An Effective Prayer Life (III)

I have established for us that the devil is both a liar and an accuser; his job is to get you discouraged. He does this by painting pictures of lies, doubts, and defeats which he wants us to believe and carry to God in prayer. The devil wants us to start accusing God to His face and to pray prayers of unbelief.

Bearing this in mind, what must we do to pray effectively? Pray to edify yourself, to get to know things in the spirit. You should ask, “what is going on? How does God see this matter?” You are not to focus on what is happening around you because doing so will get you distracted. But during your regular prayer time and in normal or tense seasons; as you pray in the spirit and as you pray with scriptures, you are praying unto edification.

When you pray unto edification, the Holy Ghost comes to help you to see things correctly. It is not what the devil is showing you that is the truth, despite the reality of what is going on around you. The Holy Spirit brings understanding and illumination to obscure matters, and you need that insight to know what is going on, before you start running around like a headless chicken. God will show you whether this is just a momentary affliction, or a test, and he will empower you to go through the tough period.

Beloved, strive to make this your default response in the place of prayer. That is why we pray in the Holy Ghost. That is why we pray with scriptures. That is why we worship. We come to behold his face, to inquire in his temple, so that we are edified. When you are edified, you are not bothered nor are you shaken. So, stop seeing life the way the devil is showing you. Start seeing life the way God says it is, by His word and by His Spirit. That is what it truly is as far as you are concerned.