The Key to Prayer

"The Key to Prayer is the Rock-Solid Belief That it is Personal"
by John Paul Jackson
Streams Ministries International
www.streamsministries.com

Very few good events that happen in this world occur without prayer being the moving force. True prayer is the union of the eternal and the temporal. God knows what will bring about His purpose in the earth; He then asks us to pray that it takes place. Thus, daily prayer consistently puts the enemy on the move. When we pray, the enemy must respond to God's movements instigated by our prayers. So, in effect, the enemy must respond to us instead of our responding to his attacks.

Unfortunately, we tend to think prayer is difficult. We think prayer is a human action that demands our time, effort, and energy; however, this isn't God's idea of prayer. He designed prayer to be an open, transparent relationship, brought through a spiritual atmosphere in which He can enjoy intimate communion with us. In other words, to not be able to pray would be the greatest disaster that could come upon us. It is only through God's touch that we can pray; it proves He is close to us.

The key to prayer is the rock-solid belief that it is personal. If we don't understand this simple concept, then we won't ever be able to truly know God, let alone enjoy His presence. All the things mentioned in the Lord's Prayer He wants to do for you -- personally. He desires to laugh with you, to cry with you, to touch you, to have intimate moments with you. Prayer times allow God to show you that He has plans, desires, and a destiny for you. Prayer is His moment as much as it is yours.


Unlocking the Mysteries of the Lord's Prayer

The Lord's Prayer begins with, "Our Father" (Matthew 6:9). Many people, when they teach on this topic, stop at "Father," but I want to stop at "our" -- the very first word. The way Jesus opens the most famous prayer in history is rudimentary to understanding prayer's true purpose. We have been brought into the household of faith. This means that God is our Father. It is a family relationship issue -- not a foster parent type of concept. When we are born again, something actually happens in the spiritual realm and literally fulfills this statement. All of us who are children of God have God as our Father. He is our Father -- the Father of every one of us. But He is also my Father, and He is also your Father. Your relationship with your Heavenly Father is personal. Subsequently, it is then accurate to pray, "My Father . . . "

My mother and father have recently moved to New Hampshire to be nearer this ministry. I introduce them as "my" father and mother. Yet, they are also father and mother of my brother and two sisters. When we are all together we introduce them as "our" parents. Thus, our father and mother are, in truth, also my father and mother. One does not negate the other. And so it is in the Lord's Prayer.

If we don't grasp the personal intimacy of this, we will continually think of God as a God who is far away. Deists believe there is a God, but after creating the universe, He stepped back and is letting it run its course all by itself. They believe Him to be like a disinterested stepfather, who makes only periodic visits to see how His creation is doing. But the Lord's Prayer immediately disqualifies this belief because the first thing Jesus does is reveal the personal nature of the Father's heart. The truth is that God is completely, intricately involved in our daily lives and sends His Spirit to touch and transform us as often as we allow.


The Three Stages of Prayer

If we do not personalize prayer, we will never be able to go very far. We will end up drying out and becoming apathetic in our quiet time with God because we won't have a passion for Him. The three stages of prayer are desire, discipline, and delight. Each leads into the others. If prayer is not personal for us, if we do not understand the depth of God's passion for us on a familiar, individual level, we will never build true desire for Him, and our prayers will become stale.

So, when you pray as Jesus taught, let His first word, "our/my," resonate deep into your spirit. Let it speak volumes about your personal, one-to-one connection with your loving Creator.

Don't be afraid to take God personally, because that is how He takes you.


by John Paul Jackson