Prayerless Praying: Rebuilding a Life of Prayer
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About this ebook
The key to unleashing a wave of meaningful prayer in your life, challenging us to live daily on our knees, Prayerless Praying can awaken your passion for God and teach you how to revive a dwindling prayer life. Every religion incorporates some form of prayer, meditation, and teaching. This book will not teach you how to pray, but it will invite you to see the need for prayer in your life. Indeed, prayer is a power tool in the hands of a person of faith. Do not allow yourself to be a helpless bystander while your life is derailed before your very eyes. Take action, be proactive, pray!
Establishes and shines the unbroken principle spoken by Jesus that Without God we can do nothing therefore Man ought always to pray.
--Asaph Mukandila M., senior pastor of Light of Life Community Church
Emmanuel Muyumba
Emmanuel Muyumba, author of Death Trap, is a serving leader in the congregation Light of Life Community Church Namibia as an evangelist and youth activist. He graduated from the School of Life Bible Institute and has an undergraduate degree in theological studies. He currently lives in Namibia.
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Prayerless Praying - Emmanuel Muyumba
Copyright © 2013 Emmanuel Muyumba.
Book edited by Magdalena Wakolele.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV
and New International Version
are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ All rights reserved.
Bible scriptures marked (KJV) are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Scripture taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,
and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.
ISBN: 978-1-4908-1509-1 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4908-1508-4 (e)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013920229
The Author’s royalties from this book will go towards promoting the kingdom of God and exalting our Lord Jesus Christ throughout all nations.
WestBow Press rev. date: 11/13/2013
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction
PART I: PRAYER BOARD STATEMENTS
CHAPTER ONE
Statements
CHAPTER TWO
Prayer Shapes
PART II: THE DECLINE
CHAPTER ONE
First Stage A Little Sleep
CHAPTER TWO
Second Stage: Rushing Through Prayer
CHAPTER THREE
Third Stage: When Time Is The Boss Of Prayer
CHAPTER FOUR
Fourth Stage: Mind Pollution
CHAPTER FIVE
Back To My Point
PART III: PRAYER AND PRAYING MAN
CHAPTER FOUR
First Praying Character: Elijah
CHAPTER FIVE
Second Praying Character: Joshua
PART IV: LIKE A CHILD
CHAPTER SIX
A Spirit Of Submission Towards Prayer
PART V: PLEADING WITH GOD
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Knowledge Of God’s Planning
CHAPTER EIGHT
Sighting God’s Grazing Pasture And Leading The Flock There
CHAPTER NINE
Man Of God How Is The Condition Of The Flock’s Soul
PART VI: A JOYOUS PRAYER
CHAPTER TEN
On My Knees
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The Morning Grace
CHAPTER TWELVE
Awaken The Dawn
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Everyone’s Experience
PART VII: PRAYING THE MIND OF THE SPIRIT AND THE LANGUAGE OF THE SPIRIT
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Praying The Mind Of The Spirit
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Praying The Language Of The Spirit
PART VIII: ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Learning All Over Again
Chapter Seventeen
The Prayer Life Of Christ Was Based On Father-Son Relationship
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
He Did Not Omit Intercession In His Prayers
CHAPTER NINETEEN
His Redefined Of Prayer
CHAPTER TWENTY
Ask, Seek And Knock
EPILOGUE
Author’s Letter To The Reader
Appendix 1 That Which Laughs At You In Your Praying
Appendix 2 Prayerless Praying People Groups/Signs
Appendix 3 Persistence Principles Asking, Seeking, Knocking
Appendix 4 Living On Your Knees
Appendix 5 Prayer And Expansive
Appendix 6 Intercession As The Work Of A Priest
About The Author
To the Body of Christ and the preserving saints of the Kingdom whose faith is being refined through hardships and persecution
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I thank God who has enabled me to write Prayerless Praying. He is the author and the finisher of my life and I give him glory through for the knowledge imparted in this book.
I would also like to acknowledge the following individuals and groups:
a) My faith family at Light of Life Community Church, who stand by me with great love and much acceptance.
b) My family who has been supportive throughout my life
c) Pastor Bienvenue Mambo who is a good friend of mine and also his loving and caring wife Therese Mambo.
d) My editor, for putting my words in order and giving them meaning.
e) The great men of God who have addressed the subject of prayer at various times over the centuries. Their teachings have helped many to grow in the area prayer.
f) And finally, all my friends in the Body of Christ, who have partnered with me in the work of the ministry.
PREFACE
Many will probably wonder about the origins of the phrase prayerless praying
. It is simply the expression of the words that were received by me from God.
This book will not teach you how to pray, but it will invite you to again, see the need of prayer in your life. Some have posed the question as to whether or not a certain need or situation merits prayer. Others have prayed and yet have seemingly not received any answers. And still others have given up on prayer altogether. The latter can be likened to a desperate gambler who persists on throwing money into a slot machine again and again without any returns. The money is eventually lost and the gambler is left with bitter disappointment.
Prayer is not a gamble, it is faith in action. Faith is what we should model when we pray. There are those who only pray when they come to church on a Sunday, thinking that that is enough. When the minister calls them to a collective amen
they go home, only to return to church the following Sunday and say amen
at the prompting of the priest. They are believers who serve God once weekly; raising hands and simply following the lead of a preacher. Prayer, for such people, is a dull religious act.
The bible, however, teaches us that prayer is so much more than just a mere ritual. In the nature of prayer we have nothing new to say other than what the bible itself teaches. I do have something to say to you: keep praying and not grow weary of it.
This book seeks to show the trend of decline in the level of prayer in the life of a believer and also to provide effective tools so as to ensure the restoration of a fruitful prayer life.
The content covers practical issues. Often, such issues cause us not to pray as we should. The book incorporates principles that have been taught in the word of God and preached throughout the Body of Christ.
I believe that you will respond to the call of this book to establish prayer as a vital part of your daily life. The book is meant to be an encouragement; simply read it with an open mind and allow the Lord to sort out your personal life as you continually engage him through prayer.
My prayer is that the Lord would convince you to come back and lead the life of prayer that you used to. I believe that you have a sense of the voice of God reaching out to you, through this book.
I further believe that with the help of the Living Spirit of God, you will be able to understand and to apply the truth so as to be submerged deeper in the revelation of the power of prayer.
Finally, let us look to the example of Jesus, who being both man and God, practiced prayer. He awoke early to pray while many, including the disciples, were still asleep. He was a man of prayer and of the word. He never made excuses to any of his challengers. In fact those who considered him to be a deity were astonished to see him praying. He who had unlimited access to the throne of God the Father, humbled himself on his knees to teach us how to pray. Shouldn’t we then pray as well, rather than give many excuses as to why we do not pray.
Prayer should not be an activity that only a few members of an intercessory team
or a designated prayer group should engage in, rather it is something that we should all partake in. Even members of the early church gathered to pray.
May God bless you as he unleashes the truth of his word to you!
INTRODUCTION
A prayerless praying life develops when a believer ceases to care about God’s business. The person changes over time and withdraws from God. Christian values may recede into the background and their fervor in serving God decreases. Prayer becomes just a meaningless ritual and no more.
Enough is enough. Why is it that prayer is so neglected in the lives of today’s believers? Many go before God with prayers that contain half sentences; they start a prayer that does not end with amen
. I have seen them acting on a Sunday morning using so many words and making a show of praying in tongues but the prayer life they live on a Monday morning is something else - it is Prayerless praying. Often believers only pray when they are moved by a great need. All at once, they expect God to rush to their aid. Do you seek God when only problems are crouching at your door or is it something you do daily?
If one fails to pray one fails to live a holy life. There is no way prayer can be separated from a Christian life. Taking away prayer is taking away holiness. Take prayer away from a believer and his soul is taken away from God. I would even be so bold as to suggest that: prayer works out salvation. There is no way that one can live a holy life if one is not praying.
The question now arises: if one is not praying what is one doing? Perhaps occupied with sin? I liken prayer to a spiritual shopping experience in which all my needs are provided for. If I need to shop for faith; it is increased in prayer. If I need to shop for strength; it is implanted prayer. All I need is provided for in prayer, because there is no other way to request and receive from God other than in prayer. God is going to avail much but only if we pray, he is going to give much only if we ask him in prayer by faith in Jesus’ name. Many believers start out living a life of prayer but end up with a prayerless praying life. How long before the devil takes us away from God, if we continue with this prayerless praying life. Men ought to pray and always pray, Paul said, without ceasing. Can I trust prayer? Indeed, I should, because it is the greatest weapon the devil fears. When one saint spends time on his knees everyday for the world, more souls come into the kingdom. If saints are not praying heaven withholds its blessing from us.
The only enemy we have to prayer is Satan, because he knows that there is no battle he can win when the saints are on their knees. Throughout this book I am going to place much emphasis on prayer and will also draw attention to the power that is released through prayer. Over the centuries men of God have written a lot on prayer and yet there have not been many generations who were renowned cultivating a culture of prayer. People such as John Knox are reported to have prayed give me Scotland or I die
, and God answered him. Others prayed give, me souls or take my soul away
. Is it because these men were supernatural men, that God granted their requests? No, I say these men where as natural as we; they simply understood the power of asking. Men like James Dobson focused on family. He prayed and obtained promises, from God, regarding his family to fourth generation. George Meuller took care of four thousand orphans because he understood that all needs are to be brought before God in prayer, men like John Wesley prayed wholeheartedly to God and at the end of their lives there was much reward. This is how we should be encouraged to pray because the fate of the world will be affected by our prayers.
The bible recounts the testimonies of numerous people whose lives were transformed by the power of prayer. I have witnessed the power of prayer in modern times as well, for the God we serve is a promise-keeper and his promises are much greater. God has recorded his promises in his word, the bible, and he patiently waits for promise-seeking people to say, I have read that you said ask of me and I will give thee
. There is not much time to entertain ourselves with useless meetings that carry no anointing and involve no prayer. One man even went so far as to suggest that people should not be allowed to pray for more than five minutes, during a Sunday church service. It is sad that human beings have regressed to the point, that they deliberately limit God’s influence in