Prayer is one of those mysteries of the kingdom of God that is exploratory in nature. It takes you on an adventure of endless discoveries of the nature of God and the virtues of the glories of heaven.

Spiritual realities of our heavenly kingdom are disclosed to us as we enter that place of communion with God. These are revelational truths which we would otherwise not have had access to. It is a great privilege given by our heavenly father to come boldly before His throne. It is an awesome thing for me to know that the God whose voice shakes the earth wants me to communicate with Him.
The grace and love of God is demonstrated in the fact that he created an avenue for us to bring our petitions to Him, commune with Him and converse with Him. Prayer is a direct communication line to God, an open invitation for mortal men to relate to an immortal God.

There are several reasons why I love to pray, and I will graciously enumerate a few of them in this article.

1.  One of the most exciting reasons why I love to pray is the simple aspect of relating and fellowshipping with God. I discovered that God is a relational God, He is not like an idol that cannot speak nor has no understanding psalm 115:3-8. He should not be treated like an idol that people approach when they have problems for him to solve and toss him some coins which they call ‘tithe’, so he can protect them from the devourer. All prayer should be borne out of a relationship with God and deep fellowship with Him.

Gen 1:26 states the purpose of the creation of man.

And God said “Let us create man in our own image, according to our likeness: Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Man was created by God for three main reasons:

a. For relationship
b. For fellowship
c. For ruler ship

God wanted a family on Earth that he can relate with, hence the reason for creating man in His own image and likeness. Man is the only creature of God made in His image and likeness, the main reason for this is relationship. He does not relate to other creatures he made the same way He relates to human beings. And though the First Adam introduced sin into the world and separation from God through sin, the last Adam, Jesus Christ, has reconciled us to the father through his sacrificial death and has restored us into right relationship with God. We cannot effectively fulfil our ruler ship mandate without relationship and fellowship with God.

We need to see prayer first of all as communion with God the father, every other request should proceed from that relationship. Jesus in instructing his disciples on prayer, in Luke 11:1 said “when you pray, say our father who art in heaven”. The first principle of prayer He taught them was to address God as father depicting a close relationship with God.
Jesus was teaching them in essence that they cannot pray to a God they did not know, a God they are not acquainted with, He was changing their orientation and their perception of God. Prior to this, they knew and addressed God as Elohim, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

This was exemplified in the way Jesus himself related to God. During His three and a half years on earth, he always addressed God as father. He had such a close personal relationship with the father that gives him an edge over his contemporaries. This portrays that he had access to certain affection, information & revelation that others were not privy to. Jesus would often resort to the mountain all night long to commune with His father. He cherished being with His father so much that he did not mind being deprived of sleep.

A close walk with God requires a heart to heart communion with the father on a constant basis, God wants us to pour out our hearts to Him, Hide nothing from Him (He knows about it anyway), He wants us to share every experience with Him including that of pain and sadness, joy and celebration. I just love the fact that I can share my heart with the Lord and He can share His heart with me. He is an understanding God, very patient, loving, kind and caring, He even cares and shows interest in the minute details of our life. Even in His correction is love shines through. What an amazing God He is!

There are immense benefits in having an intimate relationship with God; one of them is the fact that we fulfil our role as instruments of His pleasure.

Rev. 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
We were created to give God pleasure and glory. The purpose of the creation of man was not primarily to take dominion; it was to bring Him pleasure.
Isaiah 43:2 “This people I have formed for myself; they shall declare my praise” True fellowship is the reason for which he has made man.

That is why nothing outside God brings lasting satisfaction or fulfilment no matter how legitimate they may be, because in Him we live, we move and have our being.
The words of St. Augustine one of the early church fathers describes it accurately “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.”

This is such a profoundly true statement which I have personally experienced; I feel such a restlessness in my heart when I have not spent quality time with the Lord. I feel unsettled and unable to accomplish most of the task I have planned out for the day. Oh that we will find our way back into the inner chambers of the Lord, where we can behold his attractiveness and find solace for our souls.

Another important benefit is that through intimacy with God, we can feel His pulse and know his thoughts. Psalm 92:5 says O Lord how great are your works, your thoughts are very deep. It will take a deep fellowship with God to grasp the deep thoughts of God. There are deep things of God that can only be contacted through a consistent intimacy with God. It is from this place that we can know His heart, His mind, His intentions and purposes. It is important that we stay connected to the heart of God as it enables us to carry His heart to the heart of men. It enables us to stay fresh and current in administering His grace to our world. It keeps us sharp and in tune with heaven’s frequency and radar. It is from that place of aloneness with God that we develop our ability to hear His sweet voice. The voice of the Lord is like cool fresh water to a thirsty soul and one word from the Lord can break the cycle of any perpetual problem.

From this place of intimate fellowship with God, divine secrets are revealed to us.
The revelation of divine secrets belong to us and our generation. Deut 29:29
There are glorious mysteries of the kingdom and heavenly realities yet to be unveiled
to the hearts of men.

Rev 4:1 ‘After these things, I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying” Come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this”.

The voice instructed John to come up in order to receive the revelation that God
had ordained for Him to see. As we also come up in our worship and devotion to the
Lord, we will be ushered into a life of supernatural encounters that will bring
life & refreshing wherever we go. Luke 9: 28 -29

Jer 33:3 says “Call unto me and I will show you great and mighty things which you did not know.”
I have received certain direct revelations only as I sought the face of the Lord in worship & prayer. It proved to me that I would have missed out on those things if I had not given myself to intimate fellowship with Him.

Intimacy with the Lord is the bedrock of all that we do. This is the crux of the matter. This is where all true, effective prayer springs from. It is from this place that we generate Spiritual authority and power with God. This is where we get our battle orders and strategies from. Our spiritual authority lies in the place of deep union and communion with God. The Bible records that Jesus did not speak as one of the Scribes, but he spoke as one with Authority.
There was an authority that Jesus Christ carried that distinguished him from the scribes. He was often asked by what authority he made certain statements. It is the authority obtained through a close relationship with the father, because he had been with Him, he knew the father’s mind, he knew His thoughts, His words were no longer is own words but the words of the father. This gave him a confidence in God that was unshakeable. If we want to have authority in the place of prayer we need to develop an intimate relationship with God.

The effect that prayer has on my life is another reason why I love to pray. As it is commonly said prayer not only changes situations, but prayer changes you. I find this to be so true in my life. God’s dealings with me, usually starts from the place of worship and prayer. The Spirit of God allows me to see the beauty of His holiness and a desire rises up within me to be like Him.
That is where deep repentance and resolve takes place, My heart becomes tender and is able to receive the correction of the Lord. As I often say to people, it is difficult to spend time with the Lord in the word and prayer and immediately afterwards beat up your wife or abuse your husband. If that happens, it means there was no connection with God at all, during that time of prayer. Prayer is suppose to transform our lives and empower us to walk in the Spirit.
I also love the fact that God’s tangible presence is released during times of prayer. The presence of God takes you into the glory realm where sicknesses vanish and pains disappear. I have experienced comfort, healing, deliverance, joy and wholeness several times as the weight of God’s glory manifested. I just love being in the presence of God because it is an atmosphere of all possibilities.

Other reasons why I love to pray

2. Prayer gives me an opportunity to co-labour with God. It is exciting and humbling to know that we have this awesome privilege of working alongside with God for the advancement of His Kingdom here on earth. 2 Cor. 6:1 ‘We then as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.’
God is dynamically working on the earth, the scope of His work is both local and global. He is constantly on the move all over the world touching lives, saving souls, healing, rescuing, building, protecting, changing and transforming cities & Nations and he accomplishes these things in conjunction with human vessels.

There are activities that heaven is undertaking on the earth at various seasons that requires a praying labourer to pray them through. God has bound Himself to the principle of working on earth only through answered prayer. Psalm 115:16 ‘The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord’s, But the Earth He has given to the children of men.’ Though God initiates these activities, He still requires some – one to petition heaven for their manifestation on earth. Many prophetic utterances have been given concerning God’s intentions either in the life of an individual, a group or Nation, but these words are still hanging in the atmosphere because someone has not contended for their manifestation in the place of prayer.

One morning as I was in prayer over the United Kingdom, the Lord began to speak to me of His intention to revamp the educational System of the country. He mentioned the name of the person He was going to raise up to spearhead this change. The spirit of supplication came upon me that morning with strong groaning and tears.
Why would God share this with me? Because He needed some-one to partner with
for the fulfilment of His plan.

On another occasion while in prayer, I saw a vision of a young Caucasian lady who had been kidnapped with her eyes blind folded and her mouth sealed. I immediately knew that the Lord wanted me to intercede for her rescue, though I did not know which part of the world she was or what her name was, I still prayed and I believe that the woman would have been rescued.

3. The assurance that God answers prayers – One of the things that give me confidence in approaching God in prayer is His ability to hear and answers prayers. Psalm 65:2 ‘O you who hear prayer; to you all flesh will come.’ He has not called us to seek Him in vain, He said in Matt 7:7 that we should ‘ask and it would be given, seek and you will find, knock and the door shall be opened. ‘
He has given us an invitation to present our petitions to Him, with the promise that they will be granted. The scripture is also full of instances where God answered the prayers of His people.

  • Moses – Ex 15:23-25 When the children of Israel came to the waters of Marah, they could not drink it because the water was bitter. Moses cried out to the Lord and God answered him by showing him a tree that made the waters sweet.
  • Manoah – Judges 13:8&9
  • Hannah – 1 Sam 1:27
  • Samuel – 1 Sam 7: 9-10
  • Elijah – 1 Kgs 18:37 & 38
  • Elisha – 2 Kings 6:8
  • Jehoahaz – 2 kings 13:4
  • Ezra – Ezra 8:23
  • Zechariah – Luke 1:18

Prayer moves the hand of God and turns hopeless situations around. It brings order into chaotic situation and changes the course of events in whole families. Prayer opens closed doors, and brings about the restoration of shattered lives. I have witnessed the power of prayer and a demonstration of the power of God in my life several times and it’s too late for anyone to convince me otherwise. One of such supernatural intervention occurred middle of last year when I got a phone call from my son’s school that he fell down and hit his head on concrete, that his nose was bleeding profusely and they were about to call an ambulance to take him into hospital. Initially, panic was going to set in, but as I opened my mouth to pray, I felt the power of God come upon me and I declared with a loud voice, ‘I command the bleeding to stop in the Name of Jesus.’ By the time I got to the school the bleeding had stopped to the surprise of the teachers. When we took him to the hospital and all checks and scans were carried out, he was perfectly alright.

4. Prayer intercepts the plans & devices of the enemy – The enemy of our soul is a strategist who plans and schemes all manner evil against the people of God. His plan is to steal, kill and destroy. His intention is to distract you and make you shift your focus from God through discouragement, doubt, fear, vain imagination and strongholds in the mind. 2 Cor 10:3But as the Lord reveals his plans to watching believers; they are thwarted through anointed prayers.

In 2 Kings 6:8-12, the secrets of the enemy king of Syria was released into the hand of Elisha the prophet who warned the king of Israel of his plans and was able to save the Nation from impending danger. Serious demonic calamities have been averted because of strong intense confrontational prayers against the powers of darkness. It is such an honour that God has entrusted us with such power to trample over the works of the enemy and forestall his activities. Psalm 149: 7-9 declares that the saints of God have the honour of binding demonic kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron; and execute upon them the written judgement. I love the fact that we as saints of God can resist the devil and he will flee from us.
Many years ago, I had a revelation or a night vision while I was sleeping, I saw three beings dressed like Egyptian mummies approaching the block of flats where we resided through the car park. They were coming as if they were on a mission. I woke up suddenly and began to pray, as I prayed the Spirit of the Lord began to reveal the identity of the three beings as sickness, calamity and death. As I continued praying I saw them through my mind’s eye retreating until they left. They could not accomplish their mission that night because of the fervent prayer of a believer.

In summary, I realise that as interesting and rewarding as prayer is, it is still a struggle for most believers. It has become a rigorous religious ritual that lacks passion and life. In the bid to ensure that we keep up with our daily prayer routine, we have replaced the true essence of authentic prayer with lifeless repetitive confessions and chanting.

We need to return to the very heart of prayer and that is a deep relationship with God that will make our prayer lives, lively, passionate, exciting and adventurous. We need to constantly ask the Holy Spirit to fan the flame of love for the Lord in our hearts, that there may be a yearning for His presence within us always. You may be reading this article thinking ‘I don’t love to pray, I have to pray. My prayer is that your ‘have to’ will become a ‘love to’ as you focus on the Lord in worship, adoration and love and from this place He will lead you into other dimensions of prayer with great results. May the Lord pour upon us afresh the Spirit of prayer and supplication. Amen