Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His fight. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. with regard to the full armor of God. Ephesians 6:10-20
Yesterday, I wrote my first post about Ephesians 6:10. I explained that we have access to the strength of the Lord by boldly declaring war on the enemy through prayer. In response to that post, someone emailed me and asked for more specifics on how I pray for my marriage. I decided after writing her back that this would be a good way to begin writing about what God has taught me with regard to prayer. Everything I have learned about prayer started by my desire to see God heal my marriage. I did not have a particularly bad marriage; just a typical one. I don't plan to focus on marriage in these posts, but rather on the principles that God has taught me regarding prayer by teaching me how to pray for my marriage.
I didn't really realize it until I started typing the email response, but I have learned the following principles with regard to powerful prayer:
1. HonestyPrinciple #1: Honesty Before God
2. A humble heart.
3. Declaring the character and goodness of God before His throne.
4. Seeking not your own rights, but rather God's right to rebuke, reprove, and teach you in order that you might become more like His Son, Jesus Christ.
5. Time spent studying the way Jesus and others in the Bible prayed.
6. Declaring and pleading to God His own promises and His own will through prayer.
7. Confidence that if what you are seeking is God's will, then you can boldly claim it and have confidence in its answer. You must not doubt in your prayers.
8. Claim the authority you have over the enemy as a child of God in Jesus name and do it often. Do not be meek when wielding the sword against the enemy.
9. Willingness to wait upon your answer and not act until you are confident that God has revealed His will.
10. Praise, praise, praise!
Let me speak especially to you who desire to find peace with God and salvation through the precious blood: you will do well to make your confession before God very frank, very sincere, very explicit. Surely you have nothing to hide, for there is nothing that you can hide. He knows your guilt already, but He would have you know it; therefore, He tells you to confess it. Go into the details of your sin in your secret acknowledgments before God. -Charles H. Spurgeon in Prayer and Spiritual Warfare.
I have previously shared in my testimony that honesty is required for answered prayers. One of the most awesome things about God is that no matter where you are in your maturity with Him, He always hears and answers honest prayers. I am not talking about being arrogant or insolent in your prayers because we know that He will not hear that, but even the sinner's prayer will be heard if it is an honest cry for help. If it were not so, then we would all still be lost souls. When we are completely honest before God about our weakness, our failures, our needs, even our sinful attitudes, we open up the channel for Him to respond in love at our deepest level of need. He will not harshly rebuke the honest heart, but rather will gently lead you into all truth.
I have sinned and done wrong since the day I was born. But you want complete honesty, so teach me true wisdom. Wash me with hyssop until I am clean and whiter than snow. Psalm 51:5-7
Lord, you are searching for honesty. You struck your people, but they paid no attention. You crushed them, but they refused to be corrected. They are determined, with faces set like stone; they have refused to repent. Jeremiah 5:3
I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer. Psalm 66:17-19
So as simple as it seems, we must be sure that we are not trying to hide anything from God when we approach Him in prayer. Obviously, we cannot hide anything from Him, but often in our attempt to not admit our failures or our feelings; we do try to keep the truth from God. Sometimes, when I know that my feelings are wrong, I have found the following approach in prayer to be best.
"Father, I know that these emotions I am having are wrong and are not from Your Spirit. I know that You would have me not to judge this person in this way. I am asking You to change my heart with regard to this matter because at this moment I am honestly not feeling love toward them. I am not understanding what You are doing in this circumstance, but I want to understand. Either way, I will submit and wait until You move and reveal Your glory."
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. James 1:5
I can honestly say that anytime I pray in that way, something supernatural happens and over time God begins to open my eyes to see the person or situation from His perspective and gives me supernatural love or wisdom regarding it. So, please, just be honest with God; there is no other way to see your prayers answered and your heart changed.
God bless you and come back next time to dive into principle #2: A Humble Heart
Amanda
1 Prayerful words:
Amen, bless you for sharing my friend. I love you.
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