*PRAYER CLOSET*

A believer should pray with others but also alone; here we will see about personal prayer.
Pray in your home or in a place at your choosing, better a personal secret place where you can’t be disturbed.

Start your hour of prayer by worshiping God: thank Him for who He is and what He has done in your life; thank him for the death of Christ and resurrection, this is a time to count your spiritual and material blessings (see our study, ”95 things that happen at the moment of salvation”); use the Bible, especially psalms. This first part can last 10-20min.

Continue by confession, this can be brief: 1Jn1:7to9 name your sin but don’t go into 5000 details about your sins, God would get bored. Just believe in the power of the blood, not in the power of buckets of your tears. Once a sin is confessed, never remind God about it: just believe the blood washed it Rev1:5.

Then continue with supplications; pray for:
-SALVATION OF SOULS especially in Harare, Zimbabwe and the world; pray specifically for evangelism, for Christians you personally know, to be effective witnesses for Jesus Acts1:8, 2Cor5:20; pray for salvation of family members, neighbors, members of cults and other religions you might personally know (and even for those you don’t know, God knows them).
-REVIVAL IN CHURCHES – pray that God would bring a WORD OF GOD REVIVAL in churches and in individual hearts of believers; pray for growth in Christ 2Pet3:9 and in number; pray for godly unity among churches: church leaders and believers;
-CHURCH LEADERS – pray for wisdom, protection, anointing of the Holy Spirit over preaching, leadership, counseling; protection for their families;
-BIBLE COLLEGES – trained workers for the field;
-BRETHREN – protection; spiritual growth; divine vision; health; jobs; different needs; pray for Christians that are persecuted for their faith (in 60 nations there are Christians that are killed for faith in Jesus). Pray for other nations, especially for revivals in Muslim African countries (North of Africa).
-GOVERNMENT – Rom13 – salvations, wisdom in decisions
-other personal requests.
Close by thanking God and worship and adoration. At times you can sing to God, you can read some verses and meditate loud on these verses and thank God; you can walk around your room, you can raise hands, you can get on your knees or sit;
Please respect your neighbors: if you are loud and disturb them, they will hate you and your God; ”love your neighbor as yourself” Mat.12:31; no need to shout, God is not deaf; you can whisper, at times pray in your heart as Hannah that was murmuring only 1Sam1:13.

Let’s believe God that this is the beginning of a great change through prayer, in our lives, churches, towns, country, continent and worldwide!
*How to pray -elements of prayer*
ADORATION – We express our adoration and praise to God, express wonder of His great majesty, His sovereignty and mighty power. We praise God for who He is and what He is like. We honor Him for the wonderful things He has done. In the Psalms are many excellent examples of praise and adoration.
CONFESSION – What is confession? Confession means to agree with God about our sin.  Confession involves repentance 1Jn1:9, Ps51
THANKSGIVING – We express appreciation to God for what He has done for us. Our gratitude demonstrates faith (1Thess5: 18, Ps107:1; 103:2)
SUPPLICATION – Making requests. We pray for other people and their needs and for our own needs. (Matthew 6: 11 -13, Philippians 4:6,7)
*Hindrances to prayer*
Ps66:18  “If I had cherished sin in my heart the Lord would not have listened.”  If there is anything worse than not praying, it is praying when we should be confessing.  Also Ps109:7, Prov15:29; 1Pet3:7; Matt5:23,24; James4:3 ; Selfish Motives
Prayer is like anything else: we learn by practicing. If you want to learn how to pray then pray; praying with other mature believers helps. God has invited us to come freely into His presence. Let us take Him up on this incredible offer!
Here are some *QUOTES* on prayer:
Allen, Charles L.: The first purpose of prayer is to know God.
Allen, George H.: Kneel before you leap.
Anonymous (or unknown):
Embark upon no enterprise you cannot submit to the test of prayer.
God eagerly awaits the chance to bless the person whose heart is turned toward him.
It is impossible to lose your footing while on your knees.
If Christians spent as much time praying as they do grumbling, they would have nothing to grumble about.
Our business in prayer is not to prescribe, but to subscribe to the wisdom and will of God; to refer our case to him, and then leave it with him.
Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies beyond the will of God.
God’s power enters our human programs though the door of prayer. Unless the church’s ministry is bathed in prayer, it remains merely a human endeavor.
Prayer will make a person cease from sin, or sin will entice a person to cease from prayer.
No day is well spent without communication with God.
Daily prayers lessen daily cares.
When you go to your knees, God will help you stand up to anything.
The more we pray, the more our horizons expand and the more we come to expect from a supernatural, miracle-working God.
Do not face the day until you have faced God.
Do not pray by heart, but with the heart.
Christ actually meant prayer to be the great power by which his church should do its work.
If family worship is neglected, other attempts at prayer are like sprinkling the foliage of a plant while leaving the roots dry.
Arguments never settle anything; but prayer changes things.
God rules the world through the prayers of his people.
Courage is fear that has said its prayers.
True prayer is a way of life, not just a case of emergency.
Prayer is hardest when it is hardest to pray.
Ministry without prayer becomes work in the power of the flesh. Prayer without ministry is complacent Christianity. A hour of prayer at the beginning of the meeting actually shortens the overall meeting time by bringing a greater spirit of unity, by emphasizing spiritual priorities, and by opening people’s hearts to the Spirit’s guidance.
He stands best who kneels most.
It is not possible to explain the power and effectiveness of the New Testament church without reference to prayer.
Nothing lies outside the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of God.
Without prayer no work is well done.
Christ actual means prayer to be the greatest power by which his church should do it work.
It’s strange that in our praying we seldom ask for a change of character, but always a change of circumstances.
Appleton, George: Prayer is essentially man standing before his God in wonder, awe, and humility; man, made in the image of God, responding to his maker.
Augustine: Do you wish to pray in the temple? Pray in your own heart. But begin by being God’s temple, for he will listen to those who invoke him in his temple.
Usually prayer is a question of groaning rather than speaking, tears rather than words.
Bartlett, Allen E.: Seven days without prayer makes one weak.
Baxter, Sidlow: Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.

Pastor Daniel, ggzim.org