The Power of Prayer

I have been attending a Bible study class at my church called "The Power of Persistence" by Michael Catt. This man is the pastor of the church in Georgia that has produced the movies "Facing the Giants", "Fireproof", etc. The study is one on prayer. I never realized that I did not know as much about prayer as I thought I had. Prayer is the one thing that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them. They didn't ask Him how to evangelize or how to stand through persecution etc. They asked Him how to pray. And now I am learning so much about prayer and realizing my heart cry also needs to be, Lord teach me how to pray.

I have been a child of God for 15 years and in that time I have said plenty of prayers. However, I am just now realizing that a lot of times I do not pray in the right way. When you look at Paul's letters in the New Testament, many of his prayers are recorded. The thing is that Paul didn't pray for physical healing or for deliverance from persecution and trials. He often prayed for endurance for those going through trials and for spiritual growth of the saints. In Ephesians 1:15-19, Paul writes, 

"This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father. would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength." 

What a prayer!

 Many times I sit and recite my prayer list to God often full of requests for physical healing and deliverance. But those are not necessarily things we should be focusing our prayers on. It is definitely not a bad thing to pray for physical healing, but we should be more concerned with someones' spiritual condition than their physical one. When was the last time I prayed for my brothers and sisters in Christ to grow in their knowledge of Him? I am not sure if I can even recall praying for that more than twice. I am definitely going to make this a habit in my daily prayer time and as I go throughout my day from now on. Oh that the Lord would continue to teach me how to pray...