Bible Studies

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Why We Pray.
We need God
We pray because we need God. He is sovereign, all-powerful, all-knowing and everywhere. He holds our future. We also pray because God has made promises to us and most of these promises are conditional. We need to pray that the eyes of our understanding is enlightened to know the hope of His calling, the promises He has made for us in general as His children and the personal ones He makes to us as we come to in our quiet times. These promises need to be prayed over- watered as it were, like you would a seed so that they begin to sprout to His glory.

We’re in a Spiritual Warfare
Furthermore, we are in a spiritual warfare. Just as there is God, who loves us dearly, we have an adversary, the Devil who hates us intensely and would do all he can to thwart out future that is filled with hope. His job description is to kill steal and destroy. (John10:10) He is a liar and seeks to negate the word of God. He reminds us of our past, our failures and our sins and we need to know how to counter him and his cohorts in prayer. This was why Paul reminds us in Ephe6:10-18. We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms. He encouraged us to put on the whole amour of God so that we can stand in the evil day. We are soldiers of Christ, in the army of the Lord ( 2Tim.2:3-5). We need to be alert in prayer and pull down every stronghold of the enemy, casting down every imagination and every high, proud argument that is against the revealed will of God, and making them prisoners and subject to the mind of Christ. (1Cor10:3-4)

Prayer changes us as we have examined above.

Absence of prayer makes us weak
It is said, ‘Seven days without prayer makes one weak.’ Think about it.
We become vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy and fall prey to the desires of the flesh and the lust of the eyes. We succumb easily to the pressures of the world around us and begin to compromise even without knowing it. We lose our saltiness and our preservative and medicinal quality in society.

Prayer births vision
It is in prayer that you birth the vision God had given which Satan wants to abort. Daniel experienced this first hand when he set himself apart to fast and pray so that God’s plans will be fulfilled. God dispatched His angel with the answer but there was a battle in heaven preventing the angel from delivering the answer and this battle continue until there was reinforcement. Daniel kept praying not knowing what was going on until the angel eventually broke through he came and told Daniel about it.
12Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
13But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
14Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days. Dan10:12-14


This goes to show why we need to pray without ceasing. Prayer works. Prayer thwarts. Prayer prevails and avails. The effectual prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available.

16Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
17Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
18And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. James5:15-18

With prayer you galvanize the heavenly host- angels on assignment- especially as you pray God’s word. It is angel food. They are motivated to work in your behalf because they fulfill His word.

The Awesome Power of Prayer
Prayer Puts the Enemy to Flight
As indicated above prayer can be powerful when we pray according to the rules,; when it is filled with the word , led of the Holy Spirit, energized by faith and love.
One shall put 1000 to flight two shall put 10000 to flight.
How could one chase a thousand, And two put ten thousand to flight, Unless their Rock had sold them, And the LORD had surrendered them? (Deut 32:30) This is why we need to pray the prayer of agreement as believers. ( Acts 4:24-31‘
Prayer Brings Desired Results
Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven Matt18:’
Like was said earlier on when the disciples went to their company and prayed a united prayer there was tremendous power that shook the house in which they prayed. When
Prayer Brings Deliverance
Paul and Silas were thrown into prison for preaching the word I believe they prayed and sang and God responded as the foundations of the prison was shaken and their chains fell off and the doors flung open.
24Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. 27The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"
29The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.
Acts 16:25-29
When Peter was jailed and awaiting execution the following day, the church prayed for him and God sent an angel to release him. We are told that the angel taped him to wake up and led him out and the gates opened of their own accord. (Acts 12)That is what prayer does.
Prayer Brings the Presence of God
When king Solomon prayed fervently the glory of God descended and the ministers could not minister. 2Chro5:13-14, -2Chro 6& 7:1-3

When Elijah prayed at Mount Carmel, the fire of God descended and licked up all the water stones and sacrifice on the altar. 1Kings18:37-40
When Jesus prayed and fasted for 40 days, the devil who came to tempt Him, he came out in the power of the Spirit and began to fulfill his ministry. Luke4:14
We are told that the Church is the only army that wins on its knees. Do you need any more proof of the power of prayer?

When We Forget to Pray.
When we fail to pray, we forfeit the asswer.
Surely, we do forget to pray. At least I do and the Lord reminds me from time to time. We forget to pray when we have had the answers to our request. We tend to say, ‘Bye, Lord, see you again when I am in need.’ And so when we are in need again, we rush back with our shopping list.
Pray must be our way of life. We need to remind ourselves of the benefit of prayer. We need to know that God desires to direct us daily and that He desires to hear us daily. He wants to be involved with our daily affairs. Nothing is too big or small for Him

6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus..(Phil4:4-7)
He can listen to everyone at once even when we are speaking in different languages. That is how awesome He is. He never goes to sleep or slumbers. He is never tired.(Ps121) That is why we are encouraged to come to him boldly.. ‘to obtain mercy and grace to help in time of need(Heb4:16) .
And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. Isa65:24
And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. Ps50:15
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. (Ps.91:15)
Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you Jer29:12

Types of prayer
As hinted above there are different types of prayer:
Prayer of Intercession
Prayer of Worship
Prayer of Praise or adoration
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Praying in the Spirit
Prayer of Dedication
Prayer of Agreement
Prayer of Spiritual Warfare
Prayer of salvation
Prayer of deliverance
Prayer for divine direction
Prayer for the Healing of a Nation
Prayer for outreach
Prayer for the gifts of the Spirit
Prayer for the fruit of the spirit
Prayer for growing in grace
Prayer for abounding in Love
Prayer of faith
Prayer of confession
Prayer for Personal Needs including:
Prayer for boldness
Prayer direction in business.
Prayer for personal healing.
Prayer for good relationships
Prayer for a life partner
Prayer for your spouse
Prayer for your children or family
And this does not exhaust the list.

For each of these prayers and others that we can think of, we need to search the word of God for ‘prayer canons’, platforms or promises on which to base our prayers for them to be effective and effectual. Otherwise we would be praying amiss, just shadow-boxing beating the air, missing the target.


Hopefully we have laid some foundations with the building blocks. It’s time to apply what you have learned.
See examples of some of the prayers listed above and try some yourself.

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