“A Better Way to Pray” Book & Prayer Group Lesson 1

[Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks, PsyD]

NOTE: LINK TO COMPLETE BOOK & PRAYER GROUP LESSONS

Lesson 1: October 16, 2020

“A Better Way to Pray,” Introduction from Website

"A Better Way to Pray," Book, PDF Version

Read & Study for October 23, 2020

"Hypocrites Love to Pray" - Chapter 1

"A Better Way to Pray," PDF Chapter1 Outline & Questions

Extra Resources:

"A Better Way to Pray," Audio, Lessons 1 - 5

"A Better Way to Pray," Videos, By Weeks

God's Blessings to you all, as you go on this journey with me, and others, to learn how to pray EFFECTIVELY!! James tells us in James 5:16 (KJV), "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." 

We don't want to pray, just to pray, or pray with the wrong motive. We want to pray a prayer, to see our family, others, and ourselves, set free from whatever that is trying to blind us from the truth of God's Word!! Jesus has ALREADY set us free, from sin, sickness, disease, infirmity and EVERYTHING that comes to steal, kill, and destroy from us!! If the enemy can steal the Word from us, he has us because we are blind to God's truth, without God's Word!! Jesus HAS given us ABUNDANT LIFE, but if we don't know that, I mean REALLY KNOW IT, we will continue to beg, and plead with God, to do what He HAS DONE THROUGH JESUS, which causes us to live defeated lives!!

Therefore, we want to pray in the authority Jesus HAS given us!! Jesus said in Luke 10:19 (KJV), "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

It’s time to STAND against the wiles of the devil, by putting on, and keeping it on, God’s WHOLE ARMOR; there is no need to take it off!! Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:10-18 (TLB), “¹⁰ Last of all I want to remind you that your strength must come from the Lord’s mighty power within you. ¹¹ Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand safe against all strategies and tricks of Satan. ¹² For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies—the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world; and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world.

¹³ So use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over, you will still be standing up.

¹⁴ But to do this, you will need the strong belt of truth and the breastplate of God’s approval. ¹⁵ Wear shoes that are able to speed you on as you preach the Good News of peace with God. ¹⁶ In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan. ¹⁷ And you will need the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the Word of God.

¹⁸ Pray all the time. Ask God for anything in line with the Holy Spirit’s wishes. Plead with him, reminding him of your needs, and keep praying earnestly for all Christians everywhere.”

We are not fighting the devil; Jesus HAS ALREADY gotten the victory over the devil for us!! Jesus tells us in John 16:33 (TLB),  “I have told you all this so that you will have peace of heart and mind. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows; but cheer up, for I have overcome the world.” Jesus let’s us know, in this world we WILL have trials and sorrows, but we are to cheer up, or another version tells us, to be of good cheer, because HE, JESUS, HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD!! Again, Jesus took our sins, sicknesses, diseases, sorrows, guilt, shame, and whatever else, that comes to steal, kill, and destroy us!

Paul tells us in Romans 8:37 (TLB), “but despite all this, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us enough to die for us.” I suggest you read the whole chapter of Romans 8.

And Colossians 2:11-15 (TLB) tells us, “¹¹ When you came to Christ, he set you free from your evil desires, not by a bodily operation of circumcision but by a spiritual operation, the baptism of your souls. ¹² For in baptism you see how your old, evil nature died with him and was buried with him; and then you came up out of death with him into a new life because you trusted the Word of the mighty God who raised Christ from the dead. ¹³ You were dead in sins, and your sinful desires were not yet cut away. Then he gave you a share in the very life of Christ, for he forgave all your sins, ¹⁴ and blotted out the charges proved against you, the list of his commandments which you had not obeyed. He took this list of sins and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross. ¹⁵ In this way God took away Satan’s power to accuse you of sin, and God openly displayed to the whole world Christ’s triumph at the cross where your sins were all taken away.”

We must settle within ourselves, NO MATTER WHAT we face, we WILL STAND, and see God’s salvation in it; STAND, with our WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD on, and use our authority Jesus gave us (Luke 10:19 (KJV), to rebuke the devil, and he WILL flee (don’t forget to SUBMIT yourselves to God FIRST – James 4:7).

We CANNOT ALLOW ANYTHING, or ANYONE, to shake our faith! Paul tells us in Philippians 4:6-7,“⁶Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

God’s Blessings to you all and your families,

Rev. Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks