There are times when we are in denial about the truth of a situation, or we could just be mistaken about the facts or in how we are interpreting things. We don’t necessarily need to be praying “the facts;” we need to be praying the truth. The facts might be that the doctor said you will die in six months, but the truth is “by His stripes we are healed” (Is. 53:5). God doesn’t need us to tell Him the facts; He knows them better than we do. But He does need us to agree with His promises so that we can receive the provision He desires to provide. After all, the Bible says, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).
There are times when we are in denial about the truth of a situation, or we could just be mistaken about the facts or in how we are interpreting things. We don’t necessarily need to be praying “the facts;” we need to be praying the truth. The facts might be that the doctor said you will die in six months, but the truth is “by His stripes we are healed” (Is. 53:5). God doesn’t need us to tell Him the facts; He knows them better than we do. But He does need us to agree with His promises so that we can receive the provision He desires to provide. After all, the Bible says, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).
Life throws us curveballs, and though we have different backgrounds and personal histories, we all have emotions, dreams and passions. When we’re emotionally involved in a struggle, we tend to pray less rather than pray more. If we are to have overcoming prayer lives, we need to turn those emotions and passions into prayer rather than let them become a hindrance to it. We are told: “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit” (James 5:17-18).
Praying in Jesus’ name is not just a closing we’re supposed to use before we say, “Amen.” Praying in the name of Jesus is coming to the throne of God just as an ambassador would come to the throne of a foreign king “in the name of” his own king. Using the name of Jesus is another “in Christ” privilege and signet of our authority as a representative of Jesus.
John 14:13-14 says: “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
Prayer is a journey that is unique for everyone. Just as each of us has a different calling or job to do for God, each of us will travel a slightly different road in understanding what prayer really is. God will speak to each of us in different ways, and the way God speaks to one person can be markedly different from the way He speaks to another.
God isn’t interested in getting us to learn rules and requirements and living life merely by following the dictates of a rule book, but He wants us to come to Him that we might know Him for ourselves. He wants a unique relationship with each of us just as He created each of us as unique individuals.
He wants to partner with us in our journey and live it out with us day by day. It’s why He created humans, and it is His great joy when we come to Him without doubt or compromise to wholeheartedly get to know Him and let ourselves be fully known by Him. God is all about relationship, and the key to it is masterful prayer.
Cindy Trimm is the founder of Trimm International ministries. She is also a former Bermuda senator and a best-selling author. Her latest book is When Kingdoms Clash, from which this article was excerpted.
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