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Psalm 141: 2

"Let my prayer be set before You as incense, The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice."

One of the most powerful things in the kingdom of God is prayer. The most vital part of your intimate relationship with Jesus is prayer. Things change on the earth and in your life because of your prayers. It's a super duper simple idea, and it's a tough discipline when you have to try and still your body and mind to pray. Think about the psalmists' beautiful idea of how our prayers are received in Heaven before the Throne of God! Think of it as your heart and mind and words mixed in with the life changing power of the Holy Spirit being lifted to Heaven as a sweet smelling aroma, and as a sacrifice.

Prayer is a sacrifice. Lift your hands up in the sky. If you feel weird doing it just do it alone in your house if you want to, and show God that you are all His. His alone. Raising your hands is showing him one representation of the sacrifice of laying down your life for Him and His kingdom. Prayer and surrender is the key to living a victorious and undefeated life on earth for Him. Prayer is a sacrifice though, it takes discipline and time. Do it, and you have no idea of how powerful and magnificent your life will be.

One of my favourite veteran authors on prayer is E. M Bounds. He was a nineteenth century writer and he wrote numerous books on prayer. In his book "E.M Bounds on Prayer," he wrote this (as well as loads more) on prayer:
"The most important lesson we can learn is how to pray. Indeed, we must pray so that our prayers take hold of God. The man who has done the most and the best praying is the most immortal, because prayers do not die. Perhaps the lips that uttered them are closed in death, or the heart that felt them may have ceased to beat, but the prayers live before God, and God's heart is set on them. Prayers outlive the lives of those who uttered them--outlive a generation, outlive an age, outlive a world."