The Practice

James 5:¹⁷ “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.” (KJV)

Once we understand prayer and we can stay in the place of prayer, we can look at an Ahab and like Elijah say, ‘There will be no rain except at my word’. You lock the heavens, put the key in your pocket and you go for a stroll. I am praying, in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,that God will raise men and women amongst us that will be that powerful in the place of prayer.

Prayer is communication with God, talking to God, and hearing from God. Communication is a two-way traffic. If you have a phone that can only receive calls but cannot convey your voice back to your caller, news flash, you do not have a phone. If when you pick up a call, you can only hear what the caller is saying, but your caller cannot hear what you are saying or vice versa, you do not have a phone. Communication is not happening because you cannot communicate over that line. If  for any reason, you pick a call and your caller cannot hear you or you cannot hear him or her, you immediately move to call the person back, right? And it is because you want to ensure that communication is happening. In other words, you have to make sure you are talking, they can hear you, they are talking, and you can hear them.

This is very similar to prayer; you have to make sure that your communication channel with God is open. You can talk to Him, and He can hear you. He can talk to you, and you can hear Him. For a lot of people, the reason prayer is an uphill task is because they cannot hear what God is saying. When they show up in prayer, they are talking and hoping that God is there, hoping that God is listening to what they are saying, and hoping that He will show Himself Mighty. ‘The God of Abraham, the God is Isaac, the God of Israel…’ and they talk and talk and talk all the while hoping God has heard. You should not leave a prayer session, either corporate or personal, without a confirmation that what you have said has been heard and what has been said, you have heard. That is what makes prayer, prayer. Communication has to be both ways – talking to and hearing from God.

Prayer is the practice of the presence of God. It is the place where pride is abandoned, hope is lifted, and supplication is made. Practicing the presence of God means cultivating and enjoying the presence of God. Therefore, to say you have prayed without God being present is like saying you have had a telephone conversation without the other person being on the line. Prayer is the practice of God’s presence. When you pray, you have to understand that God’s presence is all. So, come into His gates with thanksgiving and enter His courts with praise. To secure God’s presence, you do not come into His gates with problems, you do not enter His courts with your petitions. You come with gratitude, you come honouring Him.

Prayer [song]: I just want to be where You are, dwelling daily in Your presence. Take me to the place where You are, I just want to be with You. I want to be where You are, dwelling… Amen!