Prayer could be the most important thing that you can do as a believer. Prayer not only connects you with God but it allows you to change things in the unseen realm. As most believers have been conditioned to praying defensively, when tragedy strikes, it can give the impression that prayer is reactive. In the truest and most potent fashion, prayer should be offered from an offensive posture, to prevent and avert things before they ever materialize in this realm. 

 

Habakkuk 2:1-3 is a very familiar passage of scripture that not only the Church world has read but also in the secular markets, to "write the vision and make it plain." However, this is the most misinterpreted scripture because that phrase was the answer the Lord gave Habakkuk. We fail to see what caused God to speak and what Habakkuk prayed. Habakkuk was in a place of needing direction from the Lord and he made a decision that he would pray watchful before the Lord to see what answer or direction would be given. The Lord instructed him to "write the vision" of what he saw when he was standing in prayer, not his own personal ambition or dream. How often do we meet situations with our own thoughts, plans and agendas without inquiring of the Lord as to how and what we ought to do concern the matter.

 

Ephesians 6:18 instructs us to pray always, with all prayer in the Spirit or being led by the Spirit. Prayer should never be done alone. If you are born again and filled with the Spirit, you have a helper on the inside that is "called alongside to help" (paraclete). You pray together with the Holy Spirit and he will give you direction on what to pray and how to get the most effective results for the situation. Prayer becomes far less effective without His help. (Romans 8:26)

 

Pray from a place of being full of the Word. Praying on empty is what makes prayer seem hard and difficult. It becomes very easy to pray in the spirit after you have been full of the Word and worship; it will flow. Prayer is not so much a pumping or priming but a flowing with the Holy Ghost.

 

When you are facing a difficult situation, write down at least 5 scriptures that cover that topic and then allow the Holy Ghost to show you which one is your sword or weapon to use in prayer. As you begin to read over those scriptuers and pray in tongues a certain verse will rise up in your spirit, a specific word. This is why it is so important to feed your spirit on the Word, because one of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to bring up the Word to rememberance when you need it (John 14:26).