Consider taking what are normally “wasted” moments of life and turning them into powerful seasons of prayer for others by establishing a prayer zone around yourself! Here are some examples:

You have arrived early to an event: Can you imagine sitting in a half empty stadium or concert venue with lots of time on your hands before the event begins? Instead of checking your phone, set up a prayer zone and begin praying for those sitting around you, and others as they come in and find their seats. This is a wonderful opportunity to bring the power and presence of God into the lives of people you might otherwise never notice and might completely ignore. Some might be hurting, others confused or lonely…and many are lost without the hope of a Lord and Savior. Scripture says in James 4, “You do not have because you do not ask.” Imagine the spiritual impact you can have on people simply by paying attention and setting up a zone of prayer to invite the Spirit of God to move in the lives of people. Praying for people is a powerful example of love and compassion.

Waiting Room: While you are held captive in a waiting room at a hospital, or doctor’s office, begin to pray for those around you. Ask God, through His Spirit, to show you how to pray for each person. This place of waiting has now become a prayer zone!

Standing in Line: Instead of being exasperated or frustrated by your wait, take time to pray for each person in the line ahead of you and behind you. Ask God to meet these people. Pray blessing over each person.  

A Child’s sports practice: Sometimes the endless practices can wear on a parent or grandparent, but if you take time to use this opportunity to set up a prayer zone around you and pray for the other parents, grandparents, the kids and coaches, etc. you have just created a sanctuary for God to move in the midst of many lives!

As you can see, there are many more examples of how to use Prayer Zones! God can transform any season of waiting into a sacred space where He is invited to move in the lives of people around you. Who knows how many people might be filled with joy they can’t explain, or feel comfort, peace, strength, etc. growing in them…the very thing he or she needed in this moment – because you set up a Zone of Prayer around yourself and interceded on their behalf?

© 2020  Harvest Prayer Ministries

Have you ever considered praying for the businesses and business people in your church, asking God to prosper them so that they might become a blessing to the church and to others? The prayer ministry team in one church in Texas began to do just that and saw God do amazing things!

In Genesis 12, Abraham was called by God to leave his country and go where the Lord was calling him to go. He promised Abraham that he would be blessed so that he could become a blessing to all the peoples and nations of the earth because of his faithfulness and obedience.

It was Abraham’s story that prompted Abraham’s Blessing. The church purchased some plastic pages with slots big enough for business cards and put the pages in a binder. Next, they began to share with the congregation that on a certain Sunday they were going to collect the business cards of everyone who owned, managed or were part of a business. After the business cards were collected, the congregation prayed for the businesses in their community to honor the Lord and that they would prosper in amazing ways so that they could bless God’s kingdom.

The businesses and people represented by the cards in the binder were regularly prayed over by the leadership of the church and by the prayer team. On Sundays, the binder was placed on a table in the sanctuary where it was accessible to the congregation. Also, a different business was focused on each week. The person on the business card came forward and was prayed over.

Through the weeks and months to come, the congregation watched God answer their prayers in big ways through prospering the businesses and their owners/managers/salespeople, etc. Here are some of the Scriptures that you can pray for the businesses and business people in your congregation – for the glory and praise of God and for the sake of His kingdom:

Deuteronomy 28:3   “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.

Deuteronomy 28:8 “The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.”

Deuteronomy 28:12  “The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.”

Job 36:11: “If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment”

Ps 37:4: “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Ps 34:9-10: “Fear the LORD, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing.”

DEUT 11:13-15: “So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.”

Matt 6:19-21: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”

1 CHR 29:11-12: “Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you…”

Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

2 Cor 9:10: “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.”

Ps 84:11-12: “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. LORD Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.”

1 JOHN 5:14-15: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”

JER 17:7-8: “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Matt 6:31-33: “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. “

MAL 3:10: “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”

PROV 3:9-10: “Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. “

ACTS 14:17: “Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”

ISA 58:10-11: “And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday… You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”

Ps 37:3-5,11: “Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart…”

2 COR 9:6-7: “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

2 Cor 9:8: “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

Deut 8:18: “But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.”

PHIL 4:19: “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

PS 115:13-14: “he will bless those who fear the LORD— small and great alike. May the LORD cause you to flourish, both you and your children. May you be blessed by the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

PROV 11:25: “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”

3 John 1:2: “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”

JER 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

© Harvest Prayer Ministries, 2020

A church in Florida was in the midst of building a larger church. Before the paint and carpet stage, the church leaders and staff went to the areas of the church where their primary responsibility was to be. They spent time praying over their spaces. Next, they took pencils and wrote scriptures on the floors, walls, etc. Afterwards, the entire group met and prayerwalked the entire building indoors, praying Scriptures, worshiping, and adding written Scriptures to places they sensed the Spirit was leading them to do so. They asked the Lord for His guidance, wisdom and blessing. Following this, they prayerwalked the outside of the building while asking God to draw lost people to the church, praying for the various community and world-wide outreaches of the church, and planting tent pegs with Scriptures written on them at the corners of the property. It was such a powerful experience that they invited the entire congregation to join them to prayerwalk inside and outside the building and property.

We would suggest doing this for any new church space or addition. Also, what might God do in response to small groups praying for members who move to a new home, or build one? What a great way to bless one another as the body of Christ!

By Dave Butts

“Lord, teach us to pray” was a request of the disciples to Jesus 2000 years ago. It still seems to be a popular request of His disciples today. In spite of years of sermons and lessons on prayer, Christians are still saying, “I don’t know how to pray.”

Often what is taught is more motivational and theoretical than practical teaching on how to pray. It is assumed that prayer is a spiritual discipline that all Christians will automatically do. I am finding, as I travel the country, that this is simply not the case.

When a church first asked me to teach a seminar on “How to Pray,” I started looking at all sorts of techniques and methods. But as I prayed about it, I kept going back to Jesus’ response to the question posed by the disciples in Luke 11:1, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” I’m convinced the key in knowing how to pray is in that model prayer that Jesus gave us in Matthew 6:9-13. It is commonly known as the Lord’s Prayer; however, I prefer to refer to it as the Model Prayer, or the Disciples Prayer, because it is for our instruction and benefit.

Many authors have written about it, and many of us have studied all the various parts of this wonderful prayer, carefully analyzing each section. There is real value in that; however, I would like to take a fresh look at this text, trying to shed some new light upon God’s intent for our prayer lives.

What can we learn about how to pray by studying this prayer outline of Jesus from God’s perspective? Perhaps it is time to discover what it is that God wants us to pray about. I suggest you keep your Bible open to Matthew 6:9-13 as we walk through the prayer.

The Model Prayer instructs us to:

1.   Address the Father (“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name”). Verse 9 shows us how to offer our praise and worship to the One who desires it. This allows us to enter into the presence of God by being focused on Him rather than upon ourselves. If we are in His presence, we are more likely to be in tune with what He desires. Praying through the Psalms is a good way to do this because they help us to better understand the heart of God through knowing more about the character of God. It is vital for the Father’s children to know that the purpose of prayer is to bring glory to God! Worship that is focused on God is prayer! Psalm 145 is one that reveals much about who God is and gives us a robust vocabulary to utilize in addressing our Father. Pay attention to the One who is on the other end of our prayers – the One who sits on the throne!

2.   Pray about Kingdom issues (“Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”). Verse 10 reveals the place where God’s heart is! Jesus’ message was about the Kingdom–His Kingdom. In Matthew 6:33, He instructed His disciples to seek first the Kingdom, and then the things needed for this life would be provided.

Growing Deeper in Kingdom Prayer

Praying about the kingdom is often the most neglected area of prayer, and yet the nearest to the heart of God. Kingdom prayer is birthed in the heart of God, and the Holy Spirit reveals the desires of God to us! It’s amazing that God has chosen to work through human flesh to accomplish His purposes. To illustrate, look at the way Jesus phrased this subject in Matthew 6:10: “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The Kingdom of God, the reign of God, happens when God’s will is done. This occurs in its perfect form in heaven where everything is done in exact accordance with the will of God.

Jesus instructs us to pray that God’s Kingdom would advance on planet earth–that God’s will would be done here as it is in heaven, with all creatures and institutions perfectly submitted to the will of God.

I’d like to suggest to you that this reign of God begins to take place on earth when two things happen:

• People submit their lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ as a result of hearing the Gospel.
• The People of God (the Church) live out the life of Jesus on earth.

Basically, then, we’re praying about two things:

• That every person on this planet will have the opportunity to hear about Jesus and respond to Him as Savior and Lord–the finishing of the task of world evangelization!
• That the Church of Jesus Christ will wake up and begin to take seriously what it means to follow Jesus–revival!

It is particularly interesting that God’s Spirit is prompting believers all over the world to pray for these very things.

Let’s look at some practical ways we can pray about these two topics:

Finishing the Task

• Become a Prayer Missionary. The Great Commission was given to all of us; and, although we are all called to the mission field, we aren’t all called to missions in other nations – except in prayer! In order to be obedient, we must answer the call to prayer wherever God calls us, whether locally or globally. And, just like a missionary, we can make a commitment of a year, two years, or long term service. It means saying, “I will pray for the nation or nations that God has called me to pray about.” It is hard work and it takes preparation, but the results are glorious. We can become prayer missionaries to one or more cities, countries, and/or people groups during our lifetimes.

How do you decide what country or people group to pray for? Let the Holy Spirit guide you, just as He guides missionaries to their particular place of ministry. Begin praying for the needs of the world . . . watch the news and read newspapers. Pray about the nations or people groups mentioned. Read a book like “Operation World” and begin praying for the nations. God will begin to attract you to one particular group or city or region which you can “adopt” for prayer. Spend time researching the nation, tribe or city that you have chosen. Make a file or scrapbook about your people group. Learn to pray intelligently for these people for whom you have committed to pray.

• Learn to pray effectively for the world. Bennie Mostert’s book, “Change Your World Through Prayer” is a wonderful help in learning to pray for the world. He suggests that there are four things which must be prayed for daily for your people group:

1.  For the workers already in the harvest field as well as for more workers in the harvest field (Matthew 9:38).

2.  For open doors so that the gospel may take its rapid course (Col. 4:2-3).

3.  For lasting fruit as a result of spiritual labor (2 Thess. 3:1).

4.  For the necessary funds to spread the gospel (Romans 10:14-15; Phil. 4:19).

• Take a prayer journey. You may even be able to gather several others with you to take a prayer journey to your nation. This involves going and praying physically in that nation. It will give you a far better understanding of how to pray. Harvest Prayer Ministries takes a prayer journey to Israel regularly!

Revival

How do we pray for revival? There are so many good ways. Mostert’s book suggests 10 ways we can pray every day for revival, both for ourselves and for our own congregation of believers. Would you commit to praying daily for revival in your life and in your church?

• Lord, change us (Ps. 85:7). Pray for renewal and change. Revival results in change and spiritual awakening.
• Lord, we humble ourselves before you (Is. 57:15). Humbling ourselves before God is essential to a right relationship and to revival. Humility is an act of obedience before God. Fasting is an example of such an act.
• Lord, cleanse me (1 John 1:9). Pray for deeper cleansing of sin that goes hand in hand with deeper confession of sin. Keep short accounts with God. Become spiritually sensitive to sin.
• Lord, heal us (James 5:13-16). This certainly includes prayer for physical healing, but also for the spiritual recovery from emotionally hurtful events from the past. This is true for a whole congregation as well as an individual. 2 Chron. 7 relates revival to a healing of the land.
• Lord, make us holy (1 Pet. 1:16). Pray for holy conduct in our lives that we might be different from the world around us. The way we speak, spend our time, and respond to people is what really makes us different.
• Lord, guide us (John 4:34). Pray for the Lord’s daily guidance. How we need that as a congregation! Jesus is head of the Body. He ought to be making the decisions as to where we go and what we do as a Church.
• Lord, fill us (Eph. 5:18). Pray for the daily filling of the Holy Spirit. Dwight L. Moody often preached on the need to be filled daily with the Holy Spirit. He was stopped one evening after a message by an irate woman who asked him why he needed to be filled with the Spirit more than once. Moody answered. “Because, Madam, I leak.”
• Lord, anoint us (Luke 4:18-19). Pray to be equipped to serve the Lord not by might, but by His Spirit.
• Lord, use us (1 Cor. 12:12-30). Pray for willingness to be involved in the congregation. It is time to lay the 80/20 rule to rest, where 20% of the members of a congregation do 80% of the work. Mentoring and discipleship is so needed in the church.
• Lord, send us (Matt. 28:18-20). Pray for involvement in the expansion of Christ’s Kingdom.

3.   Pray about personal needs (“Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”). Notice that the rest of the model prayer (Matthew 6:11-13) deals with one’s own life. God wants us to pray about our needs. He just doesn’t want them to be the only thing we pray about.

Most Christians have little difficulty praying about personal needs. There’s nothing wrong with that, but how often do we wonder whether or not our priorities in prayer are God’s priorities? Often, our default mode of prayer is to go immediately to ourselves, or to those close to us. Here are some suggestions to help you with the three issues listed in verses 11-13:

• Daily bread/necessities of life. Perhaps the most important thing here is the expression of gratitude; recognizing what God has done and always being grateful. I remember a number of years ago going to a church camp where there was no hot water. After several days of cold showers, I returned home to my nice hot shower. The prayer came almost involuntarily, “Lord, thank you for hot, clean water.” How often we take the blessings of God in our lives for granted. We need to thank Him for taking care of our daily necessities. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Phil. 4:6).
• Forgiveness. In 1 John 1:9, the Word of God says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” One of the biggest hurdles in this area seems to be trusting God to do what He says He will do. We ask for forgiveness over and over again because we don’t feel forgiven. Trust God and His Word, not your feelings.
• Temptation and deliverance: As Christians, we often forget that we are in a daily spiritual battle. We have an enemy who would like nothing better than to cause us to fall and to fail. “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Fortunately, we have the power of God’s Word to stand upon and strengthen ourselves. For example, 1 Peter 5:9 says, “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” Another example is found in James 4:7: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

Closing Thoughts

Knowing “how to pray” will happen when we operate as Jesus taught us. First, we remember to “hallow His name” when we recognize that prayer is designed by God for the glory of God.  Next, we quit focusing first and only on our own needs and wants, and begin to pray about the things God wants to have happen “on earth as it is in heaven.” When we pray for the advance of the Kingdom, and the reign of God coming upon this earth, we demonstrate to Him that we are seeking His Kingdom first. And finally, these other things, the necessities of life, may properly be brought before our Father who delights in providing for us.

(c) Harvest Prayer Ministries