The Enemies of Prayer Prayer will not become

The Enemies of Prayer • Prayer will not become a part of your life automatically. • You have to push past your flesh and engage your will. • Your flesh never wants to pray. • The way Satan fights you here is to whisper in your ear words of condemnation and guilt when you slip and leave out prayer for one or two days.

Effectual Prayer • Set aside a time where it is just you and God. • No distractions. • Some of the most important principles of prayer are to • first, enter in with your mind free of distractions. • Secondly, Jesus said this in reference to prayer, • Finally, Jesus went on to say,

Effectual Prayer • Going back to our study of relationships, think about what is required at every level: • Communication. • Yet when it comes to prayer, communication is only the beginning. • 1 Thessalonians 5: 17

Praise • Psalm 100: 4 • This means that when we enter into the presence of God, we do not come with our needs, but we come first with praise, we come exalting Him. • If you allow yourself, you can get lost in the wonder of Him and in what He is to you.

Praise • When we go into that prayer time, • shutting out distractions, we begin with praise because it causes us to focus completely on God instead of our current circumstances or on ourselves. • That is the purpose of praise:

Confess and Conform • Psalm 51: 10 • This is the act of asking God to empty you of anything that is not like Him. • Once you empty yourself out, • Matthew 6: 10 • This means that you are praying for God's kingdom, or His power and dominion, to come into your life.

Ask • James 4: 2 • After you have taken care of your heart and have made sure it is right with God, you now can ask Him for specific things. • Give me the Word that I need to sustain me today

Ask • Matthew 6: 13 • When you invite Him to do His will in the situation

Forgive • Matthew 6: 15 • It will always ruin your life and cut you off from God's forgiveness. • Jesus tells a parable in Matthew chapter 18 • God does not want you to release the one who wronged you just so that you will not suffer; He wants you to release them from the debt that they owe you for their acts toward you

Forgive • How can we, realizing our own need forgiveness, deny that forgiveness to others? Sometimes, this part of prayer is underestimated in its importance. • You must decide if you are willing to allow that person's deeds to imprison you or will you release them to God, freeing yourself.

Intercession/Praying in the Spirit • In keeping with the same instructions in Matthew chapter six, we enter into a place of intercession and petition for others. • Romans 8: 26 • 1 Corinthians 14: 14 -15 • When you pray in tongues, you are praying for things that you cannot see, but God does. • You never know the things you are taking care of when you pray in tongues.

Intercession/Praying in the Spirit • Despite what some believe, praying in the Spirit is something you can do at any moment during prayer. • That means you can speak in tongues whenever you feel the need to do so in prayer, just like the apostle Paul. • There is an exception to the concept of being able to pray in the Spirit at any moment in prayer. • The oil of the Holy Ghost is the only power in our fight against our flesh, sin, and the enemy.

Intercession/Praying in the Spirit • Because we are human, we will never fully understand all things in the spiritual realm. • You are fighting back in that spiritual battle with the most powerful spiritual weapon you have (along with the word of God) - the Holy Ghost power within you.

Worship • We start with praise; we end in worship. • We can only truly worship Him if we know who He is. • Matthew 6: 13 • If you want a life of intimacy with God, a consistent prayer life is a necessity. • Is it easy? • No. • We can have more talent and ability than anyone else but still be lost, ineffective and spiritually dead.