 10 tactics of an effective prayer warrior. As we go through the scripture, I want you to see if you can see yourself in this and also look for ways that you can improve. I believe that God is raising mighty prayer warriors in this hour. So let's go right to the scripture. Number one, prayer warriors who are effective in prayer pray sincerely. Matthew chapter six verses seven and eight say, When you pray, don't babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don't be like them for your father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him. We do not approach the Lord with systems. We approach him with sincerity. You do not approach the Lord with scripts. You approach him with sincerity. Now, when you're praying sincerely, you understand that prayer is not a show. When you pray sincerely, you understand that you have to cultivate a lifestyle of prayer in privacy, guarding that secret place. Only those who truly believe in prayer pray privately. Otherwise, why would they pray privately at all? If it was just something that they didn't believe, they would do it publicly only for the sake of show. But when you approach the Lord, you're not approaching him with a system. You're not approaching him with a script. You're not approaching him with memorized prayers that you'll repeat again and again. Now Jesus did give us his prayer. It's called the Lord's Prayer. He said pray like this. He didn't say pray this exact script. But here in Matthew chapter six, we see that Jesus is instructing us to not babble on and on, to not just use vain repetitions. Now there's nothing wrong with repeating certain prayers. There's nothing wrong with repeating even certain phrases. But the Scripture is talking about sincerity that must be present when you pray. You understand that prayer is not just something that you check off your list as a spiritual obligation. It's a relationship. It's communication between you and the Heavenly Father. And when you engage in that communication, you approach him with sincerity in your heart knowing that what you are saying is actually being listened to by God. Think about that. That as you speak words, as you speak them sincerely, as you pray in honesty, the Heavenly Father is actually listening to what you're saying. So when you pray, don't imagine that God's off in the distance or that he's just barely tolerating your presence or that he doesn't really want to hear you, but that he'll put up with you. Don't imagine God like that. Instead, when you approach him, realize that you have his attention. So pray sincerely. Number two, prayer warriors pray with faith. So number one, they pray sincerely. Number two, they pray with faith. They come praying bold prayers. Do not pray prayers based on your ability. Do not pray prayers based on your understanding. I think sometimes people refuse to pray certain things because they dismiss it as an impossibility. Well, isn't that why we go to God in the first place? For many different reasons, it's not the only reason. But many times we approach him because we face something that's impossible for us. That's outside of our ability. And all too often we pray prayers that are limited to our understanding, limited to our ability. We think, well, I don't want to pray something that's ridiculous or I don't want to pray something that's too far or I don't want to pray something that's too difficult. Why? Because we're measuring our standard of faith based upon man's ability rather than God's ability. When you pray, pray with no confidence in self. When you pray, pray with no confidence in your ability. When you pray, pray with confidence in God's ability. Pray prayers that only God can answer. Pray for miracles that only God can do. Pray for things that can happen that would require the supernatural intervention of heaven otherwise. For many instances, it wouldn't be necessary to pray. And again, don't hear what I'm not saying. I'm not saying we only pray for miracles and only pray for impossibilities. But when you pray, recognize that you are praying to a God who's able to do more than you could imagine. You are praying to a God who is not limited in power. And all too often, we're so shy because we don't want to come across as selfish or we don't want to come across as immature or we don't want to come across as ridiculous. And we approach him and we pray these reserved prayers. Oh, Lord, I'm asking just for this or just for that or barely meet the need or barely come through. Or Lord, I'm not praying for the complete miracle but maybe just a little bit of this or a little bit of that. Know, my friend, when you pray, pray with faith. Pray bold prayers. The scripture says this in Hebrews chapter 4, verse 16. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. You see, true prayer warriors come before the Lord boldly. They come before him with confidence, knowing that they're going to present their petition to God and that he will respond. If you are a prayer warrior who knows that nothing is impossible with God. And I want you to write that in the comment section right now. Nothing is impossible with God, whether you're watching live or on the replay. This is something that I've noticed about people who spend time in prayer. This is something that I've noticed about people who live lifestyles of prayer. They're constantly going before the Lord. They take everything to prayer. In fact, some people might think you're ridiculous for taking as much to prayer as you do, but you know that your confidence is not in self. You know that your confidence is in God. You understand that you're relying completely on his power and nothing is impossible for God. Nothing is impossible for God. And prayer warriors know that. They understand that when they approach him, they come boldly. Watch this, Matthew 21, 18 through 22 in the morning. As Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry. And he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, May you never bear fruit again. And immediately the fig tree withered up. The disciples were amazed when they saw this and asked, How did the fig tree wither so quickly? Then Jesus told them, I tell you the truth. If you have faith and don't doubt, watch this now. If you have faith and don't doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, may you be lifted up and thrown into the sea and it will happen. You can pray for anything. Guys, this is Jesus saying this. You can pray for anything. And if you have faith, you will receive it. We pray prayers filled with faith, not limited to man's ability, but depending totally on God's ability. Don't cap your prayers based upon, please hear me now. Don't cap your prayers based upon what you believe is reasonable. Don't cap your prayers based upon what you believe is possible or what you can comprehend. Pray prayers that only God can answer. Number three, this is something also that I've seen in the life of prayer warriors. And again, I want you to see if you can see yourself in any of these tactics. See if you see any of these tactics being used in your prayer life. And if you don't see them, well, now you're being equipped here and you can go and see an increase in the power in your prayer life as you begin to apply these. Number three, they pray with gratitude. You know, true faith celebrates the victory even before it can see the evidence of that victory. True faith celebrates the victory even before it can see the evidence of that victory. Philippians chapter four verses six and seven say, don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. People of prayer pray about everything. Why? Because they want to walk in that perfect will of God. They want to be aligned with heaven. So they take everything to prayer so that they're constantly before the Lord. Now watch this here. This almost seems like a contradiction, but it's not. Tell God what you need. I'm presenting my needs and thank him for all he has done. Now, I'm going to go off on a little bit of a tangent here to remind you that it's not a sin to ask God for things. I did a teaching one time on asking God for signs. Now, if you demand a sign out of cynicism, okay, that's hardheartedness and that's what Jesus rebuked in the Pharisees when he told them that a wicked and adulterous generation asked for a sign. But if you ask God for signs in sincerity, in faith and in hope and in love and in trust for him, that's very different. In fact, many times throughout Scripture you'll see people asking God for a miracle, asking God for a sign, asking God really for guidance. That's what a sign is, something that indicates the direction that you should go. And while we ultimately rely upon Scripture, God does speak through the Holy Spirit and through other people and through circumstances. But here we see something interesting. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Many people are of this idea, they have this idea, I should say, that asking God for material things is sinful. Now, we understand that we don't serve God to get something out of him. We don't serve God so that we can be financially blessed. We don't serve God to meet just our material needs. Yes, he meets our needs, but we don't serve God for those things. In fact, I've heard from Christians who say things like, well, I've asked God for a better job or I asked God for financial increase and he hasn't done it and now I'm just upset and this isn't working and they want to walk away from Christianity because they're mad that God didn't create the ideal situation for them in their life that they wanted. They wanted a perfectly ideal situation. They wanted everything to align just so. So when God didn't do it, they got bitter and then they wanted to leave the faith. So this is why we have to keep proper perspective. No, we don't serve God to get things and no, the central message of the Gospel is not that if you serve God, he'll give you wealth, health and happiness. That is the prosperity gospel. But while we reject that as the central message, while we understand that that is not the point of the Gospel, we also understand that we serve a heavenly Father who doesn't mind that we present our material needs to him. So watch this, tell God what you need. That's an instruction there. You can present your needs before God. It's okay to have things as long as things don't have you. It's okay to have blessings as long as blessings don't have you and as long as we keep the proper perspective that he is God, we are not. He is the Lord, we are the servants. He's in charge, we are not. As long as we keep that in perspective and we serve him regardless of what our circumstances are and we understand that we can have joy, peace and love, even in the midst of an ideal circumstances, then we can align with the proper attitude and walk in the spirit no matter what. Having said that, on the other side of the coin we recognize that God doesn't get angry with you if you ask for provision. God doesn't get angry with you if you ask for healing. God doesn't get angry with you if you ask for a miracle, if you ask for a breakthrough in a certain area of your life as long as that doesn't become your sole focus and as long as you trust him whatever his response is, you can present your needs to God. Now watch this. This is why I said a moment ago that some people think that it's a contradiction when it's not. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. So here we see that it's possible to ask God to meet a need while simultaneously being grateful. There is no contradiction there. Asking God to meet a need is not immature. Asking God to meet a need is not a lack of faith. Asking God to meet a need is not selfish. There's not something wrong with you just because you're asking God to help you with something. No, God is a heavenly Father who loves you and wants to meet your needs and provide for you. Just make sure that as long as you're asking you're also thanking him. The Bible says in verse 7, then you will experience God's peace which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ. So in fact, presenting your prayer request to God results in the infilling of peace. And once you have that peace, now you can go deeper in prayer. But I want to focus on this idea here that you thank him for all he has done. Thank you, Lord, for everything you provide. Listen, I think that we should make a practice of thanking God for everything. And this doesn't mean that we don't ever go through a trial. This doesn't mean that nothing bad ever happens. Look, there are things this week in my life that happen that we're not very welcome. There are things that happened this week and last week in my life that I would have preferred did not happen. Okay, so not everything goes perfectly the way I want it to go all the time. But I try, I make an attempt with the help of the Holy Spirit to every day thank God for everything. Thank God for all he's given me. Thank God for what he's provided. Thank God that he lets me be in his ministry. Thank God that he's given me a beautiful wife. Thank God that he's given me a beautiful daughter. Thank God that he's given me wonderful friends, a wonderful ministry team that I get to preach the gospel. I mean, I can hardly believe sometimes what I'm walking in. I'm saying, Lord, this is just your goodness. This is all you, you deserve the glory. But at the same time, we keep the attitude of the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. So in all things, we are grateful. Even when we're going through trials, we thank Him for the trials. I know that's counterintuitive. I know that's not something we want to hear. We want to say, Lord, take all the trials away, but sometimes we need trials to perfect our faith. And so we thank Him no matter what. So as we're praying, thank you, Father, for what you've given me. Thank you, Lord, for my family members who are saved. But please, Lord, I pray, save my ones who are not. Lord, I thank you for the healing in my body. But please, Lord, heal my loved ones. Lord, I thank you for the provision that you've given me for the things I need. But Lord, I'm praying that you would also give me an increase that I might be able to help others. Lord, I thank you for the ministry that you've blessed me with. I thank you for the ministry you've allowed me to be in. But Lord, I'm also praying that you expand that ministry, increase its influence that more souls might be saved. You can do both. And prayer warriors know what it is to pray from the place of gratitude. Why? Please hear this now. Because gratitude cultivates faith. Gratitude cultivates faith, not just for what you have, but you can thank them for the things that are coming. You can thank them for what you... Lord, I thank you that one day my loved ones will be saved and allow yourself to sense the joy of what he will do. Lord, I thank you that we will see revival in this nation and then allow yourself to rejoice for what you're going to see. Lord, I thank you that you are going to draw me closer to you, that you are going to cause me to be more like Jesus and then thank them for that character development that's coming. Lord, I thank you that you're continuing to allow me to walk in your peace, your love and your joy, no matter what I face. And then you thank them for that peace, that love and that joy that you know is going to continue with you always. Lord, I thank you that you're teaching me to go deeper in prayer. Lord, I thank you that I'm going to go deeper in prayer. Lord, I thank you that I'm going to have greater revelation of the word. Lord, I thank you that I'm going to see more miracles. Lord, I thank you that I'm going to see more lives transformed and you pray with gratitude. Thank you that my son will be saved, that my daughter will be saved, that my grandchild will be saved, that my spouse will be saved, that my neighbor will be saved. Thank you, Lord, that you'll cause my household to be saved. Thank you, Lord, that you're going to do a miracle in the lives of my loved ones. Thank you, Jesus, for what's coming and that produces faith. And faith is the substance of things hoped for. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. If I can see it by faith, I'll hold it in reality. Why? Because I'm praising God. Thank you, Lord, for what you're about to do. And this is not name it, claim it, blab it, grab it just because I'm thankful for it that it's going to come true. But it produces the faith that you need to pursue until you see the fulfillment of the promise and the miracle. It's an exercise of faith. I've seen prayer warriors, they're grateful no matter what the circumstance. I've seen powerful, especially, I don't know what it is, about women of God, but women of God know what it is to be prayer warriors. And I've seen many women of God go through just some of the most difficult circumstances. We're talking problems in the marriage. We're talking issues with the family, sickness and disease and financial issues. And I've seen some of these women of God, these prayer warriors, you know, those old church ladies who just, they know what it is to pray. Every church has them and every church should be thankful for them. They may not be preaching on Sunday morning, but my goodness, they're on their knees every night, praying and thanking God and believing God for moves of the Holy Spirit in everyone's lives. And so I've noticed something in their lives that they walk with this gratitude. They're just so thankful for what God is doing. That's one of the marks, one of the tactics of a prayer warrior. So number one, they pray sincerely. Number two, they pray with faith. Number three, they pray with gratitude. Number four, they pray the word. Now I'm going to spend most of this teaching on this particular point. They pray the word. There is great power that happens in prayer when your prayers align with the word. The purpose of prayer is to fulfill the will of God in the earth. The purpose of prayer is to bring heaven to earth, to cultivate the kingdom of heaven throughout the earth. That is the purpose of prayer. Now, the will of God is a fixed river. It does not move. God is going to accomplish his will no matter what. But when I pray according to his will, when I pray according to his word, I'm pulling those broken pieces of creation into alignment with the will of God. Prayer does not change the will of God. Prayer aligns you with God's will. Too often we imagine that prayer is a way to persuade God to do something that he doesn't want to do. Like we're twisting his arm. Who among us is so persuasive that we can convince God to do something? Who among us is so wise, so insightful that we can point out something to God that he didn't see first? So no, prayer is not about getting God to do our will. Prayer is not about getting God to get involved in what we're doing. Prayer involves me in what he is doing. Prayer aligns me to his will. Prayer does not change the direction of the river. Prayer puts me in the river. I don't know about you, but I want to be in the river, in the flow of God's will. If you will commit to praying the will and the word of God, and you will commit to submitting your life to his will. And I want you to write in the comment section right now. I'm jumping in the river. Let the river take you. Flow with what God is doing. When it comes to the will of God, you can't fight it. You can't force it. You can't stop what he's doing and you can't get him to do something that he doesn't want to do. But instead, flow with the will of God. John 15, 17 says this, But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask anything you want and it will be granted. So often we want to just focus on the later portion of that. So often we want to just focus on the latter portion of the Scripture. You may ask for anything you want and it will be granted. And we quote that part, ask for anything and it will be granted. But what does it say right before? But if you remain in me and what my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want and it will be granted. Alignment accesses authority. Alignment accesses authority. If you remain in him, that's to walk as he walked, that's to surrender to his will, that's to be like him, and his words remain in you, that's to have your heart inclined to his statutes, that's to have your heart inclined to his will. Bend me to your will is what I pray, Lord. Bend me to your will. Make me willing to obey you. I submit my will to you. He bends you toward his will and in that bending toward the will of God, in becoming aligned with the will of God, then we see true power. Why? Because when we remain in him and when his words remain in us, what we pray is aligned with his will. Another way we could put it, when you pray God's will, it will be done. When you pray God's word, it will be granted. It's not like some hocus pocus thing where I say these magic words and I say these special ritualized prayers or I pray a special script and that will get God to move and that will get God to respond. No, my friend, when you pray the word of God, you are agreeing with the will of God. That's why it works. Now what does remain in me or abide in me mean? Let's dig deeper. 1 John 3 24 says, whoever keeps his commandments remains in God and God in him. So the scripture here is talking about obedience and by this we know that he remains in us by the spirit he has given us. So when we walk in obedience, we remain in him. So knowing what we know from the scripture that remaining in him is walking in obedience to him, let's read John 15 7 again. But if you walk in obedience, remain in me, that's what it means, if you walk in obedience to me and my words remain in you, in other words, it transforms your heart, transforms your will, transforms your desires. Your desires now align with his will. Then you may ask for anything you want and it will be granted. When I pray his will, that's when there's power. How do I know I'm praying his will? If I see it reflected in his word. 1 John 3 21 and 22, the Bible says this, beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God and whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, watch this now, why? Because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. So because we walk in obedience with him, then when we pray, there's true power. Well, why does that matter? Because the one who walks in obedience towards God is going to pray prayers that align with God's will. Psalm 37 4 says this, delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Now, why does this matter? Because when I delight in him, he becomes my desire. When I delight in his presence, when I delight in the glory of who he is, when I delight in his power, his nature, his being, then he becomes my desire. And so he's willing to give me the desires of my heart. Why? Because I've delighted myself in him. When I delight myself in him, my desires change. My nature is transformed. My thoughts are transformed. My mind is renewed. And now I begin to think like him. And not only do I begin to think like him, I begin to desire like him. Let me say that again. When I delight myself in the Lord, he becomes my focus. That focus of who he is, the revelation of his glory begins to transform me. And when I delight in him, I begin to think like he thinks and I begin to desire like he desires. So then when I pray, the desires of my heart now are what he desires. Well, when you begin to delight yourself in the Lord, you gain a compassion for souls who are lost. When you begin to delight yourself in the Lord, you begin to grow more frustrated with the sin nature. When you begin to delight yourself in the Lord, your desire becomes God's will. You begin to love what he loves. You begin to hate what he hates. You want to see accomplished what he wants accomplished. And so when I delight myself in him, my nature is transformed. And therefore my prayers are transformed. That's why the scripture makes it clear that when we pray in his name or according to his will, or when we pray as someone who obeys his commands, when we delight ourselves in him, then he gives us the desires of our heart. Why? Because delighting ourselves in him transforms the heart and therefore the desires. And so obedience is alignment. Alignment accesses authority. When I obey him and my heart is inclined toward his statutes, when I begin to think like he thinks and desire like he desires, now I'm praying the word. Now I'm praying his desires. And so that agreement between heaven and earth, nothing can ever stop that. Now I as a person on earth, I as a child of God in the earth, come into agreement with God's will in heaven. Didn't Jesus tell us to pray this? Did not Jesus tell us to pray that the will of God would be done in earth as it is in heaven? Why would he have us pray that if it wasn't necessary to pray? Why would Jesus tell us? Why would Jesus command us to pray for the will of God to be done in the earth as it is in heaven if it wasn't necessary for us to pray that? Now I'm not saying that God can't move without us. What I am saying is that God chooses to not move without us in the earth. It's not that he can't, it's that he won't. He chooses to work in partnership with his children. At any moment that God wants, he can just transform the earth. At any moment that God wants, he can do whatever he wants, but he chooses to include you and I in the cultivating of kingdom culture in the earth. And so when we pray in the earth, as someone who's aligned with him, our desires are his desires, our thoughts become more like his. Now we pray in agreement, heaven and earth join hands and it's done. It's done. There's no stopping it. Why? Because you're praying the will of God. You're praying for his desires to be done in the earth. That's why when we pray in his name, that's why when we pray in his name, it shall be done. That's why when we pray in his authority, it shall be done. That's why when we delight ourselves in the Lord, then we receive the desires of our heart. Now watch this. You can pray for what God promised. Now you begin to align your prayers with his promises. You begin to pray according to his will. You know his will by the word. And you begin to pray with his power when you pray according to his promises. You can pray to war in the spirit. Anything that God promised, anything that God desires, you can pray. You can pray to war in the spirit. Ephesians 6, 10 through 12. You can pray for the safety of your loved ones. It's in his words. Second Corinthians 111. You can pray for the salvation of your unsaved loved ones. Romans 10, 1. You can pray for the well-being of cities. Jeremiah 29, 7. You can pray for the faith of others. I love this one. You can pray for the faith of others to be strengthened. Luke 22, 32 gives us an example of that. You can pray for leaders and people in positions of authority. 1 Timothy 2, 2 and 3. Whatever God promised, you can pray. And when you pray what God promised, there's power. Why? Because you're aligning yourself now with heavenly things. You're aligning yourself now with the authority of the kingdom of God. And so when you become that vessel who submits to God's will by praying his word, now you're praying with real power. Now you are enforcing what God has already said. You see God's word, God's words have creative power. Our words have cultivating power. Thank God our words can't just cause things to literally and instantly pop into existence. I mean, imagine if believers actually had the power to call things literally into existence. I think there would be a lot of chaos in our world. Maybe when you're driving in traffic on the way to work, you would speak another lane into existence. And then who knows what would go from there because many people would be speaking all sorts of things into existence. I mean, if you have two Christians praying on opposite teams during a football game and both of them are praying for their teams to win, what then manifests there? Or if you're angry with someone and you should pray something out of the flesh, well, there would be a lot of our loved ones who wouldn't exist. There would be many of our loved ones who wouldn't exist if we had that kind of creative power. So thank God we don't have the exact same power in our words that God's has. We have cultivating power in our words. In other words, we cultivate the culture of heaven. What we speak can encourage or discourage. What we speak can confuse or bring clarity. What we speak can cause lust or cause that lust to weaken its power. What we speak can be deceptive or truthful. What we speak does have effect. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. But creative power is reserved for God's. Creative power is reserved for God's words. Only when we speak what God has already spoken, hear this now. Only what we speak what God has already spoken, do we then see that creative power come into play? Why? Because you and I on our own do not have that creative power. We have cultivating power. God started the world. We steward the world. God created the world. We cultivate the world. We are stewards of God's creation, not the starters of God's creation. So God speaks creatively. We speak with some level of authority, but just to cultivate. So now, when we repeat what God has said, when we pray what God has promised, then and only then do we see that creative power come into play. If God said healing, we can speak healing. If God said deliverance, we can speak deliverance. If God said that a miracle should happen at that moment, and we align our prayers with his will for that moment, that miracle will happen. That's how it works to align yourself with the will and the word of God. When we pray according to the word, we're praying according to his will. And when we pray according to his will, we are accessing authority through alignment and we're truly backed by the power of heaven. I want to pray with you right now, and this isn't the end of the stream, but I just want to pray with you right here. This is a great point to have an altar call, and we'll pray again toward the end, but I want to pray with you right now. I want to pray that you would be given revelation of the word by the Holy Spirit, and then I'm going to pray that you would be given faith to believe the word so that when you pray, when you align your prayers with the word of God and the will of God, you would begin to see results. Father, I thank you that by your Holy Spirit, you're bringing revelation of your word. I pray for that one receiving this now. And I ask you, Father, to by your Holy Spirit, cause them to know your word. Give us insight. I pray, Lord, teach us your will, teach us your ways, teach us your nature. And also, Lord, I'm asking that you would stir their faith, stir their faith to believe the promises that you have made, Lord. Let it be so in the mighty name of Jesus. I want you to say it because you agree, say. So that's number four, they pray the word. So far, we've seen that prayer warriors pray sincerely. They pray with faith. They pray with gratitude. They pray the word. Number five, they pray persistently. Matthew chapter seven, verses seven through 11, say this, keep on asking and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking and you will find. Keep on knocking and the door will be open to you for everyone who asks receive. Everyone who seeks finds and everyone who knocks, the door will be open to everyone who knocks. The door will be open. Your parents, if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not. So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give good gifts to those who ask him? Prayer warriors don't stop praying. Prayer warriors are going to knock on that door until their spiritual hands bleed. Prayer warriors are going to seek until they find. Lord show me, show me, show me. I want to know your will. I want to know your ways. I want to see your face. I want to walk in your glory. They seek until they find. And they knock until that door is open. There's this fire that God has placed in the prayer warrior. This determination that says, I will pray until it happens because I trust that God will accomplish his word. You may not even see signs on the exterior that would in any way demonstrate that the miracle is even beginning to happen. What do I mean by that? You may look at a loved one that you're praying for. And it seems sometimes like the more you pray for them, the worse they get. Or the more you minister to them, the more they close up their heart to the gospel. Well, if you keep seeking, you keep knocking, you keep asking, something will result. So you say within yourself, I'm going to pray for that one to be saved. And I'm not giving up until I see it. I'm not giving up until I see them come to the cross. I'm not giving up till their heart is transformed. They may say things that discourage you like I'm done with that. I don't want to hear it. I'm completely over it. There's nothing you can do. I've made up my mind. And then maybe even their actions seem to indicate that they're going deeper and deeper and deeper into darkness with nothing left for you to do. I rebuke that lie of the enemy in Jesus name. Type that in the comment section right now. The devil is a liar. Let God be true and every man a liar. He who promised is faithful. The promises of God are yes and amen. You pray for that one even if it looks like their heart isn't turning. You keep praying for them even if they're being stubborn. You keep praying for them even if it looks like things are getting worse. Now we understand we don't bear that burden. We're not the ones who save. We're not the Holy Spirit. And don't try to play the Holy Spirit by trying to bring conviction where the Holy Spirit may not be working at that exact moment. You let the Holy Spirit do what He does. You just keep praying. You just keep loving them. You just keep demonstrating the character of Christ. Pray, pray, pray, pray. Don't give up. And when you feel like you want to give up, don't. Here's the thing about persistence. Persistence doesn't even begin until you feel like giving up. We look at situations that might seem difficult and we say, yes, I'm in it for the long haul. Consistency is not the same as persistence. You see, we go on and on and on and maybe there's a flow to it. Maybe we're just believing God. Maybe we're just walking in it. That's consistency. That's not persistence. I'll tell you when persistence kicks in. Persistence kicks in when you've been consistent for so long that you think that it's not going to happen. Persistence kicks in when you've been consistent for so long that you feel like giving up. You've exhausted all your emotion. You've come to the end of yourself. You've done everything you know to do and you feel like you've tried it all. You feel like, man, if it was going to happen, maybe it would have happened already. Maybe you're beginning to become discouraged. The enemy is lying to you saying that it's never going to happen. That's when persistence begins. Persistence doesn't even begin until you feel like quitting. Persistence doesn't even begin until you've come to the end of yourself. And then it's all grace from there. Lord, take me through this and help me to walk in this path of faith that I might see the miracle come to pass. They pray persistently. So again, number one, they pray sincerely. Number two, they pray with faith. Number three, they pray with gratitude. Number four, they pray the word. Number five, they pray persistently. Number six, they pray selflessly. And this actually somewhat ties into the last point that I made because sometimes prayer can be emotionally exhausting. Now it shouldn't be, but sometimes it can be. And we just can't help that. Of course, we rely on the Holy Spirit's power, so it's all coming from Him anyway. But there are times when our emotions get wrapped up in prayer, and that's because we're human. You've been praying for someone so long that you think, man, I don't know if I can stand the heartache anymore. And you pray selflessly, not always for your own benefit. You pray selflessly even when you're not the one benefiting. You pray selflessly even if it's for your enemies. You pray selflessly even if it costs you. Even if you aren't appreciated. Oh, this is a big one. You know, prayer warriors are probably some of the most underappreciated servants in the kingdom of God I've ever seen. Now look, I've got nothing against preachers. I am a preacher. But think about how often preachers are recognized. We're up on the pulpit. We're in front of the cameras. People go, oh, wow, what a wonderful gift. And there are accolades and compliments that come with that. And that's a whole different sermon for a whole different time on how we should deal with those. Think about worship leaders. Wow, what a voice. People who play instruments. Look how talented. Usher's even. Wow, they're greeting me at the door. And their presence really helps to accentuate the atmosphere. Children's church teachers and nursery workers. Thank you for watching my kids. Thank you for teaching my children. Prayer warriors do their ministry in secret and therefore are rarely recognized. They don't see you travelling. They don't see you on your face. They come into the service Sunday morning. And people go, man, God is moving. Where is this coming from? Wow, there's revival flowing. There's power here. There's a fire of God on this place. What happened? There's something shifting in the atmosphere. They didn't see you praying till three in the morning the night before saying, Lord, send revival tomorrow. They didn't see you praying for the salvation of the lost. They didn't see you praying for the healing of the sick. They didn't see you setting the atmosphere for that service before you got there. Now, we don't say this with pride, but that's the assignment that God gives to the prayer warrior. So prayer warriors by the virtue of who they are, prayer warriors by the very nature of their ministry have to be selfless because very few people will recognize that you had contributed to what God was doing. All of us in the kingdom of God contribute in some way. Now, of course, we understand everything is ultimately God, but all of us have roles to play that God has assigned. And the role of the prayer warrior is one that's often overlooked. People don't see it. So pray, even if it's not to your own benefit, pray even when it costs you the emotion, the time, the mental gymnastics that sometimes you have to do to work through the discouragement. Pray even when you aren't appreciated. Pray even when you don't get the glory. That's what a prayer warrior does. Matthew 9, 35 to 38. Watch this very interesting. Matthew 9, 35 to 38. Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the good news about the kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Now, this is key here, but first let me just kind of set up what we just read. So Jesus here is looking on the crowds, needy people, people who don't have a shepherd and his compassion, his heart just goes out to them. He's looking at them. He's just so filled with compassion for their needs. Now watch. Then he turns to the disciples. Look what he says. He said to the disciples, the harvest is great, but the workers are few. What's the harvest? All those people. Where are the workers? The people who go minister to them. Verse 38, this is so key. He tells the disciples, so pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest, ask him to send more workers into his field. So imagine this. Jesus looks at a need. He sees helpless people, sheep without shepherds. His heart goes out. His compassion goes out to them. And then he calls upon his disciples. He said, hey guys, you pray that God would send workers into the field. And the disciples do. So imagine this now. The disciples, if they obeyed the Lord, were praying, Lord, send workers into the field. Lord, send workers into the field. Lord, send workers into the field. And then the very next chapter, Matthew 10, verse one, watch this. Jesus called his 12 disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness. So imagine this. Jesus says to his disciples, you pray. You pray that God sends workers. So the disciples go, Lord, send workers. Lord, send workers. Lord, send workers. And then what happens? He sends them. Here's something that prayer warriors know that few believers do. When you pray for an answer, God very well sometimes may send you. Now that's not a statement of arrogance or pride. We are his workers. We are his servants. You say, Lord, send someone to meet the need. Send someone to meet the need. He may ask you to do it. Send someone to help them. Send someone to help them. He may ask you to do it. Our prayers are most powerful when we are most willing to be God's response to those prayers. Let me say that again. Our prayers are most powerful when we are most willing to become God's response to those prayers. Prayer warriors know that if you pray for God to do something, he very well may give you the assignment. That's what it means to pray selflessly. Number seven, they pray with compassion and love. Prayer warriors are just overflowing with this love. And like I mentioned a few moments ago, those church, those old church prayer warriors, those motherly church warriors, they do something to the atmosphere, to the ministry, to the church that very few people can do. I'm telling you, God just works that way. Now this is a message for both men and women, but let's just be honest. When it comes to the ministry of intercessory prayer and prayer warriors, it's often the women who fulfill this role. That's not to say that men shouldn't. That's just the reality that is in the church. Most of the prayer warriors I know are women. Now it should be men and women all the time. Men, we need to take up this mantle too. But there's something about that compassion. There's something about that love. And I can tell you in the church I grew up in, I could think of three ladies in particular. Every service, the three of them would join hands and just pray in the back. Steve, you remember these ladies? And they would pray in the back. They never had any platform. They never got any recognition. They never received all this glory. People really just overlooked them. But my goodness, they would stand in the back of that church service. Every service just before it started and they would just pray. And they were always praying for everyone. And if you walk by them, they'd stop you and pray for you. I remember just being a little boy. I think I was like 10 or 11 years old. Just be walking around the church. And we as kids knew if you walk by them, they're going to join hands with you and pray for you. Just pray for your future. Pray for blessing. Pray for God's voice to be clear in your life. And I'll tell you, every church needs those people. But they pray from compassion. They so love others. Romans 12, 15, rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Well, doesn't that just speak of a prayer warrior? 1 Peter 3, 8. Finally, all of you have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Colossians 3, 12. Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts. Kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. That's the mark of a true prayer warrior. That's one of their tactics. They pray with compassion. Number eight, they pray in tongues. 1 Corinthians chapter 14, verses one through five, says this, that love be your highest goal. But you should also, the desire, the spiritual abilities, the special abilities, the spirit gives, especially the ability to prophesy. Now I'm going to go off on a little bit of a tangent here to clarify something. Paul the apostle here is contrasting the gift of prophecy with the gift of tongues. Paul the apostle is not saying that speaking in tongues is bad. He's saying that prophecy is better. He's not saying that speaking in tongues has no benefit. He's saying that prophecy has a greater benefit in the context specifically of church assembly. With that in mind, let's continue to read. For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking only to God, so we know it's not just an earthly language. Since people won't be able to understand you, well, what language can you speak that people don't understand? It's a heavenly language. You will be speaking by the power of the spirit, but it will all be mysterious. Very clearly here talking about a heavenly prayer language. Verse three, but one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them and comforts them. Verse four, a person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally. There we see there is a benefit to praying in tongues. But one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church. I wish you could all speak in tongues, but even more I wish you could all prophesy. For prophecy is greater than speaking in tongues unless someone interprets what you were saying so that the whole church will be strengthened. There's a lot we can go in on there and there are a lot of misapplications of this verse in terms of the gift of speaking in tongues. I have other teachings on the channel about this if you want to dig deeper on that. First Corinthians 14, 14 and 15 say this, and this is his conclusion here that he's drawing. For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying. So very clearly there's a benefit to praying in tongues, but I don't understand what I'm saying. Well then what shall we do? I will pray in the spirit and I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, I will also sing in words I understand. So here he's saying you have to do both and prayer warriors understand this. There is a benefit to praying in tongues. Whatever strengthens my spirit weakens my flesh. Whatever strengthens my spirit strengthens the influence of the Holy Spirit in my life. So then if when I pray in tongues, my spirit is being strengthened, then that means the gift of speaking in tongues, that prayer language, when you use it, you strengthen all the benefits of the spirit. When you pray in tongues, it increases that prophetic on your life. When you pray in tongues, it causes greater levels of boldness. It causes greater levels of humility. It causes stronger desires to pray. It causes greater revelation of the word. When you pray in tongues, you're strengthening in your spirit and whatever is strengthened, when your spirit is strengthened, is strengthened when you pray in tongues. Prayer warriors understand this. Number nine, they pray in the spirit. Now in 1 Corinthians 14 verses 14 and 15, we read the phrase pray in the spirit. However, that phrase pray in the spirit is not always a reference to speaking in tongues. Specifically in 1 Corinthians 14, that phrase pray in the spirit is a reference to speaking in tongues because that's the context. But that phrase pray in the spirit is not always a reference to speaking in tongues. Don't hear what I'm not saying. I believe in speaking in tongues. I teach people they should pray in tongues. I believe every believer should pray in tongues. I understand there might be some questions on that. So again, see the content on the channel. So I do believe in praying in tongues. It's one of the teachings that I really, really revisit most often. So I believe in speaking in tongues. However, that term pray in the spirit is not always a reference to speaking in tongues. I'll show you a couple examples here, Ephesians 6, 18. Pray in the spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. Romans 8, 26, and 27 gives us some insight as to what's happening here. And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. There is so much here, but first let's establish this concept. To pray in the spirit is to pray surrender to in the power of and in the guidance of the Holy Spirit. That's simply what it means to pray in the spirit. Again, in 1 Corinthians 14, the phrase pray in the spirit is specifically talking about praying in tongues. But in almost every other instance that it's used, the term pray in the spirit simply means to pray in the power of with the guidance of under the influence of according to the will of the Holy Spirit. It's to flow with the Holy Spirit in your prayer. It's to pray what he prays. There in Romans chapter 8, verses 26 and 27, we see this marvelous reality that the Holy Spirit prays. He prays for you. And so when you pray in the spirit, in this sense, you're praying in harmony with the Holy Spirit. You know, so often we approach prayer like it's some task list that we have to check off. And if you're like me, when I first began to pray, then maybe you're very confused as to what you should pray. Do I sit or do I stand? Do I pray in tongues or do I pray with my understanding? What's the ratio there? Do I do maybe 45 minutes of one and 15 minutes of the other? Can I lie down while I'm praying? Can I close my eyes while I'm praying? Do I have to close my eyes while I'm praying? Is it okay to pray with music? And for that matter, what exactly am I praying when I'm praying for several hours? Does reading the word count as a form of prayer? Can I pray in my mind? Or do I have to speak out loud? Can I paste the rumor? Do I have to be still? Do I have to pray with passion and emotion? Or can I be relaxed when I pray? All these questions arise when we look at prayer as if it's some task to be fulfilled, some obligation that we have to fulfill. But you have to recognize that prayer is by the Spirit. Prayer warriors know that when they go to pray, the first thing they do is listen for that instruction of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes he'll lead you into worship. Sometimes he'll lead you into spiritual warfare. Sometimes he'll lead you to pray for others. Sometimes he'll lead you to pray with aggression and passion. And other times he'll just have you be still. Now, going off on a tangent here again, when you go to approach the Lord and you don't know what to pray, two things you do, you wait or you worship. Psalm 80, 18 says, quicken us and we will call unto you. That quickening allows you to respond in a way that spiritual or you worship. It puts your focus totally on Jesus. It steals the soul, quiets the soul, so that you can hear the Holy Spirit. So if you're having trouble starting in prayer, just be still and wait or worship. One of those two will help you get started. Back to the point I'm making here, when you do pray, there's this flow that you finally find that takes you, it's a stream, it's a wind. Like an eagle soars to a new height and then just surrenders to the wind in order to soar further. So the prayer warrior knows what it is to get into the Spirit, wait for the Spirit's leading, spread their spiritual wings and then just ride that wind of the Spirit. And then he guides you. Now I want you to worship. Now I want you to pray. Now I want you to intercede. Now I want you to ask. Now I want you to come against that demonic attack in that person's life. Now pray for your pastor. Now pray for your spouse. Now pray for your children. Now pray for your friends. Pray for this nation. Pray for that leader. He guides you. So if you're going to prayer and approaching it like it's some script that you have to keep, well, then you're gonna be, you're gonna be pretty frustrated with your prayer life. But when you approach prayer, do as the prayer warrior does and flow with the Spirit. And finally, number 10, they pray corporately. This means they pray in unison with others. They pray at prayer meetings. They pray with each other. That's Biblical. I'll give you a few references now. Matthew 18, 19 and 20. Acts 2, 42. Acts 114. And James 5, 17. And by the way, when it comes to the Book of Acts, many times people will say, well, we look at the Book of Acts and that's descriptive not prescriptive. Be very careful with that line of reasoning because A, that's not anywhere in the Bible that idea of prescriptive or descriptive. It's a general rule, one that I generally follow. I think it's a good idea, but let's not be so hard on that fact that we, we forget that also sometimes what we see in scripture being described is a great prescription for how to do things. So this is one of those cases in point. Acts 2, 42, Acts 114, praying corporately. So let's recap here. They pray sincerely. They pray with faith. They pray with gratitude. They pray the Word. They pray persistently. They pray selflessly. They pray with compassion and love. They pray in tongues. They pray in the Spirit. They pray corporately. Now let's pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank you for revealing these truths by your word. And I pray, precious Holy Spirit, that you would lead and guide us. Draw us into the deeper places of prayer. I pray now. Say this to him. Say, Jesus, show me your glory. Come on, be bold enough to ask. Say, Jesus, show me your glory. Tell him you want to hear his voice. Tell him you want to know him. Tell him you desire to walk in his presence all the days of your life that's possible. Now, Father, let it be done. Cause that fire of prayer to be lit in their hearts again. Fan into flame, the fires of prayer. Stir up, stir up, stir up that prayer life. In the name of Jesus, I want you to say it because you believe it. Right, amen. If you enjoyed this message, make sure you leave a like so that others get to hear it. Yes, it's just that simple. By leaving a like, it spreads the content even further. Also, leave a comment. Let me know what you thought. Maybe I would like to know what you found most helpful of all of these 10 tactics that I listed. And don't forget to subscribe. 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