STEPS TO FRUITFUL PRAYER
By Helen B. Marshall
1. CONNECT WITH GOD
A. Worship Him: John 4:23-24: “23But the hour is coming and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father IS SEEKING such to worship Him. 24God is Spirit, and those who worship Him MUST worship Him in spirit and truth.”
a. Love Him: Deuteronomy 6:5: “You shall love the LORD your God with ALL your heart, with ALL your soul and with ALL your strength.”
b. Honor Him: John 5:22-23: For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, 23that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.” He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”
c. Esteem Him: Psalm 91:14: “Because he has set his love upon Me, (made Me the source of his pleasure), therefore I will deliver him, I will set him on high because He has known My name.”
d. Be captivated by Him: SOS 1:7: “Tell me, O you whom I love….”
e. Hunger and thirst for Him: Psalm 42:1-1-2: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. 2My souls thirsts for God, for the living God…
B. Fellowship With Him
a. Be with Him: SOS 2:16: “My Beloved is mine, and I am His.”
i. Unreservedly: Jeremiah 29:13-14a: “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart, 14I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity.”
ii. Wholly: Matthew 22:37: “Jesus said to him, “You shall love the LORD with ALL your heart, with ALL your soul, and wit ALL your mind.”
iii. Completely transparent with Him: Genesis 2:25: “And they were both naked…and were not ashamed.” Psalms 139:3b …You…are acquainted with all my ways.”
C. Follow Him
a. Drawn away: SOS 1:4a: “Draw me away!” SOS 2:13b… “Rise up, my love, my fair one and come away!”
b. Follow Him into His chambers – “John 14:2: In My Father’s house are many dwelling places, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And, if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also”. SOS 1:4b: “The King has brought me into His chambers.”
2. LISTEN FOR AND TO HIS VOICE
A. Listen to Me and Come to Me: Isaiah 55:3: Incline your ear and come to Me. Hear and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you - the sure mercies of David.
B. Show Me Your Ways…Psalm 25:4-5: “4Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. 5Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation.”
C. Ask for the Eternal Paths…Jeremiah 6:16 AMP: “Thus says the LORD: Stand by the roads and look and ask for the eternal paths, where the good old way is, then walk in it and you will find rest for your souls.”
D. Eye Has Not Seen and Ear Has Not Heard…: 1 Corinthians 2:9-12 “But as it is written, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
E. Hear What the Spirit is Saying…Mark 4:9: And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
3. GIVE VOICE TO WHAT HIS STILL SMALL VOICE IMPRESSES UPON YOUR SPIRIT, YOUR INNER-MOST MAN
A. Isaiah 40:3-5: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; 5The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
B. John 7:38: “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
1. CONNECT WITH GOD
A. Worship Him: John 4:23-24: “23But the hour is coming and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father IS SEEKING such to worship Him. 24God is Spirit, and those who worship Him MUST worship Him in spirit and truth.”
a. Love Him: Deuteronomy 6:5: “You shall love the LORD your God with ALL your heart, with ALL your soul and with ALL your strength.”
b. Honor Him: John 5:22-23: For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, 23that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.” He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”
c. Esteem Him: Psalm 91:14: “Because he has set his love upon Me, (made Me the source of his pleasure), therefore I will deliver him, I will set him on high because He has known My name.”
d. Be captivated by Him: SOS 1:7: “Tell me, O you whom I love….”
e. Hunger and thirst for Him: Psalm 42:1-1-2: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. 2My souls thirsts for God, for the living God…
B. Fellowship With Him
a. Be with Him: SOS 2:16: “My Beloved is mine, and I am His.”
i. Unreservedly: Jeremiah 29:13-14a: “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart, 14I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity.”
ii. Wholly: Matthew 22:37: “Jesus said to him, “You shall love the LORD with ALL your heart, with ALL your soul, and wit ALL your mind.”
iii. Completely transparent with Him: Genesis 2:25: “And they were both naked…and were not ashamed.” Psalms 139:3b …You…are acquainted with all my ways.”
C. Follow Him
a. Drawn away: SOS 1:4a: “Draw me away!” SOS 2:13b… “Rise up, my love, my fair one and come away!”
b. Follow Him into His chambers – “John 14:2: In My Father’s house are many dwelling places, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And, if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also”. SOS 1:4b: “The King has brought me into His chambers.”
2. LISTEN FOR AND TO HIS VOICE
A. Listen to Me and Come to Me: Isaiah 55:3: Incline your ear and come to Me. Hear and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you - the sure mercies of David.
B. Show Me Your Ways…Psalm 25:4-5: “4Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. 5Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation.”
C. Ask for the Eternal Paths…Jeremiah 6:16 AMP: “Thus says the LORD: Stand by the roads and look and ask for the eternal paths, where the good old way is, then walk in it and you will find rest for your souls.”
D. Eye Has Not Seen and Ear Has Not Heard…: 1 Corinthians 2:9-12 “But as it is written, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
E. Hear What the Spirit is Saying…Mark 4:9: And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
3. GIVE VOICE TO WHAT HIS STILL SMALL VOICE IMPRESSES UPON YOUR SPIRIT, YOUR INNER-MOST MAN
A. Isaiah 40:3-5: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; 5The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
B. John 7:38: “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”