What is prayer? Are you really praying when you pray? Do you understand its power? Since prayer is one of the greatest tasks you will ever be called to perform as it is a working together or in partnership with God's Spirit, you should want to learn how to pray effectively. As we have learned, we cannot accomplish anything without God, but we can do all things through Him.

Did you ever wonder or give thought as to why God even wants you to pray? He knows all, so why must you tell Him? Why is it that only those that ask, receive, and only those who seek, find, and only those who knock, enter in? Why does God say "You have not because you ask not"? Prayer is definitely a great mystery, but here is a simplified answer. It is the union of your thoughts with God's will.

Prayer on earth also voices God's will in heaven for the angels to perform.

We can say it this way: Prayer is asking for God's will to be performed or manifested according to His Word on our behalf.

Let us read Matthew 18:18.

In this scripture we clearly see the relationship between prayer and God's work. God in heaven will only bind and loose what His children on earth have bound and loosed. God certainly knows what needs to be bound, however He chooses to not bind them alone. He wants His people to bind them on earth first, then He will bind them in heaven. Think of it. Heaven's actions have been governed by actions on earth! There is a passage in Isaiah that reveals the same thought.

God will never act on your behalf against His will however, and He voices His will, concerning the situation you are praying about, through scripture. You must study the scripture so you are familiar with what He wants done, and through prayer, you agree with His will and He performs it. He exalts you by asking you to agree with Him, thus making His will yours. If you do not search the scriptures for God's will concerning the situation, and you pray from your own intellect, Satan recognizes this and comes in quickly. Remember, intellect is the result of the brain receiving direction from the soul. It was experienced for the first time in the garden when Adam and Eve fell. While still perfect, they were directed by their spirit which was connected to the mind of Christ. Through boot camp we try to encourage God's warriors to lay down their own thoughts, and submit to God's will. We teach you to search out truth from the Word, operate in this truth, and give God the proper glory, because He actually makes the request happen. We also activate you to work through your spirit that is once again connected to God since your rebirth. You too can hear directly from the mind of Christ as in the beginning. What you hear from God will always be in line with scripture, but perhaps be made personal for your situation. If we could all grasp this, the Kingdom would be established sooner, Satan and his forces would be chained much earlier for the thousand years, and the church would pass over from time to eternity much quicker. Due to the fact that so many are self-centered however, God's family for the most part is into their own personal affairs, and are failing to work together with God in prayer concerning the big picture. Therefore, lawlessness goes unprayed for and therefore unbound in the body, lust and perversion are not loosed, addiction keeps an upper hand, and God's children are defeated. The self-centered just never mature enough to really pray for each other and the church as a whole goes nowhere.

Jesus says, "agree on earth as touching anything". Now this is really prayer! When the body of Christ is united, focused and knowledgeable of God's will on a matter, and they are quite sure that what they petition Him for is not against His will or spiritual law, then they will not waver or doubt the outcome. They know He will give them the victory. Prayer then is voicing your desire and standing on God's side. You side with your Father in other words.

A common error made concerning prayer is that you may treat prayer as an outlet for whining about or expressing your personal needs only. You see you must grasp that prayer is really the asking of God to fulfill His need. God's plan is not letting you achieve your own desires and whims through prayer, but rather it is God's plan to accomplish His purposes through the prayer of His family. Please understand, I'm not saying you should never ask God to meet your personal needs. He is your total provider. I'm just stating you need to understand the principles of prayer so they can be answered. An example: You are in dire need. You should ask yourself, "does God want me to learn something from my lack? Is it His desire to meet my need?" If you get no direct answer, then just pray that God's will is done in your circumstance. The question is no longer will your need be met, but whether God's will is done. Don't make your need the priority. Put God's will first. Your prayer now or today will not be much different than before, except you are now looking for the Lord's will concerning this particular personal matter of yours to be done, and not for your need to be supplied. It's a new thought pattern. Think of it this way: You know God supplies the needs of His family, so why not pray that His desire to meet your need be accomplished? See the difference?

There is first the prayer out of your need, or prayer for what you perceive needs the Lord's help, but secondly there is prayer that is initiated by God. He will show you His need to intercede for a person or a situation through word of knowledge, a vision or whatever means God conveys His thoughts to you. This is prophetic prayer. The request is made through your spirit man. This kind of prayer holds much power and many times it invokes much warfare. It's spirit against spirits, good against evil. The enemy may physically attack also, or set an attack in place to block the answer to your prayer. Can you quietly wait like Daniel, who waited 21 days for the answer to his prayer?

A secret to good prayer is praying more than once, and perhaps praying at least three times to the Lord on a matter.

Again in 2 Corinthians:

I'm not saying that you should only pray a thing three times, but rather that you pray till the burden is lifted and you feel a breakthrough. It usually takes at least three times, or in a group, three people to get the victory. When you pray, those involved are you, the Lord and the enemy. There are two opposing forces and each seeking supremacy. God in the end already has the victory, you know that. Nevertheless, in this age, before the millennial Kingdom reign, Satan usurps power to oppose the Lord's work, family and interest. Remember, as children of God, His sacred seed, what we gain from the hand of God means the enemy suffers that degree of loss. The amount of gain we receive, is the amount of God's will that has been done. And the amount of God's will that is accomplished, determines the amount Satan suffers. Our gain is his loss. Satan will do everything and anything to frustrate, afflict or suppress us. I'm trying to give you a better picture of the real battle that is going on. You are very much a part of that battle, whether you want to be or not. This is why you must continue to pray through. Stop, and the enemy will defeat God's will in your life. You can consider your prayer successful if it will cause Satan to lose and God to gain and be glorified. You should always look for and expect the enemy's loss when you pray.

Satan will weaken our bodies.

He will incite people to persecute us.

The enemy will work overtime through your personal environment, causing hardships and dangers. He will majorly cause division among God's family, or cut off your material supplies, sometimes even to starvation. He oppresses your spirit, causes depression, restlessness or injects irrational fear. He will heap things on you to overtire you, and take away sleep to wear you out. He may even drop unclean or confused thoughts into your mind. Satan is also very capable of appearing as an angel of light through some person to deceive you and cause you to lose your place in the Kingdom. Once saved always saved is a lie. Satan knows this and does his best to bring you to defeat.

But what if we don't overcome and give up? We will be blotted out. Unfortunately many blame the wrong source behind their problems. As warriors, you must recognize the attack and who is behind it, keeping Ephesians 6:12 in mind.

Granted, the above operate through people, but you should recognize the real enemy. You cannot be lukewarm here. Your attitude must be hostile, no longer willing to subject yourselves to the enemy's oppression. He has no right to harass you or your Kingdom family, yet he does. Warriors hear me: Be watchful and on guard against the enemy. Especially when you pray and do warfare, beware!

1. Satan will attack your trust in the Lord. He will try to make you feel unworthy, unable, and destroy your heart to pray or praise.
2. He attacks your body, even your thoughts, nerves, strength and puts tiredness on you. When you are tired, you don't feel like praying.
3. He attacks your appointed time of prayer and study. He may even introduce something you like well enough to skip prayer altogether. This is very common.
4. The enemy can cause a heavy veil or obstructive layer between you and the Lord so you feel you cannot make good contact.
5. Satan would like to push you so far into darkness that you see no need for prayer. He will distract your attention to people or anything that does not encourage a prayer life. You must watch and pray that you are not tempted.
6. Satan's favorite trick, when you are trying your very best to walk correctly as a man or woman of God, is to cause a real problem and he is a master at pushing the right buttons. Then he will drop thoughts in your mind, suggesting that either God or His people are to blame.

If you see the attack, rise up soldier of God, get mad, resist the devil and he will flee. If you patiently endure his attacks he will just keep coming. Get angry! If you do not sin in your anger, and you loudly resist him with truth, he will flee from the sword of God and you will win.

This you know is the will of God.