There is power in prayer. We grew up in a praying home, we’ve attended praying churches, and we’ve seen God answer countless specific prayers over the years

When we were in high school our father and a few trusted friends believed God was leading them to launch a new Christian school in our area. To get started, of course, they needed desks, books, and the right location. But with little money, what they needed more than anything was faith. And prayer.

During those early days of the school, we watched how God rapidly guided and provided. A local church agreed to house the school and allow their facilities to be remodeled for the purpose. A local business donated free lumber. A volunteer ministry team from Tennessee showed up to help with construction. Within weeks, new classrooms and offices were completed. Another school called and offered books, desks, and chairs.

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4 (NKJV)

We are living now in the time Paul speaks about above. That time has come. We continue to see the escalation and acceleration of human depravity and crisis. There seems to be an increasing disregard for the love of truth. In fact, the Apostle Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 that some would be given to an unrighteous deception because they did not receive the love of the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Paul also addresses this with Timothy after giving him a very strong charge and challenge to his ministry.

Paul was deeply concerned that even amongst those who professed to know the truth, many no longer had a love for the truth. In 2 Timothy 4:5, he encourages us to make sure we are not disheartened or discouraged from keeping our focus:

^“But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

Be watchful in all things

In other words, be morally alert, be sober, and have self control.

Endure afflictions

We must persevere through whatever challenges or hardships may come our way. We need to keep our vision of hope and our eyes on the destination of the Lord. Circumstances should not dictate who we are, because we know who we are in Christ.

In Hebrews 4:15-16 (NIV) we read about how our Savior can help us as we face life’s many challenges and temptations:

We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Some Christian traditions believe that God is totally dispassionate—that He is essentially stoic in His demeanor, beyond emotion.

But, as we can see below, Jesus showed many emotions, and therefore, so does the Father. Jesus told Phillip in John 14:9, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”

Our Father in heaven, we come before You today, acknowledging You as our Creator. You are the God of Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac, the One who established Your chosen people and through whom You gave Your Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. You established the promised land of Israel and demonstrated time and time again that if Your people sought You, worshipped You, and obeyed You, that You would bless them with guidance, provision, and protection. But that if they turned away, then You would remove Your hand and allow judgment.

Lord, we also acknowledge that just as Israel was dedicated to You at it’s founding, that another country years later would also seek Your blessing and dedicate themselves and their land to You. The first president of these United States of America, on the day of his inauguration sought Your hand, Your guidance, and Your blessing on our new country, and the people prayed and celebrated in agreement.

All 50 Governors and the President of the United States proclaimed the 64^th  annual National Day of Prayer as millions of Americans gathered from coast to coast in solemn assembly. It was the single, largest mobilized call to prayer in the history of our nation with more than 43,000 events taking place at courthouse steps, parks, offices, government buildings, churches and homes symbolizing a single prayer – one voice – one cry – for such a time as this. It was, perhaps, the fulfillment of the vision of President John Adams, who wrote on June 17, 1775, "We have appointed a Continental fast. Millions will be upon their knees at once before their great Creator, imploring his forgiveness and blessing; his smiles on American councils and arms."

Prayer Begins With…The Kingdom of God

Allow God to lead you to pray for others in the church and their needs, national and local situations, the government, the advance of the Kingdom of God, and the growth of the Church. God is looking for people who will stand in the gap with Him in intercession for situations that are beyond their own personal interests. “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none” (Ezekiel 22:30). Make God’s interests your interests.

To worship means “to bow down, to prostrate oneself.” God is seeking those who worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). God wants truth in the inner parts of our heart (Psalm 51:6). In true worship, there is a total bowing down of the heart to God, which is a response to the revelation of who God is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. Worship is voluntary submission to the love, the will, and the law of God. Any hypocrisy can defile true worship. Thus, we must repent and seek His face to experience the fullness of praise.

Prayer Begins With…Thanksgiving and Praise

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.” Psalm 100:4

Thank God for what He has done for you – for answers to prayer, for forgiving your sins, for coming in to your life, for making you His child. We can thank Him both for blessings seen and those as yet unseen. It is a key to faith, and it is natural and right that we give thanks always to the One from whom all good things come (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Thank God for the results of prayer, both before and after you see the results (Philippians 4:6-7). Pray with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving expresses your confidence that God has heard and answered your prayer even before you see the result.

Rather than rushing into God’s presence and saying many things, it is good to quiet your mind and wait in God’s presence so you can feel God’s heart and pray the things that the Holy Spirit shows you to pray for (Habakkuk 2:1). God promises to renew the strength of those who wait patiently on Him (Isaiah 40:31; Psalm 27:14). Through this you express to God in a practical way “not my will but Yours be done.” If you are always talking in prayer, you will not be able to hear what God is saying.

Prayer Begins With…The Word of God

When we come to God, we must know what the Word of God says regarding the thing we are praying for. We must renew our minds with the Word so that we know God’s will on the matter without a doubt. God’s will is to do for us what He promises in the Word. By meditating on the Word and letting it transform our hearts as we renew our minds in it, we prepare ourselves to pray in faith. If we don’t know what the Word says, there is a good chance that doubt will enter, and if we doubt, we cannot expect to receive from God (James 1:6-7).