Here we are:today is the last day of the project 31 days of powerful prayer.
I'm very thankful...God has taught me many things during this month and
I hope you too have received something encouraging to your prayer life. 
Always remember that God loves to hear from you and
His supernatural power can handle any kind of difficulty, dilemma or
discouragement.
Your prayer is a conversation with your heavenly Father.
He hears you when you pray,
and He answers you when you ask questions.
Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done for you!

I don't know if you have been following my posts during the whole
month or if you are just visiting my blog today- 
but anyways today I want to pray for you, my reader!

And if you have some specific prayer request don't hesitate to
write it to me on the comment section and I'll pray for your
request specifically. 

Dear heavenly Father,
 I thank you for this month of teaching us about the prayer.
Thank you that you love to hear from us.
Talking with you helps us to be close to you and have
a deeper relationship with you.
Father I pray that the person who is reading this post
right now could have a deeper and unshakeable relationship with you.
I pray that we would have a strong desire to know you more.
Thank you for love for us and help us to comprehend the depth of your care and concern for us.
Thank you for your guidance.
I ask you to guide us in our decisions, thoughts,words and mindset
so that we can live the life you God has purposed for us.
Thank you Father that when we need hope, you are our hope.
When we are weak, you are our strength.
When we are weary, you are our resting place.
When we need healing, you are our healer.
When we seek protection, you are your shield.
Thank you Father that you fill our every need.
I ask you to fill my reader right now with your love,
with your joy, with your strength, with your peace,
and with your Holy Spirit. 
Help us to pray powerfully and worship you.
Thank you that you will lead us closer to you.
I pray in Jesus' name.

May the Lord bless and protect you; 
may the Lord’s face radiate with joy because of you; 
may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace.
-Numbers 6:24-26

God bless you! I send you a big hug.
 
 
 




How often do talk to God and listen for His heart? 

Pray all the time. 
-Ephesians 6:18 

We are called to pray all the time in every occasion, in every season...
but God wants us to have a specific appointments with Him.
Many of us want to have God's presence in our lives;yet we don't want to or we are too busy to form a habit that would actually invite God's presence in our lives.
But when we make a prayer a habit, we stay constantly tuned to God's presence
and in that way we are open to receive His blessings.

"If a goal is really important to me, I discipline myself in order to achieve it.
And same is true with prayer.
It's time to make a decision:I will learn what disciplines are necessary
to fuel my prayer life and I will practice these disciplines regularly,
without fail. "
-Bill Hybels

Every person's prayer life is different so feel free to pursue prayer the way God leads you.
Praying it's simply talking to God and nothing else can improve your relationship 
with God than prayer. 

"We never become certified experts in prayer and we never stop learning
to communicate with God;our experiences just keep getting 
richer and better."
-Joyce Meyer

Watch and pray.
-Matthew 26:41 

Whatever  is your best time in your day,
give that to communion with God.
Make prayer a habit- 
you can be sure that things will change in your life;
prayer changes the one who prays.
So...
 
 
 

Maybe the simplest form of prayer is praying the Word-
all it takes is reading or even better memorizing words in the Bible and 
then we can pray them in a personal way.
In the Bible there are many prayers that had great power when they were prayed for the first time, but  these prayers are powerful even today.
God's promises are for you! 
And God loves when we know His Word and pray it back to Him.
So let's have a look to some of the prayers when can find from the Scripture and
what we can pray too.

"GOD'S WORD DOES PROVIDE ANSWERS, DIRECTION,
AND PRAYER STRATEGIES FOR EVERY SITUATION WE
FACE."
-Joyce Meyer

Prayer of Jabez  

“Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” 

– 1 Chronicles 4:10

Prayer of Moses
  "Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight."
-Exodus 33:13 

Mary's prayer 
 "Oh, how I praise the Lord.  How I rejoice in God my Savior! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and now generation after generation forever shall call me blest of God. For he, the mighty Holy One, has done great things to me."
-Luke 1:46 -49

Jesus's Prayer 

“Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I know that you always hear me."  

– John 11:42

Samson's Prayer


“O Lord Jehovah, remember me again—please strengthen me...
-Judges 16:28 
 -when someone is sick pray: For I am the Lord who heals you. -Exodus 15:26
-when you weary and going through a season of difficulty: He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength. -Isaiah 40:29
-when your mouth is getting you in the trouble: Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips. -Psalm 141:3
-when you are afraid: Fear not, for I am with you;Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,Yes, I will help you,I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’-Isaiah 41:10
-When you are too stressed: Give your burdens to the Lord. He will carry them. He will not permit the godly to slip or fall. -Psalm 55:22
-When you are discouraged about your future: There is hope for your future, says the Lord. -Jeremiah 31:17 
For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. -Jeremiah 29:11

These are only few samples,but you can really find a Bible verse that provides
you answer and direction; just search them from the Bible!
 Let God's Word be a vital part of your prayers!

 




 
 

 




Today I want to encourage you to do something different in your prayer time:
Take some time; at least 20 minutes and just soak in God's presence.
What is soaking prayer?
Soaking prayer is about experiencing intimacy with God.
It's a prayer where we set apart regular time exclusively to spend with our Heavenly Father.
  Many times when we come before the Lord in prayer we do so with our list of things that we want or need. Often we are the ones doing all the talking. But God wants to have communion with us, which is a two-way conversation.

When you seek Him, you will find Him.

"There must be time for Him, 
just to love Him and to have Him love us,
no other agendas, no shopping list or prayer requests. 
We need to put loving Him first, because only as we are filled with His love do we have love to give away." 
-Carol Arnott

So how can you do this soaking time with God? 

You can do the soaking prayer anywhere, and at any time.
It's just important that you find a comfortable place.You can lie down or you can sit-
whatever is more comfortable for you.
Then settle down and open your heart to the Lord;
just relax and enjoy being still.
If it helps to put on a quiet worship CD, feel free to do that.
Then just soak and invite the Holy Spirit to speak to you.
Focus on the Lord's presence within you and
rest in faith, believing He is working in you.
Respond to the direction of the Father; 
and in the end get up refreshed and full of the Holy Spirit.

 





Worship. Listen. Respond.




God wants to hear from us regularly.
But as we can read from the yesterday's post sometimes we might have a dry
period in our prayer life so that's why it's good to try to do something differently.
Some time ago I decided to wake up earlier to spend some time in prayer before 
wake up the kids and get them ready for the school. But what happened?I was 
so tired that when I closed my eyes to pray I nearly fall a sleep again even if 
I was standing! And my prayer wasn't really effective. So then I saw Bill Hybel's 
text about keeping a prayer journal and I really liked the idea and tried it- and
I liked it! Actually I found it powerful.Because first before starting to write I felt bad and I wasn't even in the mood to pray but as I started to write down my prayer everything changed.My attitude changed and in the end my focus was on God and I was filled by His joy...

Actually we know that David kept a prayer journal. He loved to write down his prayers as we can read from the Psalms;for example Psalm 57:
O God, have pity, for I am trusting you! I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until this storm is past. I will cry to the God of heaven who does such wonders for me. He will send down help from heaven to save me because of his love and his faithfulness. He will rescue me from these liars who are so intent upon destroying me. I am surrounded by fierce lions—hotheads whose teeth are sharp as spears and arrows. Their tongues are like swords. Lord, be exalted above the highest heavens! Show your glory high above the earth. My enemies have set a trap for me. Frantic fear grips me. They have dug a pitfall in my path. But look! They themselves have fallen into it!
O God, my heart is quiet and confident. No wonder I can sing your praises! Rouse yourself, my soul! Arise, O harp and lyre! Let us greet the dawn with song! I will thank you publicly throughout the land. I will sing your praises among the nations. 10 Your kindness and love are as vast as the heavens. Your faithfulness is higher than the skies.
11 Yes, be exalted, O God, above the heavens. May your glory shine throughout the earth.

Here are some thoughts about journaling by Gordon MacDonald:
   "At first it was difficult. I felt self-conscious. I was worried that I would lose the journal or that someone might peek inside to see what I’d said. But slowly the self-consciousness began to fade, and I found myself sharing in the journal more and more of the thoughts that flooded my inner spirit. Into the journal went words describing my feelings, my fear and sense of weakness, my hopes, and my discoveries about where Christ was leading me. When I felt empty or defeated, I talked about that too in the journal. Slowly I began to realize that the journal was helping me come to grips with an enormous part of my inner person that I had never been fully honest about. No longer could fears and struggles remain inside without definition. They were surfaced and confronted. And I became aware, little by little, that God’s Holy Spirit was directing many of the thoughts and insights as I wrote.  On paper, the Lord and I were carrying on a personal communion. He was helping me, in the words of David, to “search my heart.” He was prodding me to put words to my fears, shapes to my doubts. And when I was candid about it, then there would often come out of Scripture or from the meditations of my own heart, the reassurances, the rebukes, and the admonishments that I so badly needed. But this began to happen only when the journal was employed. "

The great thing about journaling is that we are forced to examine our lives.

So how to journal?
All you need is a simple notebook and a pen- and then spend some time to write down on your notebook! If you don't like a lot writing maybe you can start to write down your prayers just once 
a week and then plan to write in this notebook everyday but restrict yourself to one page.
Start by writing a word yesterday. And then write a small paragraph recounting yesterday's events...maybe a little description of the people you met, your appointments, decisions, thoughts,feelings,high points,low points, frustrations...
And then write some insights that come from reading the Bible and other spiritual literature.

 And then write down your prayers!
Writing down your prayers is good so it gives your body a brief rest and it focuses your mind.
It's good to limit to write your prayers in one page so this exercise won't become too overwhelming.
In writing down your prayers ACTS formula could be helpful. 
ACTS means adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication. 
I have written about these subjects during my project 31 days of powerful prayer and you can read more here: 

Writing down your prayer is also a good way to notice how God then answers your prayers!
And then when you have finished writing you can read aloud what you wrote.
And the important thing is also listen to what God wants to say to you!

"The main value of a journal is as a tool for listening to the quiet Voice. Journal keeping serves as a wonderful tool for withdrawing an d communing with the Father. When I write, it is as if I am in direct conversation with Him. And there is that sense that in the words that you are led to write, God’s Spirit is mysteriously active, and communion at the deepest level is happening."
-Gordon MacDonald

 


 


 

 



Unfortunately it seems to happen to many of us that we can have a 
prayerless season.
But what causes these ups and downs in our prayer life?
Why do we stop praying?
There can be many reasons but some of them are that we are too comfortable with our lives. 
Maybe we have had a huge problem and we prayed day and night, but then God 
answered us and everything has settled down so we don't feel any so motivated to pray
and we stop.
And of course God doesn't want us to forget Him,but he wants us to take time to be with Him.
And if we pray less and less it could be that in the first place we hadn't made prayer an important
priority in our daily lives.

Other thing that can hinder us to pray is a sin. 
So when we sin and don't ask for forgiveness our prayer times become fewer.
Or we are just discouraged, disillusioned or despairing...

And then of course Satan tries to do everything to dry up our prayer time.
He tells us lies and we start to think for example that we'll never be blessed anyway...
"Anytime we begin to make progress against the kingdom of darkness and do something
that advances the kingdom of God, the devil does everything he can to resist us, frustrate us,
and try to stop us."
-Joyce Meyer

So what to do if we have a dry, prayerless season?
The good news is that we can always come back into fellowship with God!
And we have to know that prayer is not about a feeling but it's about our faith.

Come, let’s talk this over, says the Lord; no matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can take it out and make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you white as wool!  
-Isaiah 1:18

So go to God!
Exam yourself;ask am I spiritually dry?
Is there some sin in my life?
And then talk to God! Ask for forgiveness.
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink."
-John 7:37
Trust in the Lord that He will give you deep roots to drink if you feel your in dry season;
let Him water your soul!
Intimacy with God brings joy and peace.
Jesus told the disciples that should pray and never give up!
The same rule applies to us!
Keep on praying even if you are in dry place- 
God waits to hear your voice and He cares deeply of every detail of your life!
So don't give up- keep on praying and ask God to help you keep your
enthusiasm up! 
If we remain steadfast and do not give up praying,
God will always work something good out in our lives! 
 
 





It's God will for us to be well and not sick!
So we should fight against sickness, because have  God's promises in His word:
He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.
-Psalm 103:3

Yes, I will restore you to health. I will heal your wounds. I, the LORD, affirm it!
-Jeremiah 30:17

So keep this in mind:it's God's will to heal when you pray!
It's important that you don't doubt it, because you won't
receive healing if you at the same time waver in your heart
whether or not it's God's will to heal. 
So if you are sick pray and believe that God wants you well.
But pray also for other people who are sick.
Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  
-James 5:16 

And actually Jesus tells us to heal the sick in  Matthew 10:8:
Heal the sick, 
raise the dead, cure the lepers, and cast out demons. 
Give as freely as you have received! 

God does miracles even today and see what John 14:12 says:
I tell you the solemn truth, the person who believes in me will perform the miraculous deeds that I am doing, and will perform greater deeds than these, because I am going to the Father.  

So everyone who receives Christ is given authority!
Jesus used many and varied ways of healing so 
in the Bible we don't find a simple form or model how to pray for
the sick.But the the important thing that we can learn from Jesus was
His relationship with the Father.
So when we pray for the sick we have to depend on God and work with the 
Holy Spirit.
And then we see also that Jesus always talked and asked the person what was wrong.
So when you pray for the sick ask how can you pray for him/her? Ask how long he/she has been sick? Ask if he/she knows the cause or if they do know how come they have this problem.
And while asking listen to the Holy Spirit's guiding!He may give you a word of knowledge.
Then we see from the Bible that Jesus actually didn't pray for the sick but he commanded in prayer.
The commands were not directed to God, but toward people's conditions.

So for example you can command like this:
In the name of Jesus, I command the........................(the name of sickness) in 
.............................(person's name and place in the body) to be healed.
Pain leave now!

Commanding prayers are directed toward the problem and not toward God.
After praying for a person ask how he/she is doing and if nothing seems to happen
continue to pray.It's important to know though that often the healing miracle doesn't
happen immediately but later after some time. So persist in prayer!

And when healing happens remember always to thank God and honor Him for what He did!
Thanksgiving and praise are  important in the healing process!


 




 
 

Prayer is a personal and intimate relationship between you and God,
but as believers we are called also to pray for other people.
Yesterday's post talked about the prayer of agreement-that's when we
pray with other people. 
Instead the prayer when we pray for other people is called
intercession.
Intercession means crying out to God on the behalf of someone else,
 and taking their needs to God in prayer. 
Intercession is a very important prayer because many people do not pray for themselves
or don't know how to pray as they don't have a personal relationship with God. And so many people around you need your prayers:family, friends, neighbors, coworkers or even a person you meet
that you don't even know. We live in a difficult times...so the best gift you can give an other person
is to pray for them!

So how can we pray for others?

1. Thank God for them!
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.
-Colossians 1:3

Thanksgiving reminds you of your love for them. Love is the fuel for effective prayers. 
Allow your thankfulness lead you toward focusing on God’s heart for them.  

2. Listen to what God says.
Let the Holy Spirit lead you and cooperate with what He is doing int the lives of the people
for whom you are praying.

So ever since we first heard about you we have kept on praying and asking God to help you understand what he wants you to do; asking him to make you wise about spiritual things;  and asking that the way you live will always please the Lord and honor him, so that you will always be doing good, kind things for others, while all the time you are learning to know God better and better.-Colossians 1:9-10


3. Pray for the other person's prayer request
Sometimes people have specific prayer requests so pray and present them to God.
Don’t worry if these requests are different than what you got in your time with the Lord. 
The important thing is to spend time with God and bring others to His presence.

Epaphras, from your city, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his love. He is always earnestly praying for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect and to help you know his will in everything you do. 
-Colossians 4:12 

Our prayers make a great difference in people's lives so I encourage you to pray for others!
There may be times when you are the only person on earth praying for someone else- and your intercession can change that
person's entire life so- PRAY FOR OTHERS!
 

 
by praying them before the Lord.
 
Thanksgiving reminds you of your love for them. Love is the fuel for effective prayers. Allow your thankfulness lead you toward focusing on God’s heart for them. - See more at: http://prayer-coach.com/2014/05/05/how-do-you-pray-for-others/#sthash.60SY6z5g.dpuf


When we have been praying about something and haven't been seeing any 
progress, we can make our prayers powerful by getting someone to pray
in agreement with us.

Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything 
that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven.
 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, 
there am I in the midst of them.
 -Matthew 18:19-20

When two or more people come into agreement Jesus promises to be in the midst of them!

Of course you have to find a person who with whom you can agree-there must
be harmony, purity, honor and humility in that relationship of agreement.
You have to have one heart and one mind when you pray a prayer of agreement!
...Hearing the report, they lifted their voices in a wonderful harmony in prayer...
-Acts 4:24 

"GOD GIVES US A SPECIAL PROMISE FOR THE UNITED PRAYER OF TWO OR THREE WHO AGREE IN WHAT THEY ASK."
-Andrew Murray

So try the power of praying in agreement with others!
God's power, presence, guidance and comfort are present
when pray in agreement with others!