Can You REALLY Sing “Sweet Hour of Prayer” with Gusto?

Mark Virkler's picture

As a young Christian, prayer didn’t seem to work very well. In my prayers I informed God of my situations and asked for Him to help. It all seemed quite rote and redundant and uneventful. It couldn’t be called a relationship because there was no communication back. There was no conversation. Just me talking.



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In the church where I grew up, we used to sing the song “Sweet Hour of Prayer.” Well, it was not true as I didn’t pray for an hour, and I would not describe my prayer time as sweet. Then I got some training from an influential teacher on how to break up an hour to focus on various areas during different periods of the hour. I tried that and it was still just one-sided. Me doing all the talking. That was tiring.

Finally, ten years into my spiritual walk God taught me how to hear His voice. I quiet myself down, fix my eyes on Jesus, tune to flowing thoughts and pictures which is His voice and visions, and journal out our dialogue together. Wow! Now prayer was sweet, because I wasn’t doing all the talking. Actually He was doing most of it!

The Wonderful Counselor would speak to me. He healed my wounds, filled me with faith, gave me passion and vision, healed my body and released divine creativity within me. Prayer times became totally exciting, and could easily go for an hour.

Learning to hear God’s voice happened 40 years ago and as I have sought God since then, He has shown me 60 ways to pray to release His divine creativity, healing power and wisdom into every area of my life. I have taken the time to write 60, practical, how-to blogs detailing these prayer approaches. I describe them to you so you can try them out for yourself.

You say 60!?! I am tired already! How can I learn 60 prayer approaches? Well, the nice thing is you don’t need to. You only need to learn the one that meets your need today. I have categorized them into twelve topical groups so you can go to the topic of interest or need, scroll down through, and find a prayer approach that releases maximum life for you today. You can do the same thing tomorrow.

I grew up doing construction, and I learned how to use a host of tools to build a home. I didn’t master all these tools in one day. I mastered them as I needed them. Sure, it was awkward the first couple of times I would use a new tool, but soon I became skilled in using it and it was a great benefit as I built homes.

At this point in my life I am no longer building physical homes. I am building spiritual homes, for myself and for others. Knowing how to pray effective prayers, which incorporate God’s voice, vision, counsel, healing power and presence, is a key  to building a strong spiritual home to live in.

I offer to you these 60 proven prayer approaches. I have used them all effectively to meet various needs in my life. I believe you will be able to do the same. Some of these prayer approaches have free downloadable music with voice-overs that coach you, thus ensuring the prayer has maximum impact in your life. Especially check out the prayers under the category, “Kingdom Emotions.”

The Twelve Categories of 60 Prayer Approaches... with titles of some of the prayers in each category:​

  1. Hearing God by day and by night - 4 keys to hearing God’s voice, how to interpret dreams
  2. General prayer approaches - Lord’s prayer, evening prayer of thanksgiving
  3. Bible meditation - "Were not our hearts burning within us as He opened Scriptures to us?"
  4. Healing the heart - inner healing, deliverance, language of the heart, cleansing cellular memories
  5. Divine Healing - miracle healing, inner healing for an organ
  6. Spiritual warfare - roaring at the enemy, freemasonry, removing besetting sins
  7. Spiritual Worship - throne room worship, praying in tongues, soaking prayer
  8. Kingdom emotions - replacing emotions & beliefs, putting on Christ
  9. Anointed ministry - stepping into the anointing, commissioning angels
  10. Spirit led intercession - binding and loosing, power of blessing
  11. Interpersonal relationships - hedge of thorns, enriching my marriage
  12. Business and entrepreneurship - creative prayer, Leaders' Paradigm, financial freedom

60 prayers here: cwgministries.org/devotionals


I have seen the sick healed, demons cast out, dreams interpreted, businesses enhanced through divine creativity, and relationships maintained through wise counsel. I promise that if you try these prayers, they will work for you and prayer will become a wonderful dynamic interaction between you and God. Try them and see.

There is more than one way to pray, however, “If all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail."

Related Resources: 

How to Be Empowered by the Holy Spirit!   

Related Blogs: 

Prayer Approaches   Reimagining Daily Devotionals   
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Overflow of the Spirit - Book Cover

Overflow of the Spirit

284 Pages | by Mark Virkler and Charity Kayembe

Until February 19th, Get 25% Off:

Or 50% off the School of the Spirit e-learning module!

Mark and Charity have teamed up again to write a book on how to easily manifest the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit. It took us several years to break through all the confusion and present a clear, simple understanding of how to release the nine-fold manifestation of the Holy Spirit everywhere you go and with everyone you touch. It is not hard! It can’t be since these are gifts of the Holy Spirit, not things you have to work for.

Price: $15.99

Playtime with Jesus

Helping Kids Know God | Jessica De Krijger

The goal of this little booklet by Jessica De Krijger is to help young children, ages 3 and up, learn how to start hearing God's voice for themselves. It is never too early to teach your children that they can hear from God. They are primed to do this. God's Spirit is urging them to come to Him. So reinforce this call with this beautiful full-color booklet which you can read to your children. Discover more at the Playtime With Jesus Website.

Price: $4.00

Playtime with Jesus workbook

by Jessica de Krijger

This workbook has a coloring book feel that kids love. Children as young as 3 years old all the way up to 10, can start hearing and seeing Jesus for themselves every day. It's easy and it's fun! On each page of this book, Jesus invites your child to come and enjoy a different activity with Him. As they play with Him, they get to know Him, His heart, His character, and most of all His humongous love for them. The goal of this workbook is to help lead your child into a deeper, personal relationship with Him.

Price: $8.00
Psalms

Psalms

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 82 Pages

This book is similar in format to Through the Bible, except that Psalms are meditated upon paragraph by paragraph, rather than chapter by chapter (as are the rest of the Bible books in the full text). For those seeking an intensive examination of the book of Psalms, this text is for you.

Price: $9.95

Release from Religion Study Guide

by Tracy Hansen | 100 Pages

This workbook accompanies the book 49 Lies - Religious Lies Jesus Told Me to Stop Believing, providing an extended scriptural meditation of the 49 themes discussed in the two-way journaling found in that book. The two books may be purchased together here.

Price: $12.95
Restoring Health Care as a Ministry

Restoring Health Care as a Ministry

by Mark and Patti Virkler & Dr. Reuben DeHaan | 201 Pages

Contrary to the secularized health care system of the western world, the Bible establishes health care as a ministry which falls under the jurisdiction of the priests:

"And THE PRIEST shall look at the mark on the skin of the body, and if the hair in the infection has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of his body...he shall pronounce..." (Lev. 13:3).

Price: $19.95

Rise Up

by Michael Whate | 227 pages

This amazing 40-day journey will explore 40 ways you can encounter God! It introduces you to such topics as experiencing salvation, and welcoming the Holy Spirit. Then on to encountering the Father's love, experiencing forgiveness, hearing God's voice, two-way journaling, spiritual warfare, the law of sowing and reaping, prophecy, speaking in tongues, expectant faith, receiving dreams, experiencing revival, physical healing, inner healing and renouncing the occult.

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The Secret Place

Secret Place

by William J. Dupley | 112 pages

This book is an account and description of my secret place with the Lord.  It is a true story, it is not fiction. All the details described in this book have happened to me, and I continue to meet with my Heavenly Dad in this place almost every day.  I have described the physical attributes of the secret place, the events that have occurred there, and how God has taught me about His character and loving compassion.


Price: $15.00
Sound Doctrine Through Revelation Knowledge

Sound Doctrine Through Revelation Knowledge

by Dr. Gary Greig & Drs. Mark and Patti Virkler | 84 Pages

Sound doctrine. Correct theology. Sounds easy. Seems like if I would just apply my mind, I could establish sound doctrine and keep myself from heresy and error. And that is exactly what I did for many years, until God stopped me dead in my tracks, and got me to look up every verse in the Bible on doctrine and theology (15 in the NASB and 37 in the NKJV). Wow! Was I in for a surprise! You will be, too, as you go through these verses with me in this book!

Price: $12.95
Spirit Born Creativity

Spirit Born Creativity

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 151 Pages

God made man creative, and, in addition, He has given man the ability to draw upon the eternal creativity of God. Locked within you lies a divine reservoir of creative energy that can transform your life.

God spoke to Marc Huddleston in his two-way journaling, "The quietness of a man's mind in My Presence is the birth place of the release of My limitless creativity."

Price: $10.99

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