The Art Of Prayer

Psalm 5:2-3
Give heed to the voice of my cry, my King and my God.
For to You I will pray. My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord.
In the morning I will direct it to You,  and I will look up (wait).

Prayer...
Praying....
Everyone does it to one degree or another.
There are some who pray continually.
Others are often referred to as "prayer warriors".
Some only pray when hard times come. When the pressure of life closes in to crush them under the weight of hopelessness. 
We may be serious about our praying.
We may do it out of habit.
We may do it because the options for life have run out and we don't know what else to do.
But we pray.
There are even some who pray even though they claim to not believe in God (Ain't that weird?).

Let me pose this question to you.
What if a group of people began to take prayer seriously?
What if they dedicated themselves to learn how to pray effectively.
What if this group knew all too well the power and danger of living in the darkness of addiction?
What if they were marshaled into an army whose soul purpose was to be intercessors between others who were in bondage to their addiction, and this God we claim has the power to deliver.

I believe that such an army could stand in proxy before God for others still out there.
I believe that such a group could be used by God to be a weapon against the kingdom of darkness. 
Psalm 107:20 tells us that He sent His word and healed them and delivered them from their destruction. What if we learned, through our prayers, how to breath back through prayer His word? That we learned how to speak it on behalf of those who are slowly dying because of addiction.

You see, it doesn't take a college degree to learn how to pray.
It takes a heart of faith that God indeed hears our cry and is moved to act upon our request.
We line our hearts up with His will, praying back to Him what the Spirit has placed on us.
What does that mean?
Think of it like this.
You have a concern for someone you know who is suffering.
The concern grows. What we may not realize is that it is the Spirit of God stirring us to pray for this person, as prayer is the currency of heaven that moves God.
So what do we do?
We begin to pray.
Not what we think we should pray...which usually comes out in the form of cliches and contrite words...but rather with words that convey what we are feeling in our hearts.

As we pray, we ask God, "What is my part in this?"
Am I suppose to go and speak truth in love?
Am I suppose to simply go and love on them?
Am I suppose to go and confront them?
The main thing is we keep praying, listening, and only acting when God instructs us to.
I know this may sound weird, but I have found value in moving in this manner.

Time is to short to stand by and watch others go over the abyss into hell. Not when we know a God who can save them and restore them.
Even as I am writing this, I'm sure that some who read it are having the thought, "I can't do that? I can't be a person who prays those kind of prayers? Well, the answer is "YES YOU CAN!" IN fact, the simple statement that you think you can't puts you at the top of God's list. Have you read the Bible? It's chocked full of those who think they "Can't".
Chew on this today and see what God tells you.

God on you..
mbb