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THE PRAYERORGANIZER

Dr. Jim Richards

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© Copyright James B. Richards 1985Revised Edition 2013 © Copyright James B. Richards

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published by:True Potential, Inc.PO Box 904Travelers Rest, SC 29690Website: www.truepotentialmedia.com

ISBN: 978-1-935769-56-9

Impact International Publications® 3300 N. Broad Place Huntsville, AL 35805 Phone: (256) 536-9402 Fax: (256) 536-4530 E-mail: publications@impactministries.com Website: www.impactministries.com

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Other Books by Dr. Richards:

Taking the Limits Off God

The Gospel of Peace

Grace: The Power to Change

My Church, My Family: How to Have a Healthy Relationship with the Church

Take Control of Your Life

Satan Unmasked

How to Stop the Pain

We Still Kiss

Breaking the Cycle: The Ultimate Solution to Destructive Patterns

Wired For Success, Programmed For Failure

Moving Your Invisible Boundaries

Anatomy of a Miracle

How To Write, Publish and Market you Own Bestseller

Leadership That Builds People, Volume I: Developing the Heart of a Leader

Leadership That Builds People, Volume II: Developing Leaders Around You

The Lost Art of Leadership

Effective Small Group Ministry in the New Millennium

Supernatural Ministry: Unleashing the Gifts Within You

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WORKBOOKSFoundations of Faith Workbook Relevant Ministry WorkbookImpact Sponsoring Program People Skills WorkbookTeam Building WorkbookEffective Small Group Ministry Workbook

The list of workbooks is constantly being updated. Workbooks are used in both pulpit teaching and small group settings. Please visit www.drjamesbrichards.com regularly for updates.

LIVING UNDER LORDSHIPLiving Under Lordship is a mentoring program developed by Dr. Richards that he used with hundreds of people over the years. This program is designed to take you on a journey of self-development as a disciple of the Lord Jesus. For information about this free program, go to www.drjamesbrichards.com

LEADERSHIP TRAININGImpact International School of Ministry was a residential program that offered accredited degrees in theology and various areas of ministry for 27 years. Now, you can receive the same practical training while earning a certification in your area of ministry.

Download your free Catalog today!

To receive any of the above, call or contact:

Impact Ministries® 3516 S. Broad Place SW Huntsville, AL 35805 Phone: (256) 536-9402E-mail: impactministries@impactministries.comWebsite: www.impactministries.com

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New Covenant Prayer

Most of what is taught on prayer is based on Old Covenant models. Very little about prayer is based on the finished work of Jesus. This is the primary reason for the lack of results in the prayer life of the average believer.

The Prayer Organizer is designed to help the believer establish a prayer life that:

1. Is based on the finished work of Jesus

2. Is rooted firmly on the provisions of the New Covenant

3. Helps us see God as He is

4. Reveals our new identity

5. Establishes the heart in God’s promises

6. Promotes unshakeable faith in God and His Word

7. Severs the connection with the Old man

8. Renews the Mind

9. Helps you put on the new man

10. Creates an awareness of our position “in Christ”

To receive your FREE Introduction video, Introduction to New Covenant Prayer: Using The Prayer Organizer, please purchase The Prayer Organizer.

FREE INTRODUCTION VIDEO

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Prayer that Establishes the Heart

Early in my relationship with the Lord, I discovered that God was a heart God! All He did in the lives of men was done in and through the heart. I made it my top priority to connect with God and His promises in my heart. I didn’t want religion; I didn’t want intellectualism. I wanted a relationship with Jesus that filled my heart and expressed itself in my life!

Like all new believers, I set my heart to know God intimately. I did not want religious information about Him. I wanted a personal relationship with Him. I soon saw that great men in the Bible, as well as well Jesus, spent time alone with God. I made it my practice to spend daily intimate time with God, reading and meditating on His Word, praying and listening. Like anyone, my prayer life had ups and downs. I had to learn how to have a relationship with God that stayed fresh and vibrant! There were times of sheer determination. There were times of boredom, and there were times of intense personal growth and revelation.

Like all relationships, my involvement with God evolved over the years. As I came to know God more personally, the way I prayed changed. The more knowledgeable I became of the New Covenant, the finished work and the promises of God, the more confident (faith-filled) I became. As I matured, my prayer life became less self-centered and more Christ-centered. It became less about what I wanted and more about what we shared together. Acknowledging what God had done through the cross replaced asking God to do things. Agreeing with whom God said I was in Jesus replaced prayers for change in my life. Thanksgiving for what was mine in Christ replaced gratitude after I saw something manifest in my life.

The greatest turn took place when I was faced with a life-threatening health issue. From birth, my life had been plagued with a congenital kidney disease. This had affected me for years, but it had finally reached a critical state. I was deeply in debt and, to be honest, my life was not working.

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Although I had spent several years in successful ministry and had seen many miracles, I was not experiencing the healing I needed to save my life. I had all the right information, and I had what I now realize was a firm intellectual grasp on the truth of God’s promises. I had a renewed mind! But, I did not know how to actuate those promises by “putting on” the new man. I didn’t know how to transform Biblical truth into Biblical experience. I knew God’s Word was true. I knew His promises were sure. However, I made up my mind that I would experience that for which Jesus had paid such a great price!

I began to read the Bible as if I had never before read it. I began to see a connection among the promises of God, the names of God, and my new identity in Christ! I learned to reflect, ponder, consider, and meditated on Scriptures that I had previously taken for granted. Rather than simply quoting the scriptures, I involved my entire being in experiencing them as real in my life now. I determined that I would experience the life Jesus purchased for me, rather than continue to ask God to give it to me. My prayer life became a life of meditative worship that allowed me to experience God and His promises in my heart.

Here are the key things I learned through that period of my life:

1. God had given all the inheritance to Jesus. The covenant was not with me, it was with Him (Gal. 3:16). Therefore, the promises were sure.

2. Because I was in Christ, I was a joint heir in the inheritance. There was nothing left for God to give. It had already been freely given. Rom. 8:17

3. All the promises of God were already mine. 2 Cor. 1:20

4. I was delivered from all the curses. Gal. 3:13

5. Until I experienced the promise as being true, it was not affecting my heart.

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6. I had to bring all of my being to bear in experiencing what I was saying, as I acknowledged God’s promises as mine.

7. I could not separate my ability to receive the promises from my identity.

8. I had to recognize the congruence of God’s name, His promises, and my identity.

9. It didn’t matter how much of the Bible I read each day, what mattered was whether or not I experienced it as real in my own life.

10. The greatest expression of faith occurs when I acknowledge what I have in Christ.

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The end result of this transformation in my prayer life was a supernatural healing that set me free from a life-dominating sickness, deliverance from financial lack, and a development in my personal character. I have spent the last twenty-five years spreading the Gospel around the world. But most importantly, every day of my life, I have awakened to feel the love of God in such a way that it has impacted every relationship I have and everything I do.

The Prayer Organizer was birthed out of my personal time with God. It was not created to be placed on the market. It emerged from my prayer closet. After years of sharing these principles with others, I finally agreed to put this in a format that would be understandable and beneficial to others.

There are several important principles that are crucial to the use of The Prayer Organizer:

1. Through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, God has given us everything we need.

a. 2 Peter 1:3-4, His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

2. We are qualified for every promise of God because we are in the Lord Jesus.

a. 2 Cor. 1:20, For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ (NIV).

b. Col. 1:12, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

3. We are delivered from every curse through the Lord Jesus.

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a. Gal. 3:13, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.

4. We have a new identity in the Lord Jesus.

a. 2 Cor. 5:17-18, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

5. Faith is a heart belief not an intellectual acknowledgment.

a. Mark 11:23, 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

b. Rom. 10:9, …believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (healed, delivered, blessed, prospered, protected set apart, made whole).

6. The only way to abide in the promises is to abide in Him!

7. To abide in Him, I must have an ever-present awareness of Christ in my heart.

8. Fellowshipping (communion) with God is when I come to Him around that which we share. Because I was crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20), and since I am raised up with Him (Col. 3:1-2), I must set my awareness on those things that are above.

9. Because I am in Him, I am as He is now… at the right hand of God (1 John 4:17)!

10. Because I am in Him, and he is in me, I am as righteous and as qualified as I can ever be.

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Ministering to Your Heart

The Bible tells us to write on our heart, direct our heart, establish our heart, and believe in our heart! The realm of the heart is under our control.1 God made our spirit new when we were born again. In our spirit, we are completely righteous. At the new birth. all of God’s laws and all they imply were written on our heart and the deep (subconscious) aspect of our mind. However, our conscious mind is being influenced by the input we receive through the five senses. The soul is the place where we experience what happens in our body or spirit. The heart is that place where the soul and the spirit merge together. It is the real you. It is the seat of your being. It is that place from which your life is governed without conscious thought.

Because the mind influences the soul, which ultimately affects the heart, the Bible tells us to renew our (conscious) mind. If we continue to think the way we have formerly thought, we will soon corrupt our heart. There will be conflict between our heart and mind, emotions and feelings. This is the cause of all wavering. Faith does not waver; it is an immovable trust!

When we are first born again, we should be taught that we are a new creation with a new identity. Our job, then, is not to become what God wants us to become. It is to connect to who we are in Christ and experience the new man. Religion convinces us that we are the old man, and all of our sins of the past have been forgiven, and that we must now strive to become what God wants us to be. This is called dead works.

Because we believe that we are still who we once were, we corrupt our heart. We persuade our heart that we are not what God wants.

1 “Developing the Heart, The Source of Life,” James B, Richards, Impact International Publications, Huntsville, AL

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So, we write untruth on our heart. We deny the righteousness of Christ in pursuit of our own righteousness. We write a lie on our heart!

Heart beliefs are the product of our sense of identity more than anything else. Everything we do emerges from who we believe we are. We have spent a lifetime writing things on our heart that has created a false sense of identity. We don’t believe in our hearts that we have died with Christ and that we have been raised up in Him, with a new identity. We must renew our mind in this new identity more than in any other area. This is the root. Our behavior is simply the fruit!

Things are written on our heart by a combination of information and emotion. When we were children, people said things about/to us that caused strong emotions. That information, plus strong emotion, caused us to develop a heart-felt belief. Much of our self-perception was formed by childhood experiences. Likewise, we have faced many events in our life that caused strong emotion. The beliefs we attached to those emotions caused things to be written on our heart.

Most of what was written on our heart was not by our choice. It was by default. Much of what was written on our heart was done by those who did not love or accept us. Too often, it was the product of pain and sorrow. Now, you have the opportunity to write something new on your heart. You have the tools to establish/renew your mind in your new identity in Jesus. You are now capable of persuading your heart of the love God has for you. You can now experience the power of God’s grace, which makes you able to live in righteousness and complete victory.

Whether you confess these Scriptures verbally or meditate on them, it is essential that you involve every aspect of your being. Every Scripture you confess, you should see as a present reality. When you acknowledge yourself as righteous, see yourself as righteous, experience yourself healed! Allow yourself to experience the emotions of complete victory. When the Word of God becomes

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such a reality that you experience it, you will write something new on your heart.

Read through the following suggestions before beginning to use The Prayer Organizer:Sample

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How To Use The Prayer Organizer

1. Always remember: this is a guideline to prayer, not the only way to pray. As you pray, add Scriptures that suit your intentions and your own approach to prayer.

2. Try to visualize, imagine or experience what you are praying/saying. If you simply read these Scriptures on a daily basis, boredom will soon win over excitement. See these promises as being fulfilled in your own life.

3. Never rush through the organizer. You may find it needful to divide your prayer time into segments. You may use certain segments only. Be creative and sensitive to what really works for you. What works will need to be modified as you grow and change.

4. As you pray and meditate, listen for creative ideas. As you wait on the Lord, wisdom and revelation can come about because of those things you have presented to the Father. This is a time of very creative ideas for me.

5. Use a journal to write those things about which the Lord speaks to you. Your organizer can become a journal of revelation and events that will be valuable throughout your life. I keep my calendar and things-to-do list close by when I pray. If I don’t write down what I feel led to do, I will forget. If I try to remember while I continue praying, it becomes a distraction. But, when it has been written down, I know I have captured what God is speaking to me.

6. You may want to rearrange the section titled “Thy Kingdom Come.” Don’t feel you have to pray about all these things every day. These are just suggestions of how to intercede when you do feel led.

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7. There are many different types of prayer. This organizer is designed to teach you to deal with the core of New Covenant Prayer. Allow the Lord to lead you into intercession, praying in the Spirit, and all types of prayer. While it is essential to have a plan, never limit yourself to one type of prayer or use only one plan.

8. Read the instructions on each of the divider pages. View the Introduction video (www.Impactministries.com/prayerorganizer) before you begin. On this web page (www.Impactministries.com/prayerorganizer), we also have a prayer and meditation audio designed to help facilitate an emotional environment which is conducive to prayer. On a subliminal level, it has many of the same Scriptures you are confessing.

9. Look up the Scriptures that are being used, so you will have the full realization of confessing God’s Word.

10. Always involve you inner being. To pray, worship, sing, or praise without involving our entire being is what Jesus called lip service.

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We hope you've enjoyed this free sample of The Prayer Organizer. For more information on purchasing The Prayer Organizer, please visit http://www.truepotentialmedia.com/product/the-prayer-organizer/

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