The school of prayer (how prayers are answered)
By Apostle Joshua Selman

Never forget that in the presence of God, any and all things are possible

Hebrew 11:6

Remember He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him

The first thing you need to know is that prayer can be taught

The prayer that produces power, the prayer that comes from the place of mastery is as a product of training, a product of spiritual education.

Luke 11:1

Luke 18:1

It is a mandate upon all men that they pray

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Colossians 4:2

James 5:16

The goal of this teaching is to take away the burden factor from prayer, that prayer does not become a necessary burden you have to carry, just to sign the register of spirituality. Prayer is a journey and those who understand the dynamics have found the treasure in the place fo prayer.

There are many dimensions of prayer.

But the central focus of this teaching is to show how prayers are answered - the dynamics of answered prayers

What is prayer?

In simple terms, prayer is communication with God; a platform that allows for communication with God.

Broadly speaking, it allows communication or interaction with the realm of the spirit or any kind of spirit, but as believers we are limiting our study to the God of the bible - God almighty.

A platform that allows the believer to communicate our thoughts, needs and our desires to God

A platform that allows us to fellowship with God.

A platform that allows to hear and receive from God.

Any time you think of prayer, think of communication.

Why pray

What is the foundational revelation that necessitates the subject of prayer is embedded in something God put within man

Genesis 1:26

• God gave man a unique ability called “will” - the power to make decision and choices

  As far as a man is alive, nothing can take away his will. That is except death.

  God gave man a will and from the moment God gave man a will, God in His might in His wisdom would have to allow man to use that will, He designed His work with man from the time He gave man a will as a response system. That means man will have to use that gift of will to communicate His desire, the need for help and God will not assume.

  God also left something in His dealings with man called His mercy, and the reason he left it there is because there are times where man may have a need, but because of ignorance or oppression, he would not know how to call upon God. At that point, mercy becomes another door that God can still follow and help man. If God did not add mercy, maybe all men may die within a week. You would be learning that we do not know what to pray for as we ought, so there are many times that we got help in our lives that were not directly credited to our asking, we did not even know that we needed it.

  God gave man a will, and he desires that man uses that will Matthew 7:7

  Who receives? The one who asked, not the one who wants

  Mark 11:24

  Jesus is saying that the way we ask is by prayer and we can connect this to Matthew 7:7 - Any one who asks receives.

  Any one who does not pray is not exercising the gift of the will that God gave us. You are wasting the privilege, the advantage and the leverage of an invisible God.

  You have not, cause you ask not.

  Oh what needless pain we bear

What is the assignment of prayer?

Prayer is not the answer to everything, but prayer must be involved in everything

Philippians 4:6

Everything in your life should involve prayer.

Provided God is involved, prayer involved, unless you don’t believe that God helps men to prosper. 2 Chronicles 26:5, 1 Kings 3:9

My help comes from the lord.

Prayer is not the only key to everything, but prayer must be involved in every aspect of the believer's life - When prayer is not the key, it becomes the hand that holds the key

There are 4 basic assignment of prayer

1. The growth and transformation of the believer Luke 9:29, like molten, you come out of your old self into a stronger self.

   Most of the things we pray for, are supposed to come to us through growth.

   No matter how you pray, if you do not contend for growth, there’s a version of you that what you prayed for will not come

2. A platform to make request and obtain promises

   Mark 11:24

   Phillipians 4:6 - verbalize and communicate your request in prayer

3. A platform to make decrees and establish spiritual realities

   Job 22:28

   Numbers 14:28

4. Warfare and intercession

   Warfare is a spiritual system by which we use the word of God in prayer to establish the victory that has been wrought in Christ.

   1 peter 5:8

   John 10:10

   Luke 10:19

   Hebrew 4:10

Kinds of prayer

Ephesians 6:18

• Praying in the spirit - praying in tongues

  1 Corinthians 14:15

  So you can pray in the spirit and in understanding

  1 Corinthians 14:2,4

  You will never have a truly rich spiritual life, if you do not open yourself to receive as an added advantage to the life God that you have received, this gift of the prayer language.

  There are so many things that you miss when you don’t submit to the prayer language, tongues

• Psalm 107:2

  Make faith filled declaration

  Ecc 8:4

  Where the word of a king is, there is power.

  What you say today, is what you see tomorrow. Declare scriptures by faith.

  Proverbs 4:18

  If you refuse to declare over your life, your destiny will receive anybody’s declaration, because man lives by word, your destiny is not only looking for food, it is looking for words.

  Don’t allow any word, just enter your field. The bible says words are seeds.

  The key to engaging this kind of prayer model, effectively is a thorough knowledge of the word of God.

• The prayer of inquiry

  1 samuel 30:8

  The secret to engaging in this kind of prayer is patience.

  Proverbs 14:12

  The prayer of inquiry, requires silence

  Psalm 46:10

  You need 2 things, the word of the Lord and the timing for its manifestation.

• Warfare prayer

  Philippians 1:19

  The prayer of deliverance, the prayer that overturns things - This is the kind of prayer you pray when it looks like the devil has scheduled seasons of attacks.

• Prayer of thanksgiving

  Philippians 4:6

  It’s a manifestation of faith, you thank the Lord for what you want as though, it’s already here.

  The prayer of thanksgiving requires that you become discerning and thoughtful. One way to ask God for things, is to give thanks for what He has given

Refer to the message: effective prayer dynamics

How God answers prayers

1. Supernatural manifestation When you pray the answer comes directly as peace, joy, healing, deliverance. Daniel 3:25

2. By releasing the graces that attracts physical results

   Graces of:

   • wisdom
   • power
   • understanding
   • honor
   • favour…

   1 kings 3:5

   Philemon 1:6

   Isaiah 11:3

   For example when you pray for God to give you money. There are many ways He can answer that prayer. By wisdom, heightening your understanding and ability to solve problem

   1 kings 3:9-13

   • The gift of men

     1 samuel 10:26-27

     Nobody follows you, until God touches their heart

     Men whose heart God has touched

     Numbers 1:5

     Luke 10:29 - 36

     Pray:

     Lord touch the heart of my helpers!

     Men can be aware of your needs, but that doesn’t mean they will help

It is impossible to let your prayer life go down, when you understand these things. Imagine the things we miss when we do not pray, or pray without understanding, or when we pray amiss.

Prayer is predicted upon the fact that your will needs to be active for you destiny and God’s purposes through you to be actualized. He made it so, he gave you that gift, and that gift has placed a mandate upon your life, that you must always communicate your needs.

Pray:

Father, anything that has killed my prayer life, I command it back to life, I need to be believer with power, a believer with result, I intend to gain mastery in the place of prayer.