Last week Megan shared about the power of prayer that will change your ministry, daily life, and walk with Jesus. Read part two to learn how to cultivate regular prayer and experience the fruit of knowing and talking with Jesus daily.
Christian, behold your God. Take time to quiet your heart before Him in prayer and just behold Him for who He is. Get to know Him through His Word until the truth of Scripture can pour out of your lips in prayer. Until you know Jesus, you cannot pray effectively… but once you have beheld Him, all the hosts of hell cannot stop you from coming boldly before Him in faith and asking Him to do the impossible. Consider Jesus, and in that great name, pray with confident expectation that He is who He claims to be, His promises are sure and steadfast, and He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we could ask or think.
For those who are involved in ministry, it is easy to invest so much time in people that prayer gets pushed to the sidelines. Spontaneous prayer is great, but it doesn’t always happen. We may not always feel like taking the time and effort. Prayer is work, and the enemy will always conveniently remind us of some other duty that must first be done… and then another… and suddenly, we find the day has gone by without a focused, quiet time spent alone with Jesus. Cultivate this time with Him, whether or not you feel like it. I have found that creating a list of specific prayer requests to focus on each day of the week helps me to make prayer a consistent priority. I thought, at first, that it might feel like my daily shopping list, but it has rather been a wonderful tool to guide me and keep me focused. When needs arise in your ministry life, consider adding them to your prayer list and praying about them, consistently, in specific ways. Pray until you see the answer, and expect God to answer. It’s beautiful and exciting to see the fruit of private prayer in your public ministry.
Although private prayer must be the core of your prayer life, there is a unique strength found in the unity of “two or three gathered in His name.” In praying together, we can enable each other to actually see God through each other. I have often come to a prayer meeting, tired and discouraged, only to leave encouraged and renewed, simply by hearing others verbalize the truth of who God is. There is power in a group of people joining forces in agreeing together in prayer. Conflicts and relationship tension can arise when people equipped with different gifts, personalities, and backgrounds attempt to work together with a single purpose. Nothing resolves differences and restores unity more effectively than humbly coming together in prayer, in one Spirit, for one cause.
The battle is real… Our God is able!
For more resources on how to make a greater impact on your ministry, utilize our Online Leader Training Course HERE and learn how prayer and the Word of God can transform the lives of those you serve.
