Ingredients of Prayer
Saturday, at my house, has always been a day of relaxing, reflecting, cooking and eating. As a child, growing up, I can remember family times around the table. On Saturday morning, our family would get up a little later than our usual time of waking up during the week and get ourselves ready for a delicious meal. But when we got up, Mommy would already be in the kitchen fixing our breakfast. When I saw her cooking and smelled the aroma of bacon, eggs, sausage, etc…, I knew we were about to eat well at our house. Shortly after breakfast, I would ask Mommy if she could show me how to bake a cake so we can enjoy it with our lunch later in the day. Mommy would get out the ingredients for cake and ask me if I was ready to watch her. Step by step in the cake-making process, she would give me instructions on how much of the ingredients should go into the cake batter. After much mixing and pouring, the cake, with the many ingredients, came out of the oven with perfection.
Jesus’ disciples did something similar to what I would do on Saturdays at my house. Just like I asked my mother to teach me how to bake a cake, the disciples asked Jesus if He could teach them how to pray (see Luke 11:1). In essence, the disciples said “YOU (Jesus) pray, I (the disciples) pray.” Just like my mother, Jesus didn’t hesitate but immediately started giving them some “ingredients” of prayer. Jesus began to mentor them in prayer. The disciples wanted to do what they saw Jesus do on several occasions. They understood the power in prayer and wanted to experience that same power.
Jesus gave the disciples 10 ingredients we should include in prayer. (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:1-4)
The Person of Prayer–“Our Father” The Position of Prayer–“in heaven”
The Praise of Prayer–“Hallowed be Your name” The Priority of Prayer–“Your kingdom come”
The Purpose of Prayer–“Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” The Provision of Prayer–“Give us this day our daily bread”
The Pardon of Prayer–“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” The Protection of Prayer–“And do not lead us into temptation”
The Power of Prayer–“But deliver us from the evil one”
The Partnership of Prayer–“For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever”
These ingredients of prayer, mixed over time, will yield dynamic results. “The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].” (James 5:16, AMPC) When we pray, God hears. When we pray, God moves. When we pray, God answers on our behalf, according to His will. When we pray, like Jesus prayed, we will get the results Jesus received. So our everyday declaration should be…Jesus, YOU PRAY, I PRAY. Just like that.
Shawn is a Woman of God, with a Word from God for the People of God. Shawn has a passion for seeing God’s people grow in grace and in the knowledge of Him. Because of this passion, God has opened many doors for her to speak at revivals, seminars, prayer breakfasts, workshops, etc… Shawn also has a desire to see all God’s people worship Him in spirit and in truth. She has led and sang on Praise Worship Teams within the Body of Christ. Her life verse is Palms 34:1, “I will bless the Lord at all times and his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
Currently, Shawn is a faithful member of Seeds of Greatness Bible Church. Shawn is active in various ministries within the church. She serves on the ministerial team, dances on the Word-in-Motion dance team and teaches the children in the Seedlings Youth Ministry. Also, Shawn is the founder and servant-leader of the W.I.S.D.O.M. ministries, a weekly women’s conference call geared to study the women of the Bible and gain the wisdom from their lives.
Shawn, along with her W.I.S.D.O.M. Core team, has published a book entitled, WISDOM SPEAKS: The Beginning of Wisdom. This book is the first of many books to come.
