How to Develop a Powerful Prayer Life Study Guide
(By Dr. Gregory Frizzell)
DATE (12/3/13)
CHAPTER (1)
Understanding the Three Foundations of a Powerful,
Biblically Balanced, God-Focused Prayer Life
A SOLID PRAYER FOUNDATION
No building can be stronger than the foundation upon which it is built. The same is true of our prayer life and relationship with God.
In the title of this chapter we note three words of crucial importance.
§ Powerful – God intends every believer to have a dynamic prayer life with awesome supernatural results. (Read John 14:12-14)
What are some powerful forces you have witnessed or learned about? ___________________
_____________________________________________________________________
What elements describe a powerful force? ______________________________________
How do these forces compare to the power one has in prayer?
_____________________________________________________________________
§ Biblically Balanced – No prayer life is powerful unless it is scripture centered and balanced in the various prayer types.
§ God-Focused – No prayer life is powerful if primarily focused on personal desires rather than God's eternal purpose and perspective.
If you are to experience a powerful prayer life, you must first establish a solid prayer foundation.
Before you begin to study the Three Prayer Foundations, pause and ask God to help you honestly evaluate your daily level of prayer.
On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the highest) where do you rate your level of prayer power?
__________________ Why? ____________________________________________
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FOUNDATION ONE
PRAYER TIME MUST BE VIEWED AS THE ESSENCE OF OUR RELATIONSHIP
WITH GOD AND NOT MERELY SOME DUTY OR RITUAL
We must view prayer as a daily love relationship. From God's perspective, prayer is the expression of that which He desires most—your personal relationship of love, surrender and trust.
§ Prayer must be viewed as your commitment to spend meaningful time in personal relationship with the living God.
§ Above all He wants our heartfelt personal love. (Read Matthew 22:37)
§ Sacrifice and service are meaningless if they do not proceed from a genuine love relationship. (Read 1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
§ If you truly love God, time with Him is your greatest joy. Remember actions speak louder than words.
§ We must relearn the crucial lesson of (Luke 10:38-42 (Read). This story of Mary and Martha contains a truth of enormous importance! We need to spend much time with God before we attempt work for God. Jesus is clearly saying that our first priority is to spend much time with Him. It is this love relationship that He desires far above all the serving and tithing in the world.
§ This genuine love relationship must be two-way, requiring talking and listening. It requires far more than merely bringing our lists of wants and desires to God.
In many ways, prayer is your relationship with God. (Read John 17:3)
Prayer is the primary way we:
§ express our praise and worship.
§ experience cleansing, repentance and sanctification.
§ share needs and desires.
§ intercede and perform ministry.
§ hear God through meditative listening.
Is your prayer time a chore or legalistic requirement or is it a relationship with God?
_____________________________________________________________________
FOUNDATION TWO
YOU MUST MAKE AN ABSOLUTE COMMITMENT TO
CONSISTENTLY SPEND SIGNIFICANT TIME ALONE WITH
GOD IN UNINTERRUPTED PRAYER
Why is this foundation so crucial? Until you make the serious commitment to a significant daily prayer time, you will never become powerful in prayer.
When you view the prayer practices of Jesus and New Testament believers, it is clear they regularly spent much time alone in fervent prayer.
§ The example of Jesus (Read Mark 1:33-35; Luke 6:12; 9:18)
When you study the lives of people mightily used of God, you find one great common denominator, they spent much time in fervent daily prayer!
§ The example of the early church (Read Acts 1:12-14; 2: 41-42; 12:1-5; Romans 1:9)
§ The example of history's great saints (George Mueller, John Hyde, Charles Finney, George Whitfield, Evan Roberts
§ The command of Jesus (Read John 15:1-8)
If Jesus and the early church spent much time in prayer, what makes us think we can do less? God's requirements have not changed and they never will! This is a foundational requirement and a changeless spiritual principle. Friend, until you personally settle this issue and commit to consistent time with God, you will never go to the fullest depths of prayer or spiritual maturity.
What can you do to make your prayer life more powerful? ___________________________
____________________________________________________________________
LET US ANALYZE FOUNDATION TWO - PHRASE BY PHRASE
…ABSOLUTE COMMITMENT…
Three Crucial Reasons why your Commitment must be Absolute
First Reason for Absolute Commitment
Satan fears intercession more than anything else and fights prayer like no other area of your life. He does so for the following reasons.-
§ Prayer is an essential piece of your arsenal of spiritual warfare. It is through prayer that all other weapons are used. (Read 2 Corinthians 10:7)
What does Paul mean when he says, "You are looking only on the surface of things?
____________________________________________________________________
Is it possible for us to look deeper than the surface of things?
____________________________________________________________________
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§ Prayer is crucial to putting on the whole armor of God. (Read Ephesians 6:10-17)
What reasons does Paul give for putting on the whole armor of God?
___________________________________________________________________
According to Ephesians 6:10-17 after we put on the armor of God what should we do?
____________________________________________________________________
The armor of God is for ___________________________________against Satan, but it is
___________________________________________God's power that makes us strong.
§ Prayer is the primary way we exert spiritual authority and wage effective spiritual warfare. (Read 2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, "…they (weapons) have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God." What does the word demolish mean?
____________________________________________________________________
Why do you think Paul chose to use the word "demolish"?
____________________________________________________________________
What are some strongholds that need to be demolished in your life?
____________________________________________________________________
According to Paul how are you able to demolish these strongholds?
____________________________________________________________________
What does Paul mean by we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ?
____________________________________________________________________
What arguments, pretensions, and thoughts need to be demolished or taken captive in your life?
____________________________________________________________________
According to Paul, how can you claim victory over these strongholds in your life?
____________________________________________________________________
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§ Prayer is crucial to true evangelism. (Read Acts 2-4)
What evidence did you see from these chapters in Acts that prayer was important to Peter, and
the other early day evangelists?
_____________________________________________________________________
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§ Prayer is the central element of all great revivals and spiritual awakenings (along with scripture). (Read 2 Chronicles 7:14)
2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us if God's people will do four things: 1) _______________________
2) ____________________3) ______________________ 4) ____________________
then God will __________________, ________________, and __________________.
Second Reason for Absolute Commitment
Our flesh always resists the development of a powerful prayer life.
What strong examples of the flesh hindering prayer and spiritual growth do we see in Matthew
26:40-41 and Romans 7:14-18?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
What examples of the flesh hinder your prayer and spiritual growth? ___________________
____________________________________________________________________
Jesus says, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak. List some things that you need to watch and pray about to help you overcome the flesh hindering your prayers and spiritual growth.
____________________________________________________________________
Third Reason for Absolute Commitment
The world's system of human strength and promotion is the direct opposite of God's ways.
Beyond question, God's ways are opposite of man's ways. (Read Isaiah 55:8) The world's pattern is to exalt human programs, strengths and abilities. Yet, as the Scriptures clearly show, God's pattern is to bring us to a point of utter weakness and total reliance on Himself.
In 2 Corinthians 12:9 we find God's power is made perfect in our_____________________.
What human programs, strengths and abilities do you see getting in the way of bringing you to
total weakness and total reliance upon God?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Is there something God wants you to truly pray about and not just merely give it lip service?
____________________________________________________________________
…TO CONSISTENTLY SPEND SIGNIFICANT TIME…
What does it mean to consistently spend significant time with God? ____________________
____________________________________________________________________
I make a general suggestion of spending at least 30 to 45 minutes a day, alone with God in prayer. That is certainly enough time to experience all major types of prayer that will lead you to miraculous new growth and ministry.
…ALONE WITH GOD IN UNINTERRUPTED PRAYER.
Why is it vital to spend uninterrupted time alone with God?
_____________________________________________________________________
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Four Crucial Reasons to Spend Uninterrupted Time Alone with God
1. To hear the still small voice (Read 2 Kings 19:12)
God often speaks in a still, small voice and we must still our hearts and give Him our undivided attention to clearly hear His voice.
2. The clear example of Jesus (Read Luke 6:12; 9:18; Mark 1:33-35)
Time alone with God is the biblical example of Jesus Christ and the lives of powerful Christians throughout history.
3. God's Instruction (Read Matthew 6:6)
The Scriptures state the importance of a solitary place to see God's face.
4. God both deserves and requires it (Read Jeremiah 29:13)
When we pray, we commune with the God of the entire universe and He deserves our undivided attention.
Beyond question, a truly powerful prayer life requires consistent time alone with God. However, in no way does this suggest that we shouldn't pray throughout the entire day. Paul said we are to "pray without ceasing." (Read 1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Spiritual Application
We only learn to pray by praying. Although, reading books and attending conferences can be helpful, we must consistently show up for practice in our prayer closet alone with God.
What request did Jesus' disciples make of him in Luke 11:1?
____________________________________________________________________
This is perhaps the greatest request any Christian can make of the Father. Are you ready to make this same request of your heavenly Father? If you say you want to learn to pray, yet you won't come to practice, the truth is, you had rather do other things than pay the price to grow spiritually. God cannot teach you to pray if you refuse to show up for practice every day. That is why this foundation is so crucial! Until you make the serious commitment to a significant daily prayer time, you will never become powerful in prayer.
Why does God require that we spend significant time alone with Him in "our closets"?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
At this point, I want to give you encouragement and hope. Through Christ, you really can do this (Read Philippians 4:13). Please stop settling for a shallow walk with Christ when God saved you to experience all the fullness of His daily presence.
Take time right now to ask God to give you a hunger and thirst for significant, daily time alone with Him.
FOUNDATION THREE
A POWERFUL PRAYER LIFE REQUIRES THE CONSISTENT
BALANCED PRACTICE OF ALL MAJOR TYPES OF PRAYER
God gave us different types of prayer. Each type of prayer has a very unique role in developing and maintaining your relationship with Christ. To be weak and inconsistent in any one of the basic prayer types is to be weak in your relationship with God.
Name the five basic types of prayer. 1) _________________________________________
2) _________________________________3) _______________________________
4)_________________________________ 5) _______________________________
Which of the five do you practice the most? _____________________________________
Which one do you practice the least? __________________________________________
Which one is the hardest for you to practice? ____________________________________
"If you fail to eat a balanced diet, you will be physically weak. If you fail to have a balanced prayer life, you will be spiritually weak." If we eat from only one or two food groups, we become physically sick. This same principle applies for a balanced prayer life.
FIVE BASIC TYPES OF PRAYER
1. Adoration, Praise, Thanksgiving and Worship
Psalms 100:1-5; 22:3; 50:23; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; Hebrews 13:15
2. Confession and Repentance
Psalms 6:8; 139:23-24; 24:3-5; 51:6-10; Proverbs 28:13; 1 John 1:9; Matthew 5:23; 6:14
3. Petition/Supplication
John 15:7; Philippians 4:6-7; Hebrews 4:15-16
4. Intercession/Warfare
Ezekiel 22:30; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Ephesians 6:10-17
5. Meditative Listening
Psalms 1:2; 63:6; 77:12; 143:5; Jeremiah 29:13; 1 John 5:14-15
What do each of these prayer types mean to you?___________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Which type is the most important in developing a powerful prayer life?___________________
Why would we consistently need to practice all five different prayer types in order to have a balanced prayer life?
_____________________________________________________________________
If you consistently neglect any of the five types of prayer, your relationship with God will be limited.
& KEY POINTS – The Biblical Path to a Powerful Prayer Life
& If you are to experience a powerful prayer life, you must first establish a solid prayer foundation.
& Without strong prayer foundations, your relationship with Christ will be weak and inconsistent.
& Viewing prayer as a daily love relationship with God is the first foundation of a powerful prayer life.
& If you truly love God, time with Him is your greatest joy.
& No believer can develop a truly powerful, biblical prayer life without regularly spending much time alone with God.
& You must make an absolute commitment to consistently spend significant time alone with God in uninterrupted prayer. You must plan for it and guard it.
& Satan will fight to keep you from deepening your prayer power.
& Our physical bodies and earthly passions resist the practice of fervent prayer.
& God is displeased when we put the predominate emphasis on our own human methods and a comparatively small emphasis on prayer.
& We only learn to pray by praying.
& A powerful prayer life must be biblically balanced to consistently include all five basic types of prayer.
Please turn to pages 26. Review the study questions, look up the scriptures and pray the prayers for daily growth on page 27.
QUESTIONS:
In your own words, explain why it is so important to view prayer as a relationship (Matthew 22:37; John 17:3 and 1 Corinthians 13:1-4)
What does it say to God when you choose to make little time for Bible reading and prayer?
What is the common denominator in almost every life greatly used by God?
Explain the three reasons we must make an absolute commitment to spend significant time alone with God.
How would you define a biblically balanced prayer life? Why is a balanced prayer life so important?
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, help us make our relationship the greatest priority of our life. Help us not put our activities or ministries ahead of a love relationship with You. May we never get so busy "for" You that we neglect time "with" You. (Luke 10:38). Father, teach us that we can do nothing apart from You. Fill us with the desire to tarry long in Your presence. Help us pray and abide close, that Christ may live His life through us (John 15:1). God, grant us such hunger for You that I would not neglect any of the essential types of prayer and relationship with You. Amen.
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