These days, most of us are involved in the 3 cord prayer, so I want to share something about prayer. In our church, we have many who are starting their walk of faith and there are some VIPs who participate in the 3 cord prayer, so I want to provide some help for them as well.
The basis of prayer is the fact that prayer is communication with God. Just as human relationships are developed by their communication’s depth and frequency, a relationship with God is advanced by the frequency and depth of prayer. Therefore, prayer is not a certain act of dedication like in other religions, but you need to understand that ‘the object of my prayer is a living being’ and spending time with Him in conversation is prayer.
Some question why we need to pray when God knows all our situations. It is easy to understand if you think about the relationship between parents and a child. We do not buy dolls or toys when children do not even ask. In that case, children would not know gratitude and would not understand appreciation toward parents.
Therefore, first, parents wait until children make a request. Then, the parents help children to see whether it is real necessity; sometimes, parents tell children to wait a while, sometimes, parents guide children to save money for it and when the savings is about done half way, parents can match the other half and give the child a surprise! Just like children grow through these processes, prayer is the same way. God wants us to learn through prayer and through that process to get to know Him.
Another reason we need to pray is because of spiritual warfare. This world is controlled by evil and because of that answers to prayer will be hindered in some ways. (Daniel 10:12-13) Therefore, our prayer is spiritual battle to overcome the spiritual opposition.
That is why there are many kinds of prayer. Prayer to be close to God, prayer to confront an evil spirit, prayer to look into oneself, prayer to meditate on words, prayer to listen to God’s voice, etc. However, nobody is skilled with these prayers from the beginning. As their faith grows, it is natural for them to gain insight. That is why we need to practice prayer from the beginning.
Based on my experience, the first step in prayer is vocal prayer. Some say they cannot make sounds and insist on praying in their mind, but that is not a good way to practice prayer. If you force yourself to voice your prayer, you will realize that it becomes natural to pray vocally and understand the deep taste of prayer. After that step, it is possible to pray silently and eventually you can move toward deep mediation prayer and listening prayer.
Therefore, I urge you to use the 3 cord prayer period to practice vocal prayer. Please make a conscious effort to overcome your resistance to pray vocally and try to make loud sounds to a point where your throat hurts. If you persevere, you will get used to vocal prayer and some day you can move into the next level of prayer.
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