Donovan February 26, 2019 1 Comment

Supercharge Prayer life by Setting Prayer Times

Prayer Tools: Prayer Course

Setting Prayer Times

More than anything, prayer is about discipline and dedication. It takes discipline and dedication or perhaps commitment to be able to continue to pray sufficiently throughout every day and every situation that we go through. We are all unique; some find it easy to pray in good times, others in tough times, and however the true art is to be able to be consistent in all.

The more I have understood about my relationship with God, the more I have also understood marriage and vice versa. You are the bride of Christ; that is a marriage. For any relationship to thrive communication is essential.

Prayer is our communication with God, therefore we cannot forgo it no matter what if we want to maintain and build on a strong relationship. Many people would like to pray more, or perhaps feel the urge or need to but cannot make the time. That is very sad.

When communication is limited we begin to feel far from God, our relationship withers within us. He is a very consistent groom, therefore he will always speak to us, however we do not always make time to listen, let alone to respond. That is why it is important to set prayer times.

One of the greatest prayer warriors in the bible is Daniel. For Daniel to be able to maintain such an admirable prayer life he had to make a commitment, to make sacrifices. Daniel would have rather lost his life than lost prayer. He understood that through prayer he was in fact speaking to the giver of that life.

Daniel 6:10-

¹⁰Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

The scripture above takes us to a time when King Darius had in fact put up an edict that forbade prayer. Not only did Daniel continue to pray, but he did it without any fear. Most importantly it shows us that Daniel prayed 3 times a day.

Understand that this was not a guy who had a lot of time on his hands, he had a lot of things to do in his daily life as a captive. When you set fixed prayer times you create a pattern that grows into a habit, which grows into a lifestyle.

There is no better lifestyle than that of prayer. It does not have to be 3 times, it can be more or perhaps less than that. Prayer like any communication is measured by its quality and not quantity.

How to go about setting prayer times

Unlike most of our spouses, God is that spouse that we are with through the entire day (awesome)!! You need to understand that it is essential to work together and remain on the same wavelength as we meander through each day.

At the start of the day is perhaps the most important time to have a set prayer time. This should ideally be done before the disturbance begin to come from other things. Praying before the start of the day sets you up for the day, it prepares you mentally. When you pray into your day, no matter what comes against you, you have comfort in knowing that you are walking with the Lord, and in the same wavelength.

The second prayer time should perhaps be in the middle of the day. At times you need that extra boost in your day when under a lot of pressure. Even on a very easy and casual day, prayer in the middle of the day should always done.

Matthew 14:23

After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone,

Luke 6:12

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

Jesus was also a very prayerful man. The scripture above show one of his prayer times. This is perhaps the most common one among most Christians. I know I grew up in a household that prayed right before bed, that was a set prayer time. No matter what the day threw at her, my grandmother would not go to bed without praying. It was part of her lifestyle.

What about outside of these times?

Again think of it as you would in a marriage or in a fiery relationship. I remember a few years ago as a teenager, I would meet a girl and pursue a relationship of some sort. As that set sail, it was characterised by constant exchanges of messages throughout the day and punctuated by calls here and there and finally one last call at the end of the day.

I found that in no time, we would agree that we felt as though we had known one another a long while. That is how relationships grow, by investing time into one another. We are taught to pray without ceasing; therefore we ought to pray as we go through our day.

How to start?

Think about your daily schedule, and identify times which are open on a daily basis. Once you have these times write them down and create a permanent date with God every day at those times. Life will interrupt you at times, however as this transform from an act into a habit and finally a lifestyle, it will become easy to do.

Build your day on prayer, that way you build on solid ground.
As hard as impractical as it may seem, build your schedule around prayer and not prayer around your schedule. No soldier ever goes into battle without an update with the leader.
God is not concerned about the length of your prayer, rather the quality. He looks at the heart.
The size of what you intend to build will determine the length of the prayer that you build it on.

I am married; do I do it with my spouse?

Once people are married, two become one. It is very important that you pray together. However your individual prayer time should never be substituted with your couple prayer time. You’ll have storms in your marriage; these will also after your prayer life, it may mean skipping them during moments after a disagreement.

You should have both couple and individual prayer times. At times it takes the wisdom of God’s bosom to mend the fences in a marriage after a spat. It is perhaps impractical to think that one can fit in all these fixed prayer times into a busy lifestyle, for those it may be worth making one of the 3 individual prayer times a couple’s prayer time.

1 Corinthians 7-8

7Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that.8But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I. 9But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.…

Paul advised that individuals who were yet to marry could consider not getting married, as he had done. The reason behind this is that many of us lose our passion for God once we are married. Our attention becomes divided.

Your ministry, and your relationship with God should not be a strain to your ministry to your wife and family, that is not God’s will. He does not want for our spouses to be in competition with him for your attention. If you are married, I say double your efforts. If you can love God, you can love your wife even more. To conclude, setting prayer times cultivates consistency in prayer. Make a date with God, and keep it.

Prayer: Father I thank you for prayer, I thank you for just being there to listen and to pay attention to me. I adore you. I ask that you would guide me as I begin this journey of setting my prayer times. May our time together be of great quality in the name of Jesus. May I grow in Christ, in wisdom and in stature. Amen

Here is the audio:

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Originally posted 2015-01-02 20:46:41.

Donovan February 26, 2019 1 Comment

Faith and Prayer

Prayer Tools: Prayer Course

Faith and Prayer

Hebrews 11 clearly teaches that without faith it is impossible to please God. This also applies to prayer. Prayer without faith is no different to a fool senselessly mumbling to himself.

To be able to pray effectively one has to have faith in the existence of an omnipotent, omnipresent God. Furthermore you also need to have faith in the ability of God to change your situation and in his love for you that will cause him to have this desire to better any and all situations that you are in.

God is a loving, selfless father, whose love is depicted clearly in Christ’s self-sacrifice on the cross in a bid to save all mankind. Regardless of your actions, past, present or future he loves you and will always do. This is not to say that you should act any way and any how you like.

My point on this is that, a father will always love his child, and will always have a child’s best interests at heart. More often than not this has not been the case with our earthly parents, which is why it becomes an alien concept for some individuals. Think of it this way, he has already paid the ultimate price (his life) by his own death! Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ, not even death can do this.

Now that you understand that God can and wants to be involved in all aspects of your life, your prayers should not hold anything back. There is nothing too big, or too small to ask of God. In the same way that a child will ask for his father to bring him some candy (a small request) and also ask the same father to protect him in dangerous situations (a bigger request).

Not only is the Heavenly Father able to deliver all requests, he can do more than that. He promises to go beyond all that you ask of him. To build up your faith you need to have an understanding of the word of God, and more so the character of the God that gave that word. He watches over each and every word to perform it. Not a single word that comes out of his mouth will return void, each word performs what it was sent to perform. He makes sure of this.

God is not a man that he would lie, if he said it, it will come to pass. He will personally see it through. Imagine making a request of an employee who then goes on to drag his feet on carrying out the task that you have asked, then you are given access to his employer, who then makes you a promise that he will “SEE TO IT PERSONALLY!” That would effectively give you more confidence in the results that are to come.

This is the same way you should feel when praying to God, and praying his word. He has already promised to personally see to it that your requests are performed.

Your confidence in God’s word makes your prayers bolder. When you understand who God is you understand the necessity and the power of prayer. You are asking the highest authority available to take control of your situation.

You are granting him access to exercise his influence/dominion over your domain. I often share on the faith of the centurion, who refused for Christ to travel to his home to heal his servant. He declared that the Lord only had to say the word and his servant would be healed.

Your prayers should not be limited by the testimonies of other individuals. God says “I will do a new thing…” Faith gives wings to your prayers! By faith the centurion understood that he was standing before the God who did not have to enter darkness, but sent his word forth “Let there be light”. The arrival of his word, brought light into that darkness.

Before the centurion, all miracles that Christ had performed had been in his physical presence. The fact that you have not heard of it or seen it happen should not place a limit on what God can do. If he can construct all that is from nothing. John 1:3 says “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything that made that was made” If he can create all that is seen, the spectacular mountains and oceans, how much more could he transform your situation?

If he can carry the whole world, how much weight can your burden add to his broad shoulders? From his experience in authority, the centurion understood what you should also understand today, he was in charge of 100 men, and when he said “go there” or “come here”, they did as he commanded, that is the way it is with Christ.

He is in charge of the whole universe, when he says “go”, everything will go, and when he says, “Come” everything will come. He has dominion over all, if we would grant him in our spheres. Prayer grants God dominion in our spheres!

As a believer you need to place yourself in situations and around people that build your faith. The bible says deep calls unto deep. I get physically ill when I am surrounded by negative people. Place yourself with kingdom builders, those who will push you to believe more in yourself and more so in God.

While ministering to many people I have been confronted with the sad truth that individuals do not necessarily doubt God, but they have so little self-esteem that they do not believe such a mighty God would even have their issues on his mind. The bible says not a single sparrow will fall out of the sky without the Father’s knowledge.

You are more important than a sparrow, you are his delight. He loves you so much such that even if you were the only one on this earth Christ would have still been sent to die for you. While we were sinners, he loves you despite your flaws.

He says come to me as you are, even though your sin may be red as crimson, I will make them as white as snow. Regardless of how the rest of the world may look down upon you, how you may feel hated or as if no one cares for you, the Lord does.

He knew you before he formed you. Think about it, he took time to form you! You are not a product of a template. You are unique; there is absolutely no one else like you in all the billions of other individuals in this world. He has a purpose solely for you.

Faith is what turns a prayer from “God can do it” to “It is done.” I learned from the book of Daniel, that even before you say a prayer, the moment you think of it, God has already sent your answer. It is done, even before you ask for it.

Take stock of your life today. The people you currently have around you and those whom you have had in the past, all account for your degree of faith or lack thereof. Shadreck had ridiculous faith because he spent time with Misheck, Abednego and Daniel. Having too many “doubting Thomases” around you will also have the opposite effect.

Some will argue, “Well I am the Daniel in these people’s lives”, to that I say more power to you. However every stream that keeps being drunk from and not also feeding off the oceans to be refilled will eventually go dry. To achieve great faith you need to feed of God and men and women that he places around us. Get a mentor in the faith.

Join a prayer group or bible study group; keep some like-minded individuals around you. Stick with those who are not just riding along with the “faith”. Be around those who are still crazy enough to take God at his word. God has given us a great team (The Prayer Relay team).

Often I find myself crammed with deadlines and great workloads, some of it insurmountable, until I speak to some of these wonderful people. They push me to push myself to greater heights for the Lord. Paul says when you have stood, stand again! Surround yourself with people who make you want to stand again even after you have stood.

Hebrew 11 teaches that “faith comes by HEARING and hearing OF THE WORD of God.” Blind Bathemaeus was in a marketplace. Therefore he was always surrounded by people who would discuss their wait for the Messiah. That way he was hearing of the word of God. He then heard about this new man, Jesus Christ who was from Nazareth, whom some thought was the Messiah, Bathemeus was hearing of the word of God.

I’m sure people would debate and refer to the scroll to validate their points, this was Bathemeus heard from the word of God. As a result, his faith came. It came so much such that even while he was blind he recognised the Messiah’s presence when Jesus passed by! As he called out to him, he may have not realised who he was actually speaking to. He may have never realised that he was in fact praying (conversing with God).

Faith when exercised in prayer, calls out unto things that are yet unseen. It brings forth the unseen realm into the physical realm. Faith is EVIDENCE of things that are not yet seen, so by faith blind Bathemaeus already saw, even before his eyes were opened.

Join people who you admire. Do not just admire them from a distance, get closer. Joseph of Arimathea admired Jesus; he saw something in him that he desired. He pursued him, even after his death. You ought to be around people who challenge you for greatness.

You need people who see the greatness in you even before you see it yourself. Jesus saw in Peter, a rock that he would build his church on. By faith I see a greater awareness of prayer developing in all who go through this course. I see mighty prayer warriors rising from this foundation in Jesus’ name.

Prayer: Father, open my eyes that I may see your ways. Teach me to walk by faith and not by sight from this day on. In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen

Scriptural reference:

Hebrews 11
John 3:16
Romans 8:38-39
Ephesian 3:20

Here it is in audio form:

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Originally posted 2015-01-02 03:38:42.

Donovan February 26, 2019 4 Comments

Prayer Course Introduction

Prayer Tools: Prayer Course

Introduction

Over the last few years we have seen our ministry, The Prayer Relay Movement grow continuously. God has continued to use our team to minister to a wider range of individuals across the world. It has been a truly humbling experience, seeing God use us to minister his kingdom, and be an extension of his love to these people, many who we may never physically meet in this lifetime.

As we have ministered in prayer and seen such amazing results, glory to God, we have seen restorations, healings, prophecies, word of knowledge and much more. The main question that has come up is “How do YOU do this?” The answer took some thought, but is quite simple “We do not do it, God does.”

And every word, every miracle, every testimony is just as mind-blowing as the last, because one begins to recognise just how great this God really is. How great his grace is, that he would use such imperfect individuals to minister his perfect love!

A great lesson that has come in this year is that we ought to focus more on empowering people to also take this and use it to impact others. God’s purpose is not to raise the Prayer Relay Movement, although he is raising and will continue raise it. His purpose is to make disciples who will go out and reach wider. I believe the reason why Jesus took the fishermen to sea even after they had toiled without result was to show them a few things.

Even on the right course, doing the right thing you may fail, simply because you have not taken the Lord with you where you have gone. Your expertise is inefficient if it is not directed by him.
It doesn’t have to make sense. Peter and his team knew about fishing, Jesus did not. However he directed them on their successful mission, even when their own experience, skill and expertise had failed them. His directions stood against everything they understood about fishing. Yet Peter said, “…but if you say so Lord, I’ll cast the net.” It did not make sense to him, yet he was obedient to the Lord’s command.
The net has a great prophetic significance here. Jesus equipped the disciples and set them out as fishers of men. The more people you equip and release the wider the net is. The wider that net becomes the more fish it is able to reach. This is the purpose that Christ has for us, the call of the great commission. To go out and make disciples, who will also go out and make disciples.

WHY TAKE THIS free prayer COURSE?

Luke 11:1

11 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

John and Jesus both had to teach how to pray, it should never be left untaught. Sadly while ministering with the Prayer Relay it has become more and more evident that many simply do not know how to pray. We have received many questions about prayer; have encountered individuals who have been made to pay for prayer, which deeply saddens us. Freely we have received, so freely we give as well.

I recently learned while listening to the late, Dr. Myles Munroe, a great truth about prayer that had never occurred to me. The only thing that the disciples ever asked Christ in all the time that he spent with them, the only thing they ever asked to be taught was PRAYER.

Most other skills that they’d need to turn the world upside down were picked up just by watching Christ, yet this was not possible for prayer because it was always a private and personal experience for Christ. Every individual, every ministry and every organisation should be anchored by prayer in all that they do.

Prayer should be the foundation of all our work. It should be the light that paves our way before we set out to do anything. I can never overstate the importance of prayer. This course will equip you with the understanding of prayer, and explore methods that were used by some of the greats that walked before us. Make the most of this.

CURRICULUM

Faith and prayer
Set prayer times
Defining prayer
Prayer journal
Creating prayer points
Paving way in prayer
Fasting and prayer
Praying without ceasing
Meditate on his word
Craze in prayer
Worship
The power of testimony
Understand declarations and decrees
Not by sight (display of power)
Prayer is dialogue (listen)
Things that keep us from prayer

The course can be taken at one’s own pace. Ideally you can take it over a period of 14 days/weeks. This can be delivered directly via email. You will have a choice to receive a certificate of completion when you have finished. The course will offer you an examination to take at the end of the 14 lesson period. The examination will allow for you to be awarded a certificate that shows your marks if you successfully complete it and desire to have one.

To ensure that you get these emails, add this email ([email protected])

To your safe list or contact list.

On completion, you will:

Understand prayer
Desire to pray
Know how to pray
Be able to teach others what you have learned
And more…

Here is the audio version

Originally posted 2015-01-02 02:17:20.