There is what I call Word-fired prayer. That is, prayer born out of the fire of the Word: God asked in Jeremiah 23:29, Is not my word as fire… that breaketh the rock in pieces?

It is the Word of God that ignites a fire in our hearts and pushes us into fervent and effectual prayers. That is why we find that after hearing a powerful, Word-packed message, people are fired up to pray heaven-touching prayers.

When scriptures like Matthew 8:17 and Numbers 23:23-24 are fired into the heart of a man who is tired of sickness, he holds unto them with his last strength, knowing that his healing can no longer be negotiated. The Word he hears ignites his soul with a holy anger and desperation, which enhances effectual communication, and a miracle is born.

So, it takes fire on the altar of your heart to draw down fire from heaven. The story is told of John G. Lake, a great man of God in his days. Almost half of his family members had died of one plague or another and on 28 April, 1898, his wife lay dying of the same plague.

A fellow minister who was with him encouraged him to accept her death as God’s will, and in utter hopelessness, Lake threw his Bible against the wall. It fell to the floor and opened to Acts 10. As he walked over to pick it up, his eyes fell on verse 38,

“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him”.

Those powerful Words were fired into his soul and it dawned on him that God was not the author of sickness; the devil was responsible for his wife’s condition and that since he was a son of God by faith in Jesus Christ, then God was with Him, just as He was with Jesus.

He also turned to Luke 13:16,

“And ought not this woman, being a daughter. of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?”

That ignited another fire in his soul, because he realized that God could use him to heal his wife. So, with all boldness, he entered her room and declared with a loud voice that his wife would be healed at exactly. 9.30 a.m. And at that hour, he knelt down by her side, laid hands on her head and prayed. The power of God came upon her and in a few seconds, she shouted, Praise God, I am healed!’

She was immediately healed of the paralysis and all the other ailments that had drawn her so close to the brink of death.

“Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.” 1 Kings 18:38

“And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness”. Acts 4:31

When we pray Word-fired prayers, we cannot miss drawing fire from heaven. Meditation is one of the ways of fanning up the fire in our hearts. As we spend time brooding over the Word, the Holy Spirit sparks off a fire in our soul, which enhances a hotline communication with heaven, to ensure our victory.

“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith”. 1 John 5:4

God’s Word, ratified by the blood of Jesus, is His will. It is unchangeable, irrevocable and endures forever. If you go with a will to a court of law, that court is under obligation to honor it. It doesn’t matter if the deceased made a mistake in it or not; as long as it is his will, the court is mandated to enforce it.

So, when we approach the throne of grace on the basis of the will of God, we are justified and God is obliged to step into our case. That is why every Word-weak Christian is a prayer failure; the strength of the Word is what determines the strength of the response from heaven.

Gathering the stones, laying the wood in order, pouring the water and starting off the fire are all Word preparation efforts which make prayer effectual. That is how to stay prepared for continuous encounters with God in prayer. I see the fire of the Lord falling for you from henceforth! You will no longer miss your target, in Jesus name!

This text is an extract from the book “WINNING PRAYER” written by David O. Oyedepo. 
We invite you to read the following article “MAKE ENQUIRIE“.