The Quest To Find The 10 Most Effective Prayers- Prayer #3

Daniel was a man who asked God to give him a vision. He was desperate to know God as deeply as possible and desired to hear from the Lord and to see Him. Often we communicate our desire to know God (because that is the very core of who we are and who we are supposed to be), but, for the most part we fall short. Today I believe if we truly want vision-if we truly want to know Him-then we must become more like Daniel.

In Daniel chapter 8, the Lord gave him a vision regarding the end of times. The experience was so powerful that Daniel fainted and was sick for days. Yet he desired more. Daniel pleaded with the Lord, and got on his face before the Creator. With fasting, sackcloth, and ashes, he cried out to God and confessed his sins and that of the people. Read Daniel 9:1-19

Daniel 9:4-7

“Oh Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep his commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgements. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face...”

In my quest for the top ten most powerful prayers in the Bible I am already seeing a very consistent pattern that I think requires our attention. The very first thing that Daniel does in this prayer is he exalts the Lord. “Oh Lord, great and awesome God who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love him...” He comes to the Lord humbly, in sackcloth and ashes. He is fasting and pleading for the Lord to answer him. This is a serious prayer that gets the Lord's attention!

This is no casual prayer. Daniel is pleading on behalf of himself and the people. He is desperate to hear from God! Then Daniel points out something that is, in my opinion, one of the most overlooked details in our Christian lives.

Daniel 9:13 “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand your truth.

We are constantly sharing our problems, our needs, and our battles with everyone BUT the One who can actually help us through them, and that is the Lord Himself! It is no wonder we suffer long drawn out disasters! Because we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Gods truth, disaster has come upon us.

Bringing glory to God, as all great effective prayers do, Daniel called out to the Lord, (verse 17) “Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord's sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate.” In verse 19 he cries, “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” I LOVE this prayer! There is no sweet quiet voice here saying, “Well, hi Lord....eh hem, I was hoping, well, if You like, or if you want to, Lord, that You could or would do this small favor for me.....” Daniel is shouting!! O Lord, hear! (exclamation!) O Lord, forgive! (exclamation!) O Lord, listen and act! (exclamation!)

Here is the part I get so excited about! Daniel 9:20-21 Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God, yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering.

God sent an angel to give wisdom and skill to understand WHILE HE WAS STILL PRAYING! I think God must have said, “FINALLY! You came to me and asked ME to solve your problems!” Daniel's fervent prayer, with emotion, feeling, sincerity and humbleness, that exalted the Lord, caused an answer to come before he could say, “lickety split!”

The angel had this to say, (Daniel 9:23) At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision: Notice the words 'At the beginning of your supplications the command went out...” God heard Daniel, and responded immediately.

Daniel continued to seek the Lord for more understanding and wisdom. In his deepest times of prayer he always fasted. Daniel 10:3 I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. Daniels prayers were effective because he was persistent, consistent, and sincere. His prayers were not only effective-the were heard and responded to by the Lord in extraordinary visits from the angels!

Do you want your prayers to be heard today? Consider Daniel. Study his life, study his motivation, and study how he came before the Lord. If you are in need of rescuing today-if life is consuming you and you are not sure how you will make it through the day, remember to tell your needs to the most important person of all-the One who can actually rescue you! He is waiting to hear from you.......

Daniel 10:12

Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel (Insert YOUR NAME HERE), for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.

Have a great day!

Rhonda

THE FIRE-Would You Go There Again?

There is no doubt that God loved Daniel.  Daniel never backed down when it came to doing what was right in God's eyes.  Refusing to bow down before any other gods, Daniel's life was put on the line more than once.  

I feel the need to throw out this question today-if you stood for everything that was right in God's eyes-and because of it you were ordered to be put to death-AND, if our Lord God who you stood for therefore RESCUED you from the perils of death-yes, you walked out of the jaws of the enemy, unharmed- would you do it again?

Read it again, as you may be reeling over what you just read.  Okay, if you won't re-read it-let me ask you again (because I'm pushy that way).  IF you stood for everything that was right in God's eyes-AND because of it you were ordered to be put to DEATH-AND, if our LORD OUR GOD who you stood for therefore RESCUED you from the perils of death-yes, you WALKED OUT OF THE JAWS OF THE ENEMY, unharmed...........would you do it again?

Some of you will say it depends on the circumstance, while some will say I don't know.  Others will immediately shout ABSOLUTELY.  And others will simply say no. 

I started out writing to you today wanting to continue my quest for the top ten most effective prayers....and this is leading into that I promise.  However, I think instead God wants me to write to those of you today who are tired; those who have recently been hurt so bad that they can't get up.  You will know who you are because you are the ones that just answered my question by saying “I don't know if I could do it again.” And, I'm definitely speaking to you who just said quickly, without having to think, “No, I cannot do it again.” 

Today you feel trapped in the desert. You are crying out to God and are fairly certain that He does not hear you.  Matter of fact, you are nearly convinced that He really doesn't even care about you, or any of your issues.  You have prayed, you have done what you thought was right, you tried to stay positive, but enough is enough.  As if losing everything you ever wanted was not enough, you stand here now thinking, I've got nothing else to give.  You might even be questioning if God is even real. 

You're not alone.  So many people are tired.  They feel they have been in the fire for so long, that they have nearly burned to nothing.  Life is hard, and is only getting harder.  WHY is that? 

Here is what I feel God speaking to me today.  And, you can take it or leave it.  But I hope you take it-even though you may leave it-and in that case, it will be waiting for you when you are ready.  Daniel stood for God NO MATTER THE COST.  The Bible teaches us that in the face of even DEATH Daniel stood in front of the earthly leaders and shook his head.  If I had to visualize Daniel-I would say he was so polite that it made the leaders MAD!  I am sure that when demands were put on him to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar he politely said, “This I cannot do. This I will not do. I am sorry.” 

You cannot tell me that these rulers weren't a little afraid of Daniel.  I mean, he could interpret the dreams that NO ONE-NO ONE could! He heard from GOD!  It is interesting how the people asked for truth.  And, when they got it, they despised it.  Here is a man who refused to bow down to other gods, who refused to eat any foods that were unclean, who never compromised his friends, and daily sat at the feet of God to gain understanding and knowledge.  Yet, even Daniel was thrown in the lion's den, and in the fiery pit. 

Have you read Daniel?  It says in Daniel 3:22 Therefore, because the king's command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.  The fire that these men were being sent into was so extremely hot, that the guards that walked them to the door of the furnace burned to DEATH as they tried to place the three inside.  Yet, the three fell down bound together into the midst of the burning fiery furnace (v. 23). 

Let me point out that these men of God were able to endure a flame that was much hotter than any man could stand. God protected them through the hottest part as they were led to a place even hotter than that!  I'm thinking this may be like jumping into a pool of hot lava! 

They did not die there.  Matter of fact, not even a hair on their head was burned.  They didn't even smell like smoke!!!  (I roasted marshmallows last week, and I stunk like crazy!)  These men were in the MIDDLE of the fire, and you never would have known it. 

Daniel 3:25 “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

Jesus Himself rescued the men.  Because of their belief that their God would rescue them-because they stood firm to His promises-because they NEVER backed down, NEVER doubted, and NEVER stopped praying...........God showed up.  

Your trials are not in vain.  If you stand in the fire and you say, “I cannot take this.  Let the fire burn me. I'm not sure there is even a God,” then you will burn up for sure.  Remind yourself of Daniel-and if you don't know him, then learn about him.   He was on his face before God.  Not just when things went bad-but in the good.  He rejoiced in the face of adversity and gave glory to God in all things.  He never gave up.  He would not give in.  He believed that His God would save him. 

And He did. 

This may not be your first trial.  Those who follow after God face many trials.  It's just a fact.  How are you facing your trials today?  If you are really suffering right now, you are saying, “you have no idea how bad my life is, so don't even preach to me.” But I do know.  I know what it's like to lose a home, to lose everything we worked so hard to gain, been poor, and stood in the middle of the fire crying to get out.  I've been there-and I didn't get let out of the fire-NO, the heat was turned up.  When I thought I couldn't take it any more, the fire became even hotter.  I HATE the fire, yet I LOVE the fire.  It's painful, and it's the time I feel I have lost all control and am at my weakest point.  However I love it, because I know that I have lost control, and I am at my weakest point-and THAT is where God does His best work.  I would go there again.  I have-again, and again.....and I will go there how ever many times it takes.

He will save you.  But you have to do your part.  You cannot have God as your god of convenience.  Even His favorites are put to the test.  You are God's favorite.  And He just wants you to look up to heaven, right now in the midst of the fire, and say, “My God will save me.” 

And He will.

I promise
Rhonda

The Quest To Find The 10 Most Effective Prayers- Prayer #2

There is a prayer that is so powerful, so effective, that it will rock the very core of who you are. It is a prayer that can change the course of life. One so powerful, that it can bring a life back from the dead!

I know what you are thinking, and it's okay. We all tend to be a 'doubting Thomas' every now and then. It's hard to wrap your mind around something so incredible, something so unbelievable isn't it? Can you imagine speaking words that brought someone back from the dead? But, what if....

I may not have actually laid my hands on a lifeless body and said, “get up and walk!” But, I do believe that I have saved a life or two that would have ended if I hadn't prayed. I clearly remember getting a phone call from a friend while I was on the road doing women's ministry events. Her message was desperate; her boyfriend's childhood best friend had gotten in a serious accident. It did not look good. Matter of fact, immediately the doctors called the entire group of family and friends to the hospital, because they did not expect him to live. She said, “I'm calling you because I know you are the praying type. I just was hoping that you would pray for him, please.”

At that moment I realized, that I may have been the only Christ fearing believer praying for that man. And though I was over one thousand miles away from him, I was given the opportunity to change his life, whether my hands could touch him or not.

Today, I cannot even remember what his name was. I had never met him, and I had no idea what he even looked like. However, emotion built up in me until I burst into tears! And, I mean, I was weeping uncontrollably! I pleaded for this man through my sobs. I begged God, “GOD! FATHER GOD! I do not know this man, but YOU do! And, Lord, he is dying. But what looks like death to man is life to you. Lord God, as you raised Lazarus from the dead, Lord God I pray now in the name of JESUS that you would raise this man. COME OUT of there!” I cried. “Take up your mat and walk!” I asked that the Lord would be glorified and that the doctors and people would be amazed and come to know Him. AMEN.

I did not hear from my friend the rest of the day. Frankly I am not sure if I thought about him again later. I felt the Lord give me peace, and I literally felt like I had done what God had asked me to do.

As with all our effective prayers, God shows up when we come to Him with the right heart and motives. I did get a message on my phone the next day from Nikki. She said, “I don't know what you did, but our friend is moving out of ICU and is expected to be home in two days!”

I know what I did.....I PRAYED-I prayed a desperate prayer from the heart.

EFFECTIVE PRAYER #2

Today's most effective prayer that I have found in my Bible, is the prayer that Jesus prayed when he raised Lazarus from the dead. He could have just walked up to the tomb, never looking at another person, never saying a word. He could have walked in grabbed Lazarus by the hand and walked away. But instead we see our King moved to emotion.

John 11:33-38

Therefore, when Jesus saw her (Mary) weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.  And He Said, “Where have you laid him?”

They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “see how He loved him!”

Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb.

Once again, Jesus displays the power of belief, (of believing what you ask for and believing in the unseen) when he says to Mary in verse 40, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”

THE PRAYER: John 11:41-42

And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.

With groaning, pleading and yes, even tears, Jesus came to the place where his friend whom he loved, was lying dead in a tomb. He looked to the Lord and thanked Him for hearing His prayers-that God ALWAYS heard His prayers, and asked that the Lord be glorified and that the people would believe that He had sent Jesus.

TOOLS FOR EFFECTIVE PRAYER:

Here are the tools I have found so far that will help us make our prayers the most powerful. I will keep adding to this as I continue my quest for the 10 most effective prayers in the Bible.

1. Believe. Believe what you have asked for and it will be done.
2. Pray that GOD would be glorified and that He would stretch out His hand to heal. For it is not by your hand that the healing comes, but by His power.
3. Be moved to emotion. Be passionate about the prayer that you ask for. If it means something to you, it means something to God.

I pray that our prayers become more powerful and more effective by the lessons we learn. Use these tools! Change a life today, and share what God is doing with others so that they may see that our prayers do work, and that God does hear us.

Blessings

Rhonda

The Quest To Find The 10 Most Effective Prayers

Standing in the grocery line I have learned that for every dilemma, organizational catastrophe, and personal issue, there are AT LEAST 10 sure fire ways to fix them. Matter of fact, I am waiting for the Top 10 Ways to Fix Every Single Thing In Your Life So You'll Never Have Another Problem-EVER article.

I read Acts 4:29-31 yesterday and it got me thinking on effective prayers. Now, I'm not a Bible scholar (I just play one on TV), but I am pretty sure that given time, I can (and will) find the Top 10 Most Effective Prayers, according to Scripture.  I hope you are up for the journey!  My goal is for us to see how prayers were offered up to God in the Bible-prayers that were powerful, life-changing, and effective prayers, that changed the course of history.  When I pray for healing, I want to see that person healed, when I pray for blessings, I want to receive the blessings!  When I pray for favor, I want to have favor! It's official-no more empty, selfish, wordless prayers, that make us look like believers, but really prove that we ourselves lacking in the faith department.  (ouch)

Acts 4:29-31 (NKJV)
"Now look on their threats and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your Word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus."

And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the Word of God with boldness. 

Peter and John had just been released from prison. They were placed there for doing a good deed to a helpless man; a man who was over forty years old who had been lame since birth. Peter grabbed the man's hand and said (Acts 3:6) "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." 

The people were in awe of the miracle that they had seen. Matter of fact, about 5,000 came to believe in the Word of God that day! When the rulers of Israel gathered to determine what to make of all this, they realized that they had nothing against Peter and John. They had seen the miracle for themselves; not one could not deny what they had seen! However, they commanded them (Acts 4:18) not to speak at all NOR teach in the name of Jesus.  (Acts 4:19-20) But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.  For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."

The leaders could not keep them, too many people were praising God for this miracle, so Peter and John were sent home.

Read Acts 4:23-28.  In these verses we see that the first thing to took place before the prayer went up is that Peter and John and their companions raised their voices in one accord (v.24) and exalted the Lord-they gave Him the honor and glory due His name!  But even more powerful in these few lines is verse 28.  "to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done."

The effectiveness of our prayers comes from the Accomplisher of the request- simply meaning that the prayers we pray must be directed toward the One who will actually answer them!  It is not OUR power, but by GOD's power that a prayer is answered.  And, notice that verse 28 says, whatever YOUR hand and YOUR purpose determined BEFORE....We must understand that God already knows what He is going to do-before we even ask for it.  But, He expects us to ask properly.

Effective prayer #1

Now re-read Acts 4:29-31

This is a great choice as an effective prayer.  The disciples didn't just assume they had power, they asked God FOR it saying, "to speak YOUR Word" and "to stretch out YOUR hand to heal."  They did not ask for their own words to be effective, but God's.  And, they did not ask for their own hands to heal, but instead asked for God Himself to stretch out His mighty hand.

When they prayed in this way, God showed up.  Verse 31 says, "And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness." 

Make your prayers effective today.  Exalt the Lord, ask for His power, and speak with boldness!  He will show up.  I cannot wait to hear the results-so feel free to share away!

Lord, we come to You today asking for boldness.  God we ask that You show us how to pray effectively, with Your purposes and Your plan in mind.  Stretch out Your hand to heal today God, and may signs and wonders be performed in the name of your holy Servant Jesus! AMEN!!!

Have a great day!
Rhonda

Pondering Ink-Yes, Ink

It has been more than two decades since I have even thought about an erasable ink pen.  I remember when the ingenious invention was released, making their way into our offices, schools and homes.  Up until then we were not allowed to do homework in ink (only final drafts), because frankly all the mistakes were messy.  All the scribbles, the arrows pointing around the page, and the ink splats made it difficult for the teacher to read our work. Not to mention that all the wrong answers (scribbled out) made it hard to find the RIGHT answers that were on the page.  They were there, but finding them was like trying to find Waldo in a stadium full of people with red and white knit hats.

Last week my daughter's school list required that we purchase two erasable ink pens.  I had completely forgotten about their existence actually.  Delighted by the reunion (of erasable ink and me), I have found myself several times writing myself notes and doodling  with the pen just so I can erase it and start all over.  I fear I will most likely run out of eraser before ink-and that I'll most likely have to go purchase a stash of pink pearls.

On the way to church today I grabbed my Bible, my Life Journal, and a pen.  As it turns out, the pen was erasable which stopped me in my tracks.  "I cannot use erasable ink in my journal," I thought.  No, I needed permanent ink.  And this thought has continued to consume my day-so here I am writing to you wondering if you will even be as passionate about your ink pen today?

My journal is messy.  My LIFE is messy.  In this thought however, I can't help but think how God writes the story of our life using two types of pens.  He uses permanent ink to write down the foundation of our lives. He writes the joys, and even the pains of the lessons we have learned so they will never be forgotten. 

But our mistakes, our sins, or blunders-now, He writes those in erasable ink! I am pretty sure God is in love with His PaperMate Eraser-Mate Pen.  Jesus gave it to Him.  The ink is a special formula, much like our earthly pen, except this one is filled with the blood of the Lamb.  It is the most important and powerful pen used to write in the Book of Life. I love how God chooses to use this pen!! Where my journal is marked up, God's is beautiful and clean.  I have marks that I can't change, but He has writing that is clean and perfect, with an occasional gap where He has erased sins or mistakes of our past. Sins erased so well that one cannot even begin to make out the words that used to live on the page.
They have been erased by Jesus, by His sacrifice. The minute we admit our guilt, our shame, and our sin to God, He walks over to The Book Of Life and carefully turns to our page.  Smiling, He begins to erase the things that have kept us from fully seeing what is on the page-the fullness of Him.

There is one more thing that has come to mind as I ponder ink, (yes, I am pondering ink), and that is that we should live our lives boldly, being careful to write our daily story in permanent ink as opposed to invisible ink, as invisible ink is a book that no one can read.

With all that said, live Jesus out loud in your life today.  Do not be afraid of the scribbles in your journal but NOTICE them...PLEASE notice them.  These are the very things that God wants to erase for you today.

2 Corinthians 3:3(NIV) You show that you are a letter from Christ....written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God. 


Rhonda

It's the Belief of the Prayer

(Mark 11:23-24 NIV) If anyone says to this mountain, "Go throw yourself into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen it will be done for him.  Therefore I tell you whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.


Miracles.  They happen around us every day.  People are praying and are on their faces before God day and night asking Him to intercede and move mountains. But, why is it some mountains move, while some don't?

Beside the obvious that God's timing is always perfect, sometimes, and I stress some times, it is possible that our own words may get in the way.  The verse above clearly states that if you believe you have received it then it will be yours!

The other day I was involved in a group prayer where someone prayed "Dear Lord, we pray for a complete miraculous healing.  But, if you choose not to do it, we pray for a quick recovery from surgery."

Is it possible that we pray without expectation-that we pray 'ho-hum' prayers that say, if you do it, you do it, but if you don't, oh well?  Immediately when the prayer went up I heard a voice asking me, "What?"

There is one simple problem I can see with this prayer.  Six seemingly harmless words that may have simply taken the 'miracle' out of the prayer.  They are, "But, if you choose not to." I think any time I ask the Lord to do something followed by the words, "but, if you choose not to," I have relinquished my belief and traded it for mere words.  I might as well say, "Lord, please give me a healing, but because I believe that you might not answer me, I'll take the quick recovery."

The Bible says:

(Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV) "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things which you do not know." 

(1 John 5:14-15 NKJV) Now this is the confidence we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And, if we know that He hears us whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.


Because we can have confidence that He hears us (1 John 5:14) and that if we call to Him He will answer (Jeremiah 33:3), then we can be certain that He will move mountains if we believe and do not doubt! (Mark 11:23).

I'm not making this up...I'm just passing it on... Therefore I tell you whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours. (Mark 11:24).

What a promise!

Blessings
Rhonda