How to Develop a Powerful Prayer Life Study Guide
(By Dr. Gregory Frizzell)
DATE: 12/3/13
INTRODUCTION
A powerful prayer is for every believer:
These statements are from the updated version of the book:
Prayer is the heart and soul of every successful relationship with God. In fact, prayer is absolutely crucial to every area of a believer's life. To illustrate the point, consider the following questions.
How do you abide in Christ and allow Him to live His life through you?
How do you grow as a Christian?
How do you overcome temptation and weakness?
How do you resist Satan and wage effective spiritual warfare?
How do you confess your sins?
How are you filled with the Holy Spirit?
How do you obtain guidance and wisdom from God?
How do you experience the power to serve God effectively?
The answer to every single question is prayer! Indeed, prayer is essential to every part of our relationship with God (John 15:7).
"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."
If you are ready to let God lead you into a more effective prayer life, pray this prayer now.
Dear Lord Jesus, Give me both the desire and ability to move out of the shallows and into the glorious depths of relationship with You.
Study Goals. Upon completion of this study you will
§ gain a clear understanding of prayer from God's perspective and purpose.
§ discover a full biblical understanding of what constitutes a powerful prayer life.
§ learn how to let Christ become the very source and power of your prayer life.
§ experience new motivation and confidence to develop a dynamic prayer life.
§ embrace a practical biblical pattern for developing powerful prayer and a dynamic personal relationship with Christ.
LEARNING TO VIEW PRAYER FROM GOD'S PERSPECTIVE
We will never fully understand prayer until we grasp God's primary purposes for prayer.
§ Far more than just meeting needs, prayer is God's primary means of our coming to know Him, worship Him and experience transformation through the indwelling Christ.
§ Prayer is not primarily about what we can get out of God, but what He purposes to do in and through us for His own pleasure.
§ Prayer is the major way we learn to communicate with God and hear His voice.
§ Through prayer, we abide in Him and allow Him to live through us.
§ Prayer is how Christ purifies His Bride and builds His Kingdom.
§ The great secret of prayer is to align ourselves to God's purposes rather than seeking to align Him to ours.
Until you are totally convinced of the importance of a lifestyle of prayer, you are not likely to take steps to achieve one.
WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO GAIN THROUGH EFFECTIVE PRAYER
Carefully consider Eight God-ordained Results of a powerful prayer life.
1. Your relationship with Him will become much more real and personal. (Matthew 22:37, John 17:3)
2. You will experience ever-deepening holiness and life transforming discipleship.
3. Your ability to clearly hear God's voice will rise dramatically (James 1:5; Jeremiah 29:13).
4. The spiritual power of your life and ministry will increase greatly (John 14:12-14; Acts 1:8).
5. You will experience a dramatic increase in answered prayer (John 15:7).
6. You will experience far greater power to withstand trials, temptations, and spiritual attacks (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
7. As you learn to effectively pray for the lost, you will see many people saved.
8. You will discover how to pray effectively for revival and spiritual awakening in your church, city, and nation (Ezekiel 22:30).
Look up and study each scripture reference given. See through Scripture what God declares will be the result of a powerful prayer life.
Though there are many other benefits of prayer, these eight are some of the most important.
TESTIMONY OF GOD'S GRACE THROUGH PRAYER
Read through my testimony on page 6. I share it for one reason, to show God's transforming power through simple relational prayer. God took a quiet, unsure young man and began to change me. He led me to research the lives of powerful preachers and missionaries, and the great revivals and spiritual awakenings of history. He revealed the following truths to me.
§ There was a distinct common denominator in the lives of all great saints and in every Great Awakening. It was the practice of spending much time in daily prayer and Bible reading!
§ God uses even the weakest believers who spend serious time in fervent daily prayer (Read 2 Corinthians 1:26)
§ Everything revolves around a close prayer relationship with Jesus Christ.
I asked God how I could ever become an effective minister. God spoke so clearly that I have never been the same. "If you will spend much time with me in close relationship and prayer, you will never lack for my mighty presence and miraculous power."
God used (John 15:5 and 2 Corinthians 3:4-6) to drive this truth deep into my heart. (Read these scriptures.)
By God's grace, I committed to make significant daily prayer my top priority. The results:
§ Prayer became the major pattern of my life.
§ Hundreds of miracles have sprung directly from my simple prayer time.
§ God has initiated a nationwide ministry solely through prayer.
No matter how big or little your task, no matter how devastating your problems,
significant daily prayer is the absolute key to a miraculous new walk with Christ!
NOTE: At the end of the introduction and each chapter in the book, you will find study questions and prayers for daily growth. Please look up and study each scripture reference, answer the study questions and pray the prayers. Above all, spend time talking to God about the things He reveals in each chapter. Remember friend, you will not learn to pray by merely "reading" about prayer. You will learn to pray by "praying" about the things you read.
After you have read the introduction, please turn to page 10, look up the scriptures, answer the study questions, and pray the prayers for daily growth on page 11.
In each study week, we will follow this outline: Look up the scriptures, answer the study questions, and pray the prayers for daily strength during each study week
Before you read any further, please pause and ask God to revolutionize your walk with Him. At the end of each study week, there will be key points.
& KEY POINTS: The Biblical Path to Powerful Daily Prayer
& Significant daily prayer is the absolute key for building a dynamic, intimate personal relationship with God.
& Prayer is not primarily about what we can get out of God, but what He purposes to do in and through us for His pleasure.
& Above everything else, God desires a close personal relationship with each of His children. Through prayer, God purposes to establish and deepen your relationship with Him.
& No one's relationship with Christ will ever rise above the level of his or her praying.
& If your prayer life is inconsistent and weak, so will be your relationship with God!
& It is only through the constant cleansing and filling of God's Spirit that our prayers have mountain-moving power.
& Prayer is the primary way we put on the whole armor of God. The more consistently one prays, the greater will be his ability to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil.
& When your prayers become biblical and specific, they take on far greater power.
& When you learn to walk in powerful daily prayer, God will transform your entire life.
& Powerful prayer is God's will for every believer! You can develop a dynamic prayer life!
PRAYER:
Father, I ask You to fill us with a passion to know You and love You with all our hearts (Matthew 22:37). Lord, teach us to view prayer as the heart of our relationship (Luke 11:1). Please enable us to hear Your voice and pray in the center of Your will (1 John 5:14-15). Teach us to pray from Your perspective and will, not our own (Mark 14:36). Open our eyes to the revelation of Your great purposes for our life. Father God, please speak to us and grant us ears to clearly hear Your voice (Isaiah 30:21). Grant us the desire to be holy because You are holy. Fill us with genuine worship and help us worship You in ways truly pleasing to You (John 4:23). God, help us pray not just to get "blessed," but because we truly love You (James 4:2). Lord, teach us to die to ourselves and to trust Christ to live through us (Galatians 2:20). Baptize us in You mighty power and anoint our spiritual gifts to Your service (Acts 1:8). Fill us with Your passion for souls and help us witness to all who cross our path. Bless this study to be a part of our daily life. Amen
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