In 1970, I began to spend my days praying and studying scriptures. I would read my bible through 1-3 times a year. By 1975, instead of having answers, some things in my life got worse, developing into a family crisis. I felt like God had called me to be a stay at home Mom. It was not working like I had hoped.

Why didn't I have answers to my prayers? It was because I didn't have the skills in prayer. I read all the books I could on prayer, but they did not give me the help I needed. I tried all the different ways of praying that seemed to work for others, but they didn't work for me. I was always searching the scriptures to find the keys that would unlock the promises of God into my life and my situations. I knew Jesus had already won them for me, but it seemed like wisps of clouds I would see, reach for, but have nothing in my hand to show for it.

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My first Prayer Strategy insights came when I started going to a church where they taught me the power of praying the scriptures. I had a little notebook where I had topics of all the things I wanted from God. When I would run across a scripture having to do with one of these topics, I would record the scripture in the notebook under the proper heading and pray the scripture before God.

I took that little scripture book where ever I went, read it while I was stirring the pot on the stove, riding in the car, at night when I couldn't sleep, and of course for hours during the day.

I never felt the presence of the Lord all this time and I never had a reassuring word form God, but what I did have was the Word of God. Five years later, I had many answers from "reminding God of His promises, day and night, until he brought it forth." Isaiah. 62:6 AMP.

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The family sorrow was turned to joy when our loved one gave his heart to the Lord. I myself was healed of a physical problem, delivered of a spirit of fear, and saw many answers from this way of prayer. It took over four years before these answers started to manifest.

Next, I was to learn a strategy to bring in the answers more quickly. In 1991, another big crisis arose in my life because of my husband's health. I decided I would gather scriptures to pray for the situation. When I started to do that, the verse Mark 11:24 NIV "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." loomed big in my mind. If I believed that I received my answer when I prayed, then I could be sure that I had what I was praying for. I had never believed that I had my answer at the time I had prayed. I was an unbeliever in this area. I thought that if I said I had the answer before I had it, I would be telling a lie. Then I found out that God calls those things, "that be not as though they are", so I decided to do it God's way.

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What should I do? I would be grateful that God had heard, and that now I had what I had asked for. I took those same scriptures and paraphrased them into believing prayers. It was as if I had taken a dive into the stream of God's blessings. I started seeing answers quickly. These answers kept flowing into my life and over others.

I was always wanting to abide in the presence of the Lord more. The result of praying the scriptures this way brought me into this wonderful fellowship with Him. He seemed to be full of joy and laughter. I was surprised. Now when I prayed with such joy and gratitude, my heart was overwhelmed with His love. I found that I could live in this oasis of love in the midst of the most trying time of my life.

In July of 1995, I taught my four granddaughters between the ages of 8-12 to pray this way. I took them out to my RV prayer cabin for a retreat, along with their bibles and had them read a scripture and then paraphrase it into a believing prayer. The presence of God came upon them just like it had for me; and they said, "Grandma, can we pray this way when we go home?" I remembered the scripture I had in my very first scripture book, Psalms 71:18 "Now, when I am old and gray headed, O God, forsake me not: until I have showed thy strength to this generation and thy power to those who are to come."

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When I took the granddaughters home I made prayer books for each of the two families with every person having a prayer book. I put a page in for Mother, Father, Children, Prosper, and Family. They prayed one page a day, taking just a few minutes. It was very simple.

I asked three of the girls what they would like God to do for them. They all answered at once, "We would like a home of our own." At that time it seemed impossible for them. I put the scripture Deut. 28:8b "He shall bless thee in the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee." At the end of the next month their Father had the down payment for the home the Lord gave them. What I said in prayer was "God has blessed our whole family in the land the has given us." In two and a half years, all the households in our family were in a different home. Some of us had not even asked for a change, but we were all blessed with the change.

Other family members wanted prayer books also. Many scriptural answers started to unfold for our family on a regular basis. What joy!

Return to Top of PageA time of testing came to one of our families. God was wanting a deeper dredge into a pocket of hurt that needed healing. These prayers gave rest and His presence at these times of restructuring. Then scriptural answers start to unfold before us. God bringing us out of some of the dark places of our lives, smoothing the path before us in newness of life never known before.

As I studied the scriptures over the years, seeking for keys to unlock the heavens, I came across five scriptures the bible tell you to do all the time. Abide in Me, and I in you. John 15:4a Be joyful always. 1Thess.5:16 NIV Pray continually. 1 Thess. 5:17 NIV Give thanks in all circumstances. 1 Thess. 5:18 NIV 5. In His law doth he meditate day and night. Psalm 1:2b. I told the Lord there was no way you could do all those things at the same time, but when I put my prayer books together, the Lord howed me that all five were embodied in those prayer books.
If there are any secrets to getting answers to prayer, I would think it would lie in these five "to do's" all coming together. It is like a combination lock that blows open an array of heavenly blessings that Jesus is waiting with much love to give towhosoever will go after it.

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There is a pattern I am seeing emerging from this ministry. First I tell people to look in the Prayer Strategy Resource Book and find prayers to meet your heart need. I also say to pray the "Go-Ye" pages, the Prosper pages, and the Favor  pages. When God answers, and He will, He then fills your heart with joy. He gives you boldness to want to share your good news with others. He will open doors for you to share. Now you are like the early christian who went about telling what God has done for you.The "Go-Ye" scriptures sent me out. The Prosper scriptures paid my way and the Favor scriptures gave me favor in the eyes of others.

May you rise up, full of God's love and may His anointing be upon you to go forth and share the very good news that Jesus has formed within your life and your experiences.