If Prayer Had Power...
IF prayer had POWER...
IF it truly changes outcomes,
IF it increases the probability of a result,
We wouldn't use it sparingly,
We would use it everywhere.
If prayer had POWER...
We would start out team meetings with prayer,
We would pray with our clients,
We would pray over contracts and proposals,
We would pray over our timeblocks,
We would pray over the unknown,
We would pray over the hurting,
We would invite others to join hands in prayer at a drop of a hat...
wouldn't we?
That is... IF prayer had POWER,
IF it REALLY made a difference,
It wouldn't be such a scarce experience throughout the day, would it?
But wait...
Isn't prayer is for the quiet, inactive, shy people?
Prayer is not really for the action takers,
Prayer is not for the doers,
Prayer is not for the go-getters, right?
Prayer is is definitely not for a busy, self-motivated, entrepreneur, right?
Because busy people can't be still for that long... right?
Well...
It turns out that prayer does have POWER,
And PRAYER was cherished by the most powerful of Jesus followers.
Prayer is a BIG DEAL.
Prayer is BOOM, BOOM, BOOM type of POWER!
"The prayer of a righteous person has great POWER as it is working."
Here, the word POWER also means...
"Power as shown by extraordinary deeds",
"to be a force, avail",
"to exert, wield power, to have strength to overcome".
This sounds like GET 'ER DONE type of POWER, doesn't it?
This sounds like PRAYER makes a difference, doesn't it?
Not just a small difference,
But a BIG difference.
Like GAME CHANGER difference, right?!
Oohh...
And what else is interesting is that when the 12 apostles got super busy and were spending more time handing out food than preaching God's word, they were like WHOOOAAA.... and shifted, delegated and refocused their attention to the key important things and said,
"we will devote ourselves to PRAYER and to the ministry of the word"
Wait!
They specified both PRAYER and ministry of the word.
Meaning, they were saying that PRAYING was just as important as ministering the word.
Whhaatt?!?!
You mean PRAYER is not just an optional add-on?
It's not just a "super size" for when you're extra hungry?
And they way they were talking about it...
The word "devoting" sounds like a serious commitment!
So what DOES that look like?
WHY does it deserve so much attention?
"The PRAYER of a righteous person has great POWER as it is working."
This only make sense if PRAYER actually has POWER.
Not just little POWER,
But BIG POWER.
And if prayer has that much POWER
So what should we do with it in our business?
What should we so with it in our life?
In another scenario, the disciples couldn't get the job done (dealing with evil spirits) and Jesus said,
"This kind can come out by nothing but PRAYER and fasting."
Whoa!
There are things that ONLY PRAYER and fasting can do?
This means...
No massive action, striving and do-ing?
What do you do when you DON'T strive and do?
Isn't that... doing nothing?
Most of us are so addicted to striving and doing,
That when we're not doing that, we feel lost.
We feel unproductive,
Like a loser.
And that does NOT agree with God's word at all.
That's a lie of the enemy, so BEWARE!
So what would it look like if we followed Jesus for real?
What would it look like to re-calibrate our schedule to align with these words?
"prayer...has great POWER"
"devote ourselves to PRAYER"
"by nothing but prayer and fasting"
If we wanted a Kingdom moving business.
If we wanted a Kingdom centered operation.
If we wanted a Kingdom FIRST life...
How much time should we spend praying daily?
5 mins?
10 mins?
30 mins?
1 hr?
2 hrs?
I don't have the answer.
It's different for each person.
But the only thing I know is many of us do not PRAY enough.
We don't take it seriously enough.
We don't treat it like the spiritual weapon it is.
Like a spiritual nuclear ballistic laser guided missile.
So we must seek God on how He wants to level us up in PRAYER.
Let's take a look at Jesus...
What did Jesus do in His ministry?
He was always disappearing.
Going alone to a quiet place,
To chat with His Father,
To seek His will,
And His advice.
There was power in PRAYER time tjat Jesus spent alone with the Father.
If we're not doing this enough...
What are we missing out on?
What POWER are we lacking?
What RESULTS are we not seeing?
What are we STUCK in because we don't consider PRAYER powerful or important?
I believe PRAYER-LESS-NESS is crippling God's Kingdom.
I believe PRAYER-LESS-NESS is keeping us blind.
I believe PRAYER-LESS-NESS is feeding pride and selfishness.
I believe PRAYER-LESS-NESS is hardening our hearts.
I believe PRAYER-LESS-NESS is causing deafness in the spirit.
I believe PRAYER-LESS-NESS is killing the movement Jesus started.
I invite you to dig deep and seek God for how he wants to lead you in PRAYER.
All I know is many followers of Jesus need to step up their game in PRAYER.
We say we're following Jesus,
But if we look at the way Jesus prayed,
And look at the way we pray,
Are we truly following Jesus?
We have such a POWERFUL resource and weapon called PRAYER.
We're just not using it.
YOU can change that.
Your PRAYERS can change the tide,
Your PRAYERS can change countries and nations,
Your PRAYERS can kick evil in the butt and send it running with it's tail in between it's legs...
Your PRAYERS can do anything, in Jesus name!
"Dear Heavenly Father,
Teach me how to PRAY,
Not the way I want,
But the way YOU want.
Show me how to PRAY YOUR heart,
Show me how to open heaven's doors with PRAYER,
Show me how to release angel armies with PRAYER,
Show me how to bring a piece of heaven on earth.
Teach me how to get LOST in PRAYER with You,
Teach me how to love it so much it is not a chore, but a delight,
Teach me how to PRAY and love it like Jesus,
Teach me how to change the world with PRAYER.
Thank you Father.
In Jesus name, Amen."
Cheers to a new PRAYER-life!
One that is exciting, POWERFUL and joyful!
Wohooo!!! ^_^
