Praying with Purpose: How to Accomplish God’ s Plan for Your Life
B y: T a s h e n a N. M i d d l e t o n
Do you struggle experiencing God’ s power in your life? Do you feel like your prayers are ineffective; you’ ve prayed for years, and nothing changed? Have you given up on your dreams because you just can’ t win? Be encouraged! I’ m assigned to remind you that you are the beloved daughter of the Most High God. And He holds all power in His hands!
Your Heavenly Father has a plan to prosper you, not harm you; a plan to give you hope and a future( Jeremiah 29:11). Jesus did not give His life so you could barely get by, settling to be happy only when you get to Heaven. Jesus came to give us life more abundantly on Earth( John 10.10). That doesn’ t mean we won’ t experience pain or difficulties. That means we need God’ s power operating in our lives.
We access God’ s power through prayer, which is communication with God. The essence of prayer is a deep, abiding trust and reliance on God in every situation, and – importantly – aligning your will with God’ s.
The more intimate your relationship with God, the greater access you have to spiritual resources including peace and joy in the midst of challenges, as well as the ability to overcome challenges to accomplish God’ s plan for your life.
Intentional prayer is about passionately pursuing intimacy with God. This happens when we set aside dedicated time to connect with God; pray with a focused purpose; deliberately bring specific needs, worries, and desires; and ask God to work it all out for good according to His will. Purposeful prayer ultimately seeks to align your will with God’ s so He may equip you to accomplish the good and perfect plan He has for your life.
“ The more intimate your relationship with God, the greater access you have to spiritual resources..”
Here are a few tips to help you practice purposeful prayer:
1. Activate faith. Praying with purpose begins with having faith in God. The Bible declares it’ s impossible to please God without faith( Hebrews 11:6). Faith is believing God is whom He says He is and expecting Him to act in response to your prayer because He loves you. Faith is also believing YOU are who God says YOU are regardless how you feel or your present circumstances. You must believe that God’ s promises are for YOU. Ask Him to help your unbelief( Mark 9:23-24).
2. Approach God with a humble and grateful heart. Have you heard the phrase“ posture of prayer”? While that phrase can refer to the physical position you take when praying, the more important aspect is the attitude of your heart. We are instructed to give thanks in all circumstances( 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). When you give God thanks in the midst of trials, you are humbly submitting to His Sovereignty to remove the trial or give you the strength to get through it in order to accomplish His will.
3. Pray with specificity. The Bible encourages us to pray with clarity and specificity( e. g., Habakkuk 2:2 and Philippians 4:6). When you pray, speak the details of your specific needs, concerns, and desires. Specificity is not for God’ s benefit; it’ s for yours. God knows what you need before you do. But He gave us free will. Being specific invites God to move in your particular situation. Specificity also requires you to focus, be humble, and be honest with God.
4. Pray the Word. It is important to know and include scripture in your prayer( Isaiah 55:11). Paul calls the Word the“ Sword of the Spirit.” It not only connects us with God and fortifies our faith( Romans 10:17), but the Word is our most potent weapon against the enemy. Wielding the“ Sword of the Spirit” during prayer transforms your mindset and opposes the enemy’ s schemes.( Ephesians 6:18). I love how Priscilla Shirer explains it:“ When we speak God’ s Word into the atmosphere, we are clothing ourselves in the promises of God.”
5. Pray with fervor. Praying with fervor means praying with authenticity, urgency, and persistence until you receive an answer from God. Authentic and passionate prayers move God. The heartfelt and persistent prayer of the righteous can accomplish much( James 5:16).
6. Listen for God to speak and then act. Genuine prayer is a dialog with God. God is eager to hear from you( Psalm 116:2). Are you eager to hear from Him? After you pray, take time to sit in silence, and ask God to speak to you. Then act on God’ s instructions.
Don’ t give up! Stir up your faith and start praying on purpose to see what God will do!
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