The Real Victory in all service is won in secret beforehand by prayers. ~ S.D. Gordon

Prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare.

Pray hard and pray long.

Ephesians 6:17-18 (MSG)

How can we expect to get real victory in our lives without prayers?

Honestly, we can’t. We need the power of heaven to move here on earth in order to see any real victory in our lives, over our sin, ourselves, or any sticky situation we’re experiencing. And, life is full of messy, sticky, unlovely circumstances we can’t clean up on our own. That’s why we need Jesus to teach us how to pray. He’s the pro right? If Jesus needed to pray, I know I sure do. And, who better than Jesus to teach us how to pray with power to produce the outcome leading us right to real victory. We get millions of chances to get it right and thankfully our grace-filled God knew we’d need a lifetime of second chances to figure it all out. Are you ready for a life of real victory?

Here’s 6 powerful prayers to help you get real victory in your life.

Fortunately, our prayers are like arrows bringing heaven down to earth. That’s where the power resides so let’s bring it down and into every situation, circumstance, relationship, and moment of our lives. Our part is to learn to send out our arrows with precision in powerful, purposeful, and productive prayers. Learning to pray prayers that will produce the result and outcome we desire takes practice and perseverance. We can’t be faint of heart if we to become a Victory Girl and lead the victorious life! Our strategy? The Art of the Aim. We’ve been given a million second chances and a quiver full of arrows to defend ourselves against the enemy. Practice builds the strength needed and develops the accuracy required to shoot straight into the enemy’s camp. (adapted from, Becoming a Victory Girl by Amy Elaine Martinez, pg 21)

If you want Real Victory, pray. Pray powerful prayers aimed right at the enemy’s camp.

Most importantly, when our prayers align with His, God hears our prayers and acts on them bringing breakthrough in our circumstances. This is what we were made for; we were made for more.

My question:  What are God-worshippers like? 

Your answer:  Arrows aimed at God’s bull’s-eye.

Psalm 25:12 (MSG)

Yes, the bull’s-eye is the score, the win. It’s the abundance; it’s where the overflow occurs. When we hit our mark through the art of the aim, we know we’re in alignment with God’s heart and His will. I read somewhere the other day, “Prayer is how we live in the abundance of God.” Might I just add to that please?

Prayer is how we live a life of REAL VICTORY.

All week long, I’ve been returning to Matthew 6:8-13. Finding myself in the pages of my Bible, but always coming back to the basics of The Lord’s Prayer. It felt familiar in the midst of much unknown. However, before I realized it, I found myself being a little critical of this childish prayer. I memorized it in Sunday School. I knew it by heart.

My question:  Why, this prayer, Lord? Your answer:  These are My words; real victory, power is in this prayer. 

With great purpose, Jesus taught the disciples to pray in this way, “on earth as it is in heaven…” That is exactly the kind of prayer the enemy does not want us praying. Truth is, we can come boldly before the throne asking God to move heaven and earth on our behalf.  Oh, there’s some of the power I had been judging so harshly a few moments before. This is where the Abundant Life of John 10:10 is fleshed out and we begin to trade our defeat for victory… real-live victory.

“A thief has only one thing in mind ~ he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect~ life in its fullness until you overflow!” John 10:10 (TPT)

See that! Underline these powerful words:

Everything. Abundance. More than. Overflow. Life.

The enemy doesn’t want me or you to have any of our inheritance, not one bit of the good stuff (please note: I’m not talking about a prosperity gospel here- none of the name it and claim it theology here.) What I’m talking about is getting to the place in our lives where we’re prayed up and experiencing the full, abundant, overflowing life where there’s victory over the enemy’s attempts to kill dreams, steal joy, and destroy testimonies.

We were meant for more; we were meant for victory!

Christ died for it so let’s don’t waste a moment in defeat. Let’s learn how to pray long and hard when necessary and enjoy the abundant life. Let’s live in Real Victory!

Not my proudest moment, but here’s a real-life story.  It’s the reason I want to share these 6 powerful prayers to help you get Real Victory in your life.

Once upon a time,  I didn’t really value or believe in rehearsed, prescribed prayers. Actually, I thought I needed to be praying long, carefully crafted, grand prayers if I wanted to get any response from God. Yikes, that’s kind of like those really super-fake, religious leaders, the Pharisees, huh? But honestly, I really didn’t think there was any power in The Lord’s Prayer. (gasp)

In fact, there was a time in my life where something pretty stinky, really messy, and down-right ugly was happening in my life. It was sin and a friend called me out on it. She suggested we go immediately to another friend’s house to pray about my sticky situation. That day was a complete fiasco in my mind, but what I remember most from that day was my friend’s prayer. She was a “new-Christian,” as if that somehow discounted her prayer. When we started to pray together, she prayed the only prayer she really knew how to pray, The Lord’s Prayer.

Y‘all, I was a mess back then. And, in the pit of my own sin, I judged her prayer powerless. I was certain that my sin, this level of atrocity, warranted something more grandiose, something much more powerful. My sin was blatantly rebellious and boldly defiant. I’m ashamed to admit this, but I’m pretty sure I may have smirked, thinking, “what in the world,” would The Lord’s Prayer make any difference at all in my situation.

Sadly, I left that day feeling more sorry for my friend’s lack of prayer savvy than my own ugly sin heaped upon sin. I was so arrogant and so very wrong.

Almost fifteen years later, I began to see just how wrong I had been that day. What I’ve discovered looking back in time and back at the basics is The Lord’s Prayer was exactly what I needed that day. My friend knew something I didn’t, at least I hope she knew or knows it now. There is power in Jesus’ words, power in His prayer. And, yes, there was power in her prayer over my life so long ago. I’m walking in real victory over my sin today because of what God accomplished through the prayer of my friend. You see, God heard her prayer and my subsequent prayers and He changed the course of my life. I walked out of deceit and defeat and into the victorious life of real victory. Thank You, Jesus.

Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57 (NIV)

Getting back to the basics, praying like Jesus taught is where the power is!

That’s not the version I grew up with and memorized as a child, but I sure do like it. It helps me to better understand the power that’s literally infused into this prayer. And, you know what? I told you I had six powerful prayers, but they’re really all wrapped into The Lord’s Prayer. There’s alignment, place, position, authority, purpose, pardon, provision, and protection. Each is a critical piece of the puzzle, and lest I forget, there is also POWER in this prayer.

Six Powerful Prayers to Help You Get Real Victory

God knew exactly what I needed that day.

Thankfully, He knows what you need too. Jesus already taught His disciples how to pray powerful prayers in Matthew 6. Just like my friend’s prayer tugged on heaven and God’s heart, we can pray prayers just like that for ourselves and on behalf of others. Hallelujah, we get to pray The Lord’s Prayer too.

Heart-shattered lives, ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice. Psalm 51:17 (MSG)

Though my heart was shattered that day, God took notice. He knew exactly the right words that would bring healing to this broken girl made whole in Christ. Unfortunately, it took years to understand the gravity of The Lord’s Prayer. But, I’m convinced God dropped a huge dose of love in my heart that day, settling something within me to keep me grounded in His truth…to keep my feet on His path, the path that leads to real victory.

Above all else, I pray you know this:  prayer is powerful; simple prayers pack a punch.

Simple prayers, like Jesus taught the disciples, are how we move out of defeat and into our destiny. Praying is how we lay the foundation to live in the overflow and abundance of all God has for us. It’s how we come to the place of Real Victory where we stake our claim in the Kingdom. Though the enemy would have us believe otherwise, he has no right to stand there taunting us over our forgiven sins. Truly, he has no rightful leg to stand on. Where we stand, on holy ground, this is our God-given destiny and sphere of influence. This is our territory. This is the abundant life.

Prayer is the place where we live in the abundance of God.

Truthfully, prayer is the place of preparation, testimony, and power. Kingdom-minded people step boldly before the throne in prayer and don’t give the enemy one inch of their land. Our name is scrawled across it by the very hand of God. There’s real victory waiting for us there.  Click here to listen in to Episode 5 of  Real Victory Radio where I more fully teach this lesson.

[bctt tweet=”Our fiercest battles are fought on our knees. Real Victory lies in the power of prayer. ~ Amy Elaine Martinez, Real Victory Radio” username=”amyelainewrites”]

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