How Do I Pray? (2min)
Article by Jerame Nelson
“pray without ceasing;” 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Prayer can be the fuel that ignites our intimacy with God. I want to share with you three powerful types of prayer that we can engage in that will grow our intimacy with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and bear much fruit:
1. Intercession
Intercession is when you pray for your own needs, for your family, or you can stand in the gap for a people group, an individual or a nation. You can intercede the promises of God over your destiny or the destinies of others. Many Christians intercede a checklist of personal needs. But, many times it stops here. They engage in prayer for 20 minutes over everything they need. “Lord I need my son to get saved. I need financial breakthrough, etc.” As much as we intercede, we need to learn how to wait.
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Imagine this: I go out to eat with my beautiful wife, Miranda, to an amazing vegan spot she loves. I begin talking and I keep on talking the entire meal. She tries to share something, but I quickly interrupt her and then I get up and jet out the door before she can get out one word. How do you think Miranda would feel? Sadly, we can do this same thing to God in prayer. We pray, “Lord I need breakthrough. I need this and that” and then, we leave. Maybe God was going to give us the answer we were looking for and we just asked him a whole list of need and then left Him. Prayer is a relationship.
2. Listening Prayer
Listening Prayer is when we tap into God’s heart and intercede from His desires. Many times if I intercede for 20 minutes, I wait for 20 minutes to hear God’s heart on that topic. Not every time, but often times He will release the first part of the answer and I will start to step into breakthrough.
Receive this prayer from Jerame Nelson to pray in the Spirit!
“Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Romans 8:34 NIV
The Bible tells us that Jesus is making intercession on our behalf. You see, when we align with Jesus’ heart, we can actually tap into the flow of what He’s praying. Prayer is praying back to God what He is already saying over us, over a nation, or over a people group.
3. Declaration
“You will also decide and decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And the light [of God’s favor] will shine upon your ways.” Job 22:28 AMP
When you receive a prophetic word or a prophetic promise God has revealed to you when you were reading the Bible or spending time with Him, did you know that you can begin to decree it over your life? If you had a dream or a vision and you know it is from the Lord, decree what you saw or what you heard. Declare back into Heaven what God has already said. Decree what He has spoken over you. If you get a prophetic word, you can decree it every single day because you show God that you value what He has spoken over you.
Many times, I will take prophetic words I have received into my times of intercession. God will say something like, “I want you to pray for open doors in the nations.” So I will pray, “Thank You, Lord, that You will being to open doors in nations.” And He will say, “Madagascar.” So I will pray more specifically because that is what is on His heart. “Thank You that You will begin to open doors to Madagascar.” Now, two days later, if I get an invitation to Madagascar, I know that it from Him because I have been participating in prayer with Him. You can do this too. Pray and decree for your sons, daughters, business, ministry, family.
Keep It Simple…
As you begin to participate in intercession, listening prayer and declaration from a place of relationship with the Father, you will begin to walk in the manifestation of your prayers! Pray back to Jesus the very words He has spoken over you. Prayer is a relationship. Listen to His heart, read His Word, then pray and make declarations from that place!
You are called to be a bold believer burning passionately for His glory! For more in-depth training, purchase the “Burning Ones” Training Lab with Jerame Nelson.
