How to Pray Powerful Prayers: be a powerful prayer warrior, a victorious intercessor, and hear God talk to you

By T-Blessings Olanike

Do you want a deeper relationship with God but find it hard to concentrate when praying?

Do you feel helpless to resist the devil's attack or unable to look with eyes of faith beyond your current problems?

Do you ask God for things but wonder why he says 'no'?

Do you struggle to hear God talk to you?

 

This book will encourage you to dig deeper for a closer relationship with God and it will take your faith to a new level. You will recognise various ways God talks to you. You will know how to pray all kinds of prayer to overcome difficult situations and see answers to your prayers.

 

Using scriptural examples, T-Blessings takes the reader on a journey of discovery about prayer. She explains the importance of prayer, worship and thanksgiving, how to hear God and how to talk to him. And she explores how to use our spiritual authority, how to see with eyes of faith and how to cultivate an effective prayer life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Intrapray Services
• Release date: Apr 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201476205

T-Blessings Olanike

T-Blessings is an author and a passionate intercessor who uses her positions to declare the lordship and peace of Jesus Christ in difficult situations. With over 40 years’ experience of walking with God, she now uses her gift and biblical insights to encourage, teach and inspire other believers to dig deeper in their relationship with God through powerful prayer. She enjoys partnering with like-minded prayer warriors to pray and study the Bible regardless of their denominational affiliation. In doing so, she bonds with other children of God to fellowship with God. She writes books to develop new Christians and mature Christians to become powerful prayer warriors and God’s intercessors.

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DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the praise and glory of God the Father, Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit

Copyright © 2022 T-Blessings Olanike

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission of the Publisher.

T-Blessings Olanike has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as author of this work.

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise stated, are taken from the World English Bible (WEB).

Scripture quotations marked as KJV are taken from the King James Bible.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Publisher: Intrapray Publications

Front cover photographer: Getty Images and Jopstock

Front cover Designer: Helen Jones

CHAPTER 1: Want and Need

God has always encouraged us to communicate with him. But now, through Jesus’ death and resurrection it is much easier for us to freely approach the throne of God and converse with him. Paul encouraged us to talk to God In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6). There are ways we can talk to God.

Asking is a simple act we do every day. If a child is not always asking parents for something, parents are asking the child to do something. Even those who do not have children are asking their partners for something. For those who do not fall into the above category there is the boss asking their staff for help, staff asking their boss for decisions, school mates asking friends for help and teachers asking students to provide answers and explanations. The list can go on and on.

It does not matter how we ask God, whether we are kneeling, lying down, sitting down, standing, walking, or pacing around. What is important is that we are relaxed and in a position that helps our full concentration and focus. Talking to God is a personal thing even when we are praying in a church and within a group. God relates to us as an individual while recognising the unity of the group. We may find that God wants us to sit down and learn from him while others are standing and singing. We must avoid judging others who are pacing around or sitting while other members of the church are standing in prayer. The Bible asks Who are you who judge another’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. Yes, he will be made to stand, for God has power to make him stand (Romans 14:4).

We can talk to God any time of the day or night when it is convenient for us and when it appears inconvenient. We can make our request early in the morning, in the bath, at breakfast, on our way to work, in our car, in our classroom, or while walking to the shops. We can praise him anytime. Sometimes we may find we have to take positive steps to spend time with God. The devil does not want us to pray, and he might bring distractions our way. It is at this time we must decide whether we are going to pray regardless of how we are feeling and whatever our situation is. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in the Spirit and truth (John 4:24). He is always near us and in us as a Christian. He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

If we are a night person, then it is important to plan our day well. Some Christians prefer praying when their environment is quiet and there is no distraction. The children are in bed, the spouse is asleep. The parents are snoring. It is the perfect time for us to sneak out into the living room, bathroom, or switch off the lights in our bedroom for a heart-to-heart chat with God. Praying in the night means that sometimes we may have to go to sleep earlier to wake up in the middle of the night to pray. On the other hand, we may want to spend a lot of time praying before going to bed. The bottom line is for us to find a time and place that are convenient for us.

God is not bothered whether we pray aloud, quietly, or within ourselves. He hears our thoughts so our requests expressed through our mind will still be heard. Some people are of the opinion that praying aloud helps concentration, and that we can be easily distracted while praying quietly. Some Christians believe that not opening our mouth to pray is not praying at all but that we are just thinking. God sees all things and as long as our thoughts are turned to him, he will hear us.

Another thing with making requests to God is timing. Timing is everything. God is a master of time. For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Some people like planning for the future. They want to buy a big house for a family of four, yet they have not even started planning for the first child. All they have done is to make preparation to move in together and start looking to buy a house. We may want to think about what we are asking for and how realistic we will get it in our current situation.

People are different in the way they ask for things or help. Someone wants us to help carry the bags of shopping into the house but may not ask us directly. They talk about how many bags they have in the boot of their car and how they spent several hours in the shopping mall. If we are the kind of person who does not know how to read between the lines, we would not understand and respond to the request as expected. We should try to avoid beating around the bush when asking God for something, although God may understand what we are trying to say and may respond if we are spiritually young. As a mature Christian, God as our Father would expect us to know how to make our specific requests known. Many parents would be surprised if their adult children were not able to express clearly and specifically what they are asking from them.

Have we ever asked ourselves why we really want something, and whether it is something we can do without in our current situation? The Bible states You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures (James 4:3). It is good practice to be honest with ourselves when asking God for something we need or want. Before asking him anything we must completely trust that he will respond, and we are prepared to accept his answer to our request.

We must be willing to play our part in receiving the answer. For example, we will not get a job unless we apply for one and accept a job offer. Even if we are head hunted, we must still turn up for the interview and accept the job offer. If God wants us to start as an apprentice or intern before going on to a permanent post we are asking for, are we ready to accept his sovereignty? Once we figure out what we want, what we need, and how we are going to ask God, then we hold on to God’s promise. Jesus said Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full (John 16: 24). We do not need to ask God alone. We can decide to pray with someone else and agree on what to pray for. The prayer of agreement is a prayer we make with one or more individuals. We must be in total agreement as to what we want to ask. It is best if we pray with not more than two other people when seeking agreement on something. The larger the group the more varied the opinion will be.

A prayer of agreement is different from a prayer group. In a prayer group, several people can pray together. Someone may lead on the prayer requests and others express their agreement, usually with the word Amen. With a prayer of agreement, both of us pray as one person. Our thoughts must be aligned, and we agree on a specific answer to the request. Jesus gave us the basis of the prayer of agreement in the book of Matthew. Jesus said Again, assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 18:19).

Both parties should discuss what they want and specify exactly how they want it before praying. For example, they need money to start a business and have half a million in mind for the project. First, they discuss with the person they want to pray with and make sure the person agrees that the same amount is needed for the project. The parties must be convinced there is a need to start the business with that amount. God will know if their requests are made half-heartedly or whether they have a lingering doubt that they will receive what they are asking for. There is no point in asking God for half a million when one party believes a quarter of a million should be enough.

Spiritual Life

We may have a daily list of requests to tick off one by one as we present them in prayer before God. Our requests may include asking for our physical needs, for our family, friends, country, and for our circumstances. There is another request that should always make our list if it is not already on it – that is our spiritual life. We might have already thanked Jesus for dying for us and granting us the grace of salvation, but there is more to a spiritual life than being a baby in Christ Jesus. We want to grow up spiritually. We may be a mature Christian, but we are still striving for perfection. There should be a hunger in us to know more about Jesus. We should let God know we want to learn how to walk with God and how to work for him. What better place to reveal our desire to do God’s will than through prayer. We should be concerned about ourselves if we think we know everything we need to know about God, and no longer need to develop our spiritual life in Christ Jesus.

We can talk to God about our commitment, our dedication, and our faithfulness. In the process, we ask for his grace and help to achieve what we desire to do for him. There are several verses in the Bible that can help us do exactly that. For example, we can pray the following prayer for ourselves:

that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:16-19).

Other prayers can be found in Colossians 1 verses 9 to 12 and 1 Thessalonians 5 verses 23 and 24.

Sometimes we may hear a preacher asking their congregation to repeat words after them. It is not about head knowledge otherwise we will just be brain washing or indoctrinating ourselves. It is about how convinced we feel in our heart that we need to confess those verses to ourselves because our spiritual life is at a particular stage. We should take our time to meditate on the words we are confessing and what biblical revelation God is giving us as an individual and not as a church, regarding those verses. God is not deceived. He looks at the heart and not the lips.

CHAPTER 2: Entreat

"Ask, and it will be