Dr. David Jeremiah - The Prayer Matrix: Plugging into the Unseen Reality

THE PRAYER MATRIX
published by Multnomah Publishers, Inc.

2004 by David P. Jeremiah, Trustee of the David P. Jeremiah Family Trust dated March 15, 1999
Published in association with the literary agency of
Yates and Yates, 1100 Town & Country Rd., Suite 1300, Orange, CA 92868

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from:
The Holy Bible, New King James Version 1984 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Other Scripture quotations are from:
The Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV) 1973, 1984 by International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House

The poem on is adapted from The Difference by Grace L. Naessens.

Multnomah is a trademark of Multnomah Publishers, Inc., and is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The colophon is a trademark of Multnomah Publishers, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout prior written permission.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jeremiah, David.
The prayer matrix / by David Jeremiah.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-307-83125-5
1. Prayer. I. Title.
BV210.3.J47 2004
248.32dc22

2003022663

v3.1

Introduction

O UR G REATEST G IFT

Whats the most wonderful gift in Gods great big bag of blessings for us here on earth?

For me, Ive found that greatest blessing to be prayer. I believe each of us has a tremendous potential for God through the ministry of praying. Its something attainable by all of us as believers, no matter who we are or what our life circumstances. Im speaking of something wonderful and joyous and indescribable. Its something God designed to bless us beyond all imagining. And yet it is easily within our reach as a thrilling, daily adventure.

But I must confess to you that prayer can be the hardest work I do, and I suspect there are times when you feel the same way. Even the disciples who lived and walked with Jesus must have had many of the same frustrations with prayer you and I have. Why else would they have come to their Master one day and asked, Lord, please show us how to pray?

Why is prayer so often difficult? And why does consistent prayer take such discipline on our part?

When I began a battle against cancer a few years ago, I learned something about prayer, and I know of no better way to say it than this: Theres prayer, and then theres prayer. When things are going smoothly in your life, you pray one way; when you get into a tight spot, you pray another way. Your pleas become more intense; you find yourself crying out to God.

I believe God wants us to pray earnestly like that all the time, on both good days and bad. However, that kind of prayer just doesnt come naturally to us on a regular basis. Thats where the discipline comes inand thats why its so good for us to be reminded about the value of prayer. My hope in this book is that I might be able to encourage you in some small measure by passing along to you what I have learned along those lines.

This book is a direct result of my experiences over the past several years. God has taught me more than I can express about personal, particular, persistent praying.

I know that He has been in control of the circumstances that have kept drawing me back to Him in a deeper way. More than ever I know that I need Him, that Im a child in my relationship to Him, and that Hes my Father. I know I think of God more than I did before cancer entered my life. I know Ive become more sensitive to His will and to being holy. And I know Ive discovered a dimension to prayer that I hadnt realized was even there.

Ive discovered a dimension to prayer I hadnt realized was even there.

But I dont write this book as an expert on prayer; Im nothing but a fellow learner. In fact, I feel like such an infant when it comes to this holy discipline, and I praise and thank the Lord for His patience with me.

Its my profound hope that this book might serve as a springboard to launch even a few of Gods people into greater depths of prayer. Ive prayed that many who read it will catch the same spirit of excitement that I feel about this subjectbecause Im convinced that until we get serious about prayer, we wont know the half of our Lords desire for our lives.

Chapter 1

F OR THE A SKING

Once when my wife and I were traveling and had gone out to dinner with some friends, my cell phone rang in the middle of our meal. I answered it, and it was our grandson, David Todd, who was four years old at the time.

Poppy, he said, where are you?

I told him where we were.

Poppy, he said, could you bring home the shopping mall magazine from the airplane?

Now that wasnt exactly a request I might have anticipated. But it happened to be a major concern at the time to David Todd.

I found out later (when his dad got on the phone) that on a long airplane flight home with his mother, my grandson had discovered that little magazine in the seat pocket of the airplane that shows pictures of all those wonderful and interesting products. (I think hes inherited some shopping genes from his grandmother.) He started paging through the magazine and looking at all those things, and then got excited to learn that when the flight was over he could actually take the magazine home with him.

However, he went to sleep during the flight, and when the plane landed and they got off, he forgot the magazine. When he remembered it too late, he was quite disappointed.

He had asked me, and thats all he had to do.

So I promised my grandson that I would bring him a copy of that magazine on our way home. He had asked me for it, and thats all he had to do. Why? Because hes my grandson, and anything he requests from meif its within my power, and it isnt harmful for himIm going to do for him.