Luke 11:1

Prayer is the most powerful thing you can do to bring about change in other people’s lives. 
It is also the one thing the enemy will try to keep you from doing the most.

Take a moment and write down some personal things in your life and others you would like to see changed. 

The full scope of prayer is huge.
Great men and women of prayer bring the power of God to bear on their lives and their generation.

One thing I have learned; prayer is a battlefield. 
As much as it is a battle, it is natural to pray. 
It is prideful to think we can overcome anything in life without God. 

The wise man sees his limits sooner than others and begins to pray. 


We're not very good at prayer.
Most people can cry out to God in the moment of desperation, but the real power of prayer is in the relationship with God. 

Your family, your church, your generation needs you to learn how to protect them in prayer. 

God doesn't want you to feel inadequate. He has blessed us with prayer. We need to learn how to pray. 

Even the disciples, the twelve guys that Jesus hand-picked to follow Him for His entire ministry, didn't know how to pray. 
Luke 11:1

If you want to be a difference maker for the kingdom, you have to be a person of prayer. 


Our frustrations with prayer are caused by our misconceptions about prayer.
Key. We are God’s servants; He is not ours. 
We live to show His Glory. 


Three Myths

1. Prayer is not a magic wand!
God is not your servant. You are God's servant. 
If you got that role reversed, it's all wrong.

2. Prayer is not a fire extinguisher!
Prayer is not meant to be a last resort in your life. It's meant to be your first choice. 

3. Prayer is not a tug of war!
Prayer is simply following God’s instructions to bring about His intended change. 

Five Pillars of Prayer 

1. God loves for me to talk to Him.
Number one, He loves you. God loves you. 

Learning how to pray is really like learning how to communicate with God and to partner with Him to usher His will into your life.
So how do you learn to pray? Well, how do you learn a language? 

The fact is, when you talk to God, there's nothing off-limits. 
1 John 5:14-15


2. Prayer is a conversation, not a ceremony.
You may have been raised in a religion where prayer is a ceremony. 
In a conversation, it means you talk, but you also listen. 

Prayer is a relationship, not a ritual.


3. God listens to prayers that are sincere and simple.
Longer is not stronger in prayer. Just be sincere. 
Hebrews 10:22

There are the two qualifications: sincerity, simplicity. 


4. God likes to show His grace by answering prayer.
God shows His glory and His love when He answers our prayers. 

Remember God does not think like us. 
God says, "I didn't say I'd answer it every way you want it, but I will answer." 

Jeremiah 33:3; Matthew 7:11; James 4:2 


5. God longs to be close to me.  
Isaiah 30:18 
God is waiting for you.
Hosea 6:6; John 15:15

How do you get closer to God? 
Desire it and make time for it. 
James 4:8
The closer I am to God, the less stressed and more blessed I'll be.

Take time every day to meet with God! He is your friend!


God is a Caring Father
- Isaiah 49:15, Romans 8:38-39, 1 Peter 5:7

God is a Consistent Father
- James 1:17, Malachi 3:6, 2 Timothy 2:13

God is a Close Father
- Hebrews 13:5, Psalm 139:17-18

• God is never too busy for me.
  - Psalm 27:10
• God loves to meet my needs.
  - Matthew 7:11
• God is sympathetic to my hurts.
  - Psalm 34:18, 46:1

God is a Competent Father
- Luke 1:37, Ephesians 3:20, 1 Corinthians 2:9