The School Of Prayer (Gaining Mastery In Prayer) by Apostle Joshua Selman
Lift your hands and give God all the praises and honour. Bless His name and press in worship. Press as you pray.
Pray in The Spirit as you press for the graces that have come through this worship session.
Pray: Father, everything you have in store tonight, I receive.
Healing, I receive!
Wisdom, I receive!
Access to virgin dimensions, I receive!
I receive all You have for me by faith, in the name of Jesus.
In the presence of God, anything is and all things are possible. His Words carry life and power. So when you come into God’s presence, you must:
1. Believe that He exists
2. Know that He is The Rewarder of all who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)
“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;”
Luke 18:1 (KJV)
“Pray without ceasing.”1 Thessalonians 5:17 (KJV)
“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;” Colossians 4:2 (KJV)
“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16 (KJV)
I pray for you: the kind of results you have never received from your prayer life, you will begin to experience them, in the name of Jesus!
Prayer is a journey and those who understand the dynamics have found joy in praying.
The idea of prayer is the fabric of every faith-practice. It is an essential component to defining spirituality.
What is Prayer?
– Prayer is a platform that allows for communication with God.
– A platform that allows us to communicate our thoughts, needs and desires to God.
– A platform that allows for fellowship with God .
– A platform that allows us to hear and receive from God.
The kind of answers we receive through prayers are predicated on our understanding of what prayer is.
God gave man a unique gift during creation, called “The Will”: It is the power to make decisions and choices. As far as a person is alive, nothing takes away the person’s will.
However there are implications to having that gift. Mankind have the mandate to always verbalise their needs, wants and desires.
With that gift, came responsibility.
God will not assume that a person needs something until it is verbalised.
“Mercy” was introduced to help mankind, because humanity may not know how to ask or verbalise a need.
Receiving is a reward for asking.
(Mark 11:24-KJV)
“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Mark 11:24 (KJV)
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:”
Matthew 7:7 (KJV)
Anyone who does not pray, is not exercising the gift of the will, given to them by God. The privilege of receiving and “co-labouring” with God is being wasted.
The greatest demonstration of humility is prayerfulness. When you are void of prayer, you are proud!
Being born again does not exclude you from prayer.
The real victory of the Believer is coordinated and released in the place of prayer.
Declare: I will pray!
This implies that you are ready to walk and partner with God, making you look indomitable because of The One standing with You!
Life is not that hard. Rather, life becomes hard when you’re walking alone.
Prayer is not the answer to everything. It is one of the major keys of the kingdom, though not the only key.
However, prayer should be part of everything in your life. Provided God is involved, prayer must be involved.
(2 Chronicles 26:5)
When prayer is not the key to a situation, it becomes the hand that holds the necessary key.
Prayer is an amplifier of things. It must be involved in every aspect of the Believer’s life.
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Philippians 4:6 (KJV)
“And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.” 2 Chronicles 26:5 (KJV)
Why Do We Need to Pray?
The foundational revelation that necessitates the subject of prayer is embedded in what God put within man and how God made man. (Genesis 1:26)
– Because God gave man a will and He expects man to use it. Receiving only responds to asking.
(Matthew 7:7, Mark 11:24)
The major part of the Believer’s activity in prayer, must be to achieve the goals of growth and transformation.
Most of the things we pray for, are supposed to gravitate to our lives through growth.
Warfare is the spiritual system by which we use The Word of God in prayer, to establish the victory that has been wrought in Christ Jesus.
Four Basic Assignments of Prayer in the Life of a Believer:
1. For the growth and transformation of the Believer.
(Luke 9:29)
2. As a platform to make requests and obtain promises.
(Mark 11:24, Philippians 4:6)
3. As a platform to make decrees and establish spiritual realities.
(Job 22:28, Numbers 14:28)
4. For warfare and intercession.
(1 Peter 5:8, John 10:10, Luke 10:19, Hebrews 4:9-10)
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” Ephesians 6:18 (KJV)
Prayer Models Revealed in Scriptures
(Ephesians 6:18)
1. Praying in The Spirit i.e. Praying in tongues – 1 Corinthians 14:15, 14:2,4 (AMP)
2. Faith-filled declaration of Scriptures – Psalms 107:2-3, Ecclesiastes 8:4
“Then what am I to do? I will pray with the spirit [by the Holy Spirit that is within me] and I will pray with the mind [using words I understand]; I will sing with the spirit [by the Holy Spirit that is within me] and I will sing with the mind [using words I understand].”
1 Corinthians 14:15 (AMP)
“For one who speaks in an unknown tongue does not speak to people but to God; for no one understands him or catches his meaning, but by the Spirit he speaks mysteries [secret truths, hidden things].”
1 Corinthians 14:2 (AMP)
“One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself;
1 Corinthians 14:4 (AMP)
You will never have a truly rich spiritual life if you do not open yourself to receive of the prayer language of speaking in tongues.
Though abused and misused, it is is a perfect gift given by God to man. There is a spiritual way of maxisimising the prayer language. Something happens to you when you engage in The Spirit, through prayer, consistently.
Power is released through words. Never get to a point where you become too big to declare the Scriptures.
Your words always go ahead of you. If you are not saying anything, don’t be angry when you enter an empty tomorrow that is void of blessings.
If you refuse to declare into your life, anything spoken into your life will be automatically received.
Your life depends on the prophetic words spoken into it! Do not allow just any word enter into your life.
The times we live in demands you being serious with your destiny.
There are arrows that fly by day. The arrows are not metallic objects. Rather, the arrows are words!
Build a garrison around your life by declaring into your life, using faith-filled declarations from the Scriptures.
The key to engaging faith-filled declarations of the Scriptures effectively, is to possess a thorough knowledge of The Word of God.
There is such a thing as the prayer of enquiry. The secret to engaging this kind of prayer is patience and silence.
The absence of this prayer in a person’s life has caused pain in the lives of many people. Although God speaks, He is not always speaking.
Our hearing God is in levels, so there are many ways God speaks to us. However when God speaks, He speaks peace.
The central rule for acting upon the hearings from God through means such as visions and supernatural encounters, is to submit it to The Word of God.
Not every season is easily recoverable. Don’t be careless and think you can recover lost seasons.
For instance, missing it in things like marriage will not leave you without scars. Take out time to pray!
Associations have prophetic implications. Pray about your friendships. They have very destiny implicating consequences!
Write out major areas in your life and flog it out with God, in prayers.
Cry and lie down before Him, so that He opens your eyes to see clearly!
Even in ministry, don’t assume! You need The Word of The Lord and the corresponding timing of its manifestation.
You may have a Word from God and still fail, because you did not follow the scheduled timing.
Nobody is too big to fail and crash-land if they do not enquire from God.
Don’t become too conventional with your life that you crash down.
Pray: Lord, order my steps. I am at a critical point in my life. Guide my steps. Speak to me oh God; I do not want to crash-land.
Anybody digging a pit for you like Haman in the book of Esther, this night, may they fall inside the pit they dug.
Anyone coming in the spirit of Haman, may they fall into their own pit!
Prayer Models Revealed in Scriptures
(Ephesians 6:18)
1. Praying in The Spirit i.e. Praying in tongues – 1 Corinthians 14:15, 14:2,4 (AMP)
2. Faith-filled declaration of Scriptures – Psalms 107:2-3, Ecclesiastes 8:4
3. Prayer of enquiry: This prayer requires patience and silence – 1 Samuel 30:8
4. Warfare prayer – Philippians 1:19
5. The prayer of thanksgiving – Colossians 4:2, Philippians 4:6
The prayer of thanksgiving demands a lot of thoughtfulness and discernment.
It starts from you remembering the things God has done in the past and then you connect those things, to the things He is doing in the present and the things He is about to do in the future.
It is healing when you thank God. It does something to you: taking your mind away from what has not been done, focusing on what He is doing.
Thanksgiving attracts more from God.
When seasons of attack come into your life, you engage warfare prayer- engaging the mystery of the blood, breaking legal strongholds upon your life and dealing with spirits, yokes, curses, wicked and unreasonable men!
Wickedness is not a natural thing in the heart of man. It happens when a spirit possess them.
If there is any spirit influence around your life, producing manifestations that are not of The Christ, in the name of Jesus, be delivered now!
Spirits don’t get tired. They are energetic and stay the whole course of a lifetime, if allowed. It takes power to cast them out!
The prayer of thanksgiving is a manifestation of faith, where you thank God in advance.
Thanksgiving is very powerful. It is an application for more!
In the name of Jesus, every supernatural manifestation yoy are trusting God for, you receive it here and now!
How God answers Prayers
(Psalms 65:2)
Answers to prayers manifest through three platforms:
1. Supernatural manifestations (peace, joy, healing, deliverance) – Daniel 3:24-30
2. Release of graces (i.e. wisdom, favour, direction, understanding) that attract and command the manifestation of physical results – 1 Kings 3:5-13
3. The Ministry of men – 1 Samuel 10:26:27 (KJV, AMP)
Nobody follows and helps you until God touches people’s hearts.
(1 Samuel 10:26-27)
Happy is the person who meets people whose hearts God has touched.
God can touch the hearts of royalties and the hearts of men of influence.
Pray: Father touch the hearts of people for my sake.
If God does not touch the hearts of people, they can be with you and yet not be with you.
You need to pray for everybody within your circle, those who play pivotal roles, that God touches their hearts and that they remain loyal and committed to you.
It takes beyond proximity of people for a connection to happen. God must touch the hearts of people for your sake.
Pray: Lord, in this season, I receive answers to my prayers
I receive the resources of wisdom, favour, direction, power and honour. Let it rest upon me, drawing into my life, physical manifestations of these blessings!
Pray: Father everything that has killed my prayer life I command it to leave my life. Fan the embers of my prayer life in Jesus name.
