Have you ever really considered what prayer is and why you pray? Do you understand just how your prayer impacts your life?

Joyce unravels the mystery of talking with God by explaining and exploring the different types of prayer:

• praise, worship, and thanksgiving
• consecration and commitment
• petition and perseverance
• intercession
• prayers of agreement.

Prayer is powerful, so if you want power in your life, over your circumstances, in building great relationships, in order to succeed-pray! When we need prayer most, Joyce shows us how to unleash its power.

Chapter 1

I want to ask you a question: do you believe your prayers are really making a difference? Think about it: deep in your heart, do you ever wonder if God is hearing you when you pray? When you finish praying, are you convinced that your prayers have accomplished something? Are you satisfied with your prayer life? Do you really know how to pray? Are you longing for a deeper, richer, more dynamic relationship with God through prayer?

If you are like thousands of others I have encountered in more than thirty years of ministry, you are saying, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" As I have traveled and interacted with people, I have discovered that people really want to pray; they want to know that God hears their prayers and that their prayers are being effective. People want to grow in their prayer lives and to see their prayers become more powerful as they pray for others and for themselves. In fact, a 2005 survey of more than eight hundred pastors in the United States revealed that only 16 percent say they are "very satisfied" with their prayer lives. That leaves an overwhelming 84 percent who feel their prayer lives could definitely be better. Like the pastors in the survey, there are countless others who are not satisfied with their prayer lives.1 They are not sure God is really listening when they talk to Him; they do not understand why some prayers seem to go unanswered; they wonder if they are praying "right" or praying enough. They are generally frustrated in their prayer lives, eager to know what to do to feel more connected with God and to gain confidence that their prayers really do make a difference. If ministers feel this way, what must their congregations say?

One of the most important, most life-changing prayers a person can ever utter is: "Lord, teach me to pray." It is not just, "Lord, teach me to pray," but, "Lord, teach me to pray." You see, knowing about prayer is really not enough; we have to know how to pray as individuals who are in an intimate, dynamic personal relationship with the God to whom we pray. Although there are principles of prayer that apply to everyone, we are individuals and God will lead each of us individually. I attended many "prayer seminars," and then attempted to duplicate in my prayer experience what I heard others say about their own prayers. Eventually, though, I realized God had a personalized plan for me - a way for me to communicate most effectively with Him - and I needed to say, "Lord teach me to pray."

I believe many people today are asking the same questions Jesus' disciples asked almost 2000 years ago: "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1). Even though they spent a great deal of up-close and personal time with Him, listening to Him, learning from Him, and watching Him work miracles, they still felt the need for His instruction on prayer. The disciples went to Jesus as a group asking Him to teach them to pray, but as I made that same request as an individual, God answered me in a powerful way and brought wonderful improvements to my prayer life.

For example:

• I have moved from praying panic-based, carnal, soulish prayers (prayers that come from a person's mind, will, or emotions) to praying Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, faith-based prayers.

• I no longer focus primarily on prayers for my "outer life" (my circumstances, the activities I am involved in, the things that happen around me). I now pray for my inner life (the condition of my heart, my spiritual growth, my attitudes, and my motives). As God has taught me to pray, I have learned that my job is to pray to be strengthened internally and to ask Him to help me live out of a pure heart from the right motives; and His job is to take care of the externals.

• I have gone from laboring and striving to pray for five minutes every few days to enjoying - and actually personally needing and wanting - beginning my day with prayer, then to praying throughout the day as things come to my heart, and finally ending my day communicating with the Lord as I fall asleep.

• I have moved from a sporadic, irregular prayer life to regular times of prayer that are disciplined without being legalistic.

• Where I once thought I was fulfilling an obligation to God by praying, I now realize that I absolutely cannot survive a day and be satisfied and content if I do not pray. I realize that prayer is a great privilege, not a duty.

• I no longer approach God in fear, wondering if He will really hear me and send an answer to my prayers. I now approach Him boldly, as His Word teaches me to do, and with great expectation.

I believe if you will ask God to teach you to pray too, that you will also experience great changes in the way you pray, increased effectiveness in your prayers, tremendous satisfaction in your relationship with God, and a refreshing freedom and enjoyment in prayer.

In this book, I will provide you with a substantial amount of teaching on prayer. I hope you will learn from these insights, but I know that God is the only one who can take this information and cause it to spring to life so that prayer becomes exhilarating, exciting, and effective for you. I am praying and believing that He will do that for you in an incredible, life-changing way.

God is the only one who can take this information and cause it to spring to life so that prayer becomes exhilarating, exciting, and effective for you.

God will take the biblical information I will be sharing and help you apply it in ways that will be just right for you, your personality, and the particular season you are in at this time in your life. For example, a mother with four very young children may not be able to spend the first hour of each day praying. She has many duties to attend to and some of them won't wait. She is in a season of her life that won't last forever and God will lead her to pray in ways that work for her during that time. She can begin her day with prayer and pray throughout the day, but not necessarily in the same manner as a woman who no longer has children at home and can make her own time schedule.

I remember attending a prayer seminar and listening to an elderly woman speak about how she prayed every morning from five to nine. She had been doing that for many years and had the grace from God to do so. I did not yet understand the special abilities that God gives each of us, so I went home determined to do the same thing she did. All I did was get bored and sleepy after about the first fifteen minutes! Through that experience and others like it, I learned that we cannot compare our prayer lives with those of other people. We are all unique and God has a unique plan for each of us. The Bible teaches us that He gives each of us grace to do something and we should do whatever that is with our whole heart. The woman at the prayer conference had the grace from God to pray for hours each day. Similarly, I have grace to study for a very long time because I am called as a teacher in God's kingdom. I encourage you to be all you can be, but don't try to be what only someone else can be. God will never help you be anyone but you!

© 2007 by Joyce Meyer

Tags: Christianity, Prayer

About the Author

JOYCE MEYER has been teaching the Word of God since 1976 and in full-time ministry since 1980. She is the bestselling author of more than fifty inspirational books, including How to Hear from God, Knowing God Intimately, and Battlefield of the Mind. She has also released thousands of teaching cassettes and a complete video library. Joyce's Enjoying Everyday Life radio and television programs are broadcast around the world, and she travels extensively conducting conferences.