We’re releasing our Intercede issue online tomorrow! Make sure you’re on our mailing list so you’ll get a notification as soon as it’s live. With Intercede’s release, we’ll be focusing on prayer on our blog a lot during the next two months. To help me with this task, one of our newest team members, Carla, will be occasionally posting on the blog. Meet her below!
Hello, beloved!
My name is Carla Wijaya. I’m a freelance writer and journalism student from Melbourne, Australia. I’m a singer and proud to be a part of a worship team in my church called Neuma Church.
I find great pleasure in the complexity of words and that’s the reason why I love writing so much. Poems, blogs, copywriting, fiction, absolutely everything! But I have a special kind of love when writing about God. It’s my expression of worship (other than singing) that I deeply cherish. God called me to sing and write since I was as little as 6 years old!
Should you want to know further about me, kindly visit my Instagram page @_carlaaaw_! I would love to connect with more sisters in Christ around the world. God bless!
Fill the gaps with prayer
Ever find yourself in the gaps while doing something and you had no idea what to do to fill them with? You shrugged your shoulders and opted to reach for your phone at your back pocket and scroll through social media. Tap tap. Like and love. Here and there.
Yes, those unnecessary gaps we’re all wasting away; in between the traffic on the way to work or home. Waiting for the laundry to dry. Uploading assignments to school’s system. Looking at the oven that tells you the brownies will be ready in 3 minutes.
Why don’t we fill the gaps with prayers?
Why is it easier for us to pick our phones up instead of picking someone to pray for?
The Bible clearly stated that we have to “pray all the time” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). “Prayer is essential” thus we need to “pray hard and long” (Ephesians 6:18).
Do you want to see how the prayer of God’s children look like in Heaven? Revelation 8:4-5 painted the picture well:
“Smoke billowed up from the incense-laced prayers of the holy ones, rose before God from the hand of the Angel. Then the Angel filled the censer with fire from the Altar and heaved it to earth. It set off thunders, voices, lightnings, and an earthquake.”
Incense-laced prayers set off thunders, voices, lightnings and an earthquake! Wow!
Yes, behold the power of prayer! When you pray, the earth groans. When you pray, the ground you stand shake. When you pray, the sky cracks wide open.
But what should we pray about? Who should we pray for? Great question.
There are 6 things that you can pray about during your “fill the gaps” moment in your everyday lives.
1. The Lord’s Prayer
One day, Jesus’ disciples found him praying in a certain place and asked, “Lord, teach us to pray,” (Luke 11:1). He agreed and taught them this prayer:
“Father, hallowed be your name. Your Kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us and lead us not into temptation.”
Pray the prayer Jesus taught. As this should be the first and essential prayer that you can use, even when you have no idea what to pray about.
2. Prayer of gratitude
We are humans. Humans, by nature, demand instant gratification.
When we need or want something, we pray as hard as we can, hoping God will answer us in a count of three. Then bam! Grace happens. Blessings come. Breakthrough breaks in. We shout and jump to our feet, excited to share the news to everyone around and find ourselves asking “Okay, what’s next?”.
And yes, we forgot to thank God.
This is the chance for you to thank Him for His faithfulness even when you aren’t. Thank Him for your daily bread. Thank Him for all the victory He fought for you last season. Thank Him for the signs and wonders He gave. Thank Him for providing shade from the blazing sun. Thank Him for your family, friends and the house you live in. Thank Him for freely giving His Son, Jesus, to take your place at the cross (John 3:16).
Thank Him again and again and again. You’ll be surprised by how much you can thank Him for once you keep going.
3. Prayer for your loved ones
This could go far and wide!
Pray for your family, your extended family, your friends, your friend’s friend, your housemate, your neighbour, your relatives who haven’t talked to you for a long time.
Speak and declare their breakthroughs, their health, their work, their ministry, their mind, heart and soul to be guarded. For their path to be guided by His Light, for them to stand strong in their faith, for the full armour of God to be equipped in them (Ephesians 6:13), for whatever they do will bring glory to His name (1 Corinthians 10:31) and for every strongholds to be broken at the feet of Jesus.
4. Prayer for the sick
Is there anybody in your life who is currently battling with sickness? Pray this:
“Father God, I lift up (their name) to you today. They are currently battling with (describe the sickness). I stand in the gap before You today, asking for their health to be fully restored. Right here, right now, Jesus, You will extend Your hands to touch and heal them. Because one touch from You can change everything. Comfort them in your wings, Lord. Let Your peace runs to the overflow.
“Sickness, bow down at the feet of Jesus! You don’t belong to his/her body and you have no power over them! You will be crushed and thrown to hell where you belong. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen!”
5. Prayer for your enemies
It only sounds ridiculous until you see what Jesus said.
“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)
“And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'” (Luke 23:34)
Jesus prayed for His enemies while He hung on the cross. He prayed for those who persecuted Him when He had the choice to curse them instead.
If Jesus had power to heal the sick and raise Lazarus from the dead, He surely could punish his persecutors on the spot, right?
But He didn’t. He opted to pray for them instead. So, you should too.
Friends, keep in mind that we are not made to follow the pattern of this world but to live according to His will (Romans 12:2). Expect mockery when others find out that you pray for those who did you wrong. But God would be so proud of you. And yes, run for His applause instead.
6. Prayer for yourself
This is the perfect time to pray for all of the requests, desires, and dreams of your heart.
Philippians 4:6 states “in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Nothing is too crazy for the Father that owns both Heaven and earth. He holds your heart there too and He has your best interest at heart.
There are 6 prayers mentioned above, but don’t let this list stop you from praying for other things too. Most importantly, be open to hear the prompting of the Holy Spirit if He nudges you to pray for one or two people specifically. Follow that instead. Those people may be needing extra coverings of prayers, so intercede for them.
There may not be exact outcome to this. Perhaps you may not even see it with your eyes. But believe that “the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16). Those people and things you prayed for are changing behind the scenes without you even noticing.
Charles Spurgeon said, “If you believe in prayer at all, expect God to hear you. If you do not expect, you will not have.”
The crucial thing about this practice is actually YOU. You train your prayer muscles to get bigger and bigger. The more you pray, the more your prayer get powerful. You begin to sense God more clearly regarding who He wants you to pray for.
At first, you may not have the best words when praying. But as long as you keep doing so, your prayers will become more specific. Don’t be afraid to let it all flow out of your heart, even if it’s going to take more than 5 minutes.
You will be amazed by how He changes the way you pray. You get better in prayer by praying!
This is going to be a long journey for some of you. Ask the Holy Spirit.
