THE LIFE OF DEVOTION: As sons and daughters of God, we live a life of devotion to God. Our life of devotion is seen through our prayer lives and that of living by the word and fasting. Prayer is not something we do irregularly or do when we have problems, but it is our lifestyle. A constant devotional life is what makes our Christian lives to always be fruitful and be in a way that pleases God.
Jesus Christ is our example. The book of Luke reveals Jesus as a person like you and me. It emphasizes the fact that he prayed a lot more than in the other books, because it is written to show us that as people, prayer and devotion has to be the foundation of our lives. Without consistent prayer lives, we will be unable to fulfill the will of God for our lives. Devotion is truly our back bone. We are going to start with the life of prayer.
THE LIFE OF PRAYER:
The following scriptures reveal Jesus’ prayer life. (Luke 3:21, Luke 4:42, Luke 5:16, Luke 6:12, Luke 9:28-30, Luke 11:1, Luke 18:1, Luke 21:37) there are still a few in some gospels.
There are different kinds of prayers revealed in the bible. We will look at them individually. Take note that different people might have different names but still referring to the same prayer. This shouldn’t bother you because the bible does not give names to these prayers, but they are named according to their nature:
1) Prayer of Surrender (Luke 22:39-45): this is where a believer puts his will down for God`s will to prevail in his life. This prayer is done regularly because we are constantly faced with the choice of doing His will. Jesus says that we must carry our cross daily and follow him. The cross is where our will is crucified daily so that we can do the will of God. Here is an example of the prayer of surrender: Father I surrender to you. I humble myself to you and I dedicate my life to do your will. I lay down my will so that I may do yours. I surrender my spirit, soul and body to you. Let not my will, but yours be done in every area of my life.
2) Prayer of declaration (Acts 4:24): This is where the believer declares who God is and what He has done. Example: the omnipotent God, who created the heavens and the earth, who gave His Son to die for us on the cross etc. You declare who the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is.
3) Prayer of repentance and confession (1John 1:9): This is where the believer confesses his/her sins to God and asks for forgiveness. This prayer goes hand in hand with repentance, not just confession. Repentance is leaving that sin behind and turning away from it. The believer must be honest and acknowledge his wrong doing before God in humility and depend on the grace of God in order to be transformed and delivered from whatever bondage he may be in.
4) Prayer of praise (1Timothy 2:1, Acts 16:25-27): This is where the believer praises and gives thanks to God for all He has done for him and for who He is in his life. The believer could either speak or sing praises to God. Praise releases the power of God to manifest in our lives for our good.
5) Prayer of thanksgiving (1Timothy 2:1, Colossians 4:2-3): This is where the believer gives thanks to the Lord for all that He has done, is still doing and is yet to do or anything s/he wants to give thanks for. This prayer goes with the prayer of praise. Praise and thanksgiving release God to manifest himself powerfully for the good of the person or people offering it. It enables the Lord to continue doing good things in the live of a believer. A believer is not supposed to grumble at all. Like any other prayer, a believer could either speak or sing this prayer.
6) Prayer of Worship (John 4:24): This is where the believer honors the Lord for who He is. S/He is conscious of his greatness, and that He deserves honor and glory. It is a time of strong fellowship with the Lord. True fellowship and worship can happen only if there is nothing sinful between the believer and God. Believers who live a sinful life cannot worship God in truth.
7) Prayer of Intercession (1Timothy 2:1): This is where a believer stands in the gap between God and people, nations or situations, normally those who are not saved or those who are out of the will of God. This kind of prayer requires knowing the heart and the will of God about a situation or people and praying in line with it. S/He prays for the will of God to be fulfilled and to prevail.
8) Prayer of supplication (Ephesians 6:18, John 16:23): In this prayer, a believer makes his requests known to God. A believer asks once, and gives God thanks for the answer, and from there he speaks faith, and takes steps that show his expectation for the answer (Mark 11:24).
9) Prayer of unity and agreement (Matthew 18:19-21): This is where two or more believers come together and agree in prayer as they pray for anything that is in line with God’s will. Here believers have to be in faith and agreement together in order for the Lord to answer their request.
10) Confessions of faith: This is where a believer makes confessions of faith that are in line with the bible. Our confessions of faith make the word of God to manifest in our physical lives. We have to keep confessing what the Lord says about our lives if we want to live where God has called us to live. Just believing the word is not enough; we have to confess it with our mouths because faith is perfected by confessions. Our faith confessions create realities.
11) Kingly commands (John 14:12): This is where a believer commands unpleasant situations to change them. In this situation, a believer does not ask God to change the situation, but he uses his kingly authority given to him by Jesus to change that situation, whether it’s diseases, operations of demons, neediness, oppression or whatever. It is not just in changing situations, but we can also command when performing miracles and declare what we want to see happening in Jesus` name. We declare our kingly commands without wavering until we see the outcome of what we have declared in Jesus` name.
12) Prayer of meditation / Prayer of silence (or waiting on The Lord): This is where a believer is silent before the Lord, and meditates on the greatness and goodness of God. He fills his mind with God and his Glory. Playing soft worship music can help greatly during this time.
13) Prophetic prayer: This is where the Holy Spirit reveals to a believer what to pray for or the believer prays for what is in the mind or heart of God under the direction or influence of the Holy Spirit.
14) Fellowship with the Holy Spirit (2Corinthians 13:14): This is where a believer has fellowship with the Holy Spirit. It is being aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit, and talking to him and treating him like a close friend. When we speak in tongues, we also fellowship with The Holy Spirit.
15) Spiritual warfare: This is not fighting demons or the kingdom of darkness because we have victory over it already. But it is to speak or pray in line with the word of God against the kingdom and works of Satan, destroying it and speaking the will of God in that situation. We speak the word with persistent faith and we persist until we see the fruits of our words or prayers or until the Holy Spirit confirms to our spirits that it is done in the spirit, and then it will manifest physically. When we speak the word over the kingdom of Satan and his works, we release the sword of the spirit to cut all of Satan’s works.
16) The Holy Spirit Praying (Romans 8:26): Sometimes the Holy Spirit prays for the believer or for the will of God to prevail using the believer. This prayer may sometimes be groaning or other tongues or just spiritual sounds.