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There's More Than One Way to Pray
by Tonja Taylor June 11 is a very special day for me. It is the day I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and was given my very own prayer language! A prayer language is a very special way to pray to God that He is eager to give each believer who asks. It is the best way for a believer to pray the perfect will of God in a language that only God can understand. When I prayed with a married couple in that wonderful Tulsa church to receive the Holy Spirit and my prayer language, nothing happened. All three of us were disappointed. But, I just told Daddy God that I wanted all of Him I could get, and that I knew it would happen when He wanted it to. (This is another form of prayer--just talking to Him in English, telling Him all that's in your heart. He knows it anyway, but He loves you to talk to Him, any time of day or night!) I bought a hamburger and went home. I was sitting at the table eating it when the LORD said, "Put down your hamburger and stand up." God really will talk to you like that. He is the Master of Communication. And when we believe in Him and have Jesus in our hearts, He gives us the freedom and privilege of talking to Him, which is prayer. So I prayed--talked to Him again. Excited and knowing in my heart what was about to happen, I put down my burger and stood up and said, "LORD, I love you. Loosen my tongue!" And He did. It was like a sweet fountain of water running over my lips, only it was words--a few at first, and then a steady stream. Although I could not understand their meaning, they were beautiful to me. And I felt the most intense joy and peace I had known. There are other ways to pray too, of course. We pray in our own language when we ask of God things that we need and want. We ask of Him just like we asked of our earthly parents when we were growing up. We don't have to use fancy language or meet a certain standard, praise the LORD! We don't have to pray a certain amount of time or be on our knees. In fact, I've done quite a bit of praying while driving down the road! Our loving Daddy God is a practical God, and "meek and easy to be intreated." That means He not only understands that we are dust (because He lived as a human through Jesus, thank goodness!) but is humble and a true gentleman and gives us the benefit of the doubt. He is on our side. He supports and encourages us and is eager to hear us when we come to Him earnestly, just as we are pleased and encourage our little ones who come to us and say, "Mama, I need wah-wah (water)" when they are learning to talk, or "Dad, I can't figure this out! I need you to help undo this knot." or "Where can I find this stuff for my science experiement?" or "Can I go visit Janie and sleep over?" or "Why do birds sing and spiders have no voices?" or "What does it mean when a man and woman marry?" and so on. How much more does our Father Who sent Jesus to die for us--SO WE COULD HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM!--love it when we talk to Him in prayer! He is not judging us; He welcomes us. HALLELUJAH! One of the very best ways after praying in the Spirit to commune with God is to pray His promises back to Him. There is great power in it, too, for the Word of God IS our very life! And it's easy! Here's how I do it, every day, many times a day: I take a verse and make it mine. For instance, I take Numbers 23:20, which says, "What God has blesed no man can curse," and say, "Thank You, Father, that You have blessed me and no one can curse me!" And Romans 10:11, which says, "'For the Scripture says, 'Whoever believes in Me will not be disappointed.'" and I pray, "Thank You, Father, that I believe in You and I am not disappointed!" I celebrate prayer and the freedom we have to pray every day. I love to talk to Daddy God many times from the time I wake up, all through the day, and the last thing before I close my eyes to sleep at night. And He loves it. He wants to talk to you, too. If you're not sure about how to pray, ask Him to show you. He may speak directly to your heart, through His Word, or He may send someone or something--such as the instruction and examples in this article--to help you learn more about how to talk to Him. If you have been praying to Him already in English, He wants to give you an even more exciting way to communicate with Him, through the power of the filling of the Holy Spirit. Just ask! He will help you. He will fill you. And you will NEVER regret going deeper with God! Tonja and her husband live to exalt God. They lift Him up in books (P.O.W.E.R. Girl!; LEGACY; Visions of the King; Your Holy Health; more); presentations; service in church, community, and the world; and via the "River Rain Creative" (309 videos) and "POWERLight Learning" You Tube channels. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |