Transformative Prayers: 7 Ways to Revolutionize Your Life with Prayer
During my early years of walking with the Lord, my prayers sounded something like this:
“God, please help me land that job.” “Jesus, heal my throat, I pray.” “Lord, provide enough money to pay these bills.” “Father, take away my fear.”
It took me some time to realize that these casual prayers weren’t yielding much. I believed the idea was to do my best on my own, and only turn to God when I needed a lifeline. But the problem was, I needed that lifeline almost constantly.
I cherished the Scripture that says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). Taking God at His Word, I prayed, sought, and knocked as I went along. I also took to heart the verse that says, “You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2). “Great!” I thought, “I can easily fix that,” and so I began asking for everything. Yet, I remained discontented, and the answers to my prayers didn’t seem to come as I desired.
One day, as I was pondering these verses again, my eyes were opened to the next verse, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (James 4:3). Could it be that the “God give me this, do that, wave your magic wand here, get me out of this mess” kind of asking wasn’t what God desired for my prayer life? In utter frustration, I cried out, “Lord, teach me how to pray.”
And He did just that!
I came to understand that prayer isn’t just about asking for things—though that certainly is a part of it. More importantly, prayer is about conversing with God. It’s drawing near to Him, spending time with the one you love. It’s seeking Him first, touching Him, getting to know Him better, being with Him, and waiting in His presence. It’s acknowledging Him as the source of power upon whom you can rely. It’s taking the time to say, “Speak to my heart, Lord, and tell me what I need to hear.” It is partnering with Him, aligning our spirit with His to see His perfect will fulfilled. It’s positioning ourselves and our lives as connected to God.
We cannot experience God’s best for our lives, nor can we push back against things that were never God’s will for us, except through prayer. We cannot leave our lives to chance. We must pray about everything continually, not just when things go wrong. We must pray about anything that concerns us, no matter how big—”With God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37)—or how small—”The very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:30).
Without reducing prayer to a formula found in a book titled “7 Prayers That Will Change Your Life Forever,” I have outlined seven fundamental types of prayers that can bring lasting peace and positive change to your life: confession, salvation, release, surrender, praise, promise, and blessing. However, please don’t feel confined by these categories. They are just that—categories and suggestions.
And don’t worry about using fancy prayer language or church jargon. The Bible tells us the primary qualification for prayer: “He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).
The more you pray, the more you will find to pray about, and the more you will be led to pray for others. Don’t let discouragement over unanswered prayer cause you to doubt that God has heard you. If you have received Jesus and are praying in His name, God hears you, and something is happening whether you see it manifested in your life now or not. In fact, every time you pray, you are advancing God’s purposes for you. Without prayer, the full purpose God has for you cannot be realized.
Hi, I am John Smit a Captain in Fire Department City of Newyork with over years of experience in the field of Firefighting and HSE. My passion for fire safety started when I was a young boy and witnessed a neighbor’s house go up in flames along with precious lives. Since then, I had dedicated my life to ensuring the safety of buildings, properties, and individuals in case of a fire and medical emergencies.