A Prayer For The World

 I was awakened early this morning with a prompting to write a prayer for those who will find their way to this post. I honestly don't know what words will flow as the Holy Spirit leads me. So, I pray that you hear what you need to hear in your own spirits, just as my spirit cries out to our Father in Heaven... 

Father, I come before your throne this morning humbled and repentant. I ask for forgiveness for all my sins against You, and the sins of my nation. I ask that You extend Your compassion and mercy as I approach You with a heavy heart. Just as so many in the world are experiencing, I received news yesterday of a dear Sister in Christ who has been given a diagnosis that has rocked her world. It came out of nowhere and seems to be connected to a recent bout with Covid. Father, the world has been devastated by far too many of these diagnoses. Lives across the globe have been shattered, and those of us who know You are aware of the unholy roots of this contagion. We cry out for justice!

Father, we believe and trust in Your heavenly government on this earth, and I pray that the true Church will stand in their role as Your Ekklesia -- Your governing body to see Your righteous will done in every circumstance. Rule from on High, King Jesus and give us heavenly strategies! We know we are in a fierce spiritual battle against Evil, and we call on Your Heavenly Host to fight for us and alongside us. Give us the courage to stand our ground, the wisdom to hear only Your voice, and the power of Your mighty arm to defeat every adversary sent by the Enemy. 

And Father, the world seems poised on the brink of a global war. Are we truly at the point that, just like in the days of Noah, "every imagination or intent of the thoughts of man's heart is only evil continually"? Do you recognize any of us as righteous, or are we all tainted by the corruption, greed, and perversion of those who have chosen to follow the Evil One? Father, Your Word has proven over and over that You save a righteous remnant for Your purpose. Let us be among those You use to restore Your Name in the hearts of humanity! Let it not be too late to please You, Father! Show us how to battle in the spirit against the agents of the devil, and how to sow seeds of Justice and Mercy in the lives of those who need to know You. Establish us in our spheres of influence so that others might see You through the ways we do Your work in our daily lives. Let us be beacons of hope for a better world, even as we show them that we never take off our spiritual armor. 

Lord Jesus, I have had the joy of seeing so many beautiful babies being brought into this confusing world, and for their sake, I pray that we can partner with You to turn this ship around. Help us to stop the perversion of Your design for humanity ... help us to stop the confusion over gender identity; the glorification of racism; and, Lord, stop the trafficking of their innocent bodies and souls! Help us to defeat the Beast System that is trying to infiltrate every aspect of our lives -- from the structure of our families, to our schools, our forms of government, and even our Churches. As a whole, we have lost our way, but You still have an obedient remnant who humble ourselves before You, confessing that we let down our guard, and we ask for forgiveness and another chance to do right!

Deliver us from these Evil times, Father! Turn the hearts of men back to You! We implore You to turn Your righteous anger and wrath upon those who have defiled Your Name and sought only evil and wickedness. We don't deserve it, but we know we have a Savior who has redeemed us, and we glorify the Name of Yeshua Hamashiach! He is the King of Kings and no man is above Him! So, Father, we ask that you cleanse our land and the world. Bring low those who would seek to sit on Your throne, and reveal the battle we are in to the blind and self-centered. We long to see Your glory on the earth and in the lives of our loved ones. Let Your Peace reign in every heart and heal us from all our pain. Give us not a spirit of fear, but give us steadfast faith as we walk in the power and authority of Jesus in us! I thank you for hearing this prayer and all the prayers that will accompany it. We bow before you and declare our love and allegiance. Thank You, Father, and we shout out loud that all the Power and all the Glory and all the Kingdoms of the world are Yours! Amen!

Zephaniah 3:9    Then I will give to the peoples [clear and pure speech from] purified lips [which reflect their purified hearts],
That all of them may call on the name of the Lord, To serve Him shoulder to shoulder (united).

 

How To Receive Your Power In Prayer -- It's All About Relationship!

I've got a lot of thoughts swirling around in my head and they're coming fast and strong, so I hope I'm able to adequately share what Holy Spirit is counseling me. The Bible tells us to "Pray without ceasing", and "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working". And Jesus gave us a very specific prayer to pray ... "Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be your name.Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil". Obviously, prayer is something that is valuable [and consequential] in the life of a Christian.

But there is an aspect to the practice of Prayer that I want to address today. Actually, it has become more evident to me since the Lord brought the ministry of Inner Healing to my husband and me. Let me begin by saying that it is always such a blessing to partner with Jesus and Holy Spirit to assist someone to receive Freedom from the bondage of sin in their lives -- whether the bondage originated from their sin, or the sins of others against them. It is more than I could ever express to witness the moment of realization when a Beloved understands [and sometimes for the very first time] just how much Jesus loves them; enough that He suffered the most brutal of deaths to free them from their wounds so that they could fulfill the purpose for which He sent their spirit to earth. When they are able to hear Him speak in the spirit [to their spirit] and know that they can have a real relationship with Him -- one greater than any they've ever experienced -- it's like watching the wonder that a newborn baby experiences when he or she recognizes the voice of their father for the first time! It's an emotional and spiritual connection and association that is unmatched by any other.

That relationship is at the core of our Father in Heaven's desire for us. Through a healthy and intimate relationship with Jesus, we can know the Father, and also build a relationship with the Holy Spirit who teaches us and guides us in all Their ways. And when we finish an Inner Healing Session, we always tell the Beloved that the freedom they have received has become their responsibility to maintain and continue. In other words, Jesus has shown them the truth of why they were in bondage and led them through the ways He wanted to set them free [such as forgiveness, healing in the memories, battling in the spirit, and many other spiritual tools He has shown us]. We encourage them to become proficient in those ways because they will most likely encounter the snares and traps of the Enemy again; the methods of bondage that brought them to our ministry in the first place. But they must now recognize those fiery darts and learn to not only break the habits that ensnared them, but how to bind, rebuke and renounce the lies that Jesus has revealed so that those doors are never opened again. Their freedom must not be taken for granted -- as if they can now live the rest of their lives in a magic bubble, impervious and unaffected by Satan, whom Jesus calls "the dark ruler of this world". 

In fact, we encourage each and every person who comes for Freedom to take the opportunity to expand that experience of hearing and seeing Jesus in the spirit to grow their relationship with Him. The event of their session is not meant to be a one-time, get-out-of-jail-free card. We invited Jesus and Holy Spirit to be present, not only to break the bonds of sin in their life, but for the purpose of beginning to build a powerful relationship that will bless their earthly lives on into their eternal life. That involves what I call "intentional participation" on the part of the Beloved. And the building process must include maintaining the divine connection initiated in the session; continuous interaction with Jesus to discover their purpose on earth and to hear [and see] how to overcome any obstacles; absolute trust in Jesus for all things in their journey; and finally, collaboration with Jesus, which is when the relationship is so strong that they can act without fear as they hear His voice and carry out their assignment for His Kingdom. It is at that point that the Beloved truly understands the Grace of Christ as being more than unmerited favor; it is the power of Jesus in them to do what they cannot do on their own -- which is a collaboration that can defeat any strategy of the Enemy!

And prayer is a very important part of that process. Prayer, in its simplest and most genuine form, is simply having a conversation with Jesus and our Father. And good communication is the best way to develop a healthy and productive relationship. So prayer is always encouraged as a method to continue the freedom that is received. That is the instruction that we leave with the newly freed disciple of Jesus, along with written tools they can rely on as they begin their journey to wholeness and maturity in Christ. But here is where I want to give a word of caution. The journey really is all about consistency and intentionality. We always make ourselves available whenever anyone has a question or needs further guidance or assistance. But, too often, when I receive a phone call that someone feels like the attacks are returning, they usually express something along the lines of, "I feel like I'm losing my freedom". With just a little bit of investigation, invariably they have not made a consistent effort to maintain their relationship with Jesus. It's easy to get caught up in the world again, as one is released from the chains of bondage to past sin. But that is on them! Jesus did the work on the Cross to set them free and then brought His presence into an Inner Healing Session to show them the ways the Enemy tried to block their purpose, and then gives them words of affirmation for how He sees them and resets the clock, so to speak, so they can move forward in a new identity.

Further investigation into the loss of freedom very often reveals what I believe is at the heart of many Christians becoming stalled in their journey. When I ask, "What have you done about it? Have you incorporated [and been consistent] in using the spiritual tools Jesus gave you"?, the answer I often get is, "Well, I have prayed and asked Jesus to a) help me, b) take it away, or c) show me what I'm supposed to do". Or I will get an email or text asking me to pray for deliverance from a specific attack. Once again, I want to stress that prayer is necessary and an effective tool. BUT when prayer becomes the convenient fallback plan, rather than consistent and intentional collaboration with Jesus to become an overcomer, then prayer has become a substitution for stepping into the power of a relationship with Jesus. It is not stepping into that new identity of our freedom in Christ and declaring the power of the Throne of God in our lives! 

Too often we ask others to intercede for us, when Jesus might want to see us use the power and authority He gave us to establish His Kingdom here on earth. There is nothing wrong with joining together in powerful prayer with an intercessor to see the Enemy defeated, but if we do it because we doubt Jesus will answer us, or we think we don't have the right level of faith, then there is something lacking in our relationship with Him. Prayer is not something that is to be done separate from our relationship with Father, Son, or Holy Spirit. It is the intimate communication IN those relationships, and carries the power that comes with that intimacy. We must be careful -- and intentional -- to not let Prayer become a diversion to doing the work of seeking real relationship with the One who set us free. We have been taught since children to pray to God for help in our time of need, but what would it look like if we understood that our prayers are actually extensions of the power we have been given to collaborate with Heaven to bring God's government to our lives and to the earth? That can only happen when there is a heart connection, continuity in purpose, trust, and cooperative efforts between us and our Rock, our Savior, our Deliverer. Prayer is a vital element in our relationship with Jesus. It needs to be more than methodical, routine, and lacking in the power of real communication. Prayer is all about the relationship of your heart with Jesus. It should exemplify your spiritual union with Him, and be evidence of the spiritual relationship you share. So continue to pray without ceasing, building on the continued communication between your hearts, and reaping all the benefits of that divine and powerful connection. You will not only maintain your freedom, but walk in spiritual power to overcome the world!

I Chronicles 16:11    Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His presence continually!

Prayer For Winter Storm 2021

Our nation is in the grips of an unprecedented winter storm that will break decades-old records. I'm pretty secure in saying that we are all going to be challenged during the next few days in caring for our homes, family members, pets, livestock, and all the things the Lord has put under our stewardship. And I would ask you to pray for our police officers, firefighters, EMTs, Paramedics, doctors, nurses, Electric workers, City workers, Postal workers, hospital and emergency personnel, National guardsmen and anyone else I may not have mentioned. 

I  have already been personally touched by this storm as temperatures plummeted here in Southeast Texas and I found myself driving Mark to the emergency room after a fall on the ice in which he thought he might have broken his wrist. So, I was awakened in the early morning hours with a deep desire to pray and seek the face of my Lord. But for a few minutes I struggled with all that was surging through my mind, and then the words began to flow, and I knew they were being guided by the Holy Spirit and could possibly be important for other people to pray for their situations. I immediately got out of bed and transcribed the following prayer that poured out from the Spirit to my spirit in about 5 minutes.

This is a prayer that Holy Spirit counseled for me and my circumstances. But if you or a family member have need of healing [as Mark does] you can adapt this prayer to speak into your particular needs. And I reminded the Lord of our petition to protect [in the Spirit] the boundaries of our property by establishing a wall of fire around, above and below the physical land. You, too, can adapt this prayer to a personal petition of how you see your property protected in the Spirit. But I want to invite you to feel free to repeat this prayer or adapt it to your specific needs and petitions. The Lord will hear you and respond; I am sure of it! 

Father God, I begin by praising Your Name which is above all Names, our Great God who is our provider and protector. I praise you for assigning Your angels to protect Mark yesterday from his icy fall. Father, I praise you for delivering him from a broken wrist and more serious injuries. I ask You, Jehovah Rapha, to accelerate his healing and bring all ligaments, tendons, muscles and bones into alignment supernaturally and immediately. I praise You that he has no injuries in Heaven, where his spirit is seated with Christ, and I ask that we see that manifested in him here on the earth. And I thank you, Lord Jesus, that he is healed even now, by the stripes You suffered on his behalf. Thank You, Father, for what You are doing, even now, to restore him to full health.

 

And, Father, we thank you for trusting this piece of property … Your land … into our care. We thank you for establishing it as Your Open Heaven and sanctifying it [and us] under Your Name of El Shaddai. Father, we ask that You assign ministering angels to keep stoking the fiery boundaries we called into exsistence to surround and protect this property --- both above and below the ground into all the dimensions of Heaven and Earth. We declare and decree that these fires will warm this earthly atmosphere [and ground] to keep our pipes from bursting and we will suffer no damage from this winter storm. Furthermore, we declare and decree that these blessings will overflow from us to cover the homes of our families here in Texas and Illinois. Thank you, Father!

 

And, Father, we also declare that this property is the Land of Goshen, where we reside in peace and comfort and safety, protected from the plans and schemes of the Enemy. Just as the Israelites were delivered from the famine in Egypt, we will be delivered from any harm or lack during this winter storm. We will live safely and securely in Your holy abundance and by Your Grace.

 

And finally, we ask that this property and the nation be delivered from the curse spoken by government officials that we would enter into a dark and bleak winter. We join with Your Heavenly host in shattering the altars built to that curse, and we declare blessings upon this property and our country, which are now being transferred into Your supernatural Kingdom realm. We declare to [and in] all the spiritual dimensions, both on earth and in the heavens, that we dwell in the shelter of the Most High, where we will remain secure and rest in the shadow of the Almighty, the One True God, whose power no enemy can withstand.

 

You are our refuge and our fortress and You are our strength; our God in whom we trust. You are our stronghold and we praise You, for You are worthy to be praised! Your enduring and everlasting faithfulness is both a shield and a wall that protects and surrounds us. We will not fear as we go forth through these next few days and into the future, for we dwell in You and with You. We thank You for all You have done in our lives and we trust You to protect, defend, and provide for us. In awe of Your Holiness, we declare that You are our God and we belong to You. We declare that we are Your obedient servants, sent here to take back and expand the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. We will not falter in our assignment! Lastly, we declare that we are in agreement over these declarations and petitions, all of which are made in the Mighty and Powerful Name of our Savior, Yeshua HaMashiach. AMEN! 

Psalm 91:1-2: When you sit enthroned under the shadow of Shaddai, you are hidden in the strength of God Most High. He’s the hope that holds me and the Stronghold to shelter me, the only God for me, and my great confidence. (The Passion Translation)

 

 

Are We On The Verge Of Destroying Our Nation's Pride?

 

Radio host and political commentator Michael Savage is quoted in his book, Trickle Down Tyranny, "Economies can be rebuilt, armies can be repopulated, but once a nation's pride is gone it can almost never be restored." In 2012, an article on the United Church of God's website quoted a Conservative Party member of the British Parliament, who wrote, "The Arab Spring, the threat of Iran as an emerging nuclear power, the continuing violence in Syria and the American reluctance to get involved there, have all signaled the weakness, if not the end, of America’s role as a world policeman." That statement was followed by a warning that this was just one aspect of America's waning national power, and the writer felt it served as a prophecy that was beginning to be fulfilled; a prophecy that "may be on the verge of accelerating with frightening speed if the nation doesn’t take drastic steps to repent and change its self-destructive course."  

What do you think? Do events seem to be accelerating to you? In the Bible, God spoke to the rebellious nation of Israel and said, "I will break your pride in your power." It was a warning for rejecting His statutes and commandments, and breaking His covenant with them.  It would be the penalty if they turned away from Him to follow after leaders who led them to worship pagan idols; and leaders who abandoned God to increase their own wealth and power; or leaders who neglected God's moral laws to serve their own lusts and flesh. And I look at the condition of our nation today, and it is so clear that there is a massive split along ideological, political, spiritual, and social/cultural lines. I'm not sure there has ever been a more clear delineation between good and evil. 

What I am seeing in my country today is no different than what the prophet Isaiah saw during Israel's prosperous reign.  He could just as easily have been speaking to us when he warned, "O My people! Those who guide you lead you astray and confuse the direction of your paths" (Isaiah 3:12). And isn't his admonishment of  “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20) just as appropriate for today?  The corruption, misconduct, and fraud in our election process is not only embarrassing and shameful [and may be criminal], it dishonors the efforts of our Founding Fathers to give us a Constitution that would protect the rights and freedoms of its citizens. The original intent of that distinguished group of patriots was to write a code of laws designed to allow the citizenry to live, work, worship and advance their lives while participating in the governmental process, protected by rights and freedoms that are natural, God-given and safeguarded by law. Oh, how far this generation of leaders have fallen in this election!

Leaders make a difference in the continued survival of their nations, and the Bible records that even the nations favored by God lived or died by the influence and actions of their leaders. The histories of Israel and Judah prove that. And now we witness our elected leaders calling for lists to be made of those who have differing political views. The free discourse of ideas are censored, and the First Amendment is in serious danger of being nullified. I want you to consider how much of this significant safeguard of our freedoms has been threatened in the last year: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

As I look upon the utter chaos that seems to be at the heart of governing leaders today, I want to thunder like Jeremiah, and shout at our misguided and hateful Congress. These are the leaders who have resented anyone who doesn't fall in line with the Anti-Christ agenda to subdue the world for the kingdom of darkness. These are the leaders "who try to make My people forget My name… and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness".  Yes, I know that this nation has made mistakes and our dream of building a country where all men live as equals has fallen short of that lofty goal. But what I'm seeing now is more like a nightmare! 

I believe it is incumbent upon us to revisit the heart of why this country was founded in the first place ... "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security." That is an except from the Declaration of Independence and describes why the colonists felt driven to separate themselves from the government of Great Britain.

The problem we are encountering today is that we are divided into two camps who each think that the form of our government has become destructive to their existence; that they have the right to alter or abolish the government which threatens their safety and security. Each side believes there has been a long train of abuses, that they are being subjected to absolute Despotism, and it is their right to throw off this kind of oppression. This historical document also declares that long-established governments should not be changed [or discarded] frivolously. But we have come to the point where these two distinctly different factions are no longer willing to suffer silently or willingly. 

What we are seeing playing out before our eyes is the result of a prideful nation whose leaders strayed from the original covenant with God and sought to bless themselves and this nation through their own power. They abandoned virtuous and moral principles and joined with the citizenry to create laws that fed their own desires and lust for self-fulfillment. And now we see a rapidly accelerating deterioration to violence in the streets and a full-blown rush to a communistic form of government. UNLESS... the million people who descended on Washington D.C. in support of traditional values and a return to our Christian principles in government, in our families, in our society, and in every aspect of this nation's culture storm Heaven with our repentance, our confession of allowing wickedness to cover the land,  and our declarations for a return to the Lord's statutes and laws. 

Then I believe that God will remember His covenant with America, entered into with the Pilgrims, and He will not reject or destroy this nation. Then I believe we will once again find favor with God and He will restore our nation's pride. We will once again be inhabited by a righteous people who refuse to bow down before false gods or sinful leaders. But we must not grow tired in our efforts, nor become slow to respond to the Enemy's increased attacks. We must persevere, no matter how long it takes and how bitter the fight becomes. Then we must "clean up our act" and destroy the altars of abortion, sex trafficking, and wealth and greed. We must invite the Most High God to once again establish His statutes, ordinances, and laws in this great nation, and declare that He is our God and we are His people. Father, please forgive us of our sins and hear our prayers for Godly and righteous leaders!

Proverbs 14:34    Righteousness [moral and spiritual integrity and virtuous character] exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people.

The Lion Heard Us and He Roared!

 

I cannot state it enough ... God loves working with His children! And this past weekend Mark and I had the opportunity to come together with a remnant of the followers of Jesus and watch the Lord convey us into His Ekklesia. And I have deliberately chosen that word convey because it means "to transport or carry to a place; to make an idea, impression, or feeling known to someone; to communicate a message or information; and finally, [in accordance with Law] to transfer the title [to property]". And let me tell you how all that happened.

At our gathering last month to teach on Freemasonry, the New World Order, and the Anti-Christ spirit, we left that assembly with one of the attendees asking, "So, where do we go from here?" In the ensuing days, the Lord instructed me that we needed to congregate again to answer any questions that might have occurred as a result of people meditating on what they had heard. So, I sent the word out, and as I expected, once the original information had been disseminated, there would not be as big of an interest in attending a follow-up. That is not said in condemnation; it is just the reality of human nature and I knew that people would have other obligations. Whatever it would be is what the Lord intended.

So, we were 15 in number and to be honest, my spirit did not feel encouraged to prepare in the same manner as for the first assemblage. In fact, days and weeks had gone into the primary presentation, and I felt that the Lord wanted me to trust Him with a plan He had for this subsequent gathering. So He gave me a few bullet points He wanted me to cover and then I felt I was just to turn the reins over to Him and watch what happened. I couldn't wait!

So, we began our follow-up meeting with Communion and the blowing of the shofar, which calls together a solemn assembly. We also blew the shofar in honor of The Feast of Trumpets, which commemorates a future [and hoped for] event when "we will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory" (Mark 13:26). We also announced that we were prophetically walking in the "Ten Days of Awe", in which the Lord will open the Books in Heaven to review what we have accomplished for His Kingdom. We are to fast, pray, and repent as we wait for the Feast of Tabernacles, when the Lord will one day dwell among us upon His earthly throne for 1,000 years, inaugurating the Millennial Kingdom.

We then set the meeting in motion with the Lord's first bullet point: that it is imperative that the Body of Christ understand that our spiritual warfare battles take place in both the physical and spiritual realms. For instance, it is important that we clearly discern what we see in the physical -- that the legitimate and peaceful assembly of movements like Black Lives Matter have been hijacked by BLM, Inc; of which the founders boast that they are "trained Marxists". It is imperative that we understand the importance of that statement and what aligning oneself with the ideology and political philosophy of Karl Marx really means (see this post to begin your own research). In addition, when we are able to see the danger of combining Marxism with the anarchy of Antifa, we can get a clear picture of what we're up against in this physical realm. But, as Christians, I discern that the Lord encourages us with the same words He gave Israel in Deuteronomy 20:3-4, Right now you are advancing to wage war against your enemies. Don’t be discouraged! Don’t be afraid! Don’t panic! Don’t shake in fear on account of them, because the Lord your God is going with you to fight your enemies for you and to give you victory.

 Then I discerned it was important to make a distinction that we did not make in our initial presentation. We had diligently researched how Satan had managed to infiltrate the government of our nation from the very beginning. Using the Parable of the Wheat and Tares as our precedent, we showed how Freemasonry and it's connection to false Egyptian gods, and ungodly oaths, curses and rituals had seeped into the secret societies that are woven throughout our country's framework. Like the tares (weeds) in the field Jesus sowed, Freemasonry has remained hidden and worked its "majik", uniting with the Illuminati and New World Order to corrupt this nation and call it away from the foundation that was laid when it was first discovered. 

So, we made it clear that before the events of 1776 and the formation of the United States of America, there was a covenant made by God with men He chose to set the spiritual destiny of this nation. One of these men was John Winthrop, a Puritan and leading figure in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Here are his prophetic words: "Thus stands the cause between God and us. We are entered into covenant with Him for this work … The Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us, as His own people, and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways, so that we shall see much more of His wisdom, power, goodness and truth … We shall find that the God of Israel is among us, when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies.”

But there came a warning with this prophecy ... Winthrop also said this: “If we shall deal falsely with our God … if our hearts shall turn away … so that we will not obey … but shall be seduced and worship other Gods, and serve them, then our blessings will cease to exist”. And we can all discern those "gods" which are so evident in our society: profit, greed, power, material possessions, lust, etc. And it's not hard to see that our blessings are in grave danger of being eradicated.

Once the important concept of a covenant with God for our nation was affirmed, the Lord wanted us to establish the importance of understanding the spiritual realms and our position in the battles that occur there. After a brief review of the realms of First and Second Heavens and the demonic activity that is orchestrated there against us, we confirmed that the battles that ensue are the Lord's, and He directs our participation from His dwelling place, in Third Heaven (I will present a more comprehensive examination of this concept in the next post). 

 

At this point we were coming to the conclusion of our management of this gathering, and the Lord instructed us to make clear the understanding of what it means to be an Ekklesia. We all needed to be on the same page in order to move forward. So we explained that an Ekklesia is an assembly of Christians acting as the governing body of the Kingdom of God on earth; instituting the government of Heaven so that the earth resembles Heaven – no abortion, no racism, no pedophilia, no evil, no sorrow, no murder, no poverty etc. We all have a part to play, an assignment, a calling as the Body, (one is an arm, one a leg, etc), but we operate in unity, joining our forces to defeat Evil. We have been given keys, such as prayer, fasting, binding and loosing [as in Heaven]. Jesus gives us that mandate in Matthew 16:18-19.

 

That is when I heard in my spirit that Jesus wanted to take over from there and do something powerful with this group. So, He gave me new insight to reveal that as part of our weapon of prayer, we should ask God to reveal the kingdom of darkness's strategies and trust Him to give us a battle plan to outflank them with strategies He would supply. And from that moment on, the Holy Spirit filled that room with testimonies of direction and strategies that the Lord had given individuals to war in the spirit for their children's schools, for the nation, for their health. 

 

And then the most powerful and beautiful thing happened ... I clearly heard in my spirit, "Now it's time to BE the Ekklesia", so without any preamble, I announced, "Let's stand together and become a true Ekklesia. Let us pray as the Lord leads us." What emerged was a powerful movement of the Spirit as we asserted our power and authority as the Ekklesia to transfer our prayers into the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of God, that they might be delivered to the Throne Room so that the Lord and His heavenly host could act on them! We declared that we were putting on our spiritual armor to join the Lord in His battle against the evil forces that were threatening our country, our schools, our communities, our health, our families and everything under our dominion. We decreed that we were taking back territory from the kingdom of darkness and we would bring the Light of Heaven to destroy the strategies of evil men. We cried out that we were being restored to our Genesis 1:26 and Psalms 115:16 dominion over the earth and we will not tolerate the usurping of our authority! We prayed for vision and clarity and wisdom and power and battle plans and tactics. We declared that the victory is the Lord's, but we are prepared to enforce it!

 

We may have been small in number, but we were mighty in spirit and purpose! And maybe we didn't appear to make much of an impact by the world's standards, but Father God, His heavenly host, and the Lion of the Tribe of Judah heard us ... and He roared! A faithful friend and member of our Ekklesia, Tami, saw an explosion happen in the spirit, and later shared that as our group stormed Heaven with our prayers, she and her husband, Keith, felt the atmosphere shift and it was powerful. She said, "I have been a part of an intercession group, and it usually took hours to accomplish what was done in 10-15 minutes". And my husband, Mark, saw a ball of fire with rotating parts form in the room as we prayed. Praise Jesus! We were not a necessarily polished and accomplished group of prayer warriors, but our hearts were sincere and pure, and like I said, our Father loves to work with those who come boldly before His throne (even if we are not particularly experienced or gifted in expressing ourselves). He took our voices and manifested them in the Spirit, and I can't wait to see the structures and strategies of the Enemy begin to crumble and fail! 

 

This was the first time this particular group of individuals gathered together, but I know it was ordained by God and it is not the last time the Enemy will recognize our small Ekklesia. We are going to continue to meet for contending prayer, to listen to the Lord for new strategies and new targets to direct our prayers towards. I thank the Lord for gathering us together, for taking over and leading us into a powerful display of the effects of our purposeful prayer. We were all changed by this experience as the Lord molded us into His Ekklesia ... we know that the gates of Hades will not prevail against us and that we are prepared to take back territory for the Kingdom of God with righteous and violent prayer; with eager and vigilant and relentless zeal in order to obtain the promises of God's heavenly government on earth. Thank you, Jesus, for taking the reins of your government on earth and showing us who we are and how You want to work with us!

 

James 5:16     The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God—it is dynamic and can have tremendous power].

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Prayer: A Key To The Kingdom

    
    This Thursday, May 7th is the National Day of Prayer. Our nation began the tradition in 1775, when the Second Continental Congress called for a day of fasting and prayer at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. It certainly was a time of great calamity, disorder, economic turmoil, and fear of the future; much like what we have experienced throughout our history. That war was followed by the Civil War, two World Wars, decades of war in the Middle East, and now a war against a viral epidemic. As in all major crises, the people of this nation have turned to prayer, imploring God to assist us in our times of trouble.
     Prayer is a natural reaction to our human condition. I would venture that even people who do not claim a relationship with the Most High God, have found themselves at one time or another, asking a Higher Power [than themselves] for help in a daunting situation. That solemn request for help is called prayer, by any other name.
      There is no better example of the effect of national prayer than in the Book of Exodus when we read how “the Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried out. Out of their slavery their cry for help rose up to God…and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Exodus 2:25 says, "God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them." That began thousands of years of a relationship between YHWH and the nation of Israel that would result with the offer of Salvation to the world, and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth.
     The Bible is full of stories of the power of prayer in manifesting God's will on earth. The prayer of King Hezekiah saved the nation of Israel from destruction by the Assyrians. Moses prays for the deliverance of the Israelites from God's wrath when His plan is to smite them all for worshiping the Golden calf. Zechariah, the priest, prays for a son, and his wife, Elizabeth, bears John the Baptist. The Virgin Mary prays a prayer of thanksgiving, joy, and praise for the honor of giving birth to the Son of God. And Jesus Christ gives us the gift of one of the most powerful prayers for all mankind, the Lord's Prayer.

Prayer is one of the keys that unlocks our power and authority

 -- power that Jesus intended for us to release on the earth

 to see the Father's will done, "as it is in Heaven".

 

     But Prayer is more than just asking God for help in times of trouble, or to ward off His wrath, or even to praise Him for blessings. There is power in Prayer to see the fulfillment of God's plan and purpose in establishing His Kingdom on earth, and to see honor and glory brought to His Name. In that sense, Prayer is an important "key to the Kingdom".
     When Jesus declares that He will build His Ekklesia [as a governing body of Believers to execute Heaven's government on earth] and the gates of Hades [hell's governing power] would not prevail against it, He backs that up by saying, "I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind [prohibit] on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose [permit] on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
     Read that again! The authority of Heaven stands behind us! The keys to the Kingdom are principles given to all who are born again into the Kingdom as citizens; principles to rule and reign until the return of our King. These keys unlock our power and authority, and provide access to the Kingdom of Heaven. And that access is initiated through Scripture. So, if prayer is one of the keys to gaining access to that power to bind and loose, and to rule and reign, then some of the most powerful prayers we can pray should include Scripture! (See below to join my in scriptural prayer).
     There is no doubt that our nation is in desperate need of prayer by her citizens. Even in the midst of a great spiritual and secular awakening among all Americans, we are assailed on all sides by an insidious virus; growing unemployment; a precarious economy; global threats of war; and secret and vindictive machinations by enemies foreign and domestic upon our government and way of life. 
     We need to approach this coming National Day of Prayer with united hearts and in solemn and humble repentance for our personal and national iniquity; asking our Lord and Savior to intervene on behalf of all others who are seeking His Kingdom in obedience and faith. He has given us righteous Prayer, one of the keys to the Kingdom, and in the powerful words of theologian Charles Spurgeon, "The Lord continues to back up the teaching and acts of His servants, and as long as we abide rightly in Him, we have His sanction to make them valid. The words of His servants, spoken in His Name, shall be confirmed by the Lord, and shall not be, either as to promise or threatening, a mere piece of rhetoric." Let us walk in the power of His Word expressed in prayer! Hallelujah, that we possess one of the most powerful keys to the Kingdom of Heaven!

     Will you join me in this prayer for our National Day of Prayer [taken from the Psalms]? Father in Heaven, we come before Your throne asking for compassion and mercy upon each one of us and upon our nation. Forgive the full extent of our rebellious ways. We know our sins, transgressions and iniquities have led us to this bondage. We repent of not believing Your promises and for straying from Your righteous path. Like spoiled children, we have sought our own desires, and refused to trust in Your wisdom, thinking ourselves above Your counsel and guidance. We have not acknowledged Your miracles and powers that have brought us all this far. We have refused to love You with all our hearts, and we have tested Your patience. We are overcome by our sins against You.
     So, Father, we humbly submit and surrender ourselves to You, asking for Your forgiveness and grace. We ask that You cleanse our spirits and turn our hearts back to You. You are our righteous God who helps us like a Father. Here us in our time of distress as we bless Your Holy Name! Arise, Lord! Deliver us, our God! Strike all our enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. You sit enthroned over this world and we ask that you site enthroned over this nation once again, Lord! Be enthroned as our King forever! Lord, give strength to endure what is coming against us, Your people,  and bless us with Your peace and Your enduring Love! We thank you that You have given us this mighty Key to Your Kingdom, and we loose all of Heaven's blessings upon this nation and we return her to You! Amen!

If you desire to know more about the Keys to the Kingdom, please order my newly released book, "Through A Kingdom Lens: Rediscovering What The Church Lost".
    


    
    

A Study of Postures in Prayer

     This blog post was initiated by someone who excites me because she is pressing into her newfound relationship with Jesus with enthusiasm and curiosity. Like many of us, Paige has been in the church for most of her life, but that didn't necessarily result in "knowing" her Savior. After receiving Inner Healing, she is on fire to experience Jesus to the fullest. Mark and I get some of our most interesting questions from her, and it makes us take stock of our own intimate knowledge of Him and His Word. So, I'd like to share her most recent question, which led to more research and the topic of this post.
     Paige asked the very good question, "When they say 'bow your heart' in a church service, is that just Christian-ese speak or does it [really] mean something?" First of all, I want to commend her for having the courage to question something she might hear in a sermon, and to have the desire to fully understand it, rather than accept it, just because it was spoken in church. I've always admired anyone who speaks about our Lord [whether they be a pastor, teacher, or fellow Christian] who is not afraid to say, "Don't accept it just because I said it. Do your own research!" And that is exactly what I ask everyone who reads this blog to do, also.
     So, here was my answer to her: "I [personally] don't know of any specific Scripture that tells us to "bow our hearts", but I don't see anything wrong with the description because the attitude of our heart speaks to how we love and honor Christ, and the posture of bowing is a sign of reverence and an expression of worship. So I don't see anything wrong with bowing your heart. Now, religious people would demand a chapter and verse reference instead of seeing the spiritual significance of the phrase. I think it's a good picture of how I want my heart to respond to my Lord".
     I just love questions like this because it leads me on a path to more knowledge. The Institute in Basic Life Principles website has an article entitled, What is the significance of using different postures in prayer? I would like to share with you what I discovered.
     It's important that we understand that the Bible does not require a specific posture when we pray to the Lord, but how we pray and the postures we adopt do speak of our attitude as we are praying. So the website suggested eight postures of prayer, and I'd like us to consider each one and how they speak of our attitudes towards God.
     Lying prostrate before God.  This is the ultimate posture for expressing humility toward our Father in Heaven. When you get on your face before God, you are indicating your unworthiness to be in His Presence. When God made a covenant with Abraham, Abraham recognized his unworthiness before God and “fell on his face” before the Lord. (See Genesis 17:1–22.) You are admitting your need for His mercy. When the leper came to Jesus for healing, he fell on his face and begged for mercy, saying, “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean” (Luke 5:12.) And when you know that the Lord is the only way out of a situation in your life, you are ready to admit you need His deliverance and are willing to ask His help. (See Joshua 7:1-9).

     Kneeling before God.  This is perhaps the posture that we Western Christians are most familiar with. When we think about praying, I would venture that most of us grew up being taught to kneel at our bedside in prayer, asking God to protect us. As we matured in our faith, most of us probably began asking for forgiveness in repentance, and sought His mercy. Scripture tells us that kneeling before the Lord is an act of submission to God and the acknowledgment of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. One day every knee will bow before God, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God. (See Philippians 2:9–11.) We also kneel before God when we are earnestly appealing for His intervention, as when Elijah knelt in earnest prayer when he asked the Lord to send rain to end Israel’s drought. (See I Kings 18:41–46.)
     Bowing before the Lord. Bowing before the Lord shows an attitude of honor, gratitude, and faith; acknowledging that everything comes from His Hand. It is a sign of reverence and an expression of worship. Just as subjects of an earthly king bow out of respect and gratitude for his rulership, so do we followers of Jesus who bow before our Sovereign King. When God answered the prayer of Abraham’s servant, the man “worshiped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth” (Genesis 24:52).
     Standing before the Lord. I particularly like this posture because to stand before a ruler indicates that you have a legal right to be there. It is only through the righteousness of Jesus Christ that we are able to approach God as His children: “. . . We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (I John 2:1–2). This posture means that we know who we are in Christ and that we know we stand righteous before God because Jesus has justified us. Then there is Ephesians 6:13-18 where we are told to stand, arrayed in our spiritual armor, and ready to do battle ... and having done all, to stand.... This posture also shows a readiness to serve as we stand before our King in the model of Daniel and his fellow servants of the Lord (Daniel 1:5).
     Sitting before the Lord. In Scripture, when the king or rulers of a city sat in their official places, they were in a position to rule and judge and to have their judgments carried out. We know that Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, and we know we are seated with Jesus in the heavenly realms. So this posture speaks of not only Their authority, but ours, in their Name. I am immediately reminded that we are to be the Ecclesia of the Lord; His ruling authority here on the earth. We should be mindful that our role is to occupy seats of rulership on the earth and see that the judgments of Heaven are carried out.
     Looking up to Heaven.  When we look to Heaven in prayer we are seeking the face of God. In the world of social etiquette, looking a person in the face indicates confidence and honesty. It is indicative of an open, trusting relationship. When we adopt this posture in prayer it indicates that we know where our help comes from; that we have confident faith in the One to whom we are praying; and that we have an intimate relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
     Stretching forth the arm. This posture reflects God's sovereign power. The Old Testament is full of examples of men stretching for their arm and releasing the power of God into a situation. I don't know about you, but I think of Moses as he discharged the plagues of God against the Egyptians, and when he stood on a hill overlooking the battle between the Israelites and the Amalekites, holding the rod of God:  “It came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed” (Exodus 17:11). But I also see the sovereignty of God's power in the New Testament when Jesus stretched forth his hand and healed the leper. It was a sign of God's power; His will to heal and deliver; and His blessing upon a life.
     Leaping for joy. I think of King David when I consider this posture of prayer. Here was a man that knew the highs of being a man after God's own heart, and the lows of disappointing the One he loved the most. And the Bible warns that even in the midst of persecution we are to "rejoice and be exceeding glad". In addition, we are told, Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets. (Luke 6:22-23).
      Each of these postures is important to our prayer life and I like knowing their significance and what they symbolize. And it is my desire to incorporate them all into my times of worship and communication with the Lord, as the Holy Spirit leads me. And I'm sure that there are other ways to pray before the Lord that I haven't covered here. It will be fun to search the Scriptures and discover more expressions of reverence and supplication. And it's my hope that we would all be like my friend, Paige ... open to seek more of God than we've been comfortable with in the past. He loves to reveal more of Himself and His ways!

Philippians 4:6-7      Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will make the answers known to you through Jesus Christ. 

Can Wall Street Become A House of Prayer?

    

     I was really interested when I got an email suggesting that I check into a website promoting a Wall Street Prayer Alliance. At first that seemed like an oxymoron. After all, to average Americans like me, Wall Street isn't exactly thought of as a bastion of moral credibility. To most of us who reside outside of the realms of high finance and investment-for-wealth structures, Wall Street has sort of a tainted reputation... unprecedented greed, immunity from regulation, and exemption from prosecution come to mind.
     And with all the talk of "another recession", the trade war with China, and the dooms-day economic forecasts that the mainstream media are predicting, I thought, "If there is any institution that needs prayer, it is Wall Street. Maybe this is worth checking out."
     Of course, we all remember the economic crisis of 2008, right? According to my limited understanding, banks made risky home loans to buyers with questionable credit. The Big Banks then began trading and selling mortgage-backed securities to try to offset these toxic assets. When investors found out that investment bank Bear Stearns owned too many of these adverse assets, they began selling off their shares, which caused a panic among the major financial institutions on Wall Street, resulting in a Congressional bailout after global stock markets nearly collapsed. And in the course of this financial disaster, Wall Street was forced to get into bed with the Federal Reserve, which even to this financially uneducated citizen, is enough to cause skepticism.
     But, as He so often does, God loves working with a remnant who are called to represent Him. So, I decided to check out this Prayer Alliance, and was greatly encouraged. This story is a reminder that no matter how dark something looks, if we seek the Father, He is more than willing to show up.
     So, what exactly is the Wall Street Prayer Alliance, and why should we, as Believers, take note of it? According to their website, after the 2008 financial crisis, and following a pattern of prayer and repentance, the Lord moved in the heart of a few believers working in the financial sector to establish prayer on Wall Street. Their purpose was to facilitate and meet the spiritual needs of folks involved with Wall Street. Their current intent is to pray for revival by influencing the Economic Sphere of nations starting with Wall Street. They want to encourage and mobilize the Remnant in the sphere of Finance to be good stewards of God's resources. Furthermore, they want to nurture intentional disciple-makers in the marketplace by raising kingdom-minded entrepreneurs to affect communities holistically, birthed in prayer. One of their mottos is Loving and Fearing God first helps loving and serving people better.
     It sure sounds like the Ekklesia that Jesus said He would build in Matthew 16, doesn't it? If you will remember, Jesus used that very specific word (instead of Church) to declare that He was going to build a coalition of a summoned people, assembling together to [not only] receive God's heavenly kingdom government on the earth, but to act upon it; to become agents of change and transformation. And that's exactly the mission of the Wall Street Prayer Alliance: To make an impact in the Economic sphere first and foremost through prayer, by inviting the presence of God into those areas. They want to make an impact by taking action, and instituting change by spreading the Good News. They want to become a strategic Center to foster prayer, evangelism, and entrepreneurship as an extension of the HOP (House of Prayer) movement.
     They plan to collaborate with existing kingdom-minded folks and ministries to mobilize a 5-Fold Ministry which would promote the following Biblical principles:  Repentance: Bringing awareness of repentance and awakening to Wall Street and the Church; Revival: Restoring the Body back to God’s ways, and away from man-made and ritualistic religion; Reconciliation: Reconcile the areas of setbacks and compromise that the Ekklesia experienced with other spheres of influence in existing communities; Rebuilding: Reinstating the basics of Biblical Economy and Kingdom to build thriving communities again like Ezra and Nehemiah; and Release: Empower the remnant for the work of the ministry and liberation of the world through the Good News [of the Gospel of the Kingdom].
     While Revival is a term that is familiar in our nation's spiritual history, the goal of Wall Street Prayer Alliance is not to imitate a revival of the past but to see His glory for this time and generation, as God purposes. And they are not afraid to challenge the Body of Christ and the Church to rise up in their calling, as evidenced by this statement on their website: Wall Street Prayer identifies, connects, empowers and mobilizes individuals who desire to see God’s work revived in their generation, and to  become the change-agents in all spheres of society. It is done by individuals and groups applying Kingdom of God principles into all spheres of life, one person at a time, and to societies at large. The purpose of Wall Street Prayer Alliance is to empower a movement of the remnant across all denominations to bring awareness, awakening and revival, and thus influence the current spheres or mountains of society. The conversions within the status-quo church today produces status-quo converts or half-hearted Christians. As the saying goes, the apple does not fall far from the tree.
     They go on to say, The Christianity [that is] prevalent today is confined to living out a religion in private. [The Wall Street Prayer Alliance wants to see] believers who are empowered to live a kingdom life, publicly impacting others without overexerting on others. The remnant is about coming out of status-quo church to be a counter-culture in the present generation, to be one nation under the King of kings. The purpose of the kingdom movement is to reorganize individually and collectively to preserve the original blueprint of the kingdom of God in the creativity and power of the Holy Spirit. 
     They believe that in the last days, the Kingdom of God shall be established at the forefront of all the spheres that define our generation’s worldview. There shall arise a remnant from the Ekklesia that shall fully be consecrated to the Lord and infiltrate these spheres. As a result people from these spheres shall recognize the kingdom of God and flow towards it. This is the vision of the kingdom of God that He is initiating, and the Wall Street Prayer Alliance partners with, according to Micah chapter 4. 
     So, I ask you -- did you ever think you would hear such spiritual concepts and Biblical truth coming from the heart of Wall Street? Where the temple of Mammon resides in New York City? God never ceases to amaze me! These people are truly living out 2 Chronicles 7:14; humbling themselves and seeking the face of God in the midst of gross corruption and avarice.  And He hears them!
     God longs to revive this nation for His glory! He wants us to return to Him, so He can give us a fresh start! And when I see such a faithful Ekklesia rising up in the most unlikely of places, it gives me great hope. Let's pray that from the heart of our nation's financial district, there will be a spirit and fire of revival that sweeps this land. Let us join them in prayer, contending for our nation and each other.
     I know of so many people who are struggling in today's economy, so Father, we break all assignments from the Enemy that are coming against our finances, in the Name of Jesus. We break all curses of poverty, lack, debt, and financial failure, in the Name of Jesus. Lord, teach each of us, and our nation's leaders, how to profit, and lead us in the way we should go. Thank you, Father, for the Wall Street Prayer Alliance. May their prayer efforts usher in a great harvest for Your Kingdom! Amen!

Please visit the Wall Street Prayer Alliance website for more information.

Psalm 85:6       Will You not revive us and bring us to life again, that Your people may rejoice in You?
     

Do You Know How To Pray?

     I do not ask this question to be facetious or flippant. Praying is an essential part of our Christian life. But I know, for a fact, that there are people who are uncomfortable praying in public because they think they might be doing it wrong. My first thought is, "according to whose standards"? Prayer, at its simplest level, is merely communicating [or talking] to God. If you make a habit of doing that in sincerity, then I'm pretty sure that our Father is pleased with your efforts.
     But I ask this question because it came up in a discussion I recently had with my sister. We were raised in a non-church family, with a Believing mother, and a father who did not profess faith or encourage church attendance. I hesitate to say he did not believe in Jesus because during the last days of his life, while in a nursing home and beginning to suffer from dementia, I tried one last time to approach him about Jesus, who had become my Savior. I knew a complicated theological discussion was not possible, so I simply told him I wanted him to ask Jesus to come into his heart. He patted his heart and mumbled, "I do have Him in my heart"! That's as close as I got to any indication that my father might have opened the door to Jesus's knock.
     My mother, on the other hand, grew up in church, and encouraged us kids to go to Vacation Bible School and Sunday School, and as we got older she began taking us to church. When she became ill during the last years of her life, I flew home to see her in the hospital. As a new Christian, I sensed her spiritual suffering and asked her if she wanted me to pray for her. When she said, yes, I suddenly felt inadequate. As I told my sister, "I didn't even know how to pray"! How was I supposed to talk to God? What were the right words to say? [Determined to develop a prayer life, I no longer struggle with "the right way", and now come to the Lord easily and securely]. But my sister confessed she still feels that she doesn't know how to pray. So, I thought maybe we should take a look at all the aspects of prayer, and seek the Father's heart on the matter.
     To begin with, Jesus taught in Mark 11 that we are to have faith in God, which is supported by the faith of God. When He says, "Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him", He is telling us that words filled with faith act like "bulldozers" to get things done in the spirit realms. If you struggle with thinking your words sound "faithful",  just declare verses of Scripture out loud! When you believe what you are declaring, those words will be received by the Father as a prayer by faith!
     Here's another aspect of how to think of your prayer life ... Jesus not only rose from the dead, but He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, far above "all rule and authority and power and dominion", where He continually intercedes for us. So from that position of authority, He prays for us. But here's the good part .... He invites us to be seated with Him there, in the heavenly places. So, when we pray, our spirits can pray with Jesus, [interceding for others], and with spiritual authority, [being seated with Him in His authority]. 
     Then here's an aspect of prayer that is always comforting to me: when we don't know what to pray, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us "with groanings too deep for words" (Romans 8:26). I have come to rely on the Holy Spirit to search my heart and express to the Father all that I am incapable of putting into a comprehensible petition. Praying by the Spirit can be some of the most spiritually satisfying times of communion with the Lord. When I am feeling the weight of spiritual oppression, I am sometimes unable to have clear thoughts of what to pray for, but I know I can rely on the Holy Spirit to present my heart-prayer better than I can.
     I will admit that I am moved by forceful and energetic prayer. I know we are capable of praying as forcefully as Elijah, who stopped the rain, or the community of believers in Acts who prayed so hard for Peter to be released from jail that God sent an angel to rescue him from prison. We have the power to do the same kind of things with our bold prayers that seek the Father's will, and not just our own will and what we want. Those kinds of prayers will change the world!
     And of course, when the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, He instructed them to pray for the Father's will to be done, but also for His Kingdom to come. So, I have been trying to become more intentional in my prayer life to incorporate God's plan for instituting His Kingdom here on earth with my personal prayers. Furthermore, I want to be involved with the establishment of His Kingdom by praying for business, cultural, and educational leaders, as well as the leaders in the Body of Christ. This is all part of joining Christ in intercessory prayer until the Kingdom Plan has been completed at the end of the Age. 
     And I believe that one of the most powerful ways to pray is in agreement with others. When prayers of faith are prayed with others whose hearts are in agreement, the power of that prayer can multiply ten-fold, a hundred-fold, and beyond! I have seen this move the heart of God and a child be cured of cancer. I have seen a young mother recover from a devastating diagnosis after a car accident and be restored to perfect health. And I believe we can change the course of our nation when we pray in agreement with God's will. One of the most important prayer partnerships is that of husband and wife. Their prayer time together can affect generations to come.
     And I would be remiss if I did not mention how powerful it is to pray in tongues.  Your particular religious tradition may not incorporate this aspect of prayer, but it can be an amazingly effective tool in our spiritual arsenal. Praying in our own prayer language allows for intercessory prayer beyond our limited understanding and our ability to express words. We can join with Jesus in interceding for others as the Holy Spirit empowers our prayer language to new heights of effectiveness. When I can't seem to find the right words that express the urgency of my heart, I know I can pray in my own personal prayer language and the Holy Spirit will interpret the longings of my heart with more power and meaning.
     Finally, it is important to understand that prayer is an important aspect of our spiritual warfare. And since the Enemy seeks to divide and conquer God's people. we should always seek to be united in prayer and love. Jesus showed us a picture of that "oneness in prayer" through His relationship with the Father. We need to be praying for unity in the Body of Christ! Sadly, I see too much division, and if we aren't praying for unity, then maybe we're unwittingly partnering with the Enemy to weaken the Body. It's time that we pray to come into alignment with each other and with Jesus, our Lord and Savior; the Messiah of the world. When we pray in His Holy Name, we are not just adding a religious formula at the end of our prayer ("in the Name of Jesus). Instead, we are declaring to the spiritual realms and the powers and authorities of the dark side that we stand as His personal representatives on the earth, and as ambassadors of the Kingdom of God!
     As you can see, prayer is vitally important to our relationship with God and Jesus. And it is an essential part of our relationship with the Holy Spirit. It may seem daunting and overwhelming. You might be thinking how can I do all that? How do I even start? I'm going to tell you that the key is to just begin.... just begin having conversations with the Father and Jesus. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you know what to pray and how to pray. Study Scripture and discern which verses make your heart leap with longing for an intimate relationship with God, and then say them to Him out loud. That's praying! And He will respond! Then begin discerning which verses speak of your power and authority and declare those in prayers when you need to fight back against spiritual darkness. And don't forget to talk to Him about the joy and thankfulness you feel over what He is doing in your life. There are wonderful Bible verses for that, too. 
     Just begin.... and before you know it, the words of the Bible will bring energy and depth to your prayer life, and you will be able to comfortably and intimately converse with God about everything. I honestly think that no one is born knowing how to pray. It is a learned behavior that comes from a heart that is seeking God. If you are conscious that your prayer life is lacking, then start by being thankful that the Holy Spirit has brought it to your attention --- then do something about it! We all have to start somewhere, and there is no better time than now and no better place to start than in the Word.

Jeremiah 29:12     Then you will call on Me and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear [your voice] and I will listen to you.