me! O Lᴏʀᴅ, make haste to help me! (Psalm 40:13)
• You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God! (Psalm 40:17)
• Make haste, O God, to deliver me! O Lᴏʀᴅ, make haste to help me! (Psalm 70:1)
• But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lᴏʀᴅ, do not delay! (Psalm 70:5)
• O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me! (Psalm 71:12)

This makes me wonder: why don’t I pray like that?
So I’ve started it. Following the example of psalmists, I’ve been asking God to hurry. And I’m discovering at least three benefits:


1.  It reminds us that God is sovereign over timing. 

It’s easy to think the reason our church doesn’t yet have the new worship leader is because there are not many worship leaders available, or because the position is only part-time, or because this is a bad time of year to be looking, and so forth. But when I pray, “Father, quickly provide us with a worship leader; don’t delay in helping us” — it reminds me that God can provide for us quickly. He can overcome all of our problems. He will answer our prayers and provide for us exactly when we need him.
Like David said, “My times are in your hand” (Psalm 31:15).

2.  It helps prayer be honest.

If we long for God to provide something quickly, but we don’t express that longing when we pray, then we’re not being honest. We are holding part of our hearts away from him. We’re not entrusting that desire to him. And that can grow into frustration and bitterness. That’s one reason God wants us to pour out our souls before him (1 Samuel 1:15). I have found that the more I open my heart to him, expressing my longing that he act quickly, the more I experience his comfort and heart-satisfying presence.

3.  It stirs God to answer more quickly.

There’s mystery here. James says, “we have not because we ask not” (James 4:2). So there are times when the reason we do not receive something is because we did not ask God for it. Which means that, generally speaking, if we humbly ask God to hurry, God will hurry more than if we had not asked.

PRAYER #27 - Ask God to Hurry

So, when we long for God to hurry, let us be like the psalmists. Let us humbly and earnestly ask God to hurry — for his glory and our good.

DAY 23 - RE-IGNITION: CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD

written by Rick Warren

“I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!” (Psalm 116:1-2 NLT, second edition)

It took me a while, but I finally figured out that this marriage thing is about communication. I discovered that on the days that I had deep, soul-communication with my wife Kay — not “Hi. How are you? I love you. See you later” — that’s when our relationship would grow. And on those days when we have little or no communication, our relationship decays. A relationship is never standing still. It’s either growing or decaying.

The same is true with God. On the days when you have deep, significant talks with God, your relationship grows. On the days when you have little or no conversation with God, your relationship decays. It’s that simple.

When you really love somebody, you don’t just want to spend time with him. You want to talk with him. Remember when you first fell in love as a teenager and your parents got upset because you were always on the phone? You talked and talked and talked because you were getting to know that person. Communication is how you get to know others.

What do you talk about if you want to express love to God? Anything that you’d talk to your best friend about: your hopes, your fears, your dreams, your anxieties, the things you’re embarrassed about, the things you’re proud of, the things you’re ashamed of, your goals, your ambitions, your hurts, your cares — every part of your life.

PRAYER #23 - Start Talking

The Bible says in Psalm 116:1-2, “I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!” 

If you don’t feel close to God because your Christian life has become routine, dull, joyless, and lifeless, there’s a simple remedy: Start talking to God again.

Prayer is not some duty that you have to do. It’s a privilege that you get to do. You get to talk to the Creator of the universe! He’s waiting on you to have a conversation with him so that your relationship can grow.

DAY 22 - RE-IGNITION: NEHEMIAH

written by Rick Warren

“Then [Nehemiah] said, ‘O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer! … I confess that we have sinned against you .… Please remember what you told your servant Moses: “If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored” …. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.’” (Nehemiah 1:5-11 NLT, second edition)

Here are three “secrets” to answered prayer from the life of Nehemiah:

1. Base your request on God’s character. Pray like you know God will answer you: “I’m expecting you to answer this prayer because of who you are. You are a faithful God. You are a great God. You are a loving God. You are a wonderful God. You can handle this problem, God!”
2. Confess the sins you’re aware of. After Nehemiah based his prayer on who God is, he confessed his sins. He says, “We have sinned.” It wasn’t Nehemiah’s fault that Israel went into captivity. He wasn’t even born when it happened, and he was most likely born in captivity. Yet he’s including himself in the national sins. He says, “I’ve been a part of the problem.”
3. Claim the promises of God. Nehemiah prays to the Lord, saying, “I want you to remember what you told your servant Moses.” Can you imagine telling God to “remember”? Nehemiah reminds God of a promise he made to the nation of Israel. In effect, he prays, “God, you warned through Moses that if we were unfaithful, we would lose the land of Israel. But you also promised that if we repent, you’d give it back to us.” Does God have to be reminded? No. Does he forget what he’s promised? No. Then why do we do this? Because it helps us remember what God has promised.

PRAYER #22 - Character, Confession, Claims

Think about the character of God, the sins you know you should confess, the promises you can claim.  Perhaps spend time on each of these three aspects of Nehemiah’s prayer.  Then, when you are ready, offer it up to God.

DAY 20 - RE-IGNITION: PRAY HONESTLY

written by Jim Henry

Are you honest with God when you pray? Do you really talk to God when you pray? Hebrews 4:13 tells us why we should be honest when we pray:

"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account."

The Bible says that God already knows, and there's no use to try to cover up anything. That word "uncovered" is also translated "open." That Greek word in the text has two magnificent meanings.

First, it's used with two wrestlers, meaning a face-to-face confrontation. It was a man who grabbed his opponent by the throat. The other meaning is in connection with a man who went to court with a criminal charge against him, and they put a knife point right under his chin. When he stood before the judge, he could not bow his head and not look the judge in the eye, or his throat would be cut. He had to look at the judge.

What is that saying? That like a man under judgment, when we go to pray, God knows our hearts and we might as well come face to face with Him when we're praying.

Are you angry with God about something? Tell Him. He already knows it. Do you resent something that someone has done to you? Tell God. Is there a job you didn't get and you don't understand why? You're all torn up on the inside about it? Be honest with God. Tell Him you don't understand. He knows already what you're thinking.

PRAYER #20 - In All Honesty, Lord...

If you want to improve your prayer life, be honest with your feelings. If you're having a fear, tell God you're afraid. If there's a doubt, tell God about it. If you're anxious, tell God that. If you have a controversy with God, tell Him so. Use everyday language. It will make a difference.

DAY 19 - RE-IGNITION: PRAY THE WORD

written by Don Whitney

Praying the Bible isn’t complicated. Read through a few verses of Scripture, pause at the end of each phrase or verse, and pray about what the words suggest to you.

Suppose you are praying your way through Psalm 23. After reading verse one — “The Lord is my shepherd” — you might begin by thanking Jesus for being your Shepherd. Next you might ask him to shepherd your family, making your children or grandchildren his sheep, causing them to love him as their great Shepherd too. After that you might pray for your shepherds at the church, that Jesus would shepherd them as they shepherd you.

Then, when nothing else comes to mind, you go to the next line, “I shall not want.” You might thank him that you’ve never been in real want, or pray for someone — perhaps someone you know, or for a Christian in a place of persecution — who is in want.

You would continue through the psalm until you run out of time. You wouldn’t run out of anything to say (if you did, you could just go to another psalm), and best of all, that prayer would be unlike any you’ve ever prayed in your life.

That means if you’ll pray the Bible, you’ll never again say the same old things about the same old things. You don’t need any notes or books or any plan to remember. Simply talk to God about what comes to mind as you go line-by-line through his word.

If nothing comes to mind, go to the next verse. If you don’t understand that verse, go to the next one. If the following verse is crystal clear, but doesn’t prompt anything to pray about, read on. If you want to linger long over a single verse, pray from and about that verse as long as you want.

PRAYER #19 - Pray the Bible

By this method, your prayers will be guided and shaped by Scripture, and be far more in conformity to the word and will of God than they will if you always make up your own prayers.

Jesus prayed the Bible in Matthew 27:46 and Luke 23:46, and the early church prayed the Bible in Acts 4:23–26, and so can you.

Give it a shot, and let us know how it goes!