By P. Amsterdam
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The Lord has given us the means to help create, shape, and change our futures. What makes this possible is proactive prayer, which is using the powerful weapon of prayer to influence our future—not just praying for what we need today, but what we anticipate we are going to need in the future. It’s the act of investing time today in prayer for specific future goals, so that when we reach that point in the future, the components can be in place so that the need will be supplied; the answer will be there.
Proactive prayer can make a difference. It can accomplish what we can’t. Proactive prayer can line up opportunities and open doors so that they’re ready—on “standby,” so to speak—and so that we’re ready to recognize them and walk through them at the appointed time.
Often our prayers are focused on present needs, which is understandable. For example, maybe someone is sick. Their healing is an immediate need, and you pray for it. You probably also pray for other things that you need right now or in the immediate future—such as supply, wisdom, open doors, fruitful relationships, etc.
These prayers bring about answers, resolutions, miracles, and supply from the Lord. Praying for present needs is a good and important aspect of prayer, of course. Prayer is powerful, and prayer changes things.
Often, however, our prayers can be reactive. Something comes up, an immediate need arises, and we pray for it. We ask the Lord for the solution, the miracle, the supply, the answer. We rebuke the Enemy and the attack he’s already launched. There’s nothing at all wrong with that. Prayer can help you in any situation, at all times, whenever you have a need of any kind. Using the weapon of prayer in a reactive way is an important use of it. But in order to more fully utilize the immense power of prayer, and to employ that power to influence the longer-term future, we can also use proactive prayer more.
One of the dictionary definitions of “proactive” is “acting in advance.” We can learn to pray proactively for what we need rather than simply waiting to respond as the situation unfolds. We can use the power of prayer that we have at our disposal today to effect change in the future.
We can learn how to tap into the tremendous power of the Spirit much more effectively than we have in the past. One way to do this is to be much more professional or strategic in our prayer lives. And one way to do this is to think ahead and pray proactively.
Our prayers can be more effective, potent, targeted, effectual, and professional. We can look down the road and anticipate future needs and start praying for them now, so that the Lord will align circumstances so that we are better prepared when we get to those points in the road. In short, we need to impact the future by praying today. We need to be proactive instead of reactive, hopefully in all areas of our lives and work, but also in our prayers.
Even if we don’t know all of the details of our future situation, we can anticipate what our main goals and needs will be. Then we can formulate those future needs into proactive prayers, petitioning God to work behind the scenes to prepare the way before us.
We can use the weapon of prayer more by praying for the future, and not allowing ourselves to only be driven to prayer by the needs of the present. The Lord said in prophecy:
Praying for the future is one of the most proactive things you can do. You can’t change hearts or minds, but I can; you can’t change circumstances, but I can, and prayer can go before you to do this work. Prayer begins the job, and sometimes even finishes the job, before you even have to expend any other energy. And if it doesn’t finish the job, it does a great portion of the work so that when you finally step into the situation, so much is already done, the stage is set, and the pieces all fall together, and that makes your work so much easier.
Proactive prayer is a tool you have in your hand right now that can help bring about positive results in the future. Through your proactive prayers, you can influence future events, so that when you reach the time when you need certain things to be in place, the answers will be there and the preparatory work will be done, or at least much of it. Most importantly, we can trust that God has aligned the situations we face according to His will and plan for our future.
We’re limited in what we can do. We only have so much time. We’re human. We’re not strong enough, wise enough, or sufficient enough in ourselves. We need to manifest our utter dependence on the Lord by taking time to ask Him to do the preparatory work for us and through us. Beseeching the Lord to work on our behalf in advance by proactively praying is much more efficient, don’t you think? Let’s not forget this or fail to avail ourselves of the amazing power of prayer.
I will close with a portion of a prophecy that is a good general reminder and word picture of how eager the Lord is to help us but how we often try to do the work on our own.
There you stand with your little tools in hand, ready to go to work. You’re determined and dedicated, and you’re looking around, seeing which direction to move first. Of course, it’s overwhelming, as each and every need would be a full-time job. So you dash around, a little here and a little there. Your tools are tiny and outdated, so you get your hands scratched up and your clothes torn. By the end of the day, you’re exhausted. The next day, it begins again.
All the while I’m standing right behind you—Me with My team of angelic helpers and spirit beings who tower above you like giants—and we’re trying to get your attention. We’re waving and shouting and whistling! We have huge modern technology in our hands, tools that you’ve never seen. If you’d just ask, we’re ready to operate our tools on your behalf, which would make your work much easier. But alas, you keep running around here and there, saying, “I’ll be right with You. Just a minute. I just have to take care of this one thing, and then this other, and then this other. Ahhh … just one second. Really, I’m almost done.”
Every once in a while you collapse, and then you call on Me and finally we’re able to step in and do the work that only we can do. But then, as soon as you feel you’ve recouped a tiny bit of strength, you’re up and at it again. “Oh, excuse me,” you say, as you push your way to the front. “Uhhh, I need to get to work. Could You move over a little? Let me see, now where was I?” And there you go again. Same story, over and over.
If you could see it from My point of view, you’d see that it’s really ridiculous! You are merely weak men and women. I am the God of the universe. All power is given to Me. I rule! I keep My promises. I am faithful.
Anything and everything that you could ever do is minute compared to what I can do. I can do anything! I can do everything! When you really think about it, what can you do?
I am the boss! If you want to work for Me, there are rules, and the first one on the list is to let Me work! The way you do that is by letting Me into your lives fully. Call on Me. Let Me work on your behalf! Because don’t you get it? Only I can!
Originally published June 2007. Adapted and republished January 2016.
Read by Gabriel Garcia Valdivieso.
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