[Excerpts from the book, Praying with Precision available Fall 2018 on Amazon]
In warfare, there are often many types of weapons used but there are two I want to discuss today. One is the automatic machine gun and the other is the sniper round. Now, it you are a gun aficionado you will probably have already realized that I am not, but the imagery and the function of these types of weapons seems clear enough to make my point.
An automatic machine gun is used when you have a broad sweeping enemy facing you and you need to cover a large swath of area with a barrage of bullets. Think about movies where the soldier is swinging the gun back and forth trying to cover as much ground as possible. Not really aiming or targeting anything in particular, but rather, aiming in a general direction and trying to hit something.
This is how many of us pray. We simply throw up as much as we can, hoping that something will stick. We cover heaven with our routine prayers, our memorized prayers or our ‘go to’ prayers; “bless my family, my Job, my community…” If this sounds like you, don’t stop praying by no means but if you are going to spend time with God in prayer aim to get more out of it. Learn how to pray with precision.
Praying with precision is like using a sniper’s rifle. It’s targeted, it’s precise and it is aimed with precision. And it is one of the most effective tools in an army’s arsenal of warfare options.
The scripture is clear that this is ALWAYS how Christ prayed. He was always spot on in prayer and I think we can agree that his prayers were (are) always answered. As our pattern in all things, we will look at how He prayed for our example but first let’s understand what prayer is.
What Is Prayer
Most of us have been taught that prayer is simply “tell God what you want”. Do it before bed, before eating, before making decisions, when your need help etc. All these things are fine but there is more. Prayer was designed for our continued communication and communion with God. He purposed prayer so that we would stay in touch with Him, be a part of what’s going on, and grow closer to Him through it.
Prayer was never designed to be a one-way street.
There is on old gospel song that says “Jesus is on the main line tell him what you want”, but we should also add “then wait to hear what He wants and pray again!”
Prayer is communication between you and God. If you don’t believe that God will speak to you, give you revelations and increase your understanding then you are going to have a really limited prayer life. Paul prayers for us like this,
Ephesians 1:18-19
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”
Jesus said in John 14:25,
“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
Both of these passages speak of our understanding, knowing and being taught things. How do you think that will happen if not by God bringing this understanding to you? More than likely, it will not be an audible voice, the understanding will be there suddenly in your spirit. The instructions may not be bellowed from heaven, but you will receive the answer you were seeking in a message or through events in your life. God will do whatever it takes to communicate to you, you must be open and expecting it.