Prayer done the right way – Part 1

Praise the Lord saints.

As I sit down to write this week’s article, I’m dealing a tremendously trying time.

I have a close family member and two church members that are fighting for their lives.

As I continue to pray intensely for each of them, it has become startling apparent to me that there needs to be a greater effort in teaching how prayer works.

Prayer is nothing more than you talking to God.  There is no special or secret method involved, although some have been taught that.

Some even believe that it’s only for some folks and not others.  While there is some truth to this, anyone can pray to God and He will answer.

John 9:31speaks to who God will hear and hopefully answer;

31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.

Understand this, once you have become a saint, someone that has given their life over to trusting, worshipping, and believing in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and that He died for your sins, you are a Christian or saint.  You can NEVER again become a sinner.

Don’t get me wrong, Christians do commit sins, but that doesn’t make them a sinner, just a saint that has backslidden.

The devil is a liar and the truth ain’t in him.

Stop allowing yourself to be told otherwise and that you are not worthy to call on Him even after you have sinned.  That’s what mercy and grace were created for.  Repent and ask for forgiveness, and all is forgotten in God’s eyes so you don’t have a right to keep holding on and condemning yourself once God has forgiven you.

I have observed how some pastors or leadership in the church pray for those that are sick and ill and I have come to the conclusion that there is a major issue with this and it is very alarming to say the least. I say this because some of their prayers seem scripted and rehearsed and not heart felt.

I think that one should be consecrated and been calling on the Lord prior to praying for the sick, ESPECIALLY if you are expecting God to perform a miracle.

It just doesn’t seem genuine and sincere if one just comes into the room and just say let’s pray and just go right into it.

The atmosphere I believe should be set right for the receiving and calling on the Lord and not treated like something scripted.

This could actually be a moment that an unbeliever might consider turning their lives over to Christ solely based on the prayer.

The potential of someone transitioning or dying can have such an effect on those that know that their eternal destination is uncertain and this should not be taken lightly.

One thing that I see is some that are “on the fence” so to speak.  What I mean is that they read their bible every now and then and occasionally attend a service or two and now they know everything and even attempt to put certain saints or even leaders in check.  This can be very dangerous depending on the position that person holds in that family.  The reason why its so dangerous is that we are dealing with someone’s eternal destination for their soul and because everyone is in such a fragile state, this is not the time for a novice to voice his or her opinions as it relates to anything.

Those that are close to the ill individual tend to put such an overload of physical and mental stress on themselves and actually most times make themselves ill.

This is why prayer again is so vitally important because in prayer this could easily put everyone at ease in the sense that if the prayer is done the way it should be, their thoughts and focus are solely on believing and trusting in God’s ability to heal and cure the sick.

I’ve also noticed that some will pray if it’s God’s Will, or Lord if it’s your will.  On the surface it seems harmless, however this is not the case.

The only reason some pray this prayer is because they are not 100% sold on God’s ability to do that which they have prayed and whatever the outcome is they can say it was God’s will.

While this can be the case most times, God promised us some things and we have the right to demand or put God’s word to work for us.

There are numerous scriptures that validate this fact that God made some promises to us and that He would deliver, as long as we did our part.

Till next week,

God Bless.

Elder Dr. Robert L. Harrison