Prayer of Consecration, Praise and Thanksgiving

MEMORY TRACK:

By God’s grace, in the last lesson, we learnt that we can lay down our burdens before the Lord through the prayer of casting our cares and that these cares or petition could be prayed individually, or as a prayer of agreement by two or three saints – which activates a kind of upgrade or ramping up of the power brought to bear upon the issues being prayed about. Also, we saw that burdens can be prayed to God through united or corporate prayer offered collectively as a church, which makes much more power available in such burdens to God.

PRAYER OF CONSECRATION/COMMITMENT TO THE WILL OF GOD (Luke 22:42)

This refers to the prayers for the deliberate laying down of one’s will. It is a prayer of consecration and dedication of our lives for God’s use — to go anywhere and do anything. Here, we commit to God to subject our will to His. This prayer is not prayed by upstarts in the faith, seeing that babes lack the understanding or the ability to let go of their human will. The revelation of the futility of holding on to the will of man has to begin to dawn on the soul or, at least, an appreciation of the superiority of the will of God, for one to begin to pray in this manner.

Elements of the Prayer of Consecration:

1. It is a prayer pledging to relinquish one’s will for the Will of the Lord (Matt 26:39, 42).
2. It is also a prayer to seek God’s help in denying our will to align with His Will for our lives.
3. It cannot be prayed effectively when the eyes of one’s understanding are not enlightened. Examples of this kind of prayer is prayer concerning life’s choices, e.g., where to live, who to marry, or obeying the call to ministry. We can observe from these three types of prayers that there is an increasing level of faith required as we go down the list. While persistence (in prayer) is not a key element to these kinds of prayer. Faith is a basic requirement in these (and every other kind of) prayers.

PRAYER OF PRAISE AND WORSHIP (MINISTERING UNTO THE LORD) (Lk 24:52-53)

The true essence of prayer is fellowship and relationship. Virtually all the prayers we have looked at, till now, have been prayers of receiving from God, but that is not the be-all and end-all of our walk of faith. In the prayer of praise and worship, we focus on the person of our God and pour out words of adoration unto Him. We magnify Him in our hearts and with our mouths we praise His majesty, beauty, greatness, and awesomeness (1Chr 29:10-19). Coming to God for who He is and not only for what He can give to us is a sure way to deepen fellowship and foster a better relationship with Him. In truth, the strength of our relationship with God gives credence to this and all other prayers we pray (Jn 11:41).

Elements of the Prayer of Praise and Worship

1. The Lord inhabits the praise of His people. Praising God brings Him on the scene (Ps 22:3)
2. The prayer of praise touches the Heart of God so greatly, particularly in times of contradiction and trial.
3. The prayer of praise helps to fulfil the commandment to praise God (Ps 150:6)
4. Sometimes, the prayer of praise IS the master key (2Chr 20:21-22; Acts 16:25-26)

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING (Ps Phil 4:6; Col 4:2)

The prayer of thanksgiving can be viewed as the seal of all prayers. It is the ideal way to end (and sometimes begin) all prayers, as no time of prayer session is complete without thanksgiving. Giving thanks to God affirms our belief in both the attention of God to and His acknowledgement of our prayers. Every saint should develop a strong attitude of thanksgiving as it is one sure way to stay in faith and thus receive answers to our prayers.

A saint can actually increase his or her capacity to receive from God by cultivating a lifestyle of thanksgiving. It is also good to know that there is ALWAYS a reason to be thankful in EVERY situation (1Thess 5:18). Our eyes can be helped to attain this degree of sight.

Elements of the Prayer of Thanksgiving

1. The prayer of thanksgiving is best prayed out of a thankful heart.
2. Thanksgiving should not be a mere afterthought to round off a prayer session but should be a key element in all times of prayer (1Thess 1:2).
3. Thanksgiving glorifies God (Lk 17:12-19).
4. The prayer of thanksgiving presents to us a unique opportunity to keep up with the directive to pray without ceasing.
5. Thanksgiving is one way to keep the grace of God flowing in our lives. As one increases in the life of the Spirit, thanksgiving also increases.
6. When all petitions have been addressed, when there remaineth no reason for intercession, the saints will still be continuously thankful for the blessings of the Lord that brought us to the end.

Conclusion

Let us pray!