Prayer That Really Works

By Cheri-Anne Rougier

Prayer isnt begging and pleading with God. It isnt a bargaining chip. Its a position of great power, given to all Christians through the grace of Jesus Christ, and its not to be used only as an SOS in times of distress. However, prayer is a necessity for Christians, and when you pray, you are exercising your legal rights, given to you through Jesus Christ.

In Prayer that Really Works, author Cheri-Anne Rougier, an assistant pastor, discusses the importance of prayer in your life as a Christiannot just any prayer, but prayers that actually work for you. She demonstrates how prayer can deepen your relationship with God, and she illustrates that the desire to pray denotes a need to connect to something or someone greater than yourself.

Intended for you to experience a real intimacy with the Holy Spirit, Prayer that Really Works helps you to know him as a personhis attributes, his ministry, and his anointingin a way that leaves you thirsting for his presence daily.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Dec 14, 2016
• ISBN: 9781532008726

Cheri-Anne Rougier

Cheri-Anne Rougier is assistant pastor of Kingdom Covenant Family Church in the Bronx, New York. Rougier is an Admission Counselor with the Job Corps program, has published articles with Adoni magazine, Christian Journal newspaper and Ghana web, and is CEO and founder of Life Water Inc. She has ministered in Canada, Haiti, Jamaica, and Ghana especially in the area of deliverance. Rougier lives with her daughter in New York.

Book preview

PRAYER THAT REALLY WORKS

Copyright © 2016 CHERI-ANNE ROUGIER.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the New Spirit Filled Life Bible, New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

Some scripture quotations are taken from the Amplified® Bible,

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

Strong James, 1822-1894 New Strong’s exhaustive concordance of the Bible

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5320-0871-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-0873-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-0872-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016918066

iUniverse rev. date: 12/13/2016

CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter 1 Prayer 101

Chapter 2 Prayer Made from Love

Chapter 3 Dominion

Chapter 4 Prayer That Really Works

Chapter 5 Praying in the Name of Jesus

Chapter 6 Praying in Tongues

Chapter 7 Principalities and Powers

Chapter 8 Kingdoms

Chapter 9 Pulling Down Strongholds

Chapter 10 The Making of a Champion

Chapter 11 All Authority

Chapter 12 Spiritual Warfare

Chapter 13 Take It by Force

Chapter 14 Conquer the Spirit of Fear

Chapter 15 Intimidate the Intimidator

Appendix: Prayers for Engaging in Spiritual Warfare

I write this book in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and with the help of the Holy Spirit. They have been my companions and inspiration from its beginning to the very end.

I dedicate this book to my daughter Amber-Marie, who is my heavenly blessing, and to my spiritual mother Gladys Martin (Mama G), who mentored me, taught me to love the Word of God, and introduced me to prayer and spiritual warfare.

I also want to thank my pastor, Richard Boakye, Pastor Frank Savary, Daniel Opare, Emmanuel Lamptey, Gloria Schramm, and my mom, because you all believed in me and prayed me through.

PREFACE

My hope is that I can accurately express to you, the reader, the importance of prayer in your life as a Christian—not just any prayer, but prayers that actually work for you. By that I mean prayer that will get results. Although I place great emphasis on the benefits of prayer throughout this book, I hope most importantly to be able to demonstrate how prayer can deepen your relationship with God. The reason we pray is important, but of equal importance is the one to whom we pray. I hope to illustrate to you that the desire to pray denotes a need to connect to something or someone greater than ourselves.

This book is intended for you to experience a real intimacy with the Holy Spirit. In doing so, you will get to know Him as a person—His attributes, His ministry, and His anointing—in such a way that it leaves you thirsting for His presence daily. And yes, I also desire that as you read this book God will give you the spirit of wisdom and new revelations in the knowledge of His Word. I pray that your spiritual eyes will be opened to see beyond the things of this world and that by faith the power of the Holy Spirit will be evident in your life.

You see, the Holy Spirit is a very important part of the believer’s prayer life. In fact, we need both His empowerment to pray and His promptings to pray things we cannot possibly comprehend with our physical understanding. The Spirit-filled believer gives birth to prayer through the Holy Spirit. The angel told Mary, the mother of Jesus, that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and that the power of the Highest would overshadow her. As you spend time in prayer, I pray that you too will experience the power of the Highest as He overshadows you and that, like Mary, your life will never be the same.

I pray that as you read this book God will increase you in every capacity and that His blessings will be an ever-present companion in your life. I believe that the Word of God will activate the mantle of prayer on you, enabling you to be more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ. It is my heart’s desire that as you meditate on the scriptures you will fully believe the Word of God, with no room for doubt. For we have been approved by God and entrusted with the gospel, which is His Word. It is such an honorable position to be trusted by God, and that honor is manifested by us in prayer. I believe that as you embrace the Word of God, you will move from having faith to having the greatest faith. As you come to a deeper understanding of God, there will be nothing that is too difficult for you. My prayer for you, my beloved, is for you to experience the manifold blessings of Elohim.

CHAPTER 1

PRAYER 101

LET ME BEGIN BY STATING what prayer isn’t. Prayer isn’t begging and pleading with God. It isn’t a bargaining chip. It is a position of great power, given to all Christians through the grace of Jesus Christ, and it is not to be used only as an SOS in times of distress. While prayer is the right of every believer, there are certain conditions that must be met in order for it to work effectively. The most important of these is faith. Prayer cannot work outside of a person’s faith level.

Prayer is not omnipotent; only God is. Prayer can be hindered, delayed, and resisted, but it can also prevail. For example, disobedience or unforgiveness can hinder a person’s prayer from being answered. Why do I say that? Because these conditions give the Enemy legal grounds to block your prayer.

Although prayer is a powerful force, it will not and cannot work against someone’s will. If I pray for someone’s healing but that person doesn’t want to be healed, my prayer can be hindered by that person’s desire not be healed.

Prayer is a necessity for Christians, and when we pray, we are exercising our legal rights, given to us through Jesus Christ.

As there are conditions to prayer, there are also different types of prayer. Here is what the apostle Paul said about prayer. Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercession and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in godliness and reverence. For this is good in the sight of God our Savior (1 Timothy 2:1–3).

According to this scripture, we are supposed to pray for those who are in authority—presidents, prime ministers, mayors, congresspeople, senators, and legislators—and anyone who holds a leadership position in a nation. Why? So that we, the citizens, can live in peace. If we want peace in the nation where we live, we must begin by praying for those who are in authority in that nation. Furthermore, scripture says that doing this is good and acceptable in the sight of God.

Prayer Is Not without Conditions

There are spiritual laws, and when they are broken or not met, prayers cannot work, no matter how powerful they are. Here—let me give you an example. Let’s say my brother is unsaved. I want more than anything for him to give his life to Christ, but no matter how much I desire for him to be saved or how strong my faith is, my prayer cannot get him saved. This is because the spiritual law concerning salvation says that he must, on his own, desire to be born-again and confess with his mouth and believe in his heart that Jesus Christ is Lord (Romans 10:19). Until he does so, my prayer cannot overrule that law. I can pray and ask the Lord to send him someone who can minister the gospel to him, but he would still have to receive the gospel on his own. If it were possible for my prayer to save my family, I would have prayed my entire family into the kingdom, from the youngest to the oldest. I wouldn’t allow any of them to go to hell.

While prayer is not primarily a matter of asking for something, it often is. Sometimes prayer is acknowledgment. At other times it is thanksgiving, worship, submission, intercession, or supplication. In all these aspects, one thing is certain: prayer—no matter the length, format, or reason—is always addressed to someone other than ourselves, a deity with supernatural abilities, resources, and power to grant an answer to our prayers.

Prayer for many Christians is a spiritual experience. For others it is an integral part of their religious beliefs. For many more it’s a combination of both. Prayer requires a lesser or finite being reaching out to an infinitely higher being. Essentially, prayer should be a central part of the life of every Christian because prayer is the fuel that ignites a victorious Christian life. Every Christian’s victory must first be won through prayer. The disciples of Jesus said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray. Perhaps this should be the heart’s cry of every Christian.

When I speak of prayer in this book, I am not referring to words that are linguistically structured to impress others. I am talking about prayer based on the Word of God—the way Jesus taught born-again believers and the new covenant church to pray.

How do we learn to pray? By going to the Word. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and by the hands of many writers, God has penned the most effective manual on prayer: the Bible. In it are the keys to prayer that really work.

I have found that learning by example is very effective. If I want to learn how to cook, I will look at the lives and methods of those who have mastered the art of cooking—and then apply their actions to my own experience. Application is the key; it is hands-on, personal, and practical. There is no other way to gain the skills I seek. The more I’m engaged in the process, the better I become. Over time I may even master my cooking style well enough to teach someone else. Prayer works the same way.

Let’s look in our prayer manual, the Bible, to see whether we have such an example to follow. Of course we do! The life of Jesus Christ is the perfect example of praying the right way to achieve dramatic results.

Raising Lazarus from the Dead

One such remarkable incident is recorded in the Bible. Actually, there are many such occasions, of course, but the one that stands out to me is the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus, a close friend of Jesus, was sick and eventually died. Somehow this news got to Jesus, and He decided to visit His friend’s family. When He finally arrived in the village, Lazarus had already been dead for four days, but Jesus had come with a single intention: to raise Lazarus from the dead. Jesus’s purpose for going to Lazarus’s family was not simply to express sympathy and condolences. He had a superior motive.

Truly it was important for the family to see Jesus there as a friend, as it showed His love and how much He cared for them in their time of need. But Jesus’s disposition was different from everyone else’s—even His disciples’. Yes, I’m sure it saddened Him to see the pain His bereaved friends were going through. But He alone knew something they didn’t. Previously, He had told His disciples that they were all going back to Judea—the very place where the Jews wanted to stone Him. His disciples probably thought He was nuts to go back there. But Jesus said to them, Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.

His disciples, having no clue that Lazarus was actually dead, said to Jesus, Lord, if he sleeps he will be well. This prompted Jesus to tell them bluntly that Lazarus was really dead. What was in the minds of the disciples on their way to Judea? I know they never even guessed what Jesus was about to do. Oh, but Jesus did. He was about to strike yet another blow to the Enemy, Satan.

I get very excited when I read this scripture because it was a remarkable situation. It presented so many challenges that even the slightest possibility of Lazarus being raised back to life seemed impossible. You can read the account in John 11:11–44.

The first and most obvious challenge was that Lazarus was no longer sick; he was actually dead—and had been that way for four days! Second, Lazarus’s body, being dead for that long, had begun to decompose. Third, the body wasn’t easily accessible. It wasn’t as if he were lying on a bed in a room someplace; he was already buried in a sealed tomb. And, of course, there was the issue of Jesus’s defilement by coming into contact with a dead body. So Jesus had several serious issues to deal with in bringing this man back to life.

What amazes me most about this case is the decomposition of the body. Jesus had raised the dead twice before, but this time it wasn’t going to be simply a matter of bringing a man back to life. In this case, all of Lazarus’s flesh and organs would have to be immediately reconstructed and restored the moment he awoke. Jesus would have to do something that had never before been done, seen, or even imagined. It was unheard of and was by all natural laws absolutely impossible. Oh, the things God is willing to do for those who love Him! If He could give life to mere dust, surely He could handle this case.

Jesus was aware of the physical and natural laws at work. He understood that on a natural level His friend Lazarus was gone—sleeping, as He put it. Physically, He saw what everyone else saw, but it was God’s time to display the power of prayer: specifically the power of prayer over the works of the Enemy. Jesus was going to bring His friend back to life! But how? How could someone’s rotted body receive life again? Could a rotted corpse respond to the voice of Jesus Christ?

I don’t know if this situation qualifies as a problem or a predicament. What I do know is that it looked pretty impossible from all human angles. Even Martha, Lazarus’s sister, reminded Jesus that her brother had been dead for four days. If Jesus even considered opening the tomb, the stench alone would be unbearable. Nevertheless, Jesus proceeded with His plan. He asked that the stone be removed from the entrance of the tomb.

Jesus Arrives

Just imagine the scene for a minute. Jesus arrives with His disciples in the village of Lazarus. At the house of Lazarus’s family, as one would expect, there are many friends, neighbors, and family members who have stopped by to express their condolences. More than likely, the house is crowded. Someone tells Martha that Jesus is coming, so she leaves the house and goes to meet Him. She greets Him, and perhaps hugs Him, relieved that He has finally come. She says to Him, Master, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.

What is she implying? That Jesus is too late? That Lazarus is already dead, and that’s it? That nothing can be done now? But then Martha adds, And even now I know that whatever You ask from God, He will grant it to you. Is Martha implying that Jesus needs to do something? What does she have in mind? Well, it can’t be the notion of bringing her brother back to life, because Jesus Himself has told her that her brother will rise again, and she has responded that she knows he will do so on the last day—not today. Little does she know that history is in the making on this very day.

Martha goes back to the house to tell her sister, Mary, that Jesus is close by and is asking for her. Without saying a word to anyone, Mary quickly leaves the house and goes to meet Him. Her abrupt departure from the house causes a bit of a stir. The people who are in the house with her follow her because of how hastily she has left, assuming that her grief has caused her to behave this way. They are obviously concerned and are trying to console her, so they follow her, assuming that she is going to her brother’s tomb to grieve.

Mary sees Jesus, and the pain of her loss is overwhelming. She falls at the feet of Jesus and cries uncontrollably. He sees and feels her pain because of His love for her, and He is deeply moved by her sadness. He is full of compassion for her and her sister, for He understands what they are going through.

Where have you laid him? Jesus asks, and she brings Him to Lazarus’s tomb.

Take away the stone, He commands. And then He prays: Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me (John 11:41).

Jesus prays. Simple enough, right? He didn’t have to fast for twenty-one days. He simply talks to His Father and expects an answer. Does His Father answer Him? Does His prayer work? Let’s see.

Now when He had said these things [prayed], He cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Loose him, and let him go’

(John 11:43–44).

What do you think? Did Jesus’s prayer work perfectly? Yup! Super perfectly, in fact. Every part of Lazarus’s previously rotted body was intact—even his hair, fingernails, and toenails. Everything! When did all of this perfection happen? The moment Jesus believed! Jesus’s prayer wasn’t for His own sake; He could have raised Lazarus without praying. But He was making a point to the people around Him: that He was from God, sent by God to do the work of God, which included raising the dead. So when He called Lazarus, His words, being spirit and life, created new life for Lazarus. His prayer is our example, because it was a faith-filled prayer.

Now, how does that relate to our own prayer life? Can you and I be like that? Can our prayers work like that? I say emphatically: yes!

If you think not, why? Is it because it was Jesus who said it?

Perhaps you are saying, That was Jesus! He’s God and can do anything He wants. I am just me. I can’t do stuff like that. May I remind you that Jesus was a man, the Christ? Yes, He was God, but He wasn’t functioning as God when He raised Lazarus from the dead. If He had been, He wouldn’t have needed to pray.

Do you still believe that your prayer can’t work like that?

If you say yes, remember that your words carry power and create what you say. Do you still say yes?

Well, that settles it then. You’re right! If you keep saying that your prayer won’t work like that, then it won’t. Prayer that works necessitates praying by faith.

In this situation Jesus said to God, I know that You always hear me. In other words, He was saying that this situation was no exception. He believed that His Father would answer Him because it was what God always did. There was no reason for Jesus to doubt, even with the severity of the situation. And Jesus had no doubt!

Do you know that Jesus did experience one moment of doubt in His life? It only lasted a moment. It was when He considered the weight of the sins of the world and the suffering that He was about to endure to redeem humanity. He doubted for a second that He could do so, but He quickly collected Himself, saying, Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done. He didn’t allow His feelings to take over His mind. He nipped them in the bud.

We must not allow our doubts to ensnare our confidence in God.

Is it possible for us to be that confident in prayer? Sure! Sure, it is.

Do you know that there are no varying levels of difficulties for God? He handles a headache the same way He handles death. We are the ones who categorize such things. You can pray like Jesus and get results like He did. It is possible for you. It is possible for me. All we need is faith.

Let’s consider three scriptures that support this.

And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive (Matthew 21:22).

Look at the word believing. The verb is in present continuous tense. When do you believe? At the exact moment when you ask for something in prayer, not after you pray.

So the Lord said, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea and it would obey you (Luke 17:9).

Not satisfied? Okay, let’s keep going. Maybe someone will say, You know, Jesus didn’t mean that literally. It’s just an analogy. Even if He didn’t mean it literally, you can agree that He was talking about using a small measure of faith to produce a positive, seemingly impossible outcome.

Here is the third scripture. So Jesus answered and said to them. ‘Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain. Be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask for when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them’ (Mark 11:22–24).

This is exactly the same principle that Jesus applied to raise Lazarus from the dead. If you do the same, your prayer will work for you. Jesus had enough faith to raise Lazarus from the dead. He believed even before He got there, and He used prayer to demonstrate His faith. If you want your prayers to be effective, start at your faith level, and then grow to greater and greater levels of faith, for your faith can be built up.

How much faith did Jesus have when He raised Lazarus from the dead? Enough to raise him up. Perhaps for Him it was a small amount but for us it’s monumental. Since you and I haven’t attained that yet, we can safely infer that our level is below that of Jesus—or else we would certainly have done it already. Somewhere in the world, someone is doing it, because that someone is at the faith level that Jesus had when He raised the dead. That’s where we want to be.

This is why we must work on increasing our faith in God every day. And we achieve this by actively studying His Word.

Now, faith is just one key, a very important one to help us pray the kind of prayer that works. But there are other keys: for example, forgiveness.

Holding a grudge can create a toxic environment that breeds resentment and hatred, things that can hinder our prayers from being answered. Unforgiveness is a huge barrier to answered prayer. Forgiveness is not easy, but it must be done if we want our prayer to work. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive your trespasses (Mark 11:25).

I know this is not easy. Believe me: I’ve been there. There was a point in my life when it took me more than ten years to forgive someone very close to me. But the moment I did, my relation with God deepened, and my relationship with that person blossomed into a friendship that only God could build. I decided to let go of my grudge, and you can too. Just decide … and let go. Unforgiveness is a burden, I assure you. A very heavy one. We carry it twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year,