Creating A Culture For Answered Prayer

If we want to eliminate hindrances to seeing prayers get answered, we want to create an atmosphere that fosters and promotes

• Forgiveness and Unity
• Faith In God
• Boldness In Prayer
• Obedience
• Putting Our Finances Under God's Lordship
• Forgiveness and Unity

We have already talked about the first two items in previous lessons (e.g., Lessons 6 and 7). This lesson will cover boldness in prayer.

BOLDNESS

Often as we enter seriously into prayer, God begins to speak to us about how He would like us to pray. He may give us specific instructions or He may give us words of knowledge (specific details that we have no way of knowing in the natural). It can be kind of scary when this sort of thing first starts happening. You may feel that you have gone "off the deep end." Or you may be concerned about what people may say or think of you if you follow God's direction. Or it may be that He asks you to do something you don't really want to do as an intercessory act -- such as fasting for a long period of time or giving a large sum of money to someone. The latter often happens when you are praying in the area of finances. It is not uncommon for God to ask you to "put your money where your mouth is" and sow financially into whatever He has you praying for funds for.

Of course, you need to improve your clarity of hearing when God does this sort of thing. You will need to be sure it is God. What if God quickens Joshua 1:3 to you ("Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you...") and tells you to go at 4 AM to the local elementary school and to walk around the campus praying and claiming it for God? What if you live in a neighborhood where that might be dangerous? What do you do? Since there is some "high-cost" risk involved in this because it is potentially dangerous, you need to make sure that you have heard from God before you go do what He told you to do. How do you do that? You bring it back to Him and you tell Him what you think you heard. You ask Him to please confirm if that was really Him speaking to you. Expect that He will confirm it to you in a way that you know it is Him -- but let Him choose what that way will be. Also, ask Him to please correct (or let you know) if that was not Him speaking to you. You ask with a determination in your heart that you will do what He asks you to do if that is really Him. Then, if He confirms to you that it is Him, you go do what He asked you to do -- you go at 4 AM and you prayer walk that school. And you can go in confidence, knowing that you are sent on a mission from God, and that "the angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them" (Ps 34:7).

Acting in boldness and clarity of hearing sort of go together. You can't step out boldly in obedience if you don't know what God is telling you to do. So one of your personal prayers and pursuits must be to ask God to teach you to recognize His voice more clearly.

GETTING STARTED IN SPIRIT-LED PRAYERS AND SUPERNATURAL REVELATION

How does God begin to move us in this. Part of it is that as we begin to come into His presence and wait on Him, He begins to show us what is on His heart. We may come before Him in worship, waiting for God to tell us what he wants us to pray for. Suddenly we have this intense burden for the people of Japan. We have never really thought much about Japan before and suddenly we have this intense desire for God to send revival there, to bring the lost people of Japan (may of whom are into idolatry and ancestor worship) into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. An intensity or passion comes on us to pray for the nation of Japan.

Is that God's leading? It most likely is. That sounds like the type of thing that would be very much on His heart (the lost coming to know Him). And it is out of the ordinary of what you would normally pray about. And your passions were arroused as you began to pray on this -- perhaps that was the Holy Spirit stirring your spirit and strumming your heart cords with the very thing that was on God's heart at that moment. Don't be afraid to pray along those lines when you get that sort of burden.

Let me give another example. You might be out walking your dog. All of the sudden when you walk past a certain house on a street where you don't normally go, and a great sorrow comes over you. It is out of the blue for no apparent reason. You don't understand what is going on, so you throw up a quick prayer and ask God. Then you get the impression that a young family with three kids lives there. You get the impression the mother is dieing of cancer. You can almost see a mental image of the father and three young children standing around her bed fighting back the tears as she lays there in pain and deteriorating before their very eyes.

This might be God giving you supernatural revelation and showing you to pray for this family. If you are not used to this sort of thing, you may think you are "going crazy" or "imagining things." It may seem alarming to you to have this sort of experience. What you need to do is to take it back to God, ask Him if this impression you have is God leading you for prayer. If so, then you may want to pause your walk and begin praying for that family as you stand on the sidewalk in front of their house. It may seem "strange" to you to pray specific details about a family you have never met.. but pray for the mother's healing and recovery. Pray for the three small children who suddenly find that Mommy can't give them much attention anymore because she is sick. Pray for the husband who is beside himself in grief, watching the love of his life slowly deteriorate before his eyes. Trust that God showed you these things because He wants you praying into the situation... go ahead and pray into it. (You might even ask Him to show you how He would like you to pray for this family, invite Him to direct your prayers as you take time out of your dog walk to follow the Spirit's leading.)

WORDS OF KNOWLEDGE

Sometimes God will give you specific details via supernatural revelation -- things that there is no way you could know in the natural. When this happens, trust God and pray into them (or act upon them as the case may be).

Let me share two examples. The first is something that happened to me when I was first starting out in prophetic intercession. One Saturday, I was running some errands and was stopped at a stop sign. Suddenly I had an impression of turning right at the stop sign (I was not planning to turn) and of being broadsided as I made the turn. I shook that off, thinking it was really weird. Then a few seconds later, I had a mental image of my pastor and his wife sitting in a car. The car was stopped at a stop sign and I had this strong feeling of impending danger. I could not figure out what was going on, so I asked God. Suddenly the picture began to change. Instead of being a still picture like a photograph, it became a moving picture, like watching TV. The car began to turn right. Another car ran the stop sign and smashed into the driver's door as the pastor was 1/2 way through his turn. I glanced at the clock on the car radio. It was 1:15 PM. I suddenly realized that my pastor was in danger of being in a car accident. An intensity came over me and I began to pray. The intensity lasted about 15 minutes and then it went away. When the intensity died down, I stopped praying. The next morning at church, I asked him if he was almost broadsided while doing a right turn somewhere between 1:15 and 1:30 yesterday. He said yes, he was nearly in an accident where someone ran a stop sign while he was making a right turn, but somehow the car swerved and missed hitting him. That made me realize that my experience had been a word of knowledge and God leading and directing me to pray. Because I prayed, the accident was avoided.

You may find that you start having similar experiences. If this happens, be bold and pray into them until the intensity to pray diminishes or goes away.

Let me share one last story. I heard it from Bill Johnson, pastor of Bethel Church in Redding California. Three of the young people from his church were driving down the road. Suddenly both passengers felt a pain in their right knee and said "ouch" at precisely the same time. The group realized this must be a word of knowledge, so they pulled over the car and looked around. Two people were at a bus stop waiting for a bus. So the youth went up to those people and asked them if they had pain in their knee. The lady said "no" but the man said, "Which one?" One of the youth replied "the right one." The man said yes, and explained a serious medical condition. The youth prayed for him and he was instantly healed The man was touched by God healing him, so he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

Begin to expect God to set up divine appointments and prayer opportunities for you. Ask Him to give you supernatural revelation to lead and direct your prayers. He will do it. When He does, don't freak out -- instead pray with a confidence and boldness that since God gave you supernatural revelation about something He wants you to pray into, He is planning to answer your prayers.