How to Wrestle in Prayer

When something bad happens, don't just throw out a few brief prayers for God's help, and then move on in discouragement if the situation doesn't change for the better. God wants you to wrestle with Him in prayer. By grabbing hold of God's promises and fighting to see them activated on Earth, we can help expand God's kingdom in our fallen world.

Here's how you can help fulfill God's purposes by wrestling in prayer for them to become realities in this world:

Don't accept defeat. Be aware that evil wants to attack you constantly and pull you into despair that will lead to spiritual defeat. Peter writes: Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8. Guard yourself from evil through prayer every day. Rely on the Holy Spirit's power to stand up and fight against Satan's intentions for your life. If you remain constantly on guard against evil, you'll emerge victorious and empowered to become offensive, rather than defensive, in the spiritual realm.

Build your faith. The writer of Hebrews says: “..it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. (Hebrews 11:6). Ask God to give you the faith you need to confidently trust that He will keep His promises, no matter what circumstances you face. Believe that God rewards those who diligently seek Him. Surround yourself with Christians who have strong faith - people who believe that God is as big as He says He is, and who have personally experienced His mighty power and faithfulness in their own lives. Aim to build a faith that is unwavering, stouthearted, persistent, and immovable. Fully expect God to respond to your prayers.

Remove roadblocks to prayer. Paul tells the church as Thessalonica to “Never stop praying”. (1 Thessalonians 5) Get rid of habits in your life that appeal to selfishness and give your time and attention fully to the work of God within you. Eliminate activities that interfere with you giving your best focus to prayer every day. Ask God to show you when you typically yield to selfish whims and desires during each day. Then pray for the strength to yield to the Holy Spirit's urgings at those times and in those situations, so you'll develop a habit of listening to God rather than just following your own agenda. Make regular appointments with God to pray, and follow through, whether or not you feel like praying at the time.

Break free from sin that tries to control you. The great Apostle Paul wrote about himself, “The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. (Romans 7: 14b-15) Pray for the strength you need to overcome whatever sin you repeatedly struggle with, such as lust, pride, fear, greed, doubt, gossip, or bitterness. Ask God to renew your mind and spirit. Get rid of sinful habits that interfere with your prayers, block the intimacy God wants you to have with Him, and gives Satan a vulnerable point through which to attack you. Repent of the sin or wrong habits that God brings to your attention, and ask Him to cleanse you from them.

Rely on God's strength. In John 16:33, Jesus told His followers, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” You'll never lose a battle when you fight with God's strength flowing through you. So don't rely just on your own limited strength; pray for God to empower you to do battle in every situation through His Spirit working in you. When God anoints you with His power, you'll be able to look at life from His perspective, courageously fight evil, and share the Gospel message with confidence.

Ask properly. When asking God for something in prayer, do so in the ways He prescribes in the Bible. Approach God with pure motives, seeking answers that reflect His will, rather than trying to convince God to follow your own agenda. To identify any faulty patterns in your prayer life, ask yourself: "Am I praying merely for my own comforts and desires?", "Do I ever pray when things are going well, or only when I'm in dire need?", "Is my motive in prayer my own happiness, or God's glory?", "Do I pray with an attitude of doubt, just going through the motions of prayer because it's the spiritual thing to do?" Repent of any wrong attitudes and ask God to help you approach prayer differently. Avoid misguided, selfish, and doubting prayers. Instead, aim to pray in alignment with God's will and remember that He wants the best for you. “And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.” (1 John 5:14-15)

Don't just talk - listen. Realize that prayer is more about listening to God than it is talking to Him. Train yourself to focus on God's messages to you. Learn how to be still and pay attention to Him speaking.

Make more time for prayer. Evaluate your sleep schedule, leisure activities, and work schedule to see what change you might make to allow yourself more time to pray regularly. Stop wasting time on trivial activities (like watching too much TV at night) so you'll have more time available for prayer.

Learn more about prayer. Ask God to teach you more about how He wants you to pray. Read respected books about prayer. Study the lives of some great Christian heroes and heroines and see what you can learn about prayer from their examples.

Pray with tenacity. Be persistent, praying until God gives you answers. Don't give up praying about a situation until God's power comes into it. Remember, “Never stop praying”

Pray audacious prayers. Don't hesitate to pray for big things that only God can do. Invite Him to do something incredibly powerful in each situation that you bring before Him. Expect Him to do much more than you could even ask or think on your own.

BUT, the real key to prayer is to pray as Christ would pray. This means that prayer is not bending God's arm to give us what we want. Prayer is the means whereby the Christian aligns his/her will to the will of God. Prayer is not asking God to move towards us as much as it is asking God to move us towards Him.

Why is this so difficult? What hinders us from praying as Christ would pray? What hinders us is our self-centeredness. What hinders us is that we all have our own agendas. What hinders us is that we always want to be in control. We want to choose everything from our career, to our friends, to our belief system. God insists, however, that we choose our paths according to His will, and on His terms.

Is God being a tyrant by demanding that we carry out His will? No. In fact, demanding that His will be done is a demonstration of God's great love for us. If God is, as we confess, all-powerful, infinitely wise, and perfectly holy, then doing God's will is for our own benefit! Doing God's will is far better, and in the long run, far safer, than doing our own will.