Impact Prayer International and Jerry McCullah’s
“7 Keys to Kingdom Praying!”
In The Deeper Life, part 3, I will be sharing an outline based on the prayer framework Jesus gave us in Matthew 6:9-13 which we refer to as ‘The LORD’s Prayer’. This is intended only as an encouraging guide to help you focus in your prayer time. What I am offering is similar to the training wheels we had on our first two-wheeler. It is simply intended to jump-start a more organized devotional prayer experience. At some point, the Holy Spirit may help you to develop your own system of praying in your appointed time with God. Always follow the Spirit. He is your Prayer Teacher! He is the Master Intercessor!
The motivation for this prayer guideline is related to the many times church members have confessed frustration over their short times of prayer. Most have stated they run out of things to pray about in just a few minutes.
This will give you the organization to guide you through seven different aspects of prayer. If you merely took five minutes for each aspect, you will have prayed for 35 minutes. This is already much longer than the average believer’s daily prayer time. Add to this 20-25 minutes reading the Holy Scriptures and your devotion time is now at an hour. This would be a great improvement for most.
The seven aspects we will be looking at are: Praise – Confession – Intercession – Petition – Thanksgiving – Listening – Praise
Today we look at Praise:
- Praise: The psalmist said, “because Your lovingkindness is better then life, my lips shall praise You.” (Psalm 63:3). To praise God is to focus on Him by acknowledging Him for Who He is. It is to exalt God with your words. It becomes a kind of confession directly to God as to what you believe about Him. Praise should be the entry-point for all devotional praying.
Jesus taught us in the LORD’s Prayer to begin with praise: “Hallowed be Thy name.” (Matt. 6:9) “Hallowed” in the Greek = “Hagiadzo” means “to revere, or sanctify, or set aside.” We verbally confess what we believe about God!
On a personal note, I usually take a few moments for “Silent Adoration” prior to breaking out in verbal praise. In this I think lovingly about Who I am about to communicate with in my prayer time. What comes to your mind when you pause and think about God becomes the most important thing about you. What you believe deeply in your heart about God will give you a trust and freedom in prayer.
Praise is also the highest form of prayer, and carries a power in the heavenlies. Praise may well be a powerful weapon of war in the spiritual realm. The devil, the demonic world, cannot stand in the presence of a believer while he is praising his Creator.
“Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand;
7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;
8 To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
9 To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord.” (Psalm 149:6-9).
Several years ago while on a prayerwalking team journeying through China, we were to fly out of Beijing after a week there, and arrive hours later in Guangzhou in the south. There were approximately 20 prayerwalkers on our team, and we seemed to be placed at the exact middle of the passenger seating area, the plane holding about 500 passengers; 20 Americans surrounded by about 450 Chinese passengers. Boarded and sitting on the Tarmac, we were going through the usual pre-flight instructions while awaiting takeoff.
Our pilot had then taxied to the head of the runway. Engines running at maximum take off speed, the plane was straining at the brake, desiring to soon be released to climb ever upward. Suddenly, the engines reduced to nearly nothing as the pilot spoke in broken English only. “Plane not safe to fly!”
We quickly taxied back to the Tarmac area, where they ushered all passengers from the plane, some of which were bussed back to the terminal, while the remaining passengers stood near the plane expecting perhaps more busses.
However, in about a half hour, they began motioning those near the place to climb the steps back into the plane to return to our seats. Shortly, the passengers sent to the terminal returned.
We took some time getting 500 persons back into their seats, and the engines fired back up. Again, we taxied out to the runway. Engines again maxed out for takeoff. Again, expecting to be thrust forward, the engines shut down. Again, the pilot spoke into the intercom in broken English only. “Plane not safe to fly!”
Back at the Tarmac, they would not allow any passengers to leave the plane. The doors were sealed. The stairs had remained away from the plane. No further explanations were given. By the business attire I assumed many were businessmen who needed to arrive in Guangzhou for important business. These individuals were becoming very upset, moving quickly toward agitated. In a matter of a few minutes these men began to shout loudly in Chinese while throwing things at the flight attendants. We were seeing the beginnings of an out of control riot.
When things began to escalate, our prayerwalker team leader called us together in the aisle and suggested we sing some praise songs. We were somewhat hesitant as we were in a communist country, and being very quiet about our Christian reasons for being there. We were not certain that singing praise songs publically in a closed tube of people would be safe. To that our leader said that we should sing some very upbeat praise songs, and end with a lot of laughter, causing our Chinese speaking hearers to think they were American party songs.
We sang about a dozen such songs in the manner he suggested. To our surprise, the attitude of the remaining 450 Chinese speaking passengers changed to laughter and joy. All the anger subsided, and through our interpreter, we began to engage many passengers, while enjoying a new peace and calm. This friendly atmosphere lasted until we finally took off . . . six hours later!
Praise is a weapon of war!
