Prayer is the only thing that will keep us on the right side of God’s judgment. As Lou Engle implied above, the Lord is establishing a culture of prayer in these days, comprised of people who want nothing but His heart. I want to share with you what God has been revealing to me about the different levels of prayer, as I recently moved from one to the next, and I feel a tangible difference in every aspect of my life. I believe that having this understanding will help us return to God during these last days, becoming a part of the culture of prayer that He’s establishing in our midst.

The three stages of prayer that He’s shown me are:

1. When prayer is all about us
2. When prayer includes who we care about
3. When prayer focuses on about people God cares about

Stage 1: When Prayer is All About Us

When we first come to Christ the truth is that it is all about us. Its very important that we establish a solid foundation of God’s love for us, and people who don’t establish this understanding have a difficult time navigating what life throws their way, and many result in backsliding, or settling in a lukewarm state. Many of the prayers that we pray during this stage are about us as well. We’re either asking the Lord to forgive us of our sins, or asking Him for various things we think we need, or that we have a desire for – whether material, or non-material (spouse, employment, more of God’s heart, wisdom, etc…)

I meet many believers who are in this stage, and it impacts every aspect of their life. While they may be in church regularly, they are still focused on themselves as well. The words coming out of their mouth during prayer are about them. But more importantly, as Jesus shows us that our words are just the overflow of what’s in our heart, which means that their hearts are self-centered as well during this stage. I’m not implying that everyone in this stage is going to hell or anything like that. But these at least were the early stages of my walk, and I remember spending about 4 years in this stage. I thank the Lord for the grace He gave me until I began to realize that it wasn’t just about me, despite the fact that He loved me so much.

Stage 2: When Prayer Includes People We Care About

As I began to get more into God’s Word, and the Lord began delivering me from various addictions and nasty habits I had. So while most of my prayer time was the Holy Spirit convicting me of my sin, and I was constantly on my knees saying I’m sorry, there came a time when I started to not be consumed with conviction and guilt, but instead started to experience a different type of fellowship with God, one where I didn’t feel like He was about to kill me right where I stood. I started to want the same type of fellowship for the people that I loved. You know, your family and close friends.

I began to think that just because God loved me, He loved them too (which I later learned is true). I also began to think that because God set me apart for Himself, that He set everyone I loved apart for Himself as well (which I later learned wasn’t true). At the same time, I continued to ask God to protect my mom, my dad, and my brothers. I also began to pray for my wife, despite the fact that I had no idea who she was at that point – I just really felt that praying for whoever she was could only help. There was still a hint of self-centeredness inside of me, as no one had ever explained the importance of denying myself. So I was in this confusing stage where God didn’t leave me, but I thought that I was right in the middle of His will, despite the fact that I never denied myself, and I never even thought to ask Him what was on His heart on a daily basis.

Stage 3: When Prayer Focuses on What God Cares About

Jesus, as our example, was settled in his heart and mind that he wanted to do the will of God, instead of His own will. Of course, this required Him to seek out God’s will on all things through the conversations that they had. If we acknowledge that everything Jesus did and said came from the Father, we’re also acknowledging that prayer was the number one way that He spent His time. This idea alone is one worth meditating on, and asking the Lord for the same anointing that Jesus had to walk this out. Since this is the way that our example carried our prayer, this must become our aim: Not to carry out our own will, but to get to the point where all we want is what God wants. Here’s three scriptures for reference:

“Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” – John 5:19

“Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” – Matthew 6:10

“He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” – Luke 22:41-42

Its only when we get to this point when the Lord starts to give us the desires of our heart, like mentioned in Psalm 37:4. Many Christians take this verse out of context by saying that God will give us the desires of our heart once we become a Christian, and just by not murdering anyone or doing drugs, and just being an average citizen. If we read the entire verse of Psalm 37:4, as opposed to just the part about God will give us the desires of our heart, there’s a pre-requisite there. It says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” This is a much different story, as this implies that we have to delight ourselves in him, which is another way of saying that we have to love him so much that we will only do what He does, and only say what He says.