WHAT PRAYER DOES

Prayer has diverse benefits for the believer. As the issues and circumstances of life vary, so also does prayer address the various needs of man.

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Ephesians 6:18

This implies that there are different kinds of prayer, and they accomplish different things in a believer's life. Let us examine some of them.

It Provokes Help From Above

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:16

Without help from above, we are helpless on the earth. The enemy is fierce. He knows his time is short, so he is out against the children of God with full force. The wickedness on the earth is intense, but we have access to help from heaven to overcome them all through prayers. That is why the Bible says:

Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
Psalm 127:1

Every blessing and accomplishment in life comes as a result of the helps of God. Paul said in Acts 26:22:

Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:

He was preaching the same message as other apostles in his time, but he got better results because he had the help of God. The Psalmist, though a great man of war who never lost a battle, knew this secret. In Psalm 60:11-12, he prayed:

Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

The Bible also tells us the secret of king Uzziah's successful reign:

Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.

And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.

And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gurbaal, and the Mehunims.
2 Chronicles 26:1,5,7

Prayer is not just telling God your needs, because He already knows them (Matt. 6:32). It is getting Him to intervene in your situation on the basis of His Word. God is your heavenly Father and He knows your needs, but you require His help to overcome the enemy.

Therefore, what you do in prayer is to take your accuser to the court room of heaven for judgement. Once you are justified, the help of God is released to you. When God becomes your Helper, you enjoy ceaseless breakthroughs and stand out among your peers.

God is committed to sending help from above when you call on Him. He gives you this assurance:

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.

Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.

For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
Isaiah 41:10-13

The Psalmist said:

When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.
Psalm 56:9

Mercy

Mercy is one of God's profound ways of helping His people. Hebrews 4:16 says, "...That we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

Certain things may be responsible for where we find ourselves and we may not know what they are. But the mercy of God will always answer for us when we cry unto Him in prayers.

God was angry with David when he counted the people of Israel and sent a plague among the people, such that seventy thousand men died in one day. But David cried out for God's mercy, which he knew would always answer for him and God was intreated.

...Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.
2 Samuel 24:14

There is a need to understand the place of God's mercy in our affairs. What you are fighting against may not be the devil, or witches and wizards as you have thought; it could be something you have done, like David, that has angered God. He can be intreated when you call for His mercy.

Maybe a curse was placed upon one of your forefathers, which you inherited without knowing. Some people have so much money but can't account for how it is spent. They have no land, house, or anything to show for all the money that passes through their hands; yet they are heavily indebted.

Some don't even know what next to do with their lives. They just keep wandering about. They invest in all manner of businesses and never realize anything out of them. For some people, the things or habits plaguing them are like ancestral curses. They discover that things such as poverty, failure, marriage spell, immorality, drunkenness, lying, etc. run through all their Family tree.

If you find yourself in any of such predicament, you can cry out for the mercy of God to severe you from them. You can say to God, "Lord, I don't know the cause of this thing, but You know all things. Whatever I may have dabbled into through carelessness or ignorance and which has brought this affliction in my life, Lord have mercy! Whatever may have come on me through the negative side of my natural background, let Your mercy prevail for me!"

Plead the mercy of God against that mysterious affliction in your life and it will give up, and you will be free.

In Matthew 9:13, Jesus said:

But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Mercy is God's nature. When three nations came against Judah in battle, Judah went out against them singing of the mercy of God; and the Bible says God set ambushments against their enemies (2 Chron. 20:21-22).

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
Lamentations 3:22

Angelic Intervention

This is another aspect of God's help, and it is provoked by prayers. When Peter was held up in prison, awaiting death, the saints prayed for Him continually and God sent an angel to rescue him:

Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.

And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.

And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.

And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.
Acts 12:5-8,11

Angels are our security agents and they excel in strength (Ps. 103:20). They are there to ward off all evils and plagues from us. They are the fire fighters of heaven, God's rescue corps. Their job is to intervene in the midst of trouble and rescue the believer. They also ensure that only God's will is established in the believer's life.

When Jesus was arrested before His crucifixion, Peter went wild, brought out his sword and cut off a man's ear. But Jesus stopped him from doing more harm and said to him:

...Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
Matthew 26:52-53

Help from above is available for every area of our need, when we call upon God in prayers.

It Brings Deliverance From Afflictions

Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
James 5:13

Prayer is one of God's vital solutions for afflictions. It is the Holy Ghost's prescription for deliverance from oppressions.

A lady lecturer from a leading national university had stroke sometime ago. She came to Lagos all the way from Nsukka in that condition and attended an all-night prayer meeting in our church (she could scarcely walk when she came in and couldn't even stand on her own). But when she visited Lagos again a few weeks later, she was walking straight, with all her beauty and elegance restored! Heaven was connected that day, hell was devastated and her affliction was turned to testimony!

"Is any among you afflicted? let him pray." Not, "...let him cry...", or, "let him watch..." That means anyone that is battered, tormented or depressed is expected to pray for deliverance. If you want to see that yoke on your life broken, you must pray. If you want the forces beclouding your destiny to be shattered, prayer is the kingdom force recommended for your deliverance.

You are not born for afflictions; you are created to reflect the glory of God, and prayer is what it takes to enforce your manifestations. Prayer is what you use to free yourself from all afflictions of the enemy and for the restoration of your beauty in Christ. When Hannah was afflicted with barrenness, she went to the temple and prayed. God heard her and gave her a son (1 Sam. 1:9-20).

Paul and Silas were locked up in prison, after having been beaten with stripes. But at midnight, they prayed and sang praises to God, and He came down in an earthquake and loosed their bands (Acts 16:25-26).

The children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt for over 400 years. God only sent them help after He heard their cries in prayer.

And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey...
Exodus 3:7-8

So, until you cry out against that affliction in your life, it remains. God only responds to your voice in prayer, to put a stop to the assault of the devil in your life.

Apart from destroying afflictions, prayer puts you on the line for divine visitations and turns your captivity. Don't watch that long-standing problem — joblessness, barrenness or lack of peace in your home destroy you. Cry out to God in prayers against it, remind Him of His promises in His Word that exempt you from such afflictions, and you will be free! Psalm 125:3 says:

For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.

So, it is not God's will that the enemy should afflict you; your prayers can stop him.

It Enforces Prophecies

Every word of prophecy is God's plan unfolded through a human vessel.

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
2 Peter 1:19-21

So whatever God says to you through the Scriptures or through a human vessel (in prophecy) is His plan for you, and as far as He is concerned, it is settled. But what many Christians don't understand is that most prophecies don't get fulfilled without the application of certain kingdom forces.

This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;
1 Timothy 1:18

You don't watch prophecies, you war with them, until they come into reality. In fact, a prophecy may look like falsehood or mockery, if you don't know what it takes to make it happen. There are oppositions that have set themselves to block your access into your promise land, so you must do something to make that prophecy a reality.

But to war with prophecies you go to God in prayers with the Word (or the prophecy), reminding Him of His commitment to perform what He has spoken. Then you turn to the enemy and declare what is written concerning you which forbids his activities around you.

It takes warring a good warfare to see prophecies fulfilled. God is faithful and He cannot deny Himself. He is committed to do anything He has said.

In Deuteronomy 2:24, God said to the children of Israel:

Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.

God had given the children of Israel the land, but a devil somewhere is saying, "No, you can't have it." God's instruction to them was, "Rise up! Don't sit there expecting it to drop into your laps! Begin to possess what is yours. Contend with the opposition in battle, until you possess your possessions." This tells you that you don't wait for things to happen, you make them happen. The Bible says:

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
Matthew 11:12

Most people wait almost lifelong to see God's Word fulfilled in their lives. They keep wondering, "Could that word be true?" Yes, it is true. You only need to war with it to bring it to pass.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Jeremiah 29:11

God has good thoughts and plans of a glorious future for us all, but He shows us how to bring them to pass:

Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:12-13

That means, "When you wait and you don't see the things I told you of, come and ask Me of them in prayers." It takes intercession and seeking the face of God to see the fulfilment of the great plans and visions He has told you about. God has set an expected end before you, but you must call upon Him and seek Him with all your heart, if you want to enjoy it.

Any Word of God or prophecy that you have received and believed will surely bring forth when you apply the relevant force of prayer to it. That Word is a seed (Lk. 8:11); but no matter how precious any seed may be, without rain it will die in the ground. What do you do to bring down the rain? You ask.

Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.
Zechariah 10:1

When you ask in prayers, the rain will come and the word will bring forth fruit in your life. Maybe you have been going through some drought as far as fulfilment is concerned. You don't wait for the rain to come, you pray it down!

You have sat down with that word for too long. You can't keep on saying, "It will come to pass one day." Rise up now and do what it takes to make it come to pass.

Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.
Isaiah 43:26

It Helps To Locate The Path Of Life

Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Psalm 16:11

Divine direction is the heritage of the redeemed. But you must seek it in order to enjoy it. When you locate the path of life, you enjoy fullness of joy and pleasures for evermore. But they are only obtainable in God's presence, which is our ultimate goal in prayer.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Psalm 23:1,5

When God leads you, you can't but become outstanding in life. Some people are not cut out for business, but have chosen to do it, either because of social influence or personal affection. Others are into all manner of professions where their star may never shine, because they haven't located the right path. They just keep groping around. But you can't afford to go through life doing what seems right to you. It is too risky!

God is committed to leading you in the path of life He has ordained for you, even before you were born (Jer. 1:5). He said in Isaiah 48:17:

Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

But asking in prayer is your access to His leading.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Matthew 7:7

When you ask, God is committed to answer; He knows that without His direction your destiny is not secured. But until you ask Him, you will just keep doing what seems right, not what is right; and until you do what is right, you cannot be marked right in life.

From the day I came across that Scripture in Isaiah 48:17, I made up my mind to depend on God for guidance all the days of my life, and to wait on Him for approval before I take any step. And He has been faithful all these years. When God leads you, He makes a leader out of you. But one wrong step can lead to a 40-year setback in life, as was the case with Moses.

Direction was what rescued the disciples from an all-night futile toiling on the sea. Jesus came and said to them, "Cast your net on the right side of the ship and ye shall find." They did, and were not able to draw in the net, for the multitude of fishes (John 21:3-8).

Direction can be obtained through prayers of enquiry. Matthew 7:7 says, "Ask, Seek, Knock." If the path you are going on seems like a dead end, ask Him, "Lord, where is the right side of this venture?"

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
James 1:5

When you ask, God gives liberally, because He is committed. He is a loving Father, so be relaxed in His presence and ask as many questions as you need, to be clear on every vital issue of your life. Look at the power of the prayer of enquiry in the life of David, a man after God's heart.

The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.

And David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the Lord said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.

And David came to Baalperazim, and David smote them there, and said, The Lord hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baalperazim.

And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.

And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees.

And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the Lord go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.

And David did so, as the Lord had commanded him; and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer.
2 Samuel 5:18-20, 22-25

Do you want breakthroughs? Then make enquires from God in prayer before you take any major step. He will answer you, because He is interested in everything that concerns you. God is the only One who can lead you to true pastures and He is set to do so, if only you will let Him. He said:

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Jeremiah 33:3

Remember, you can't wish problems away, you must rise up to the challenge, and effect a change. You don't have to accept the status quo, you are a child of destiny! Where you are now is not God's ultimate for you. You can get to the top, if only you will push in prayers. You too can live a problem-free life, and I see you getting there, in Jesus' name!

It Consecrates

Prayer is one of the spiritual forces needed to live a consecrated life. This is because the forces of desecration are equally spiritual. Consider what the Bible says in Zechariah 3:1-3:

And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.

And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?

Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.

This tells you the source of the conflicts you face, in your desire to live a consecrated life. Joshua, the high priest, did not choose filthiness. It was forced on him by satanic forces in the unseen realm. That is why God gave us the weapon of prayer, to pull down the strongholds of the enemy that stand against our walk in righteousness.

This illustration reveals that most of the habits that destroy people are remotely controlled by spiritual forces. That is why no matter how hard the victim tries to come out of it, he finds himself going deeper into it, against his wish. There has to be a heavenly means of destroying such satanic hold.

The angel of the Lord before whom Joshua the high priest stood said:

...Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
Zechariah 3:4

It took the intervention of the angel to stop the activities of Satan, and to put a change of raiment on Joshua. You know we release the angels through prayers (Matt. 26:53).

As we communicate with God in prayer, He sends angels down as private emissaries. They remove the filthy garments from us, give us a change of raiment and cause our iniquities to pass from us.

No matter how genuine your desire to please God is, or how sincere you are in your longing to live right, you must understand that it is not possible by power or by might. You need divine help. That is why people who lean on personal efforts to live right live frustrated lives. They put themselves under all manner of bondages: they go about with long faces, looking very pious, not greeting anybody on the way, or shaking hands with anybody, yet they are not free. Jesus said:

For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
Matthew 15:19-20

So, unless you can send your heart ahead of you to heaven through prayer, your physical efforts in the conflict with sin is useless. When Jesus laid down the principles for effectual prayer, one of the things He said we should say in prayer is, "...Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil..." (Matt. 6:13). And in Matthew 26:41, He said:

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

To live a life without spot or wrinkle has to be by divine help, which you provoke in prayers. Look at what happened to Peter before he denied Jesus. When Jesus said, "Simon Peter, you will deny Me three times tonight", Peter said, "Even unto death I will stand by You." And he really meant it. Jesus also knew he meant it.

But He meant to tell Peter, "Boy, you don't know the things fighting against you. Satan desires to have you and that has nothing to do with whether you are determined or not. There is a satanic force organizing your destruction. Satan has concluded the plan to devastate your destiny and sieve you like wheat, but I have prayed for you" (Lk. 22:31-34). Jesus recognizes Satan as being behind Peter's fall.

Thank God, that in our days, we are privileged to have the Holy Ghost, the blood of Jesus and the Word of God, which we can engage in prayers to overcome the satanic forces of filthiness and live a life of purity. God said:

Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.
Ezekiel 36:25-29

God is the One that sprinkles the clean water of His Word on us to sanctify us (Jn. 17:17). He is the One that puts His Spirit within us, that causes us to walk in His statutes, to keep His judgements and do them. But this is how He does it:

Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them...
Ezekiel 36:37

You have to ask Him to consecrate you.

In His model prayer, Jesus said, "When you pray say ... thy kingdom come." Luke 17:21 tells us "...The kingdom of God is within you." And Romans 14:17 says, "The kingdom of God is ...righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." So, if you desire that kingdom of righteousness to be established in your life, you must give it expression in prayers.

The Holy Ghost is our surest help in the conflict with filthiness. Jesus called Him our Helper. John introduced Him as the One to come after Jesus and:

Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
Matthew 3:12

You can never be thoroughly purged without the help of the Holy Ghost. He is called the refiner's fire in Malachi 3:2, and prayer is your access to Him. On the day of Pentecost, as the apostles were praying in the upper room, He came upon them.

There are certain things in your life that you need to be helped out of, and except you are helped of God, you may die in them. So, without any feeling of shame or failure, come boldly to the throne of grace, acknowledge your infirmity before God and ask for His help.

Tell Him, "Lord, I need your help in this area of my life. I have done the little I know, but this is beyond me and I know it is not beyond You. Send me help now, oh God!" Before you know it, you would have gained mastery over that demonic grip of anger, malice, lying, immorality or whatever it may be.

The Bible says in Mark 9:23:

Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

Any time Jesus took some of His disciples apart to a mountain top, it was usually to pray. You can pray your life into purity, just as Jesus did on the mount of transfiguration. As you establish a place for yourself in this righteous walk with God, your victory on the earth will be established.