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Prayer is an important subject and each of us should know the right way to pray so our prayers will receive answers and we won't live frustrated lives. Prayer as defined by Pst Chris Oyakhilome is the response to the impression of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Aside the Holy Spirit, situations, challenges can equally make an impression in our hearts and we will respond to those impressions by praying. Prayer is not just about blabbing off your needs to God, it is a fellowship. It is not a religious rite or a mark of Christianity; it is a relationship, a spiritual obligation for every child of God. It is worthy of note here that if you are a sinner, God does not hear your prayers and so won't answer it. The only prayer of a sinner that God hears is "the sinner's prayer" where he is asking Jesus to be the Lord of his life. You may wonder at what I am saying because the last time you prayed, you got an answer; what happened was just God's mercy at work it wasn't your right. The answer you got is like the rain that comes down from heaven and falls on both the just and the unjust...God's mercy on all mankind! Every child of God has a right to get answers to his prayers, infact; every child of God is ordained to receive answers to his/her prayers. Prayer is making contact with the divine essence within us; it is one way of bringing God's word to fruition in our lives. At the place of prayer, anything is possible because you get strengthened and energized after spending quality time in fellowship with God. The Christian is expected by God to pray according to His will so as to be able to get results. Here a lot of people get confused because they could not decode the meaning of the phrase "according to my will"; a lot of them think it is for instance, I desire a red Porsche car and I tell God about it then He will say "no, I don't want you to have that one, I will rather give you a green coloured Mercedes Benz". It will then mean that His will for me is to have a green coloured Benz and not the red Porsche car I desire. By all means, no, praying according to God's will is "praying in faith" and "praying in the Name of Jesus". Hebrews 11:6 says "without faith it is impossible to please God" for God to answer our prayers, He has to be pleased with us and faith in God according to the scripture above is what makes God pleased with us. Secondly, we are called to pray "In the Name of Jesus" not "through the Name of Jesus" (John 15:16...whatever ye shall ask the Father in my Name, He shall give it to you). Jesus equally said "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me". This is an invitation to come to God, give your heart to Him, receive eternal life through what Jesus did for you on the cross of Calvary. But having come to God and become a member of the family, you don't need to go through Jesus or any mediator again to reach God; the only thing required of you is to make your request to God in the Name of Jesus because what Jesus did on the cross of Calvary was done for you! You now stand in Jesus' stead for the Bible says "He is the firstborn among many brethren", we are His brethren. He told Mary after His resurrection "I am going to your God and my God, your Father and my Father, go and tell my brethren". He is the Vine and we are the branches so He has given us His Name to use and whenever we do so, we must get results. The following are some of the types of prayers we can deduce: • Intercessory prayers: here you intercede for others, plead their case before God, you stand in the gap for them. • Prayer of petition/ supplication: this type is direct in purpose, zealous and fervent; it doesn't necessarily need to be long but straight to the point and with fervency. • Prayer of agreement: here two or more people join their faith together to pray for a particular need or situation, they agree and make declarations according to their faith and those declarations will be established unto them. When next you kneel to pray, approach the throne room with confidence to obtain grace and find help in times of need, lifting your hands to Him in worship, make your requests in the Name of Jesus and in faith! God bless you. Copyright, Agu Jaachynma
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