Red-Hot Prayer
by Skip Heitzig | December 29, 2023

So often in life, prayer is our last resort, instead of our first. We say things like, "Well, I've tried everything else, and there's nothing left to do except pray." That's quite a statement. You should start with prayer: "I'm taking this before the Lord to see what He's going to say."

Your prayer life is directly proportional to your perception of prayer, your perception of God, and your perception of your problem. And I'm going to go over these three areas.

1. Your perception of prayer. To a lot of people, prayer is just talking out loud into the air. It's voicing your confusion out loud to yourself. They think, Prayer is just what you say when you're a kid. Or it's just memorizing, "Now I lay me down to sleep…" or "Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts…."

But that's not how Scripture describes prayer. James wrote in his epistle, "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (5:16). That means it's red-hot; prayer gets the job done.

2. Your perception of God. Many people hesitate to pray because they think, Is God in a good or bad mood today? Does He really love me? Maybe He just tolerates me. Maybe I've ticked Him off lately, so He won't answer this prayer. In other words, we approach God sort of like we might approach our earthly dad.

We should pray according to what we know about God: He's in absolute control. He is interested in guiding us. And He's in tune with everything. The prophet Daniel said, "[God] reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him" (2:22).

3. Your perception of your problem. This will determine if you pray, what you pray, and how often you pray. When you have a problem or a trial, when life hurts, you pray differently. You pray fervently, like James said. People pray more intensely when life is harder. No wonder, then, that God allows heartaches and trials to come our way, because He knows we need Him. Until life gets really hard, we don't think we do.

That's why you must start with getting alone with God. Because here's the secret, and don't forget this: if you can bow before God, you can stand before men. Make sure you're bowing before Him, that you're on your knees before Him. And from the strength you derive from that, you step out and face whatever problem is in your path. "Here goes, God. I might get fired because of this. I might lose this relationship because of this. Bad things might happen. But I've knelt before You, and now I'm going to stand before people."

Our perception of prayer should be a biblical perception: God has given us prayer as a tool, a means to change our world. It should always be our first resort. What does God think? How does He want me to tackle this problem?

Our prayers should always be fervent, red-hot. God is in control, and He's interested in hearing your prayer. Peter said, "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:6-7). As we begin another year, I pray these truths would inspire you to make prayer your priority no matter where life takes you.

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