The Treasure Chest - Spirit-Led Prayer Organizer: 40 Prayer Approaches to Meet Your Needs

There is more than one way to pray, however, “If all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail."

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I build homes – physically and spiritually

I worked on construction crews in my teens and twenties and have built a home which we lived in for many years. So I have a fairly extensive workbench and tool box in my garage, containing tools which I know how to use.

40+ tools I own and used to build my physical home include: hammer, sledge hammer, nails, crosscut saw, skill saw, jig saw, hack saw, chisels, flat screwdrivers, phillips screwdrivers, allen wrench, various size crescent wrenches, pliers, needle nose pliers, adjustable pliers, trowels, mixing pails, paints, various size paint brushes, various adhesives, step ladder, extension ladder, tool belt, face mask, sand paper, wood files, metal files, stipple brush, paint roller, utility knife, measuring tape, square, level, pipe wrench, locking pliers, tin snips, hole punch, stilts, extension cords, power drill, power staple gun and caulking gun.

Below are 40 tools (prayer approaches) which God has taught me over the last 40 years, which I have used to build strong spiritual homes for myself and others. I surely want to be as adept with tools to build a spiritual house as I am with tools to build a physical house, so I have taken the time to learn to use these as needed. I encourage you in a similar endeavor.

Yes, I still hire specialists to help me with jobs in my physical or spiritual home which I feel are outside my area of expertise. However, these 40 will allow the construction of a magnificent castle which the Lord and you may live in and which will shine with His glory.

Prayer takes so many forms. These include communion with God (Jn. 16:13), dream interpretation (Ps. 16:7), meditating on Scriptures (Josh. 1:8), rebuking the enemy (1 Pet. 5:8) to name just a few. This prayer organizer provides a vast assortment of tools and resources placed at your disposal so you can fully and effectively engage appropriate prayers to meet specific needs in your life.

Use persistence! Elijah prayed seven times in a row (1 Kings 18:43). Since we are to persist in prayer as Elijah did (Jas. 5:17,18), by all means pray a prayer seven times in one day (or more) if that is what is needed to achieve your breakthrough.

If your prayer approach is not working then try another prayer approach! For example, if you have forgiven a person many times and still have anger or bitterness toward them, then switch to inner healing prayer or two-way journaling. Ask God to show you what He was doing in the situation, and how He has produced good in your life through it. "A hurt is healed, when you can see the gifts God has produced in your life through it."

Holy Spirit, which prayer approach shall I use today?

Find the right prayer approach when you need it - Search down through the left column for a description of the need you have. Then go across to the right column for free blogs and worksheets and resources to assist you in praying effectively (Jas. 5:16).

Get comfortable with each of the above prayer approaches by trying any you have not already done. Best to try anything that is new a minimum of three or four times so you get over that uncomfortable feeling, which initially accompanies every new activity. Discover the benefit each prayer approach can provide. Now they have become useful tools in your quiver to meet future needs. David's slingshot was powerful against Goliath because he had practiced using it.

Become skilled in more than one way to pray. However, in the final analysis, do what works for you. Just remember, no soldier would ever try shooting a gun three times, and say it doesn't work for him and put it down in favor of another weapon. If it is clear the prayer approach is found in scripture, then practice with it until it is a comfortable tool in your hands.

Flexible, Spirit-led, experiential devotionals

1. Flexible time commitment - From twelve minutes to an hour depending on the devotional selected.
2. Led into an encounter with the Holy Spirit. You may hit the “pause” button on your listening device anytime, you need more time in the devotional to interact with God.
3. Multiple learning modalities - The "New Creation Celebration" series provides recorded voice with a background of soft soaking music. Worksheets are available for journaling so you have memorials of your encounters with God.

Devotionals designed to meet your specific needs

Let the Lord help you select the Spirit-led devotional approach you should use on any given day. These prayer approaches address different issues, or sometimes they may address the same issue but from a different perspective. Address your issue multiple times from every possible vantage point until you experience your breakthrough.

• If I need to grow in intimacy with God, or receive wisdom, counsel, guidance, faith, hope and love, then I would use devotional #1, Communion With God.
• If I come with an issue, for example, blocked emotions, blocked finances, blocked _______, then I will look and discover that the devotional which deals with "issues" is #7 below, Prayers That Heal the Heart.
• If I need a miracle of healing, I would use the Miracle Healing Meditation and Healing Cellular Memories devotionals.
• If I need a deeper revelation of a truth from the Bible so I can live in it consistently, I would use the Biblical Meditation devotional.
• If I woke up with a dream, I would use the Interpreting Dreams devotional.

Simple, clear, thorough, practical

Prayer guides which are simple, yet thorough. Religion complicates, so we don’t want to do that. However, the role of a counselor is to help one see what they are missing, so they can move forward and gain success in an area. So our goal in these devotionals is to be as simple as possible, and yet cover all bases which the Bible says need to be covered. We want these to function as a counselor at your side, ensuring you hit all key points, in the easiest, must uncluttered way possible.

This is why we have reduced entire books down to a simplified template which can easily guide you in prayer.

Each Spirit-led prayer approach has its own place and unique features to help you engage in spiritual transformation effectively. I had two dreams last night, where God reminded me that the prayer approaches He taught me at age 27 are as important and necessary as those He has taught me at age 64. As I journaled out the interpretation to the dreams, He said, "We don’t forget the old as we press on into the new. We integrate the old with the new."

Learn to use each one and then be sensitive to the Holy Spirit as to which one is necessary for the need you are facing. I have used them with great success over the last 37 years. I can promise you that if you use these devotionals, they will work! When I say use them, I mean really engage them, don't simply skim over them once or twice. Elijah prayed until he got his breakthrough, which was seven consecutive prayer sessions in one day!

More specific prayers reap greater results. Prayer is much more than presenting a list of needs to God. Saying, "Lord heal please" may work, but if it doesn’t then I am ready to pursue a 7 step healing model believing the more intensely I apply a biblically-based healing prayer approach, the more healing will be experienced.

Ongoing pain can be avoided by honoring input from a good coach: I struggled financially for years, until my wife Patti realized we were under a spoken financial curse from a relative who suggested I could not support myself financially from ministry so I should prepare to have a second job. We forgave the person, renounced the word curse and over the next two years stepped into complete financial freedom for the first time in our lives (no credit card debt).

You can break off curses hindering your destiny by following the prayer steps of the devotional, “Dismantling Curses in Heaven's Courtroom.” These templates allow me to be at your side, counseling you, regardless of where you live in the world, and the counseling is provided free. How cool is that!

What constitutes a GOOD coach? I believe a good coach is one who explains 1) what God says about a topic, and 2) how to effectively apply it to your life 3) by utilizing the power and revelation of the Holy Spirit. The following prayer templates meet these three criteria.

Stay safe!Satan destroys many on their Christian paths. The Bible says in the multitude of counselors there is safety (Prov. 11:14). So these prayer guides DO NOT REPLACE your need to have two or three spiritual advisors whom you honor, respect and go to. My spouse and my children are key counselors in my life. If you walk alone, you are an easy target for satan to pick off. Do not reject the Scriptural principle of Proverbs 11:14.

The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much (James 5:16)
Taking time to master prayer is the BEST gift you will ever give yourself!