Dharius Daniels - Five Types of Prayer You Should Know About

Shekinah is the manifest presence; it’s the kabod, the weightiness when He shows up in a way that is unexplainably, undeniably, irrevocably, unequivocally God. I’m telling you, some of us need to know how to pray for presence, but it’s time to pray for some presence. Lord, I need to feel You. I need to sense You. I need You to show up. I need You to be with me. I’m getting ready to walk into this office; walk in here with me. I’m getting ready to have this tough conversation. Don’t You lead me by myself. I don’t even have time—I gotta move on—but I could take you through Scripture and show you instances where people like Moses would say, «I ain’t going unless You go with me.» He was invoking the presence of God; he said, «You’re sending me to do that? I’m not going unless You go with me!» Invocation is the only time I saw invocation was on a program at church. I had no idea that I needed to appropriate that in my private prayer time. So, when I’m feeling sad, when my heart is broken, when I’m in a low place emotionally, when I feel myself spiraling downward, the kind of prayer that solves that problem isn’t binding and rebuking the devil; it’s invocation. God, I need Your presence! Oh my God, y’all got time?

Number two: appreciation. Philippians chapter 4, verse 6 says, «Don’t be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.» When you do that, the peace of God—come on here! —the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard your heart. But the peace of God that passes all understanding doesn’t guard your heart until thanksgiving is attached to your prayer. Y’all aren’t talking to me. Did you hear what I just said? Because, watch this: appreciation is an expression of gratitude, and gratitude is the seed for more. Gratitude is an acknowledgment of God’s contributions in the past and a request for Him to do an encore. Now, if you don’t know what an encore is, it’s simply a request to do it again; it’s simply a request to keep on doing it. Maybe you’ve been to shows, and someone has performed in such a way that the crowd stands up and says «Encore!» When you start appreciating God, God doesn’t just hear «thank you.» When you say «thank you,» God hears more than just «thank you.» I’ve got to go! When you hear «thank you,» God hears «Encore!» When you say «thank you,» God says, «Here, do it again!» When you say «thank you,» God hears «Keep on doing it!» Appreciation is the prayer you pray when you’re dealing with seasons of impatience and get agitated by what hasn’t happened yet. This prayer reminds you of God’s faithfulness in the past and resurrects your faith for the future.

Here it is, number three: intercession. Y’all not ready for this one; it literally means to stand in the gap. Okay, real quick—Teddy, Joe, come up here. Joe, you’re coming up here because you’ve got on the right coat. Come on, y’all, come on the stage, just come on the stage real quick. Joe, you’ve got on the right coat; you’re a man of God. So, Teddy, you’ve got to be the devil because you have to be the devil. This is all God; God is on him right here—49ers—God is on him. You’ve got to be the devil. All right, so here’s Teddy representing the enemy or something evil trying to get to Joe. You got me? Okay, now go back, Teddy. Intercession literally means to stand in the gap. When I start praying for Joe—now, come, Teddy—there are some things that the prayers of the righteous are pushing back from you. The devil’s been trying to get to you, but when you intercede, you’re saying, «You ain’t getting to my children!» Joe ain’t doing the praying; I’m doing the prayer, but God’s protecting Joe because of my prayer. Is there anybody here who can testify, «I’m going to stand in the gap for my family, I’m going to stand in the gap for my children, I’m going to stand in the gap for my church?» There are some people in your life who are like Lazarus; they are spiritually dead, or they’re in a season where their faith is dead, and they can’t pray for their own resurrection. You’ve got to be like Mary and Martha and say, «You ain’t got it this season, but I’ve got you.» I feel like running in here! You may not be in your right mind in this season, but I’ve got you. You don’t believe God like you used to, but I’ve got you, and God’s gonna raise your Lazarus because of the prayers of Mary and Martha.

I’m done. Tario, number four: intercession. Y’all, number four: supplication. Woof! Supplicate to request. This is when I say, «God, I’m not asking You to stand in the gap for them; this is just about me.» Y’all not ready! Yeah, this right here—this is about me, Jesus. Me and You got some stuff; it’s me; it’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Joshua chapter 10, verse 12, says, «On the day the Lord gave the Amorites victory over Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel, ‘Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you Moon, over the valley! ’ And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped until the nation avenged itself of its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar.» It’s an apocryphal book, so we as Protestants see the apocryphal books—books that are in some Orthodox Bibles or Catholic Bibles—as edifying; they’re edifying.