Prayer is Necessary for Your Relationship with God

Priscilla Shirer brings an encouraging word to TBN’s Praise about the importance of prayer, and the power found in declaring God’s promises in our everyday lives.

“We pray because our own solutions don’t work and because prayer deploys, activates, and fortifies us against the attacks of the enemy. We pray because we’re serious about taking back the ground he has sought to take from us.”
― Priscilla Shirer

If I were your enemy, what I want to do is devalue in your mind the potency of what I know to be the most powerful you have against me.
So he’s made our churches focus on being a house of great programs or a house of great preaching and a house of great singing.
when they’re supposed to be a house of prayer because it’s the prayer that pushes back the kingdom of darkness.
So if I were the enemy, that’s exactly what I do. I devalue what I knew was the most potent weapon that you had in your arsenal against me.
So we do everything first, except. Right. Right.
When we talk about um, you know, the truth sets us free.
And and Jesus always, you know, when he was encountered by the devil, he said, get behind me, Satan.
He spoke truth to a lie. That’s right. And then said, get behind me. I’ll no longer look at you.
So we know that speaking the word that’s that’s our battle. Right?
That’s right.
That’s how we fight.
That’s right. It’s a sword of the spirit. That’s right. Word of god. It’s a sword of the spirit.
And so that’s that’s help us help us to know when you talk about prayer and your your fervent book This one right here.
Um, a woman’s battle plan
— Mhmm. —
for serious specific and strategic prayer. tell us a little bit about about that.
Yeah. You know, one of the things that I walked away with from the from the film, from the recording of the film, we we filmed for about, 3 months.
And after saying those lines over and over and really just being engrossed in this storyline, it occurred to me that while I did value prayer, I had neglected intentionality with prayer, um, being strategic in prayer, actually trying to detect where you see the enemy’s fingerprints at, um, at kind of his handy work meddling in your life, um, where you anticipate he might want to take advantage of a weakness or a or a a bit of divisiveness.
Um, and just being mindful of that so that when we pray, we’re not just randomly saying words that we’ve heard all along or — Yeah.
— words that we’ve kinda memorized along the way are words that are comfortable to us, but we’re actually, praying in a way that is targeted.
It’s kinda exactly what you described a few moments doing the work to find the promises of god that actually apply in areas that we intentional prayer.
Yeah. Right.
Um, and then writing it down. Sometimes we need to write our prayers down only because it keeps us focused.
It reminds us what we’re praying about. You know?
So when it’s posted there in that war room and you come back in there day after day, you’re reminded.
This is your prayer. This is where you’re focusing your, um, your prayer life on it.
And and until I see an answer, I will keep praying this prayer. Yeah.
It also gives you a great track record with god. Mhmm.
Because then when god does answer, You can see that date at the top of that page of when you started praying that.
And then you’ll be able to put a date down of when god answered.
However, in his sovereignty, he chose to.
What a great track record, not risk for you, but your grandchildren and your great grandchildren to see how Grand mama or, uh, Grandpa prayed and believe that god would answer.
Wow.
I think the thing I loved about, uh, or, you know, even the prayer, because in Ephesian 6, it talks about the armor, you know, which we’re familiar with, but then prayer is.
Yeah.
That’s right.
Yeah. Kicks into
— Yeah. So that sword, it
it’s — — right
to prayer.
And it’s not the the the prayer that’s, oh, god. Why, you know, the whining?
I mean, you can do that for a minute because maybe we all need to whine for a minute.
The complaining
side of the
complained to that because, honestly, the Psalms David complained for a bit.
I mean, you know, he went he went on a journey with God.
He he was intimate and real with his pain and agony before god.
And so there’s gotta be a rising up — Then there has to be a point where you that’s the thing.
So at some point, yes, do the complaining. But at some point, you have to begin speaking the truth.
That’s right.
Of what god has to say about your marriage, about your health, and about your family, about reconciliation.
I just remember even that for me with, um, just some situations and, you know, family and extended family that was hard.
It was so hard. And and I remember moments of, you know, the complaining before god because, of course, I was perfect, and they were the problem.
Well, everybody else needs to change.
Yeah. If they would, it would really help out my life. Totally.
Then but so I, you know, complained, but then I started you know, talking about pulling out the scriptures that talked about unity and reconciliation and and together and faithfulness and just declaring that.
And I’ve seen god do what only he could do — Yeah.
—
in the lives of people. I mean, I saw it in my health, but I also have seen it in relationships with people.
And so I just think that that if if people understood more about the power, you know, some people say, well, all I can just pray.
No. No. not all. That’s the thing. That’s the
thing to do.
That’s the thing. Right?
Is is, right, second second chronicles, 714, if my people right, who called by my name, humble himself, and pray.
Yeah. Right. Then he’s gonna heal our land. We’re too busy complaining about
—
Yeah. our land and our government and all that’s happening. It’s like, well, you can complain.
But if you prayed as much as you complained, maybe we would see something different.
And you know what? If I were your enemy.
What I want to do is devalue in your mind the potency of what I know to be the most powerful weapon
you have
against me. So he’s made our churches focus on being a house of great programs or a house of great preaching and a house of great singing when they’re supposed to be a house of prayer.
because it’s the prayer that pushes back the kingdom of darkness.
So if I were the enemy, that’s exactly what I do. I devalue what I knew was the most potent weapon that you had in your arsenal against me.
Yeah. So we do everything first except pray.
Pray. And so for you, uh, personally, so how do you When do you when do you pray?
Are you late at night person, or are you the middle of the day person,
or are you? Well, I — 1st of all, lest anyone think that my life is, you know, I’m up on a mountain top praying.
It’s when he got all day. Yeah. That’s right. Um, my life is very much like everybody Yep. That
it’s just
laundry and laundry and kids. And it’s kinda that thing where, you know, once your feet hit the floor — Mhmm.
— in the morning is over. It’s just full on for the rest of the day. Right? Yeah.
And so, um, I have this ongoing, actually, part of my prayer is lord, would you continue to help me to prioritize this in my life?
Because it consistently kinda get pushed off of the — Yeah. That — — that position of priority. Yeah.
So I just say lord, I need you to stir. I don’t wanna manufacture passion.
I want you to stir in me a passion to where I don’t wanna go a day without prioritizing prayer.
and then hearing back from you, listening to you through the scriptures.
And so I try to do that in the morning because it seems like that’s the best time If I wait till the end of the day, I’m it it ain’t gonna happen.
You know?
No. That’s the same with me. No. If I don’t if the morning if I if it doesn’t happen then
— Yeah. —
then it just gets — It’s
like if it doesn’t happen just very first thing
in the morning. But once
you get going, it’s
—
It’s true. Yeah.
But
I will say I learned a bit from brother Lauren that, you know, age old saint from that book, practicing the presence of god, um, that really just gives us freedom lifts that burden off of us of feeling like if we don’t have an hour to spend with the lord at the beginning of the day, that it’s a waste of time to practice god’s presence all day
long. Yes.
So my kids are a little bit older now, but I went through a season 4, 5, 6 years there where I would just write down scripture verse on a 3 by 5 card.
The same one on 5 different cards, maybe.
And I’d put one on the bathroom mirror where I’d be washing little hands all day.
One where I was gonna be doing the dishes, one where I was folding clothes, one near the sandbox outside.
And I just would have the same verse for, like, 2 weeks.
So everywhere I went, I was just running into this verse.
And by the time I got to the end of the day, not only had me and the lord talked about this one verse a lot.
Not only was it inscribed on my heart, but it became god’s word to me.
It became something that really there was life in it. It wasn’t just a verse I’d learned.
There was life in it because me and god been talking all day long for a couple of weeks about the sentiments that he’d um, inscribed in this in this passage of scripture.
So I think that idea of practicing the presence of god — Yep.
— um, it takes that guilt off of.
I didn’t have my quiet time, and it didn’t look this, and it didn’t fit in a comfortable little box.
Well, look, do it however you gotta do
it. Right.
Practice’s presence all day long.
How do we do that?
Well, number 1, by being creative with how you can feed yourself on his word.
So my sister, 5 kids, she’s got this little clip on her dashboard.
she’ll do the same thing, write a 3 by 5 card down with scripture, and she puts it in that clip.
And so, you know, running errands for 2 hours every day, trying to get kids to soccer practice and everything.
She’s just running face to face, um, in face to face with this with this verse over and over throughout the scriptures.
When things come up in the middle of the day, problems you might call a girlfriend about.
You might you can still call her, but also oh, on god. Yeah. Yeah. Just ask him about it.
Ask him about what scripture verse applies to this particular, uh, circumstance, how would he want to lead and guide you?
And you’ll be amazed how you’ll begin to see the encounters that you have the circumstances that align the little beckinnings and convictions of god’s spirit, how they all begin to work together to help you to to realize you actually are hearing god’s voice from seeing his providence as he stirs you in the direction of his will for your life.
It doesn’t have to be so mystical.
Yeah. Yeah. It’s a
little more pro just what you’re saying. It’s practical thing.
Just seeing it is like it’s like, um, Philip, the reason I know his voice when he call he doesn’t have to say a long sentence.
He just goes, hey, babe. I recognize the way it’s because that’s
your main. —
with him all day.
That’s right. Right?
If I only talk to him once every blue moon, that would be a little trickier.
That’s right.
To me, it’s the same with god. It’s if you just you spend those moments. Yeah.
You know, talking, listening, talking, listening, reading the word, it becomes, um, very familiar.
Yeah. Like Anthony’s voice compared your dad’s full. That’s right.
I talked about that. I’m sorry. The voice you got a bit.
My brother and my dad, they have the same name. They walk alike. They talk alike.
I’ve seen my brother take advantage of the fact that he’s got my dad’s name.
You tried to tried to milk that as much as he can. I wanna
hear that story.
Oh, Anthony’s done that quite a few times. I owe him money to bus. That’s right.
But even though he’s fooled a lot of people before —
Not you.
Not me. because I know the 2 way
of that. Right? You know his voice.
And so, you know, there are things, for example, that people could say to me that Jerry said, my husband, Jerry said this.
But if it is totally out of the character that I know to be of my husband of 8 18 years, then I would be able to confidently say to them.
I know my man didn’t say that because I know him. You know?
And so that’s why we read god’s word. Yeah. Because we get to know his personality.
We get to know the character of god.
We get to see the kinds of things he says and doesn’t say.
And so it occurs to us when our ego is speaking
or
when fear is trying to get a word in because fear always has something to say.
And pride and insecurity is also speaking. The enemy is speaking.
You’ll be able to detect, well, god didn’t say that because that’s totally out of out of alignment with his character or out of alignment with his personality as it’s displayed in scripture.
And so the more you know God, the more clearly you can hear him.