PRAYING GOD’S HEART (1)

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” – John 15:7                             

A vital key to fruitfulness and answered prayers is PRAYING GOD’S HEART: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (Jh.15:7). The ability to pray God’s Heart is enhanced when one is a person after God’s Heart who has learnt to pray according to His Will: “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1Jh.5:14-15). Such a person lives in sync with God. What's important to God is important to him! To pray God’s Heart is to pray Scripture back to God!

For many believers, the challenge is to not know what to pray for or to feel monotonous in prayer. But God’s Word is ever new, and if it abides in us and we pray according to His Will, answers will flow unimpeded! When we intimately connect with God through prayer by using His own words in the Bible, we’re aligning ourselves with His Heart. Rather than for words to fail us, we simply allow God’s words to be our prayers. There’s no better way to give our prayer life meaning, vitality, and zest!

Atmosphere and Attitude of Praying: First, we need to find or create a quiet place to connect with God without distraction, and focus on letting His Word direct our prayers. There is no formula for this, but the Lord Himself, His prophets and apostles gave us models to follow, namely:

The Lord’s Prayer (Mt.6:9-13). By God’s Grace, this shall be the crux of tomorrow’s Capstone Capsule.

Praying Scriptures: We can begin by praying scriptures that prepare our heart to connect intimately with God. For examples:

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb.4:16). Prayer: Gracious God, I come boldly to Your throne. Let me obtain Mercy and find Grace to help in times of need, in Jesus name.

“Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law” (Psa.119:18). Prayer: “Lord, I need You. Please open my eyes to discover the Wonders in Your Word; to see the wonderful truths and profitable instructions in scriptures, in Jesus name.”

The Book of Psalms: This has some great prayers the verses of which can be used to inspire and shape our own prayers. We can do this by praying the verse back to God and inserting individual or group names to make the prayer more personal.

Paul’s Epistles: These inspired letters also have some great encouragements and prayers that literally flow from God’s Heart. Examples are: Colossians 1:9-13); Ephesians 1:15-19; and 3:14-19. We shall visit these in greater detail in an a couple of days.

Praying Imageries from Scripture: We can pray that a profound scriptural imagery becomes a reality on earth or pray specifically for ourselves, a person or group that’s on our heart, to experience such fulfilment. For example, we can pray to be a part of the gathering in Revelation 7:9-10 where all nations, peoples and tongues gathered around the throne, worshipping God.

Personalising or Particularising Scriptures: We can turn a verse into a first- or third-person prayer. For example: I can pray based on 2 Timothy 1:9, “Lord, You have saved the Ilesanmi family, and called us to live a holy life. You did this, not because we deserved it, but because it was your plan from before the beginning of time – to show this family your grace through Jesus Christ!

Ask the Help of the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit knows the depth of God’s Heart and our hearts. He prays on our behalf when we don’t know what to say or how (Rom.8:26-27). As we faithfully commit to pray, God is faithful to answer our prayers according to His Perfect Will.