Pulpit Today

Perseverance in Prayer

The concept of perseverance in prayer involves an undeterred, resolute commitment to maintaining a prayerful and faith-filled posture before God. Perseverance in prayer does not allow doubts to overwhelm one's trust in God or let negative circumstances assuage their belief that God will surely answer!

Persistence in Prayer

Persistence in prayer involves the protracted, repetitive practice of praying about an issue. The very repetitious practice of communing with God makes persistence in prayer transformative in and of itself.

Petition

The prayer of petition is probably the most common of all prayers and it involves approaching God with a request, (whether it's an urgent need or merely a desire) and asking for God's answer. The consequence of faith-filled petitioning will meet needs, bring joy, and reveal God's transcendent power. The Bible makes it clear that Christians should not hesitate to petition God inasmuch as the apostle James points out, "we have not because we ask not" (James 4). Among the many biblical passages that characterize the prayer of petition the most notable include Matthew 7:7-11 where Jesus said, "Ask and it shall be given unto you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened." 1 John 5:14 says, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. (15) And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him" (NIV).

Pleading the Blood of Jesus

There is no place in Scripture that specifically calls for "pleading the Blood of Jesus." However, there is great value in this practice. Pleading the Blood of Jesus is a Christian's verbal profession to nullify Satan's evil work and enforce Christ's dominion. The ground for pleading Christ's Blood through prayer derives its meaning from the provision of Christ's spilled Blood at Calvary. According to New Testament theology, Christ's shed Blood provides man with salvation, deliverance, and protection. Paul noted that Christ's bloodletting defeated every enemy of God (Colossians 1:13; 2:15; 1 John 3:8). Further, the Law of Moses in the Old Testament required the sprinkling of lamb's blood upon the priests and articles of the Tabernacle and Temple. This sprinkling of blood attested that God owned these persons and objects and they were set apart for His purposes. Today, there is no further need to offer animal sacrifices. Christ's Blood, spilled once at Calvary, is sufficient and never loses its power or meaning! Pleading the Blood of Jesus is a verbal application of Christ's victory over Satan, sin, and bondage. The apostle John said in Revelation 12:11, "We overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony," and Solomon wrote, "the power of life and death are in the tongue" (Proverbs).

Praise

Praise is the verbal or outward expression of truth that glorifies, exalts, and esteems God. Such expressions include testimony, singing, dancing, clapping, shouting, lifting of hands, and instrumentation.

Pray Without Ceasing

The Christian practice to "pray without ceasing" describes a lifestyle, not a mode of prayer. It is a discipline that cultivates an awareness of God's presence, coupled with a readiness to offer thanks, praise, petition, intercession, or whichever prayer is appropriate for the moment.

Prayer

Prayer is the act of communing with God in the form of petition, praise, thanksgiving, confession of sin, or meditation.

Prayer Chain

A prayer chain is the act of contacting numerous persons, typically for interceding in behalf of someone in need.

Prayer Covering

A prayer covering describes the target of prayer rather than the nature of prayer. The concept involves identifying a person, a geographic region, or a situation and then offering prayer toward that objective.

Prayer Language

A prayer language is the divinely imparted ability to converse with God in a language unknown to the speaker (Acts 2:4). According to the apostle Paul, these tongues may be known or unknown human languages (1 Corinthians 14), howbeit, the languages are always foreign to the speaker. It is important to assert that the prayer language must be inspired by the Holy Spirit or it ceases to be a charismatic gift.

Prayer of Agreement

The prayer of agreement is two or more believers, in harmony of purpose, petitioning God for a desired result (Matthew 18:19).

Prayer of Faith

The prayer of faith involves seeking God with the full assurance that He hears the prayer and will certainly answer.

Prayer Track

A prayer track furnishes a course of guidance to help lead someone through a time of prayer. For example, someone can pray The Lord's Prayer line-by-line and amplify upon each segment. Praying Bible passages, especially the Psalms, also furnish excellent prayer tracks. Prayer tracks can be developed by utilizing models, such as Moses' Tabernacle and focusing prayer on the imagery of the brazen altar, the laver, the lampstand, the mercy seat, etc. There are many ways to develop prayer tracks as a course of guidance for praying.

Prayer Vigil

A prayer vigil identifies a group of people who gather for meditative, petitionary, or intercessory prayer.

Prayer Walk

A prayer walk is a literal route that Christians take over a given area, whereby they offer petition, intercession, confession, thanksgiving, or praise to God.

Praying in the Spirit

The charismatic phenomenon of "praying in the spirit" occurs when one speaks under the direct impulse of the Holy Spirit in an unlearned tongue (1 Corinthians 14:14-15).

Praying Through

The concept of praying through deals with the process of thoroughly settling a matter with God. Regardless of the repeated times of approaching God in prayer about the matter, the praying through experience culminates when one obtains the assurance that God has met the need. (Before you are through praying, make certain you have prayed through!)

Prophetic Praying

Prophetic praying occurs when the Holy Spirit inspires a Christian to pray with wisdom, insight, and revelation. In short, it involves praying with divinely imparted knowledge. Prophetic prayer may arise in the form of foretelling or forth-telling, and it serves to edify, exhort, or comfort others.