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The only way to learn to pray is to pray.

Not boring prayers. Not same old same old prayers.

Heartfelt, fervent, whole being prayers that grip your being.

Engaging with the Holy Spirit will lead you to express your inner man in ways that sometimes feel unnatural or unfamiliar to you. Your flesh will kick against God’s ways because they don’t always fit with what’s comfortable.

This is why it’s important to play. To experiment. To joyfully explore.

Instead of getting hung up on rights and wrongs, jump in the sandbox and have some fun. Go to places you wouldn’t normally go, secure in the knowledge that the Holy Ghost is there to train you.

In fact, it’s often the most uncomfortable and unfamiliar expressions of devotion that crack open fresh revelations and breakthroughs. Some noisy people need to learn the beauty of silence. Naturally quiet people need to let their inner lion roar.

Each expression is another tool you can use when the time is right, times when it really matters. Becoming familiar with the tools and technologies God has equipped you with through intentional experimentation is how we grow comfortable and gain insight and skill so we are ready when the time comes for real spiritual engagement.

Here are some playful experiments you can explore:

Get Loud

If you are generally a very quiet, reserved pray-er, I urge you to find somewhere appropriate and get loud. Very loud! Shout out your prayer, cry your concerns, bellow your praises.

Scripture says that Jesus often prayed with “strong crying”. These were not polite politically correct prayers designed to upset no one and cause no ripples. They were a storm of passionate faith unleashed from His heart.

“Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared” (Hebrews 5:7 KJV)

Human flesh is by nature timid and fearful. It whoops and hollers at a sports game, but simmers to an icy chill in the prayer meeting.

Crush that tendency to polite praying, and wholeheartedly engage in thunderous experimentation.

Exodus 15:3 says:

“The LORD is man of war.”

And again in Isaiah:

“The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.” (Isaiah 42:13 KJV)

There is a time for this ferocious nature to be expressed!

Get Quiet

In the same way that Scripture encourages loudness, it also leads us by the still waters of solitude and silence. The spectrum of expression in prayer is broad and beautiful.

We read,

“Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 KJV)

Taking time for the flurry of daily life to simmer down and the inner life to settle into quietness will carry you to places no amount of activity can carry you.

It’s easy to fall in to the nervous trap of always thinking something must be said. Our flesh crawls at the thought of solitude. Silence forces introspection and the natural man prefers to keep things on the surface.

Set time aside, significant enough to get through the discomfort you might feel, and simply “be” before God,

Don’t wrestle you mind, let the thoughts come and go. The key to silent delight is not to fight, not to strain. Effort stirs the waters and makes them murky again.

As time passes the kicking and screaming of your fleshly mind will subside and a peace that passes understanding will take its place.

In the silence God can speak.

Picking up again on the idea of childlike curiosity I want to encourage you that growing up does not mean stopping playing.

Educationalist Dr Peter Gray rightly explains:

“Perhaps play would be more respected if we called it something like “self-motivated practice of life skills,” but that would remove the lightheartedness from it and thereby reduce its effectiveness. So we are stuck with the paradox. We must accept play’s triviality in order to realize its profundity.”

Sometimes we get a little big for our boots in the prayer closet and think we have to approach the whole affair of prayer with mock seriousness. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not talking here about overtly disrespectful or irreverent behaviour, just a recognition that we are not quite the warriors of Heaven we sometimes make ourselves out to be.

Developing in prayer is as much an act of imagination and creative exploration as it is learning techniques, principles, and processes. Discipline and delight co-exist in the same closet.

Some of the most profound times of learning, breakthrough, and growth for me have been when I let go of my self-consciousness and embarked on emotionally wholehearted experiments with the Holy Ghost.

You need to understand that the secret place of prayer can safely become a secret place of play. God is a Father who loves to play with His children. The Holy Spirit is a joyful companion, not a miserable schoolmaster.

In this regard, I encourage you to shake off the dust and start dancing!

Lift up your voice and sing!

Roll out the red carpet and invite the Holy Ghost to lift you, spin you, change you, challenge you, delight and discipline you. Don’t be fearful to be free.

The wonder of private prayer is that only God can see you, only He is hearing, and He knows you inside out. You may look awesome and be revered by other people, but here in the prayer closet, you are just a kid in His Father’s embrace.

Sure there are times to be serious, but not all the time!

Plus, we never begin any endeavour as an expert. We become skilled and accurate by practice. And we often practice through play.

God’s invitation goes far beyond citizenship of His commonwealth. That in itself is remarkable, but Papa has gone further than that, bringing you into His very own family.

Scripture says:

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;” (Ephesians 2:19 KJV)

And perhaps even more astounding:

“In Him [and in fellowship with one another] you yourselves also are being built up [into this structure] with the rest, to form a fixed abode (dwelling place) of God in (by, through) the Spirit.”(Ephesians 2:22 AMP)

Understand this. In prayer there are so many levels we stand upon.

We exercise our identity and see results.

Sometimes the Holy Spirit will lead you to exercise your divine authority in Christ, trusting in reality. You may be called upon to stand as a soldier in the army of God declaring truth and routing the devil, plundering his stolen goods.

At other times the Holy Spirit will woo you into a bridal intimacy so naked and open your whole being feels ravished and refreshed to the core by His love.

And again, you’ll step into the closet and sometimes He’ll shine a light on your sonship (that goes for daughters too). The Holy Spirit will powerfully speak to you as an heir of God, chosen and appointed together with Christ.

Will The Father Turn Jesus Away?

Could you ever imagine Jesus coming to His Father with a request and being turned away? I suspect your answer is no. Yet you too come as a son or daughter every time you pray. Why then do you feel God might be reluctant to hear and answer your supplications?

Sonship is a whole realm of deep revelation. As with each of the ‘upgrades’ we’re covering every one of them would take a lifetime of study to comprehend and an eternity to experience. Knowing the Father is revolutionary. Mark those words, knowing the Father, not just knowing about Him.

Many Christians operate more like strangers and foreigners when it comes to prayer. Born-again brothers and sisters acting like orphans!

Consider the prayer path Jesus laid out to His early disciples.

What profoundly simple words do we begin with?

“Our Father…”

The Holy Ghost Himself lives within us and stirs our hearts to passionately cry, “Abba, Father, Daddy, God!”

“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15 KJV)

“And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” (Galatians 4:6 KJV)

What an amazing place to begin. As children!

I’ve rarely seen a child who is confident of their parents love who is shy to boldly ask for what they want. Even I, such a starkly imperfect dad, seek every way I possibly can to bless and build my kids. My highest delight is to meet their needs and answer their requests with unreasonable generosity.

How much more our Father in Heaven?

The following verses are worth citing and reading in full.

In prayer we ask, we seek, we knock.

Our sonship does so with utmost expectation!

“Ask, and it shall be given you;
seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:7–11 KJV)

Orphan spirit

An orphan spirit may well be the root most responsible for the endless contention and confusion experienced within the Body of Christ. Insecure foundations in the hearts of God’s children makes the devil’s job easy. He doesn’t need to lift a finger so long as we compare, compete, and covet. Sibling rivalries are enough to splinter and dilute our power.

The revelation of sonship is the cure to this confusion!

Sonship roots you in security, a fearless foundation from which you confidently pray.

These roots of relationship are something you must search out and cultivate. A strong, healthy tree has strong healthy roots. Consider sonship your essential root system. Your love for God, and even more importantly His love for you, is the root and ground of every fruit you will ever bear in your Christian life.

Press hard into the heart of God and grasp this reality with both hands.

Draw Near with full assurance

Sometimes painful, the journey requires healing of the heart, letting go of hurts, and taking hold of truths that sometimes seem too good to be true. Sonship digs deep into your identity.

Don’t be in a rush to turn prayer into something transactional. You are not coming into a corporate boardroom to convince the Trinity to acquiesce to your proposals.

You are coming to a loving Father who is eager to answer.

“…at one time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:12–13)

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:22 KJV)

Give time and prayer to this. Let His love carry you from law to grace. Come near.

Let every resistance to this remarkable reality be dissolved as you spend time in the presence of the father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prayer, much prayer.

Time, much time.

These are the costly components of a powerful prayer life. Don’t believe for a minute prayer is cheap. Your entrance into grace is paid in full, but your own life must now be laid down to taste the full benefits. What is true in theory and bare theology must become true in your naked and open experience.

Let me encourage you though, the cost is a pittance compared to the prize!

I’m an Englishman. The passport I hold affords me the rights and authority of a citizen of Great Britain. It is proof of my heritage and identity.

I also hold another passport and identity card, proving and ratifying my other citizenship.

The Bible.

This document grants me covenant rights to operate in two realms. The natural and the spiritual. Jesus is Lord of both.

I am at once a citizen of earth and a citizen of Heaven.

Scripture says:

“For our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20 NKJV)

Jesus elsewhere speaks of His followers being “in the world” but not “of the world”.

Hebrews 13:14 reminds us that here on earth we have no “abiding city”. Our life, hopes, allegiance, and expectation reside somewhere far more enduring.

I like the King James rendering of the Philippians verse above which reads:

“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20 KJV)

It is from here, our eternal spiritual dwelling, that we exercise eternal principles.

And it flows from a conversation. We are included and invited into the administration and extension of this Heavenly homeland.

Frustrated Saints

Back to my Brit status. I cannot properly exercise my rights as a British citizen if I try to operate by the laws and practices of a foreign country. I need to operate according to the tenets of the constitution of the commonwealth I want to enforce.

This is why prayer is so often a frustrating practice for many Christians. They roll up with the wrong citizenship papers, expecting that natural laws will produce spiritual results.

In prayer, you have to know which passport to pull out when you stand at the gate.

Imagine coming to border control, and they ask for proof of citizenship to enter into and enjoy the benefits, rights, and responsibilities, of the country you want to enter. The guard on duty eyes you carefully and then takes the document from your hand. It’s a letter of commendation from your mom, employer, best friend, or pastor. Maybe all of them. Signed, sealed, and delivered they offer assurance that you are trustworthy and should be allowed into the country.

Will the guard going to let you pass?

I think not.

Yet how often do we come to prayer with a natural mindset, relying on our good works and efforts to take us through?

Equally, it’s not just those who come in religious ignorance who fall into the natural trap. Even those who are well versed in heavenly ways can trip up. The wire that entangles them and keeps them earthbound is familiarity.

Certain principles have worked powerfully in the past, and particular kinds of praying have yielded favorable results. Familiarity leads to aping the emotions and actions that worked yesterday and the subtle move from fervency to mere emotion occurs. Prayers are parroted, sometimes with convincing enthusiasm, but in reality, it’s all wind.

Are You Sitting Comfortably?

Prayer is not conducted from earth to Heaven.

Effective prayer is not based on earthly principles of religious rigour. Instead, we operate from our place of Heavenly authority based on a citizenship granted by virtue of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. He took upon Himself our humanity, so we in turn could sit with Him in Heavenly places. It is from here, above the fray, that true prayer begins.

Scriptures describe how our heavenly citizenship grants us a seat far above spiritual powers and principalities. Spiritually, we are seated together with Christ in heavenly places.

“And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus… Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” (Ephesians 2:6; 1:21–23 KJV)

It’s very difficult to crush satan underfoot if we believe he is over our head.

Where are you sitting? To which government do you give your primary allegiance and loyalty? Are you more comfortable and familiar with your heavenly home, or shackled to this temporary residence in your brief sojourn on earth?

Which kingdom do you consider your true home?

Your daily allegiances and energetic attendance will reveal the truth.

Blocked Prayer Pipes

Satan wants to keep you vitally aware of your earthy nature, and dimly ignorant of your heavenly identity. He does all he can to tie God’s people up in sanctimonious knots, cramming their prayer pipes with the fatty gristle of religion.

Religion is man vainly trying to reach God by his own efforts or behavior.

In the real world, God has already taken the initiative. Christianity is not about man reaching God. The entire gospel is about God reaching man, and restoring mankind to their privileged place in His affections and authority.

We are told to come boldly to the throne of grace.

This is no earthly throne we have been invited to stand before!

Stop screaming helplessly below the clouds hoping some distant deity will squeeze an ounce of mercy your way. The God we serve is far greater and a great deal closer than that.

Your Heaven-born citizenship gives you bold entrance to the halls of Heaven in the same way that my British passport allows me to freely come and go in my natural-born homeland here on planet earth.

The rights and privileges this new conversation afford you are infinite in scope.

Have you been enjoying and exercising your rights as a citizen of Heaven?

Prayer is where your true citizenship is exercised and enjoyed.

One of the strangest statements you’ll ever read is found in the book of 2 Corinthians.

“We look not at the things which are seen, but at things which are not seen:” (2 Corinthians 4:18)

Look at things that are not seen?

Is that not a contradiction in terms? How can you look at something not seen?

It all depends on what eyes you choose to look with.

Paul continues that same verse by explaining, “for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

In the natural Paul would be speaking gobbledegook, but spiritually he is spot on.

Spiritual Eyes

The Scriptures teach that you are a spirit, just like your Father. The real you is the person housed inside this temporary shelter we call a body.

Just as your natural man has senses and outward abilities, so does your spirit man.

You can see and taste, touch, and sense the eternal.

This is why imagination is so powerful.

When harnessed by the spiritual nature it is one of the most potent mechanisms and technologies that God uses to speak to and disclose things to us.

The Power of Imagination

On the negative side we witness the raw potential of imagination first revealed in the book of Genesis:

“…nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.” (Genesis 11:6 KJV)

The temptation is to throw the baby out with the bathwater and run hard in the opposite direction from things that have been misused and misapplied. New Age practitioners exploit the spiritual possibilities of inner visions and imagination, and this has led the people of God to look with distrust on some of the very technologies God has equipped them with to clearly communicate and converse with Him.

Maybe that’s you? Maybe you have covered your spiritual eyes fearing that the same devil swizzing the sorcerers and shamans will somehow hijack your inner screen.

Satan can only counterfeit what God has created. The very existence of a counterfeit experience points to the fact the genuine article exists. Throughout the Scriptures, we find prophetic people described as ‘seers’, and in the new covenant we’ve all been called to live with prophetic insight.

That doesn’t make us all prophets, but we are all pray-ers. Every one of us is called to pray intelligently and with insight. Imagination could quite possibly be described as exactly that in-sight.

Reclaim Your Vision

I encourage you to reclaim your vision!

Practically one way to do this is to close your eyes and imagine a white canvas spanning your field of view. Ask the Holy Spirit to project His images on that canvas. You can even ask a specific question and ask Him to show you a picture.

Then like Habbakuk,

“…watch to see what he will say.” (Habakkuk 2:1 KJV)

I trust the Holy Ghost enough to take this simple exercise and lead you into deeper visionary experiences. I want to be careful not to overcomplicate or over-inflate how exciting this practice can be. I have sometimes heard highly prophetic people speak of dreams, visions, and experiences that leave me spiritually salivating but feeling vastly inadequate in my simplicity.

Instead of backing you off with all sorts of wild and wonderful stories of visions and dreams, I’ll allow the Holy Spirit Himself to lead you in by Himself. He knows what will be beneficial for you, and will not take you places that could divert you from the truth.

Apply Manna Liberally

One thing I would love to recommend as you practice in-sight is that you vigorously apply the Manna Principle outlined in the chapter titled “Stay Curious”. When God shows you something, however hazy it may seem at the outset, stay with Him and ask, “What is it? What does that mean? Show me more. Show me more…”

Like any skill and faculty of the spirit man, your confidence and proficiency will build by use.

Consider this magnificent verse from Hebrews:

“But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:14 KJV)

By reason of use and persistent practice, we exercise our senses to discern spiritual realities.

We see and experience the eternal.