Do you want to feel confident and certain in your prayer life? Here are three prayer secrets from Gloria Copeland’s prayer closet that will revolutionize your prayer life.
The Bible is the best-selling book of all time. So, how could Gloria Copeland have prayer secrets if they are based on the Bible? Well, a secret is something that is hidden. And while a physical copy of the Bible is not hidden to most, some of the revelations found in the Bible may be. Why? Because revelation comes with time spent studying and meditating the Word. For your personal use, we’ve compiled three prayer “secrets” or revelations Gloria has found from God’s Word that she uses and talks about most. We hope these revelations will help you utilize the power of prayer, as you seek to live an abundant life in Christ!
God Wants to Answer Your Prayers
One thing Gloria would tell you before she shared these prayer secrets she found in the Bible is this: God wants to answer your prayers and manifest His glory—not just in emergency situations or when you cry out to Him here and there. He wants to do so every day. He wants to go far beyond what we have ever known, and the only way for Him to take us there is for us to hear Him in the spirit.
Prayer isn’t some religious ritual that earns you points in the kingdom of God—praying is communicating with God—fellowshipping with Him. It’s how you come to know what He thinks, rather than just what He says.
What does He think? For one thing, He doesn’t want you to live your life barely getting by. He wants you to live life abundantly and go out of here in a blaze of glory! But, you’re not going to go out in a blaze of glory unless you spend some time with God—because that’s where the glory is.
Something you should know about Gloria’s prayer secrets is that they come straight from the life of Jesus. And one thing we know about Jesus and prayer is that He made prayer a priority. The Bible reveals how Jesus would sacrifice sleep or rest to spend time with the Father. He would pray before the sun came up; He would pray all night, even after ministering to people all day. That is a powerful prayer life! And, He didn’t do this as the Son of God on the earth—He did so as the Son of Man anointed by the Holy Ghost.
Now, if Jesus had to have that kind of prayer life to have success—so do you. Your level of victory will be determined by how much time you spend in the presence of God. If you want to spend just enough time to get your needs met, you can do that. But, if you want to reach out to a sick and dying world, and enjoy total and complete victory in your life, you need to spend more time with Him. He needs to be your priority.
Do you want to feel confident and certain in your prayer life? Here are three prayer secrets from Gloria Copeland—guaranteed to grow your prayer life, strengthen your inner man, and change your circumstances.
Prayer Secret No. 1: Set a Goal for Prayer
“Could you not watch with Me one hour?” –Matthew 26:40, NKJV
Many years ago, Gloria asked the Lord to teach her how to walk in the spirit—one step at a time. One of the first things He told her to do was spend an hour each day praying in the spirit. Even though she spent most of her time in the Word of God already, even five minutes praying in the spirit felt like an eternity. But she had determined to obey Him and seek Him with all her heart, so she set the goal and has met it with very few exceptions ever since. It took switching around her whole routine and rearranging her schedule—but she did it!
As she began to spend an hour a day praying in other tongues, her life changed dramatically. She was hearing from the Lord more, and circumstances in her life had improved. The only thing she had done differently was pray for a set amount of time each day—without fail.
Why is it important to set a goal for prayer?
For more, see How to Set and Meet Prayer Goals.
Rather than praying according to her own mood or schedule, Gloria set a goal for prayer through the leading of the Holy Spirit. The Lord soon revealed to her the importance of this goal through Jesus’ example.
In Matthew 26, Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane just before He went to the cross. He warned the disciples of the temptations to come—the lure to be offended, fall away and be scattered. Peter said he would do anything for the Lord, including die for Him. However, Jesus knew the trying of their faith was about to come, and so His instructions to them were “watch and pray” (verse 41). So, what’d they do? They fell asleep instead!
Jesus responded, “Could you not watch with Me one hour?” (verse 40, NKJV). Here, He mentions a specific amount of time for prayer, rather than leaving it open-ended. Jesus was calling His disciples to a specific place in prayer.
With that in mind, what might Jesus be saying to you today?
Perhaps He would say: “Can’t you pray with Me one hour? Can’t you visit with Me one hour? Can’t you watch with Me one hour?” Think about that. He told His disciples to watch and pray, so when temptation came, they wouldn’t enter into it. The same thing is true for you. He isn’t trying to make a demand of you to pray—He is trying to protect you, bless you and fellowship with you.
Setting a prayer goal keeps you from cutting your time with God too short. It keeps you from the distractions around you or from skipping that time altogether. Perhaps you’ve found yourself trying to pray, but then the dog needs to be let out—then back in. Kids have questions, phone calls come in and look at that pile of dishes in the sink! It goes on and on. We live in a world of distractions. Setting a goal for a certain amount of time and sticking with it says, “This is what I’m doing right now. Those other things can wait.” As Pastor George Pearsons says, “Put a ‘Gone Fishing’ sign on your mind and keep praying.”
Need help eliminating distractions during your prayer time? Find it here.
As you set a goal for prayer in your life, it may not be for an hour at first. Seek the Lord, and ask Him what He would have you do. No matter what you decide, be sure to set a goal and stick with it. No excuses. The devil will try to come in and disrupt your goal in any and every way possible. Don’t let him get away with it. Your life will never be the same!
“I pray in the spirit an hour a day because God told me to. And I tell you, it’s changed my life.” –Gloria Copeland
Secret No. 2: Be Consistent with Prayer
“Pray without ceasing.” –1 Thessalonians 5:17, NKJV
Years ago, when Kenneth and Gloria were living in lack and learning how to walk by faith, the Lord spoke something to Gloria’s spirit—In consistency lies the power. Power comes when you are consistent with your words, prayer life and in your pursuit of God. In consistency lies the power.
In other words, if we want to walk in the full blessing and victory God intended for us to enjoy, we need to be consistent in the things of God. Going after God in spurts won’t do it. The more we give ourselves to the spirit, the more we spend time in prayer, the more time we give God—the more we’ll walk in the full measure of His blessing.
What makes someone get up day after day and do the same thing whether they feel like it or not?
The answer is simple: Desire.
How much do you want a change in your life? How much do you want victory?
To be consistent in daily prayer, you have to get to a place where you want victory more than you want an extra half hour of sleep, time in front of the television, or any other routine you may have.
You can’t be a yo-yo—up one day and down the next—and reach your goals. Consistency equals stability, strength and power. As Pastor Terri Copeland Pearsons says, “You can’t lift weights one day and expect to see a measurable result.” It is the consistent exercising of your spiritual muscle through prayer that will, over time, produce big results in every area of your life.
Spiritual consistency is worth the cost. The payoff is exceedingly abundantly above all you could ever imagine (Ephesians 3:20-21). But most believers don’t do that. That’s why there are so many “faith failures” around. They stand on the Word, or spend time with the Lord one day and fall off it the next.
What we need to do is “continue.” Jesus said if we’d continue in His Word, then we’d be His disciples. He said if we’d continue, we would know the truth, and that truth would make us free (John 8:31-32). There’s a revelation of God that comes from consistency that the inconsistent person will never see.
Determine today to be consistent. Don’t try to base today on yesterday’s prayer time. Base today on today’s time with Him. Start a consistent prayer time today. Then tomorrow, get up and do it again!
Looking for A Recipe for Your Daily Quiet Time? Find it here.
Gloria’s good friend and frequent guest on Believer’s Voice of Victory (BVOV), Billye Brim, prays Ephesians 1:17 over her life every morning—consistently. Her time with the Lord is a non-negotiable in her life—and she reaps the fruit of it in a blessed and fulfilled life.
“Jesus isn’t fickle. He doesn’t change His mind from one day to another. He’s constant, and if you’ll press in to Him, He can cause you to be that way, too.” –Gloria Copeland
Secret No. 3: Believe You Receive When You Pray
“You can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.” –Mark 11:24
The final prayer secret from Gloria is one Jesus gave us in this verse. When we pray, we are not to believe we will receive in the future—we are to believe we receive right at that moment. Most people pray and expect the answer to come later, but Jesus says to believe we receive when we pray.
To believe you receive when you pray means you take it. Take what? Anything you need that is in line with the Word of God. Jesus said to pray for whatever you desire (Mark 11:24, KJV).
How can you prepare your heart to receive when you pray? By building the Word of God so strongly in your heart, you won’t even consider anything else. To stay in faith, it takes the Word of God. You can’t stay in faith and watch cartoons 24 hours a day—you’ve got to feed on the Word. That’s how faith comes.
Wondering How to Pray the Prayer of Petition? Find out here.
Once you’ve built your faith to receive, how do you know if you believe when you pray? When you’ve finished praying, check your vital signs. Do you feel peace and joy? Or do you still have that downcast and gloomy outlook? To believe you receive when you pray is to take it with a grip that cannot be shaken off—to literally reach out and possess it.
But don’t stop there! Now, the battle is on to keep what you have received in prayer. You keep it by speaking it. Don’t say anything different than what you prayed based on the Word of God. If you say anything different, you’re going against Scripture, doubting in your heart, and allowing it to come out your mouth. Why is that a problem? Because a double-minded man receives nothing from God (James 1:6-8).
When you’re standing and believing, the devil will come immediately and try to talk you out of it. If you’re standing for a house, for example, you thank God for your new house. The devil will come and say, “You’re never going to get a house.” Don’t let the devil have the final word; cast him out. Satan says, “You don’t have it.” You say, “I have it. I believe I’ve received it.” It should be too late for Satan when he comes to combat you over that house because you believed you received it when you prayed.
The same is true with healing, relationships, finances, children and anything else promised in the Word of God. When you really believe what you’ve prayed will come to pass, you won’t say anything to the contrary.
As Kenneth E. Hagin said, “Confession brings possession.”
So, keep your confession lined up with the Word of God and never deviate from it. Stand your ground and be consistent. Jesus provided everything for us, but we still have a part to play, just as we do in receiving our salvation.
“Faith will work for anybody who’ll put it to work.” –Gloria Copeland
Now that you know these three prayer secrets from Gloria Copeland—setting a goal, being consistent and believing you receive—you realize they are revelations from God’s Word that you can put into practice today! When you do, you are well on your way to increasing in every area of your life. Through prayer, you can receive everything God has promised you in His Word. It’s up to you to take it and begin enjoying the abundant life God has provided for you!
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