Have you ever felt the power of someone praying for you?

It’s the power of the Holy Spirit at work in your life. I remembered years ago, back in the ’90’s when I was working at the Fargo Country Club on Easter Sunday. That was a busy Sunday and during around midday, I felt the Holy Spirit moving over me. It was almost like someone was praying for me at that moment.

There’s power in prayers. If you pray in the Holy Spirit and from the heart, the Lord will hear your prayers. It’s not necessary speaking in tongues though, but it could be for those who have that gift.

In this blog,I will be talking about the Lord’s Prayer as written in Matthew 6. This will be in honor of Thanksgiving coming up in 2 weeks. This will be part 1 of the Thanksgiving blog.

As Jesus stated in Matthew 6:5, “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.”

In Matthew 6:6, “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

In Matthew 6:7, “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.”

There may be some good prayers out there,but none is as effective as prayers that comes from the heart. God knows what is in our heart. He hears our cries as we cry out to him. These prayers may sounds good but it’s just words being babbled. It’s like politicians being full of empty promises. It’s all talk and no action and heart. I have been in some churches in which the preacher would quote prayers written down,like the Catholic and Lutheran churches. Believe me, they’re not as effective as prayers that comes from the heart.

Let us start with Matthew 6:9, in which it says, “Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread.”

First,we give honor and praise to our Lord and Savior. Then we pray for His will be done not ours. Believe me, that’s one of the hardest thing to do, to surrender our will over to God. We live in a society where we want something, we want it now. We are impatient people.

In Matthew 6:12, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

In Matthew 6:13, “And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from the evil one.”

In Matthew 6:14, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

When you go to the altar seeking prayers,make sure that you truly forgive anyone who has trespassed against you. Take it to the altar and leave it there. Don’t be an Indian giver with God! Even though you may forgiven,it doesn’t mean it’s forgotten. You just don’t have to drag it alone with you and let it fester in you. Let it go and move on!

In Matthew 6:16 and 17, “When you fast,do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast put oil on your head and wash your face.”

Don’t be fasting just because you want to lose weight! That’s a different kind of fasting all together. The fasting here is letting go and become truly sanctified. You will know when you are being sanctified. It will be when the fire fell. You’ll feel it, believe me. I’ll never forget the day the fire fell, when I was sanctified. When I was up at the altar praying and having the pastor as well,praying for me, I was sweating like a pig. Not only was I in tears but sweat was coming off my body as well. Much the same way as when Jesus Christ was sweating bloods before He was crucified.

When you pray,don’t be like the Pharisees, who thought himself to be better than anyone else. Jesus called them hypocrites. Instead be like a sinner repenting of their sins. Who prayers do you think will be answered? The sinner who confessed his sins or the Pharisees who said, “i’m nothing like the sinner.” That Pharisees was being judgmental.

Even though, David had sinned when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, he was still a man after God’s own heart. The reason was because he confessed his sins to God.

After the first attempt on Donald Trump’s life, it was like the angel of the Lord was protecting Trump from the bullet. When pictures was shown after that on Facebook and YouTube, there was a vision of an angel over Trump.

Just like this past election, prayers of the American people was heard and answered as Donald Trump was reelected in a massive landslide victory. You can’t tell me different either.

If the Holy Spirit is really at work, you can feel the power of prayers at work. Just like, when I do my morning devotion and then go to church and the Pastor would preach on the same thing as my devotion was on. Or even later on that day while watching T.D. Jake message also coincide as well. The Holy Spirit is at work as if the Lord is trying to tell us something we need to hear but too stubborn to get it. Sometimes, the devil will put obstacles in our way to keep us from feeling the power of prayers.

If you ever felt the power of prayers,be free to share it in your comments. Stay tuned for part 2 next week, as we talk about rejoicing even in bad situations.