Great prayer warriors pray boldly.
But do you have to be superhuman to pray with confidence?
No, says Derek Prince. You just have to follow the guidelines for prayer in the Bible.
In Hebrews 4:16, we are told: "Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most."
This applies to everyone - to you and me, just as much as to great Christians that we admire. It's a guarantee that God will deal with our deepest needs when we need his mercy and help.
I must say that I am more tentative in my prayers than I should be.
In his book Secrets of Prayer, Prince says that we can be confident our prayers will be answered so long as we are praying for what God wants and are in right relationship with the Lord.
The author, whose life was bathed in prayer, declares boldly: "For my part, I love to pray - and what is more, I get what I pray for."
That's a strong claim. But Prince makes a thorough case, based on the Bible and his long experience in prayer. His careful approach reflects his academic training at Cambridge University before the Second World War. He died in 2003 at the age of 88.
The bedrock of prayer must be willingness to do what God wants us to do - no matter what, he says.
Here is a rough digest of Prince's thoughts on answered prayer:
But do you have to be superhuman to pray with confidence?
No, says Derek Prince. You just have to follow the guidelines for prayer in the Bible.
In Hebrews 4:16, we are told: "Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most."
This applies to everyone - to you and me, just as much as to great Christians that we admire. It's a guarantee that God will deal with our deepest needs when we need his mercy and help.
I must say that I am more tentative in my prayers than I should be.
In his book Secrets of Prayer, Prince says that we can be confident our prayers will be answered so long as we are praying for what God wants and are in right relationship with the Lord.
The author, whose life was bathed in prayer, declares boldly: "For my part, I love to pray - and what is more, I get what I pray for."
That's a strong claim. But Prince makes a thorough case, based on the Bible and his long experience in prayer. His careful approach reflects his academic training at Cambridge University before the Second World War. He died in 2003 at the age of 88.
The bedrock of prayer must be willingness to do what God wants us to do - no matter what, he says.
Here is a rough digest of Prince's thoughts on answered prayer:
- We must seek his will - not our will - through reading the scriptures, noting especially God's promises to believers. Praying scripture is very effective;
- We must seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in prayer;
- We must pray with the right motives;
- We must pray with faith. Faith is trusting what the Bible tells us about the character and reliability of God;
- We must forgive those who hurt us;
- We must pray in the name of Jesus. We come before God based on what Jesus has done for us on the cross; who he is as the Son of God; and the relationship we have with Christ; and
- We must pray with confidence, looking to God and not the problems we face. And we must confess whatever sins we have and then accept that God has forgiven us and move forward.
"You will never pray a higher or more effective prayer than when, guided by the Holy Spirit, you go to the Word, find the promise that relates to you and your situation and say, 'Lord, you said it; You do it it,'" the author says. "If you do this, having met the previous conditions for prayer, you will discover the secret of effective praying."
Bold and encouraging words.
No comments:
Post a Comment