Mike Bickle emphasizes the significance of developing a strong prayer life, sharing his personal journey from finding prayer boring to discovering its transformative power. He outlines various types of prayer, including devotional, intercessory, and prayer covering, and stresses the importance of scheduling prayer times and maintaining a prayer list. Bickle encourages believers to approach prayer with a correct view of God, seeing Him as a loving Father rather than an angry taskmaster, which fosters intimacy and connection. He highlights that consistent prayer not only changes individuals but also impacts the spiritual atmosphere of communities. Ultimately, Bickle assures that prayer can become enjoyable and fulfilling, leading to deeper encounters with God.

bought a few books on prayer and thought okay I'm gonna start reading about prayer I don't know anything about it and started praying every day scheduled some time they told me to schedule time and they told me to make a prayer list okay I did it and my prayer was so boring at first for me I just thought I was going to be a hopeless failure that I would never ever enjoy God in prayer and I was so surprised that over a little bit of time it was a couple years not that it would take you a couple of years I'm not saying that to you because I had so many wrong ideas about God as I approached the prayer I was first thinking God was mad at me all the time I was failing all the time and when you approach prayer with that idea it is going to be pretty rough it's gonna be pretty boring actually because you're not going to feel the presence of the Lord in that okay let's look at this just some real simple concepts what is prayer obviously it's talking to God it's talking to God and God communing back with us prayer is a great privilege it's a fierce struggle not just a privilege it is a struggle but it's also a miracle the fact that God lives inside of us he's helping us to talk to him that's a miracle the fact that my dark and broken heart could actually become alive is a miracle so it's a privilege it is a struggle it is a miracle hey when I think of my prayer life I think of different expressions of my prayer life number one there's devotional prayer that's the prayer when I love you God and God you love me I want to give my life to you God you gave yourself for me devotional prayer it's the love connect then second type of prayer intercessory prayer that's where you're praying for other people for revival for justice to break through God break in a revival and touch my campus that's called intercession that's different than devotional prayer then there's prayer covering where you're praying for a friend in ministry or on a ministry trip you're praying that God would protect them and direct them and provide for them you're praying specifically for an individual that's on a divine assignment you're praying for a prayer covering for their life so when the enemy attacks them there's a shield or a covering around them that's a little bit different than praying for revival or praying for justice then there's praying for the sick when you pray for a person who's sick in their body that's actually part of your prayer life I've had people they they say I never pray they pray for the sick all the time I go you pray a lot you pray for the sick you don't do devotional prayer maybe not much intercessory prayer but you do do prayer you pray for the sick not that this is the entire list of prayer but I want to give you an idea that there's several different expressions of prayer that are available that are described in the Bible paragraph C this is obvious but I want to say it anyway a consistent prayer life is essential when they used to tell me that when I was 18 19 20 that pained my heart like a knife they said prayers essential and it is if you want to enter into the fullness of everything God has for you now of course 20 years old well at 50 years old too I wanted everything God had for me and they said you'll never get it without prayer I went oh I love God I want everything but I don't I want it without praying is there any way to have the full blessing skipping the prayer part and I thought about it and I tried to figure it out I want to say to you there is no possible way you will enter into the fullness of what God's promised you without you developing a prayer life now at first that's bad news that's like I have to endure boring God oh I will it's worth it to get the blessing now nobody quite says it that that's a little bit crass but that's kind of what I thought pretty clear it was dreadful to think I had to do this and there was no other way but I got good news for you prayer will become enjoyable prayer will there will always be a dimension of struggle that happens here and there but I want to assure you that even for you it can be enjoyable and it could be successful so I want to give you a few tools in this session that will kind of help you on your way paragraph D it's essential to release the full blessing but it's also essential to release change in the church and in society at large and in the nation did you know that when you pray this is the most remarkable thing I'm talking about praying for revival for justice intercessory prayer prayer for things out there I don't mean devotional prayer right now I'm talking about prayer for God to break in and send revival did you know that when you pray it changes the spiritual atmosphere of the city or the nation that you're praying for what does that mean changes the spiritual atmosphere did you know above this city in every city of the earth there is a spiritual atmosphere not just a natural atmosphere of the weather behind the natural there's a spiritual atmosphere over every city and every nation there is a network of demonic powers that are invisible but they are real and they are over every city of the earth and there are angelic there is angelic activity angels are coming and going from heaven to the earth and they're going through that demonic resistance and that did not that demonic warfare so when we pray angels are actually leaving the presence of God they're coming through the atmosphere we don't see with our natural eye demons are resisting them fighting them and when we pray more angels press through more now you can study more about that in Daniel chapter 10 that's the great chapter on spiritual warfare where Daniel the prophet prayed he's 21 days praying and fasting the angel shows up after 21 days and says the most remarkable thing this is Daniel did you know that I heard your words on the day you started 21 days ago and Daniel's thinking well it sure took you a long time to get here I mean Daniel's a little bit concerned why did it take you 21 days the angel says demons stood against me the Prince of Persia which meant the demonic Prince in the spirit realm the Prince over this nation in the demonic realm fought me and you kept praying so more angels came to help me isn't that amazing that weak people on the earth in the name of Jesus can pray and spirit the spiritual atmosphere of a campus can change of a city could change you can change the spiritual atmosphere on your campus you really can you get two or three believers you get 10 or 15 believers you don't need thousands you get 10 or 15 of you together praying regularly you could change the spiritual atmosphere on your campus what does that mean that means the same sermon that would have reached 10 people now will reach a hundred the same weak words that will move ten will now move a hundred because there's an anointing there's a power there's a supernatural dimension in the invisible realm that's been released the song that moved a hundred people now will move a thousand people in the same song it's not that the song is different the atmosphere the invisible spiritual atmosphere is charged with the presence of God has angels activity and demons are held back you know we pray for this conference I mean in some ways throughout the whole year but we really focus the last 30 days there are angels all over this conference this room demons that would have been here have been held back by the prayers of the Saints over the last 30 days even the last year many of you are being touched ideas are coming to your mind for the first time with clarity because the demons have been driven back that's because weak little intercessors little guys and gals I'm talking about us praying here in Kansas City a lot of you pray with us out there Lord Jesus please help and break through the night it'd have to be some great prayer simple prayers change the spiritual atmosphere and so many of you are getting touched in a way you would not have been touched if we would not have been the prayer or you would not have joined with us to pray for this conference so I know many of you will be back next year and I want to ask you to do this we start really ramping up about December 1st we go on a seven-day fast the first week of December and we the whole staff I mean the whole 2,000 of us and plus we got a couple thousand extra that are part of our spiritual family there that are not full-time we all engage in this for seven days praying that God would visit you with dreams and visions when you come the demons would be held back the angels would be released and if you plan to be a part of this next year join us the whole month of December we fast for a week the first week and then we press in the rest of the month join us and even more will happen here next year II prayer was never meant to be just duty-based what I mean by that is oh it's my duty to pray I have to pray ah okay it was never meant to be just results oriented like what I just described was results oriented we pray more angels move more results are good but prayer is more than just results oriented prayer was also meant to be a place of encounter where the human heart in our weakness encounters the power of God because when we pray we position ourself for the love of God to touch our spirit now there's a a debate I've heard for many years and it's it's really a wasted debate it's not even worth arguing but I've heard people for many for 20 years I've had this little argument going with different people they say I don't want to pray so much I want to love people instead of spending so much time in prayer I'm gonna go do as though if you end up praying you love people less and some people say I'm into love and other people says well I'm into the prayer room the prayer room let me tell you you will not love people any better than laboring in prayer for the demons to be driven off their life and angels to touch them the power of God to touch them it is an act of love so I tell people you will love far better if you take time to develop a prayer life so they said well if I take time to build my prayer life there's less time that I have to love the people I said no you can still love the people X amount of hours in the week and pray X amount of hours in the week steal that time from your recreation and entertainment don't steal it from loving people there's plenty of time for most people to pray and to love we don't have to choose between the two paragraph G prayer the reason God calls prayer the prayer that leads to intimacy I mean the devotional prayer the prayer that says I love you you love me I want to obey you help me love you help me obey you that's the devotional type of prayer I was talking about when we get that kind of prayer into our lifestyle it actually provides a protection in our spirit from burnout I've known people who have done ministry for many years and after about five or ten years they get so bruised and burnt out from ministry that they just quit altogether because they're serving people and they're ministering to people and they're getting burned out in their spirit they're getting burned out in their spirit because they don't have any intimacy because intimacy is God gives us to protect our spirit while in the midst of all the labor of the kingdom paragraph H why does God want us to pray the reason God calls us to prayer because I remember years ago again 18 years old I go God why do you want me to pray because really what I'm doing is I'm telling you what you tell me to tell you it dawned on me one day I was in the prayer room and I says God I have a lot more I could offer you here I am stuck in this room by myself telling you what you tell me to tell you you already know it I already know it let's make a handshake and agree we both know it and just let me go do it the answer was no I want you to sit in the room tell me what I tell you to tell me I thought how ineffective way to you such a gifted young man like me but what I didn't know what's happening is that every time we talk to God whether we feel like it or not when we stop we focus our mind on the throne of God we're talking to the father on the throne and I always picture Revelation chapter 4 you can do that on your own it describes the throne of God there's the father there's the emerald rainbow the sign of mercy around his throne there's the seven lamps of fire there's the 24 elders circle around the throne there's four living creatures which are high-ranking angels there's a river of fire coming out anyway you can study Revelation 4 and again on our website I have quite a few teachings on that and Stephen Venable has some on that and some of the others Matt Candler but I I take I posture my mind and I focus on the throne of God I'm not just speaking into the air I'm actually talking to a person on the throne and I picture it because the Bible gave us that information but did you know that when you pause and you've set your mind on that person on that throne your spirit actually opens and you receive more I didn't know that in the early days I thought that prayer was mostly just a information communication I was telling God information he already knew but what's happening is I'm sitting there and it's like opening my spirit because whatever you focus your mind on you open your spirit to and that's what I did not understand in the early days it's like guys when you do that you're exposing your spirit to the direct presence of God and it's working in you though you can't measure it and you can't always feel it it's working in your spirit all the time and it's developing a heart connect with God and that's what he wants the Lord is saying I don't need the information I want the heart connect because I want to use you but I don't want to burn you out I want to use you because I like you I'm not looking for a workforce I'm looking for sons and daughters who are close to me or Jesus would say a bride who's partnering with me I'm not looking for a slave workforce if God wants a workforce and that's it he has angels they are servants they are the workforce he wants heart connect with human beings the bride before the Son of God the bride of Christ who is the bride of Christ and we are sons and daughters before the Father it's interesting that God requires that we ask him for everything look at this prayer Philippians 4 6 in everything by prayer let your requests be made known in everything we make requests now that used to throw me off I go why do you want me to say it he wants us to say you don't to say it loud you can whisper it but he wants you to actually make the request look at the next verse James 4 2 you don't have because you don't ask now here's what we do often we we think of our need we think on our need with frustration because the needs not being met but we don't actually take time to ask so we're sitting there and we're thinking I need this I need this and the going go ahead ask me well I'm just too busy go ahead just say it to me one day goes by one week one month many believers never ask the Lord says I'm waiting I really would give it to you but not till you ask me because when you ask me it causes you to focus your mind on me it opens your spirit and I touch your spirit and I won't make you do that I will only do that if you volunteer because you want to I won't force you but when you actually ask you focus your mind your spirit opens I touch your heart I actually change you and connect you to me in the process of blessing you and when you ask not just think about it you ask it then God answers it there's a clear connect in your mind that there was a cause-effect that you really asked he really answered you and the cause-effect meaning because I asked he answered because I gave the money he gave money back because I prayed for the sick they got healed there's a cause-effect relationship and it excites your heart because it connects with you the invisible God actually listens to you but what a lot of people do is they have need they want to see revival in their campus they want to see healing happen they want to see their hearts changed they want to see finances provided they want spiritual direction there's many different requests but they never ask they just they tell their friends oh I need direction Lord just talk to me don't talk about me talk to me so they don't have any direction I don't have any money I don't have any anointing my hearts in bondage oh I'm in a pain hey Lord says talk to me don't just tell them talk to me and believers go months and years and they won't he says because when you focus your mind your spirit opens reconnect and then when you say it and I answer you you go Wow Wow he heard me there's a connect and I'm stunning your heart I'm exciting your heart and you know what the Lord would say I am so committed to you connecting the dots that I'm listening to you I'm so committed to touching your spirit without forcing you to talk to me I'm gonna starve you out I'm gonna just wait until you ask me and a lot of people they will go years and years and won't ask and God says well I'll starve you out I won't answer you until the need becomes so burdensome to you you break down and start talking to me then I start changing you and start showing my love to you look at paragraph I blessings there are many blessings that God has chosen to withhold till we ask him because he's so jealous for relationship he's saying I really will give it to you but only when you look my way and make the connect so a lot of folks again the need becomes so painful they finally decide to ask but they only ask when they're in crisis God will actually answer them but he would have answered them long before the crisis if they would have simply talked to him look at this verse here in Isaiah 30 it's one of my favorite prayer verses I encourage you to really learn this one it says the Lord will wait that he may be gracious to you he will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry when he hears it he will answer you so the Lord is waiting to be gracious to you he says I want to be gracious I want to be very gracious which means I want to reveal my power when I hear the sound of your cry then I will do it if I don't hear the sound of your cry I will wait and I will wait and I will wait and when the pain gets too big of not getting the answer and you finally stand up and say God and you set your mind upon me you open your spirit to me and you actually make the request so that when I answer you you go wow it really worked and I fascinate your heart in the process he goes then I will give you many many answers God's after relationship he's not trying to see if you will endure prayer he wants you to know that it's an exciting relationship but on the first part at the beginning years our mind has so many wrong ideas and we have so much defilement in our life typically that we don't feel his presence at the first tell our ideas get cleared up we have the wrong right views of God and after a little bit of time we begin to feel his presence and then the excitement of the relationship begins to happen again those first couple years and it's not like it's gonna take I'm not telling every one of you it's gonna take you two or three years to get a breakthrough it took me a couple years but again I didn't have right ideas in my mind when I was approaching prayer my ideas of God as he was always mad at me things are bad he was boring he was angry and it's hard to approach prayer with those wrong ideas because you're gonna see in a moment one of the first things we have to do is get right ideas of God if we're gonna approach prayer in the right way page 63 some practical issues practical issues in developing a consistent prayer life I'm gonna give you three things that are essential to strengthen your prayer life three things number one make a schedule for regular prayer times meaning put time on your calendar daily that you will commit to pray maybe one day is 15 minutes maybe one day's 30 maybe one day's an hour some days are longer than others you put it on your calendar now I know that sounds strange to some people put it on your schedule but I'll get back to this it is essential to do this number two make a prayer list now I have several prayer lists I have them on the website not that you want my prayer list but you might start with my prayer list and then because you can get it electronically you can download it change it around anyway you want add verses subtract verses add new ideas throw away ideas let use mine if you don't have one to jumpstart to kind of begin your own prayer list and the third thing is to have a right view of God now all three of these unless they're in place I believe the chances of you having a good prayer life without these three things are very minimal not saying it's impossible I'm saying it's probably 99% chance you won't have a good prayer life in 10 years if you don't do these three things meaning when you look back 10 years from today in 2020 if you don't do these 10 three things 99% chance when you look back the last 10 years you know in 2010 2020 you won't have a prayer life if you don't do these three simple things I know that some of you are going like huh it's a pretty bold statement well what about the Spirit leading me well we'll get to that in a second a schedule establishes when you pray now you could pray outside your schedule I have scheduled prayer I have had scheduled prayer for 35 years I've had prayer on my schedule for 35 plus years I mean I don't forgot it's when I'm 18 when I started I'm 55 now whatever the math is it tells you when you're gonna pray I pray many times outside of my schedule but my goal is to pray at least 80% of the time I schedule it tells you when to pray the prayer list tells you what to pray and the right view of God makes you want to pray it causes you to desire to pray paragraph B so when I was in college again 18 years old a leader told me if you'll schedule prayer and you'll get a prayer list you'll pray a lot more now I didn't I hated prayer so I didn't have some idea that I knew anything about prayer so I go hey whatever you tell me I'm so desperate I was reading books on prayer but they only made me feel miserable because I would read the books on prayer that said if you don't pray you know forget it you know that's kind of what the message of the book was and I would read these books on prayer and I would suffer I'd go oh I'm a miserable I will be terrible forever because I hate prayer and these books tell me to pray so I would schedule my prayer time because my leader told me to I didn't know if it was right or wrong and I remember 18 years old in college it was nine o'clock at night that's when I scheduled it the fateful hour nine o'clock I lived in an apartment University of Missouri four Christian guys we all live together and they kind of laughed at me because I put the schedule because they didn't have a prayer life either but I was gonna try to get one so at nine o'clock I would go into the room the fateful hour where I would march into the room to the hour of death it really was I would lock the door it would be 845 15 minutes till nine o'clock the fateful hour I would start sweating how horrible it was going to be starting at 15 minutes they would be laughing at me I go 15 more minutes it begins some of you go man that's awful melodramatic I really mean it I hated it I would go in there lock the door God thank you for arms and legs and all the children in the world that don't have food that you gave me food help me score touchdowns on the football team I played on the college football team help me get the girl do good on my classes well I look at my clock 58 minutes to go as a one-hour commitment I go oh my god 58 dreaded minutes I do it again thank you for arms and legs thank you for all the food because all the kids don't have food in the world help me score touchdowns give me the girl a girlfriend well I never scored touchdowns didn't do very good school but I got the girl that's cool I got the girl anyway so in this prayer time I started complaining I started saying God this is miserable I didn't really realize I was praying and I was actually praying when I got off the arms and legs thing I got you really got into praying I go this is miserable why do you even run your kingdom this way I mean if I was you I would throw this whole thing out the window and just you know I go help me this doesn't make any sense help me pray and it struck me my leader said make a prayer list I said what I put on it he goes well whatever you want I didn't even know what he's talking about so I wrote down help me pray that was my like first prayer request help me pray cool I said I don't understand you oh help me understand you I had two things on my prayer list now and so the next day I would go in and I would start off with help me pray I don't understand you help me understand you then I found Bible verses that went with those painful experiences and after a while I had a whole page and then I had two pages I would get these ideas just praying and when it felt painful or good either one either extreme either I had pain when I prayed or it felt kind of good like whoo I kind of felt the Lord's presence I think I would write it down and eventually I had like ten pages it took me an hour to go through it and I didn't have I didn't have to do the arms and legs and touchdown thing it was remarkable when I finally got a prayer list I know I had something to say it's amazing how much easier prayer is when you have something to say now it's 35 years later plus I still have a prayer list I've had a prayer list for all these years 35 plus years and I have a scheduled prayer I don't keep my scheduled prayer 100% of the time but I'm guessing never done the math but I'm guessing I've kept it 80% of the time all these years like I can tell you with probably 80% accuracy minus some great emergency when I will be praying in February and June and next September it's already on my schedule now if my life shifts that I will read make my schedule I make my I shift my schedule whenever I need to maybe once or twice a year or every couple years I'll shift it but I always schedule my prayer I schedule my family time I schedule leadership time I schedule ministry time and then I find out where my free time is after I get my priorities on my schedule and I have even today many years later I'll go into the prayer room because you know everybody at IHOP we have 24 hours a week we are committed to the prayer room we have to be that's part of our commitment to join the staff we do 12 two-hour prayer meetings everybody does at IHOP so I have 24 hours I am committed that's not the length the the limitation of my prayer life but that's what I'm committed to but I'll sit in the prayer room down in the prayer room where I have I'm kind of cheating I got an office up on the stage I've got this little private office with a two-way with a one-way mirror you can't see me but I can see you so I can see all the worship teams I can have my coffee you don't get to have coffee the program I got coffee up there it's cheating I get to wave at all the worship leaders I get to wave at you but you don't get to wave at me but anyway I'm in the prayer room either down on the floor or up in my prayer stations what I call it and I'll be up there and I'll be okay two hours hmm and I'm tired I'm brain dead I mean I've been praying for 40 years now I can't think of one thing to pray okay God I'm supposed to be the leader of the house of prayer I'm supposed to understand prayer you know what I can't think anything huh I love you God thank you for arms and legs help me no no no sentence I go there and you know what I do I mean sometimes it's really true I am just I'm blank I'm tired I'm blank I feel bored I pull out my prayer list and I just go down it and some of the prayers I spend more time on others I go faster on you know I some I take five minutes on one prayer some I skip on my prayer list I feel freedom to skip anything I want on my prayer list but going down my prayer list all of a sudden five ten minutes later I hit a moment where it's it's it's alive and I think just a few minutes ago I was aimless my I was my brain was tired I was unfocused and now all of a sudden I'm focused I'm feeling God that's happened to me I don't know the real number but thousands of times in 35 plus years where I went into my prayer time only because it was on my schedule I did not feel like praying I felt spiritually dead I felt bored I felt tired but I was on my list I said that I'm in the chair here I am God I don't know what to think I pull out my list and I tell you 10 or 15 minutes later all of a sudden I'm feeling the presence of God I'm thinking thank you for the prayer list and thank you for the schedule or it never would have happened paragraph C I'm gonna make a strong statement to you there but it's a true absolutely true statement you will pray ten times as much in the next years if you will get a schedule and a prayer list you will pray ten times as much now I've said this for years and I know godly people they love Jesus and they go nah that's legalism I go I don't think so I've been good I've been saying this 35 years you will pray ten times as much they go legalism I go okay let's wait ten years ten years comes ago I've known lots of people for the last 30 years don't have a prayer life still they still are in pain about not having a prayer life it's 10 20 30 years later but they won't actually ever schedule time I go what's wrong with this picture get it you're getting old you better figure it out simply put it on your schedule I'm gonna pray when the Spirit leads me well he never leads you I'm gonna pray when I finally get feel rested I feel connected well you're never rested and you never feel connected I wait till the day where my brain is clear I feel good and I don't I'm not tired I'm emotionally excited and my brain is clear I'm never gonna pray I'm gonna get all three and one thing a clear brain excitement in my heart and physical energy all in the same hour that's an amazing hour that didn't have very often I'm always minus one or two of those okay I'm excited but I'm dead tired oh I'm not tired but I'm bummed out oh I'm excited I'm not tired but my head's all fuzzy I mean I don't wait till the optimum moment that day never happens regardless what I feel like I sit down on my list schedule and I go through my prayer list and I have found I have a joy prayer and God breaks in I don't mean awesome but I feel his presence and I go this is the most remarkable simple tool and the people that buy into this one in two years later they'll come back and tell me it worked I go I know it did I've had many guys been in the kingdom 20 30 years they resisted it they've been doing it a year or two and they go it really changed my life it works they go when should I schedule prayer I go everybody's different one guy schedules it this way one guy that way just you'll work it out but get it on a schedule I charge you to do this I charge you to do this paragraph D now once you put it on the schedule it is sacred time when I put prayer on my schedule minus an emergency I consider it a real appointment with a real person how many do you believe Jesus is a real person it's real somebody goes what can I meet with you tomorrow I go no I have an appointment I used to say no it was my prayer time they go oh come on you can pray anytime that attitudes you will never pray if you will leave your prayer time because you can pray anytime because Jesus is so available I assure you years will go by and you'll never have a prayer life until you think he's a real person who really has an appointment with you then you will never develop a prayer life like so I quit telling people no I'm I'm praying that time I said I have an appointment they go oh okay cool well when's your appointment over I say well at this time or that time they well I can't meet then I said well I can't meet tomorrow I don't treat that time I set aside to the Lord as casual it is sacred time it's as important as an appointment I would have with one of the leaders on our staff obviously more important except for Jesus is it's nicer you know so if you blow that one he's just so nice about it paragraph three I mean Roman numeral three now when I'm developing a prayer list I have three different focuses when I'm developing a prayer list three different things I think of and I have several different lists number one I have that my intimacy with God my devotional prayer list the things where I want to connect with God's heart I want to give myself to him and I want to feel his presence in his power that's one type of prayer list I have which I have a little bit of I have these prayer lists by the way on the website then I have another prayer list of petitions this is what I'm praying for individuals prayer covering for people or I'm just praying for friends or people that are sick I have a list because if I just go by what I feel inspired I don't ever feel inspired I tell somebody I'll pray for them I try to put it on a list I don't always do it but I try to as often as I can and I stay with that list that doesn't mean I pray for everybody that's on the list every time but I will pray for many of the people that's on the list when I go down it but without that list I just I can't stay hold of I can't keep a hold of it and then I have intercessory I have a prayer my intercessory prayers those are I have a list of what I want to see a breakthrough of revival in our city and there's various things that I want to see happen and I go down and I pray that list so one day I want to do intimacy or devotional prayer the next day I want to maybe do more petition maybe the next day I want to do more intercession with devotional maybe one day I do all three maybe one day I do two out of the three that doesn't matter I have my appointed time and I have my three lists and I go through the list someone says but does the Lord lead you I go I don't know to be honest I just do what I feel like doing so maybe he leads me maybe he does it I don't know I just pick the list I want sometimes I'm just totally brain dead and I'm tired and I'm bored and I pick the list that's on the top of the page I go okay there you go I'll just do the first one right here my point is I'm trying to be practical it's just that simple but it really changes me change me over the years and continues to paragraph B now on all three of those lists my devotional intimacy list my petition my prayer my prayer for other people or my revival intercession list there are three basic themes I think of when I pray for whatever list it is there are three basic themes almost every prayer you ever pray for yourself intimacy for someone else petition or for revival almost every prayer you pray will be one of these three things you will either be praying for the gifts the fruit or the wisdom of the Spirit the reason I'm putting these three things is that if you identify this when you're praying thinking of a prayer list you're thinking of praying for a loved one you're thinking of praying for your campus you're thinking of praying for your own life every prayer you pray that I know of will fit in one of those three categories you're going to pray for the gifts of the Spirit the power and favor of God to be released the fruit of the Spirit the character of God to be released or the wisdom of the Spirit God's plan to be released like when I pray for my sons me and my wife pray for our sons we pray gift fruit wisdom we pray for our grandchildren that they will have the power of God in favor of God God would touch their hearts with the love of God that's fruit they would have divine wisdom whoever I pray for I do gifts fruit and wisdom when I pray for myself gifts fruit and wisdom I want power I want character I want wisdom so whatever list you're praying for yourself and intimacy your friends in petition or your campus for revival you will find vote that's really the three categories that every prayer you pray will fit into so I start with that so I tell Lou Engle Lou I'm gonna pray for you he goes hey thanks Mike so I put Lou Engle on my list he's one of the guys I pray for so I go okay what is what I want to do with Lou I go gifts fruit and wisdom I pray for gifts for power and favor on Lou fruit I pray that God would reveal the love of God greater in him and cause his heart to abound in holiness there's many ways to say it wisdom he would have divine wisdom in his family he would have divine wisdom in his ministry he would divide and wisdom in the management of his own life so gifts fruit and wisdom so when I pray for the conference this conference wisdom power would hit you the love of God would form your character that the wisdom of God would come and you would have a spirit of revelation so I've used that those three things gifts fruit and wisdom for every prayer list I have and it works for everything so the reason I'm giving it to you is to kind of simplify the process of starting a prayer list I pray this for my children my grandchildren my Allen hood I pray for Lou Engle I have a number of staff members that I have specifically on my prayer list and I pray these things for them specifically one two three I don't spend lots of times like an hour on everyone but I take a few moments on every one of them and then sometimes I'll fill his presence and I'll take three or four more minutes instead of one or two minutes and it's powerful paragraph C the power of it is the consistency because I start off kind of my mind is spacey my emotions are a down I'm physically tired but by the end of it I feel energy I feel focused and I go Lord this is a miracle that's why I say prayers a miracle it really is I go I was so scattered and now I feel so connected how did that happen and the answer would be is I'm helping you but you did take the time to begin the conversation God won't make you begin this conversation but if you make it you will experience the miracle that he will actually touch you in it paragraph C I have several prayer lists I just wanted to note that to you put a star by that go to the our website again download it yourself and then change it if you don't like the list change it and make it your own list paragraph page 65 critical to have the right view of God you can have a schedule you know you're gonna pray at 9 a.m. this day and noon the next day and someone says is it better to pray at the same time every day I go not necessarily whatever is best is what works in your schedule work your schedule out put your prayer time first put your relationship family time in put your work time in put your workout time in you know that thing that cardiovascular thing that we all need to do put that thing in there well you don't need it so much in your 20s but you do when you get older put those things on your list and then maybe move them around a little bit to make sure you have time for the right relationships you have you do have to put rest I have rest in my schedule it is godly to rest but what happens is a lot of people don't have a schedule so they they just kind of meander around if you don't have a schedule for your life I guarantee you the devil will have one for you if you don't have a schedule for your time I guarantee you your friends and your emergencies will have that schedule for you you need to take charge of your schedule you make it instead of letting emergencies or people or the devil make your schedule for you be proactive and I don't keep my schedule 100% but I guess I do about 80% because it's too hard to keep it a hundred but without a schedule you're aimless you're aimless hey what are you doing hanging out I go throw that hangout thing away I love what Corey Russell said you know you there's a you know you hang out so much you get hungover or something it was really clever how he said it I can't remember but beloved I believe in some time that's rest it's a downtime but we need to seize our schedules and press it to God and press it to relationships press it to ministry and accomplish something in our lives anyway I'm way off the subject top of page 65 right view of God okay right view of God I'm not gonna go into detail on this I just want to say it that when we have the view of God as a tender father and the view of Jesus as a bridegroom with desire that God isn't mostly mad or mostly sad when he relates to us but he actually is glad when he talks to us that he's kind he's gentle with our failures he's not angry with us you could read this on your own but the idea is that we feel the assurance that we are enjoyed by God even in our weakness if you have a wrong view of God he's an angry taskmaster instead of a tender father and a bridegroom with desire you will never have confidence in the presence of God and if you don't have confidence that God is smiling at you even in your weakness you will run from him instead of to him so you can have your schedule you can have your prayer list meaning you could know when you pray and you can know what you're committed to pray but if you don't like praying because you think God's mad at you or you think he's scowling and he's grieved at you he's disappointed at you again you know they're going oh God help me to love you don't hit me please I mean it's really hard it's really hard to pray if your view of God is not in a biblical way there's so much out there on God as a father so many series I mean the whole body of Christ worldwide and books you know most of the books I've written I've written about ten books most of them probably half or more are on this subject and so all of my books are on our website and they're free you can get them and download them you don't have to pay for them and most of them are talking about God's heart in a way that would give you confidence to connect with him but there's plenty of books in the whole body of Christ whatever you do get your view of God right so you have confidence that he enjoys you and so then you open your spirit to him when you come into his presence you pray very differently when you feel confident before him you pray very differently your spirit is in a very different position in a positive sense a Roman number five which is coming down to the last of four or five minutes here this is critical conversation with God it's what I call pray reading the word pray reading the word which means when I read the Bible instead of just reading it I turn it into conversation with Jesus when I'm reading it I stop just you know every few phrases and I talk to a person I use the Bible as a conversation material so I could talk to him and so in my prayer time I have those prayer lists my intimacy my devotional prayer list I have my petition my prayer for my friends prayer covering for my friends and I have my intercessory list I wish the revival I would see 300,000 people saved in Kansas City I'm gonna see thousands touched at the one thing conference that's kind of my revival you know a intercessory list but then that my whole prayer life is not those three lists my favorite part of my prayer life is when I open my Bible and all the material is already written out there and I read the Bible and I turn it into conversation with him that is by far the most enjoyable oh I love that I love that much more than my prayer list but I try to do the prayer list and this but I do the Bible thing more than the prayer list the most substantial way to bolster or strengthen your prayer life is to read the Bible and and feed on the Bible by saying it back to God okay let's look at paragraph B John 5 this verse is the foundation verse this first rocked my world back when I was just a young man I mean just my college days it rocked my world I was reading the Bible because my friends you know they told me you got to read the Bible and the Bible was so boring I was reading it like even a couple hours a day it was so confusing I couldn't figure out the difference between a gospel disciple the pistol an apostle they were all confusing to me I go which is who and what and so I was reading it very bored and I was backsliding meaning my heart wasn't becoming tender I don't mean that I was doing this or that and the other I did some of those things but that's not what I mean right now but uh I meant my backside in my spirit was was hard I couldn't feel God at all and I was reading the Bible a lot so boring then this verse changed my life Jesus said you search the scripture which means John 539 you have Bible study you search the scripture that's Bible study because you think that in them in reading the Bible you have life yeah I think if you read the Bible you're supposed to have life anointing so you put anointing there there's gonna fill the presence of God is what I mean by anointing the presence of God I do Bible study because I think I will feel this presence I go yeah that's me Jesus said no these the scripture they only point to me they testify they're like a neon sign pointing to me but you're not willing to actually talk to me when you read the Bible come to me instead of the word come to me put talk to me you're you read the Bible but you're not willing to actually talk to me then you will have the power and the presence of God do you know any of God in your life talk to me in the Bible and it was like the light went on I go this is my story I searched the scripture but my heart is hard I don't feel any presence because I don't ever I didn't realize the Bible was a neon sign pointing to Jesus and Jesus is saying take the Bible and turn it into a conversation with me talk to me in it let's look at this page 67 I'll do this quite brief I have quite several long teachings on this on the website so if this triggers your you know your interest because I'm only gonna take two minutes on this I want to bring this session to a close and you say hey I want to what what's that how's that they work talk to God in the Bible I have several teachings on this long ones on the internet and again it's all for free and again I don't want you just to hear it I want you to steal the material put your name on it and teach it and get other young people doing it but when I read the Bible paragraph C I think of two broad categories when I read the Bible there's more than two but these are the two I think of when I talk about when I read when I pray read the Bible is what I mean there are some verses that say in essence believe God believe God verses like God loves you God forgives you he gave you the gift of righteousness those are subjects you're supposed to believe but there's other subjects you're supposed to obey bridle your tongue in other words control your speech don't give in to lust use your money right use your time right those are Bible verses telling you to obey something so one category tells you to believe things and one category tells you to obey things so I have those two categories in my mind paragraph D we're gonna just do D&E when I'm reading I'll run into a verse that says that exhorts me to believe it's the first like God loves you what I do is I stop says God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son everything I'm supposed to believe that so instead of just reading and go cool I stop I do two things I thank him I stop Jesus thank you that you love me instead of underlining it and moving on I stop and I actually have a 30-second conversation I look up my go thank you thank you love me really thank you then I asked the second thing I go help me to see it more reveal it more to me it's a very simple little formula thank you help me see it more the Bible says I have forgiven you I stop I go thank you I talked to a person give me more revelation more understanding that you forgave me help me see that more it's a very simple little thing to do but if you will say thank you and then ask him to show you more you will gain you have a heart connect reading the Bible because you're talking to a person not just preparing a Bible study paragraph eight now it's another type of verse it's not telling me to believe something God forgave me God loves me God promises to do good for me now this is an exhortation to obey Mike I want you to bridle your tongue bridle your eyes use your eyes don't let your eyes look on wrong things spend your time right spend your money right use your passions right so okay so I read a verse and so it says like a verse that says bridle your speech in other words don't have any wrong speech so I will read that verse there's a thousand verses I could put here as an example and I just pause for one second and I commit myself I go Jesus I commit myself to this I will not complain I will not gossip I won't I commit myself to it I set my heart to obey this verse not to slander my brother not to complain to speak with gratitude to speak wholesome speech I commit I take 30 seconds it's all it takes but now you're in a dialogue with a person and then I ask the next thing help me help me to obey this I pause like a Holy Spirit help me and then I journal my thoughts beloved if you will do that simple simple thing right there when I read the Bible so one verse tells me to believe something the next verse tells me to obey something the third verse is neither so I read it it's like cool fourth verse tells me to obey something again I just simply do this the fifth verse doesn't do either so I read it cool the next verse says to exhaust me to believe something I am with you I stop and say thank you help me to see that more if you will do that simple thing your Bible time will be exciting final thing Roman numeral 6 10 prayers again I want to give you to this go to the website if you want it I have a little acronym called fellowship it's 10 prayers these are prayers I pray for myself I go right down the list I skip some of them some days some days I don't do the list some days I'll hit 3 of the 10 some days I'll hit 10 of the 10 some days I hit one of them a real long time and then I switch off my list and I go back to my Bible reading to pray my Bible in other words I'm not real stringent or rigid but this list of 10 things covers every single area in your personal life with God every single area I don't want to develop that again I've spent an hour or two on the teaching it at other times and it's all you get it if you want but whatever you do get a list and work through it amen let's stand Laura Hackett I love Laura I've known Laura she sang she was in our church group in our church and I remember the first Sunday the little Laura Hackett came out like age 8 or 9 she did her solo on Sunday morning and we all loved little Laura Hackett that was a long time ago how many years ago was that do you know 15 years ago so many years ago and we used to say one of these days she's gonna be one of those singers in the house of prayer okay we're gonna do this for 12 minutes then we're gonna come back and we're gonna talk about the next session fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit how to talk to the Holy Spirit in your inner man in a way that will change your life so that will be our final session of this series for more free downloads from Mike Bickle please visit Mike Bickle org