Prayer is about communion and fellowship with God. I think we have a lot of ideas about prayer. We commonly think it’s about begging and pleading to God for things. But prayer is all about friendship. We do declare things, but the main purpose of prayer is friendship, communion, and fellowship. Prayer is all about intimacy.
Mark 3:13-15 says, “And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.”
Jesus called those whom He desired and He appointed them so that they would be WITH HIM. This is all about being with Him and simply knowing Him. Miracles and healings are amazing. But they won’t sustain me. My fascination is to know Him.
Think about a car. A car needs gas and oil to function and run. In the same way, we need God’s presence to function. We need intimacy with Him. A car has gas lights, oil lights, tire pressure lights, and other indicators. All of these things are signs that your car is in need of something. In the same way, feelings of anxiety, worry, and trouble are actually indicator lights for your soul. When you feel these things take them as an indicator that you need to be filled up. You need an oil change! These things aren’t negative, they are just indicators that you are ready for a fresh encounter, for an upgrade. They are warning lights that you need to fill up the gas tank. Get alone with Jesus.
Matthew 11:28-29 says “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
What is the answer when you are feeling heavy and weary? Come to Jesus! Just come to him. It doesn’t say come to your friends or get on Facebook or youtube. It says come to Jesus. You will find rest for your souls. Spend time with him. Pray!
The tent revivalists secret to their anointing and fruitfulness was silence and stillness before God! That’s prayer! Communion with God! stillness before Him.
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” – Psalm 46:10 You have to be still to know God.
“But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. – Isaiah 40:31 Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. You have to wait to gain strength.
That’s prayer! Communion with God. One on one fellowship. When we meditate on Him and commune with Him, we discover His nature and character. We get to know Him. We will discover what His voice sounds like and what He is passionate about. Private prayer waters the Kingdom seeds in us and causes them to be fruitful! This communion prayer cultivates the anointing upon us. There is declaration prayer. But it’s out the place of friendship and rest.
Jesus said in John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” What that shows me is that asking isn’t actually the source of answered prayer, abiding is!
A lot of times we think that answered prayer (which is the fruit that we produce and bear) is based on how well we ask. We think we have to ask right or ask a lot. That if we spend hours and hours in petitionary prayer, God will answer us and we will bear lots of fruit. But it doesn’t say that. It says “if you abide in me and abide in my word, ask and you will receive.”
Again, abiding is the source of answered prayer (fruit) not asking. It’s not about how many times you ask, it’s about where you abide. One prayer prayed from the place of abiding in Christ is more powerful than a million prayers prayed from the place of begging. Prayer will turn into begging if it isn’t in the context of abiding. Prayer isn’t about the quantity, it’s about the quality. It’s about the source. Prayer is more about your position then what you do. It’s more about your placement than in what you pray. It’s about fellowship.
Abide means to remain and stand! You have been placed into Christ. This relationship is the only source of answered prayer. You remain and stand in Him! The first key to prayer that will actually have faith and move heaven and earth is that you abide in Christ! Prayer isn’t about your performance, it’s about your placement in Him. It’s about your position! You are seated in Him. You are seated in heavenly places! You have God living on the inside of you! That is a huge advantage! You don’t have to pray from the place of ignorance. Begging and pleading are forever gone, when you realize that prayer is about your abiding fellowship with the God who lives inside you!
I don’t live for favor, I live from favor. I don’t live for fruitfulness, I live from fruitfulness. I’m not fighting for victory. I live from victory. Out of the place of this abiding relationship, there is a natural overflow of faith-filled declarations that bring fruit that remains.
The second point of faith declarations that release fruit and anointing is abiding in His Word. Jesus said in John 8:31-32 “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” How do you be a true fruit bearing disciple that is free and walking in truth? Continue in His Word!
Prayer that isn’t abiding in His Word is faithless prayer. It holds no truth so it will bear no fruit. Prayer isn’t about our end of the equation. It isn’t about our words, it’s about His words in our mouth. We go to the word. We abide in it and we bring it back to God. “God you said in your word, by your stripes we are healed! You have said!”
Prayer: abide in Him and abide in His Word! We live in communion and fellowship with Him and then declare things in faith. Prayer is about our attention. What or more importantly, who has our attention? Who are we focusing on? In prayer, we give Him our attention. Then in that place, we give Him our affection. Fruitfulness follows.