An Interesting Truth About Prayer
It’s always interesting to share about prayer; so many great men and women of God have offered great insights from God’s Word concerning prayer and its purpose. I’ve heard numerous explanations of what prayer is, such as: communication with God, the way we bring Heaven to Earth, the Master’s key, a way of accessing God’s heart, and many other things that are completely accurate! I’d rather not repeat or list the vast definitions of prayer or even try to give some new deep sounding definition of prayer; but, know that, no matter how many definitions of prayer you have, the most important thing we MUST know about prayer, is that it’s SIMPLE!
Once we understand the simplicity of prayer, we can make the shift to making prayer our lifestyle. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that prayer is a complicated thing, or that it’s so deep that you spend more time figuring out what to pray than you do actually praying. Here’s truth number one about prayer: it’s simple and the Word of God clearly defines what prayer is—once you understand even the littlest truth about prayer, you can accomplish so much with prayer; the key is to be certain about what you know about prayer—for example, here’s a Biblical truth regarding prayer:
"And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." -Isaiah 65:24 (KJV)
To sum this verse: God knows our needs before we ask, in fact, He often wants to answer them more than we want to pray them. As previously stated, prayer is simple, so don’t get caught up in feeling like it’s burdensome—just pray! If you are reading this, and you don’t believe in Jesus, know that, eventually, there’ll come a time when you’ll face situations that are outside of your control; at that moment, when you’re ready to lay hold of a power and provision that is able to reconcile the issues in your life, that are without your reach, you can start by calling upon the name of Jesus Christ, who is also God, asking Him for forgiveness of your sins and to fill you with His Spirit. Then will you be fully ready to engage the area of prayer.
Now before I share this interesting truth that I’ve learned about prayer, I want to address a few things: One, prayer can be thought of various ways—I personally think of prayer in a number of ways. There are also various types of prayers, such as prophetic prayer, declarative prayer, intercession, spiritual warfare prayers, etc. Additionally, many people have come to me in the past with an odd concern regarding their prayer life: they usually tell me they have a problem praying or feel awkward in their personal prayer time because they always pray about the same things or don’t know what to pray about. If you’re in that position, the good news is that this interesting truth about prayer will help you with that.
All right, here’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for; here’s how the Lord Jesus has begun to expand my understanding of what prayer is! (Drum Roll please! :P) It’s true that prayer is a way of encountering God, a way of communication, and a way of accessing God’s presence and provision, but of recent I’ve started to understand that PRAYER IS A PLACE. This revelation has been especially beneficial for my personal prayer life. Prayer is a place. It’s the place that you run to when you want to meet with God. When you want Almighty God, who created the Universe and everything in it, to take a moment and pay attention to you, you must run to prayer.
Prayer is a place of mutual agreement, where the believer meets with God and God with the believer. Amos 3:3 says “can two walk together except they be agreed?” When we journey to our place of prayer to meet with God, the implication is that we have humbled ourselves and are ready to agree with God and with what He already wants to do in our lives and in the life of those around us. Going into prayer, makes the statement, “I CHOOSE to no longer be prideful, believing that I have enough power and control to take care of my own life.” (Anyways that was a bit of a side note☺.)
Prayer is a place. I think of Jacob in Genesis 28, where Jacob encountered God in a dream. After his encounter with God, he set a stone as a memorial and named the place Bethel—House of God. Now, let me go off on a tangent for a brief moment to tie this in so it makes sense for our lives. According to 1 John 5:14, when we pray according to God’s will, He hears us and if we know He hears us, then we can be certain that we have whatever we ask for. What this means is we must pray in the will of God. Jesus also says in John 16:23-24, that, when we ask God the Father for anything IN THE NAME OF JESUS, meaning, according to Jesus’ character and nature, we will receive whatever we ask for.
So, how can you know the will of God, to pray it? The answer is: through the Word of God. We have to pray the Word of God, because God’s Word is also His will. Simply, the Will of God is what brings God pleasure, His desires, and His wants; these are all made known by and through His Word. Sounds simple enough, right? Even we as humans, convey our wants and our desires through words. The importance of talking about this is because 1 John 5:14 says, when we ask according to His will, we will automatically get what we have asked; His will is found in His Word, which we must pray to Him in our place of prayer.
What does this all mean? It means God has spoken/will speak His Word to you, that you may know His will, in order for you to pray it, so that He can do what you’ve asked Him—what He wills. Remember, when we pray according to His will, He will automatically answer (1 John 5:14). Now, personally, I pray over the same things in my personal prayer time; one of the reasons I pray the same things over and over again is because God’s Word and Will do not change. Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever more. God’s Word and His will do not change.
Oluwatobi Oke is a young entrepreneur from the University of Maryland College Park who is the CEO of Good Lord Clothing. He's the Vice President of Bethel Campus Fellowship and attends Hope Christian Church In Beltsville Md. He shares the Gospel through rap music and considers himself a worshipper rather than a rapper. Not to mention he plays the Congo's.
