“Be careful NOT TO PERFORM YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS before men TO BE SEEN by them. If you do, you will HAVE NO REWARD from your Father in heaven….” Matthew 6: 1 BSB (Emphasis mine)
In summary, we have established that there are four basic protocols to observe when praying. These protocols are the motive, the location, the mode of conduct and the content. In order to pray for effective results, we must be able to observe the afore named protocols whether the prayers are personal or corporate.
This morning we are going to discover the proper arrangement of the content of the prayer. Before we proceed, it is appropriate to understand that; prayer is a dialogue and not a monologue. Prayer is a two-way communication and not a one-way communication. Most often when we enter into prayer, we make the prayer to look like a monologue. The moment we present our petition, we leave without listening to what God has to say about the issue.
We assume that, once we have spoken, it is automatic He will respond or rule in our favour.
Usually there are three preliminary answers that comes after the presentation of our petition to God. These are ‘yes’, ‘no’ or wait. But in order to ascertain which of the answers were given, we need to linger in his presence to get clearance in his presence. Practically when we send a text message or an e-mail, we wait for a sent confirmation before we close the message box or sign out. We often, leave God’s presence immediately we say amen, without lingering to get a confirmation or sent notification.
The sent or confirmation comes by way of getting some kind of inner peace even though we have not seen the result manifested. Whenever we feel uneasy after prayer, it means the petition is not sent or in a pending mode. Therefore, we need to check whether we observed all the necessary protocols were duly observed, if not, some rectification is needed. Also, the fact that we get that inner peace does not necessarily mean the prayer is answered. It only assures us of a sent message.
The reason why most of us get disappointed after prayer is that; we assume the sent confirmation as an answer to the prayer. Therefore, when things don’t go the way we anticipated, we get disappointed and discouraged. Since prayer is a petition, it is very important we liken it to our judicial system in order for us to understand how things work in the supernatural. The fact that you file a petition in court does not force the court to rule in your favour.
Every court has its jurisdiction of handling petitions. Certain petitions are for Magistrate, some for High Court and then others for the Supreme Court. For instance, if the content of our petition requires the attention of Magistrate court and we send them to the Supreme court, they will dismiss the petitions because that court is there for weightier matters. In effect, there is a certain prayer that come with instant results and others also delay because of the gravity of the content. For some petitions, they are required to be coupled with fasting.
With all these in mind, the stage is set for us to know how to understand how to organize proper content of our prayer. We would go into details with the content, organization and arrangement which is known as the format of prayer in our next edition, hopefully tomorrow.
PRAY WITH ME
Lord Jesus, I thank you this day for my life. Lord Jesus please let the Holy Spirit, who is my teacher to please guide me and help me to understand and discover how to effectively pray. This I pray in the precious name of Jesus! Amen!
Author: REV. SOLOMON LUTTERODT