Booklet # 3: Prayer

Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet

Mt. 27:50 ... Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

This signified the way had now been made for us to go directly to God in prayer.  We were now able to go into the "most high room" through the payment of Jesus in the crucifixion.  We now go to God directly in prayer.  We do not have to go through another person.  We do not have to be in a church building or appointed place to pray.  After the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus the Holy Spirit came to dwell in each believer.  Now we, the individual believers are the temple of God, Paul explains.

I Cor. 6 ... What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

We are made one with God and Jesus by the Spirit of God who dwells in us.

Heb. 4:15 ... Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 



Part 1:  Having Faith to Pray

Heb. 11: 6 ... But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 

To have faith to pray, it might be helpful to focus on the following instruction:

Phil. 4 ... Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Often when there is a problem, we, as humans, want to pick up the phone and tell other humans our problem.  The person we talk with might care about us and our problem.  But that person may not be able to help us with the problem.  God has the power in all things to help with our problems and nothing is impossible with God.

I Cor. 10:13 ... There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it


Pam Padgett, a person in our church group, had a very serious problem when she was in college.  She talked with God about the problem and she made a request to God.    God resolved her problem but God did not resolve the problem the way she requested.  HE had a better way to take care of the problem.  

Here is the story:

Pam says ...    Many years ago when I first started going to college God showed Himself strong on my behalf. My older sister had been at college two years when I started attending the same school.  She dated a man who was a member of a fraternity, and had become a member of the fraternity's "women's auxiliary", assisting with fraternity social functions.  She was very excited for me to join the social circles she was in, and especially wanted me to meet members of the fraternity.

The first week of school my sister invited me to go to a student bar where many of the fraternity guys gathered on Thursday nights.  I went, but found what was going on there to be so bad (lewdness, drunkenness, etc.) that I was unable to stay and walked back to the dormitory.

A week or so later my sister asked if I'd go to an outdoor luau with one of the freshmen "pledges" at the fraternity.  The luau site was about 20 miles away near a river, and there would be a campfire.  The setting was very appealing to me, plus I was excited about having a date, and I agreed to go.

Then, a few days before the luau, my sister told me that arrangements had been made for one of the other fraternity guys to take me to the luau because my date would be spending the day at the luau site building a hut for us ... a young man I had never even met was building a hut "for us"! 

Suddenly the reality of this luau became very clear to me.  This was not going to be people sitting around a campfire roasting marshmallows.  The lewdness and drunkenness I had seen at the student bar was probably mild compared to what would be going on at this luau ... and I wouldn't be able to walk home.

I told my sister that I couldn't go along with this and did not want to go, but she kept insisting that it was too late for me to back out, that it was too late for this guy to find another date. 

I turned very strongly to God, asking Him to somehow get me out of this situation.  There seemed no way out.  At one point I asked God to let me have appendicitis, preferring to be in a hospital having surgery than to go to this luau.

The morning of the luau I woke up and checked to see if I might have any pain that would indicate appendicitis, and was disappointed that I felt fine.  I kept praying for God to somehow work this out.  Time was really running out!  When I looked outside, it was raining a little, but not much. However, the rain became heavier and heavier as the day went on.

Around 2 pm I received a call from the fraternity guy who planned to take me to the luau site.  He told me how sorry he was to have to tell me this, but the luau had to be cancelled.  The luau site had been totally flooded, washing away all the huts that had been built, which would include the hut my date had built for us.    He told me how long the luau had been held at this same site (many years) and, although there had been rain at times in the past, nothing like this had ever happened before, flooding and causing the luau to be cancelled.

I rejoiced, knowing that God had delivered me.

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The following scriptures also help us to have faith to pray.

I Thess. 5:17 ... Pray without ceasing.

James 4 ... Submit yourselves therefore to God (pray). Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw nigh to God (pour out your heart to God), and he will draw nigh to you.

Prov. 3 ... Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6In all thy ways acknowledge him (pray, telling God about the matter and asking HIM what to do), and he shall direct thy paths.
7Be not wise in thine own eyes: (don't try to figure it out in your own mind)

James 5:13 ... Is any among you afflicted? let him pray

James 1 ... If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 




Part 2:  Effectual, Fervent Prayer 


James 1:16 ... The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

To be effectual, the prayer must be according to the will of God.

And the prayer must be fervent from the heart and not from the mind.

Recently I was going into Wall-mart and met an acquaintance whom I have not seen in several months.  We chatted and then she almost grabbed hold of me, not wanting to let me get away before she asked me to pray that her house would sell.  She saw an opportunity in me to get something from God that she had not been able to get for herself.  I just stared at her.  I did not pray on this matter.  I do not know the will of God concerning this woman's house.  I know what this woman wants but I do not know what God wants.  To be effectual I would have to believe I knew the will of God in the matter.

I have a young friend ... a man who is about 45 years old ... he has a terrible disease, ALS .  He is married and has 3 children.  He has become paralyzed to point he cannot feed himself.  Doctors have given him a short time to live.  My fervent will is that David live and be healed.  But that is my will.  I have often prayed various things concerning David.  Months ago, I had an open vision concerning David.  I saw him on a golf course.  He was jumping up and down and waving for us to come on and join him.  He was going ahead of us and expressing how wonderful things were.  I felt this showed me what would happen concerning David.  He would die and go on ahead of us.  But I believe it also showed me that David is in a condition to die and he was totally restored and urging us to join him "there".  I cannot pray for David to live on this earth because I think I know what God has shown me by HIS Spirit concerning David.

I have many "ministers" from around the world who write to me and list all the works they are doing and they either ask me to send money to pay for their works (which I do not do) or they ask me to pray for them (which I do not do either).

If the work is really authored by the Spirit of God, God will provide what is needed and you do not have to try to get other humans to pay for the work.  (There is no example in Bible where ministers asked people for money to pay for their works.)

And I do not pray for their works.  I do not have information that their many "good" works are authored by God and they tell me nothing that would indicate the various works are authored by God.  They often tell me they want to do such & such.  But that does not mean God wants them to do this work although the work might seem to be a "good" work.


Jesus said ... Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23And then will I profess unto them,  I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.  Mt. 7

We see from this scripture that many will come to Jesus showing "wonderful works" and Jesus will call the people workers of iniquity and demand for them to depart from HIM.

Unless God has told the person to do that work, it will not be a good work though it might seem good.  And unless God authors the work, they will be unlikely to be able to do the work without begging others for money or figuring out schemes to get money from other people.

Let me present the following example to you:  In approximately 1979, I was sleeping and a voice that was as loud as a trumpet said three words to me.  I jumped out of bed.  The words spoken to me were:  Hartford, Seattle, KWJS.   (KWJS turned out to be a radio station.)

I began praying:  "God are you wanting me to go on radio? I wouldn't know how to do that."  

 Gentle thought from Holy Spirit, "Call the radio station manager."  

 I called the radio station manager that morning and told him God might be showing me to go on radio and I asked how you do that.  He told me to make an audition tape 29 1/2 minutes long and send it to him and if I fit into their broadcast format they would offer me a contract.  (I made the tape immediately and sent it to him.) 

Then I asked God how HE wanted me to pay for the broadcasts.  Gentle thought from Holy Spirit, "Send letter to the people you know and tell them what happened."  I knew fewer than 80 people at the time but I wrote letter and copied 80 copies and mailed it to the people.  I did not ask them for money.  I just told them what had happened.  Within 24 hrs. there was sufficient money given to pay for first month's broadcast.  I was on radio within a week.

When I share this example, do you see God in it?  Does it appear to you that God authored the radio work?

This makes all the difference.

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Have you ever had a person come to you saying, "Pray for me" ... and when you tried to pray, you were stone cold dead and had no idea what to pray?

(So often they come to me saying "pray for me" and then they go on to tell me exactly what to pray.  This seems so silly to me.  I wonder why they don't pray.  And if they do not have the faith to pray, how can I?")

This is the example of a fleshly situation which is not "fervent"(nor is it effectual) ...  For prayer to be successful it must be "fervent", from the heart, not from pressure to pray or thinking you have to pray.

Most of us have examples of having a prayer that is "fervent" ...

It will do no good to pray a cold mental prayer by human request.

Several years ago, a neighbor invited me to Thanksgiving dinner at her house.  She asked me if I would give the prayer before the meal.  I told her I would not.  I knew it was simply a formality and had no real meaning.  I know they didn't usually pray before meals.  And when people will go about eating an apple or cookie without prayer, why do they pray over a meal?  Food is food.  I told her I try not to be too hypocritical.  I did go to the dinner and someone else went through the formality of praying.  I didn't bow my head and try to appear religious.  I just kept my eyes open and looked at them as the person prayed and I was glad when the prayer ended.  I knew it was simply a prayer for people and not a prayer to God.

There was a time when I played bridge.  We often had catered meals before we played.  And often a man named John "prayed" before the meal.  Most people closed their eyes and bowed their heads during the prayer.  I did not close my eyes.  I just watched John and the people.  John would begin praying with his head bowed, and when people had eyes closed, he would reach into his pocket and pull out a paper and begin reading his very long "prayer", which was more like a fleshly sermon.  Anyway I knew this was not really a prayer to God nor was this from the soul.  It was just a fleshly, mental exercise done to impress men.  (Finally, when I went to these bridge events where I knew John was going to give a long meaningless prayer, I escaped into the bathroom and stayed there and talked to God until John had time to finish praying, and then I would go out and get in the food line.)

Jesus said:  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Mt. 23:14  

Also Jesus said:  But all their works they do for to be seen of men:  Mt. 23:5

I do not allow people to pressure me to pray.  I know this will not work.  If the person wants to tell me something he is going through, then if God puts it on my heart to pray, I will.

And when I pray, I am talking directly to God ... not to audience of people.  And I expect it to mean something when I pray.  And I expect results.  And this is what happens.  And I avoid nonsense prayers from men to other men.

Mt. 6 ... Jesus said, concerning prayer ... And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you,  They have their reward. 

6But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 

7But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
 
9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11Give us this day our daily bread. 12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.



Part 3:  Pray without ceasing to pray

Lk. 18 ... And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 2Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:  3And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 4And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; 5Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. 6And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 7And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 8I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? 

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In 1990, I had a house built for my mother and I.  The plans were drawn for the house but unknown to me the contractor changed the size of the kitchen and garage to get the house to fit onto the lot.  When we moved into the house we found a very small kitchen and a garage that would not hold two cars.

It was almost impossible for two people to try to work in the kitchen at same time without running into each other.  I began praying immediately.  I couldn't see any way to correct the problem.  Over and over I prayed about this problem   This went on for approximately 4 years.  Each time we were in the kitchen and began having difficulty I would pray, asking God if there was anything I could do to ease this problem.  

One day I went into the kitchen and it was as if a light went on in my head and I knew a relatively simple way to take care of the problem.  There was a walk in pantry in this small kitchen.  I moved the pantry to the garage and put the refrigerator in the space where pantry had been located.  This gave space to add about five feet countertop.  When this was done we had no problem being in kitchen at same time.

Concerning the small garage ... We only had one car so that was not a problem to me.  But what about resale of house.  Most people would not purchase house in this area unless it had two car garage.  I had some space on West side of house where another single car garage could be built but I would plan the construction and God would stop me.  Several times God stopped me.  I had money for the project and had contractor who would do the project but each time I tried to build this God stopped me.

Ten years later when I put the house up for sale, a woman bought the house.  She only had one car and didn't need two car garage so it was no problem to her.

Sometimes we are concerned about future things that never happen.



 Part 4:  Not my will, but THY will be done

II Cor. 12 ... Paul said ... And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 8For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. 

Paul had his answer from God.  God was not going to heal Paul of this affliction.  It is apparent when Paul got this information from God that he no longer prayed about this matter but simply accepted what he believed God had told him.

Paul said ... Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.  II Cor. 12

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Jesus prayed three times for "this cup" to be removed from HIM that HE not have to go to the cross.

Mt. 26 ... Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. 37And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. 38Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. 39And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. 40And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? 41Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 

42He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. 43And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. 

44And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.  

45Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me. 

Later Jesus explained that had he done so, asking God, that God would have sent 12 legions of angels to HIM to help HIM ... 

Mt. 26 ... And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest’s, and smote off his ear. 52Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. 53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? 54But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?   

The all important thing to Jesus was the will of God, the Father ... and the fulfillment of the scriptures!

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Some people pray to be healed of a physical problem and are not healed and are often accused by religious people of having weak faith.  This may not be the case.  Everything depends on the will of God in the matter at hand.

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I wanted to marry.  When I was born again I was approximately 37 years old.  I wanted to marry.  All my church friends were praying for me to marry.  One time I dated a man from our church group.  At one point he even said to me, "Joan, don't stop praying about our marrying."  And then after he said that, he just disappeared!   At the time I was even angry with God because I knew it was God who had removed this man.  I've had that type of thing happen over and over.  Finally, I gave up ... "Not my will, but Thy will be done."  After I gave up, everything leveled off and was fine with me.

I Cor. 7 ... (If you marry)   such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.

The last time I almost married was in 2004.  We broke up two months before the wedding.  It was difficult for me to go through this, but looking back on it I continually thank God that I didn't marry Howard!

I believe my not marrying was the mercy of God but it was difficult to see it at that time.

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Do we trust God?  Do we believe God knows what is best for us?  Do we believe God has a purpose for our lives and puts us in positions to fulfill that purpose?

Or do we think we have to make it happen?  (woe to us if we think that)

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I lived in Clovis, NM (USA) from 1985 through 2001.  I was helping my mother in her later years.  I kept picturing that some day I would move to Canyon, Texas (USA).  It was in West Texas but I considered it rather pretty there because it was in a small canyon.

My mother died in 2002 and I planned to move to Lubbock, Texas.  The house I live in was being built and during the framing, I walked into the door and it struck me, "What happened?  I was planning to move to Canyon (100 miles north of Lubbock)."  But even before my mother died I had a dream where I was building a house and I saw the lot and the lot I bought in Lubbock looked exactly like the lot in the dream.  I believe this is the place God selected for me though I had another place in mind.  (Canyon wouldn't have worked for me at all.  They have lots of snow in Canyon and Lubbock does not have much, if any, snow during the year.)

Consider this scripture:

Acts 17:26 (NIV) ... HE (God) determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.

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I am 77-years-old at time of this writing.  I had an accident in 2010 where hip broke and in the operation the bone split all the way down the left side of my hip to knee.  This created complications.  I didn't know if I would be able to live by myself and take care of myself.  I might need to move to an assisted living home (nursing home).  Should I begin looking for an assisted living home?  I asked God.

After prayer, I was reminded of a time when I traveled in ministry and shipped books to meeting areas.  At that time several women worked for me handling office matters.  I had to dismiss one woman and the staff became angry with me and all but one person quit.  Someone in anger said, "Just wait until she needs to have those materials shipped."  Meaning I would see then what a mistake I made and how much I needed all the workers.  But several weeks after the workers left, God gave me a dream telling me not to go out for meetings, so it ended up there was no need for any of the workers the following year.

I was reminded of this dream when I prayed about looking for an assisted living home.  I believe God was showing me there would not be a need in the future for an assisted living home.  So I didn't look for one.

So many concerns focus on future ... future needs, what will happen when such and such happens, how can I manage?  Each concern must be taken to God in prayer.  We might be fretting ourselves over things where there will not be a "need".   It is very important to stop and talk to God each time a thought over future comes.  If there is something we need to do now, God will show us.  We just rest in prayer.  If we are shown by God to do something now, we do it.  If we are shown nothing to do, we consider there will not be a need in this area.

Also during this time, I didn't know if I would ever be able to walk again.

God gave a dream to a man in our little church group.  In the dream, I was walking and doing so without even using a cane.  That is the position I'm in currently.  (2015)