What do you think happens when we pray? Are we just speaking out into the air to nothing? Do we just have idle words going on in our heads? Let’s see what the Bible says. If you missed it, in Part 1 we covered the very first prayer recorded in the Bible, where Abraham prayed for King Abimelech, and he was healed, along with the women in his household. We reviewed Isaac’s prayer for his barren wife, and how she conceived afterwards. And we read again about how the Lord saved King Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the Assyrians after he prayed.

Now we’ll investigate some other prayers found in the Bible and how God responds.

Daniel’s Prayer

After the country of Judah is taken captive by the Babylonians, a young Jewish boy named Daniel is taken with the people and raised in Babylon. He stands up for his convictions, and the Lord blesses him because of it. He interprets King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and gets elevated to a high position in government. Daniel survives the governmental transition from the Babylonians to the Medes and Persians. In the book of Daniel chapter 9, during the first year of the reign of King Darius, the man Daniel decides to pray. He has just calculated the number of years that the city of Jerusalem is to be left desolate, 70. He humbles himself and starts praying, confessing the sin of his people.

“Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, ‘O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. … 

Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.’” (Daniel 9:3-5, 17-19 ESV)

What Were His Requests

What a beautiful prayer Daniel prays! Did you notice his requests after his confessions? He asks God to “listen, make your face shine, incline your ear and hear, open your eyes and see, hear, forgive, pay attention and act, don’t delay.” These are bold requests to the God of the universe, right? Asking the all-knowing and omnipresent God to pay attention is quite audacious. 

Do you think God wants to punish Daniel for his daring prayers? Do you think God listens to Daniel’s prayers? Is God even there to listen to his words? Well, we find out in the next few verses what action, if any, God takes in response to Daniel’s declarations.

“While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the LORD my God for the holy hill of my God, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.” (Daniel 9:20-21 ESV)

His Prayer Is Answered

In response to Daniel, God sends none other than the Archangel Gabriel! And this isn’t the first time Gabriel visits Daniel. In the book of Daniel 8:15-16, the Lord first sent Gabriel to help Daniel understand his vision. And now the Lord sends His angel to help Daniel understand future events concerning his people.

“He [Gabriel] made me understand, speaking with me and saying, ‘O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.’” (Daniel 9:22-23 ESV)

Did you catch when the Lord answers Daniel’s prayer? Not only did the God of the universe respond to Daniel, but also the text specifies “at the beginning of” Daniel’s prayers God sends a word out. God does not wait for Daniel’s prayer to be finished before He sends a message and a messenger out to Daniel. How amazing is this? It reminds me of this passage.

“Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.” (Psalm 139:4 ESV)

Jesus’ Prayer

Jesus prays some amazing prayers, and He even teaches the disciples to pray (Matthew 6:9-15, Luke 11:1-4). Do you think Jesus’ prayers are powerful? Does the very Son of God catch the Lord’s ear?

Why do you think Jesus taught His disciples to pray? Did He want their prayers to be powerful too? I believe so. He even says these amazing words:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12 ESV)

One of “the works” Jesus does is pray. We pray because He prays.

The Buddy of Jesus

Jesus has a buddy named Lazarus. And Jesus really loves his family too; he has two sisters, Mary and Martha. While Jesus is ministering a few towns over, Lazarus becomes sick. By the time Jesus arrives at the little town of Bethany, Lazarus has died. It is a sad situation, and there’s plenty of blame to go around. Both sisters declare to Jesus that if he had been there, Lazarus would have been alive.

“Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 

“Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’” (John 11:21, 32 ESV)

Jesus, though, is moved to tears, recorded in one of the shortest verses in the Bible.

“Jesus wept.” (John 11:35 ESV)

Lazarus, Come Forth!

In an amazing act of faith, Jesus commands the people to remove the stone covering the tomb of Lazarus. And then he prays. Thankfully, John records for us what he prays.

“So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out.’ The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’” (John 11:41-44 ESV)

God definitely responds to the prayer of Jesus! Jesus is confident that the Father always hears Him. And then, filled with the power of God through the Holy Spirit, Jesus commands Lazarus to come out. You can almost feel the authority of Jesus in prayer and in the subsequent command. A miracle happens. Lazarus, who has been dead for about 96 hours (4 days), comes walking out of the tomb, alive. Amazing, isn’t it?

A Key to Prayer

Jesus drops us a hint about prayer. He thanks the Father for hearing Him, knowing for certain that the Father always hears Him. And Jesus even tells us He says those words because of the people around Him. Who is standing around Jesus in the story? Mary and Martha for sure are there, and the Jews who are weeping and consoling Mary, and His disciples.

The key is related to belief. “That they may believe…” (John 11:42). Jesus even addresses the issue of belief with Martha as she meets him on the edge of town before Lazarus is resurrected.

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?’” (John 11:25-26 ESV)

Belief Is Critical

Notice how Jesus uses the word ‘believe’ three times with Martha. What about me? Do I believe the words of Jesus? Do I believe the Father hears me and is always listening? What about you? Do you believe the words of Jesus? Do you believe the Father hears you and is always listening to you? This issue is crucial to prayer. A great way to short-circuit your prayers is to not believe. Unbelief is a prayer-killer. Unbelief steals away the supernatural miracles of God. How can I be so confident in this?

“And he [Jesus] did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.” (Matthew 13:58 ESV)

What works are being referenced in this passage? He has been healing the sick and casting out demons. So he could not heal many people in that place because of unbelief. 

Unbelief is coming into agreement with a different kingdom. Which kingdom, you might ask? It’s the Kingdom of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Unbelief is the Kingdom of Darkness. It’s the Spirit of Antichrist.

“Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.” (1 John 2:22 ESV)

Unbelief denies the power of Jesus Christ as Lord. Let’s shed unbelief like a bad coat. Let’s get rid of unbelief. Decide to believe in the name of our Lord Jesus, as He commands (1 John 3:23).

The People Demand a Testimony

Ok, so enough preaching. I can feel the responses, “Brett, you give us all these examples of people from the Bible, but what about you? Do you have any stories for us?” In fact, I do. Too many to put in this post. By the way, if you haven’t read my journey into prayer and visions, I highly recommend it! Another great story is found at the end of this post, starting with the section “A Step of Faith.”

But I have two stories that come to mind.

Job Trouble

My friend Mickey had a job towards the end of 2021 that was mandating the “jab.” He was likely going to lose that job if he didn’t comply with the mandate. He stood fast, though, writing a tremendous religious exemption and standing firm in his convictions. My wife and I encouraged him too. 

In November 2021, we were praying for his job, believing God for a miracle. His job was set to expire in December due to his religious beliefs about the jab – talk about discrimination! In prayer I heard and felt “6 months.” I believed that what I heard was a word of knowledge from the Holy Spirit. I prayed along the lines about what I heard, and I also mentioned to Mickey, “I don’t exactly know what this means, but I felt like I heard 6 months until a new job. It could be a 6 month transition job or 6 months until this all blows over, but that’s what I heard, and that’s what I’m going to pray.” He was very receptive to this word, and we all believed for him.

Well, later on in November, the Supreme Court ruled that the mandates were unconstitutional. Instead of Mickey’s job ending in December, it was set to end in February. I still felt like the 6 month promise was still in effect, and so we still prayed. In the meantime, Mickey looked for jobs and found one in particular that he liked. He interviewed several times for one position, but they told him he’d probably do better in another position. So he interviewed several more times for the second position. And he got it! By the beginning of May 2022, he started his new job, the one he still has now and loves. And guess what? He started the job exactly 6 months after I heard the word from the Lord! Isn’t God good?

Post Thanksgiving Adjustment

The Monday after Thanksgiving I have off of work. I decide to get up early and pray with the guys, a wonderful habit we’ve gotten into since October 2018. After prayer, I feel like I hear from the Lord, “Pray the arche prayer.” This is in reference to some prayers I’ve been learning from Dan Duval and Bride Ministries. Well, I pray through the prayer, feeling supercharged for the day ahead and not knowing why the Lord has me praying through it.

As the day moves ahead, we go to our chiropractor’s office for our routine adjustments. As we sit in the waiting room, the doctor calls me back, asking for my help. He introduces me to a patient and reserves a room for us. The man describes to me how he came for prayer as well as an adjustment.

He tells me a story of how he encountered an evil spirit as he tried to wake up. He says he felt like it was attempting to strangle him from behind. And then he says he saw it open up his chest like a curtain, stick its gruesome head out of his chest, look left, look right, put its head back in and close it up. Then he woke up. He tells me that his wife had tried to wake him up and knew something was amiss. She wanted him to get help. 

You’re Not Crazy

I tell him he’s not crazy, that what he encountered was, in fact, demonic. I ask him if he is a believer in Jesus. He says yes, and we talk a bit about church. I describe to him that these evil spirits can engage or even live in our souls, even as believers. I tell him about the most common open doors for demonic engagement: unforgiveness, occult activity or witchcraft and drug use, sexual sin, and bloodline curses. We talk about a couple of these, and I develop a prayer strategy. So he prays and confirms his allegiance to the Lord Jesus and proceeds to forgive and repent. It is a beautiful prayer. I follow up his prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to fill the room, surround it with Heavenly fire and send in angels to help. I bind up the demons in him and cast them out.

After I speak the prayer, I pause and look at my new friend. I ask if he’s feeling ok, if he feels anything or hears anything in his head. He says to me, “I feel like warm oil was poured on top of my head and ran down my whole body. And look!” He shows me his forearms, full of goosebumps. He says he has goosebumps all down his back and the back of his legs. I think to myself, “That’s a good sign.” And I pray over him some more, asking the Holy Spirit to baptize him in fire. Afterwards, he tells me he didn’t even have an appointment that day. He says a voice told him to go home and go to sleep and another voice told him to go get adjusted and get prayer. He listened to the right voice!

Now I know why the Lord had me pray that specific prayer during the morning prayer time. He was preparing me for an incredible encounter later in the day.

Believe

My friend, I have seen too much and heard too much to not believe in God’s power through prayer. I highly encourage you to take the advice of James, one of the pillars of the Christian faith. He says this:

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:5-8 ESV)

When you pray, ask in faith, believing that something will happen as a result of your prayers. Pray according to God’s will. Follow the prescription of Romans 12:1-2 to determine God’s will. Pray according to Scripture. Follow Jesus’ advice in Luke 11:9-13 and ask, seek, and knock continually. Press in to God; abide in Him; remain in Him. Believe that your prayers are powerful and effective. And I believe that you, my friend, will experience the breakthrough of God, the breakthrough you are due as a Son or Daughter of the King of Kings (Romans 8:18-21).