Prayer is powerful

When God's people pray the impossible becomes possible, the chains of bondage are broken and the captives are set free.

Prayer is powerful, prayer needs to be purposeful, prayer is our connection to God, prayer should be continual, prayer shows how much we depend on God and how much we trust and love God.

Sadly we tend to use prayer as nothing more than an emergency call to God.

Too often we only pray when we need or want something from God, we cold call Him, as if we just rubbed a genie lamp.

We pray too little, we want to be self-sufficient, free to make our own decisions, free to live our lives as we want. We want to prove to ourselves and others we can make it on our own, we don't want to depend on God.

When the Jewish people would pray, they had a different view then we do, prayer to them was not a time when they asked God for things, prayer was a time when they would examine themselves.

You see the Hebrew word for prayer ”Tefillah ”means to "self evaluate”.
And that is how they prayed, comparing, their attitude and behavior with God’s holiness.

Our English word for prayer means to ask, see the difference!

Self Evaluation or Asking?

Should we self evaluate when we pray?

Yes!

Should we ask God for everything?

Yes!

I believe the answer is both, we should examine our motives behind our prayers, are they selfish, self-promoting, for our glory, or are our prayers for God's glory, His truth to break free others who are bound, or break the bondage we are in?

We serve a mighty God creator of all things, He searches our hearts, He knows our struggles, He knows our pain, our hurts, our sorrows, He is our joy, our peace, our strength, when we approach Him in prayer He focuses on what we ask and speaks to us individually because He is God our Father and He loves us, He wants to be the desire of our hearts and give us all we need.

Gods word says this;

“He also said to them: “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’ Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s shameless boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs. “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”Luke‬ ‭11:5-13‬ ‭CSB‬‬

“When Herod was about to bring him out for trial, that very night Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while the sentries in front of the door guarded the prison. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, he woke him up and said, “Quick, get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists. “Get dressed,” the angel told him, “and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Wrap your cloak around you,” he told him, “and follow me.” So he went out and followed, and he did not know that what the angel did was really happening, but he thought he was seeing a vision. After they passed the first and second guards, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went outside and passed one street, and suddenly the angel left him. When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from all that the Jewish people expected.” As soon as he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many had assembled and were praying.” Acts‬ ‭12:6-12‬ ‭CSB‬‬

“What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from your passions that wage war within you? You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God. Or do you think it’s without reason that the Scripture says: The spirit he made to dwell in us envies intensely? But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James‬ ‭4:1-7‬ ‭CSB‬‬​