Are You Praying to the Right Subject?

Eight kinds of prayer, who each one is addressed to, and why some prayers never seem to land

Have you ever prayed and nothing happened? I mean nothing at all. You prayed, you waited, and the situation looked exactly the same.

I've taught before about praying amiss, and about the plumb lines that keep our prayers straight. Today I want to look at the same problem from a different angle. One of the reasons prayers don't produce results is that we address them to the wrong subject.

Here's what I mean. When you need healing in your body, are you meant to pray to God, or are you meant to speak to your body? Scripture actually answers that. God has put every kind of prayer in its right place in His Word. The mistakes come from us, not from Him.

So let's walk through eight kinds of prayer, who each one is addressed to, and who receives the effect.

1. Praise, worship and thanksgiving

When we praise and worship, the subject is always God. It can never be anyone else.

"By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name" (Hebrews 13:15).

God loves our praises. He inhabits the praises of His people. But He is so gracious that while you are ministering to Him, you are being ministered to. You get blessed. Your mind opens to receive from Him. You get changed in the realm of the spirit.

We can do this in our understanding and in tongues. Paul said, "I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also" (1 Corinthians 14:15). Praying in tongues is one way to never pray amiss, because the words are inspired by the Holy Spirit and uttered by you. That's why I believe most of our private prayer time should be in tongues.

2. Praise as intercession

Worship is ministry to God, but it can also work as intercession.

When Judah faced a vast army, Jehoshaphat put singers at the front. "And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir" (2 Chronicles 20:22). At Jericho, the people shouted and the wall fell down flat (Joshua 6:20). Paul and Silas sang praises at midnight in prison, and the doors opened and every chain was loosed (Acts 16:25-26).

The subject is still God. You never address intercession to a man. "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). We pray to the Father in the name of Jesus, because no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6).

And notice: you're blessed too. When you connect yourself to a stream, you can't help getting wet, whatever reason you went there for.

Sometimes this kind of prayer goes beyond words. "The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:26). If you've received the Holy Spirit, that's an experience every believer should know.

3. Edification in tongues

"He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself" (1 Corinthians 14:4). Jude tells us to keep "building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost" (Jude 1:20).

The subject is God, and the recipient is you. You're being built up. The mode is tongues and groaning, not understanding, because that's what this prayer is.

4. Command

Here is where everything changes. In the first three, the subject was God, God, God. In command, the subject is not God.

Command is for things without a will of their own: sickness, demons, animals, plants, the elements. It's how we establish on earth what is already settled in heaven. "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).

Look at how Jesus did it. He thanked the Father, then said, "Lazarus, come forth" (John 11:43). He spoke to a fig tree that refused to bear fruit, and it withered (Mark 11:14, 20). He rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace, be still," and there was a great calm (Mark 4:39). He cast out demons with a word (Luke 11:14, Mark 5:12-13).

Everything God made came into being by His word. "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light" (Genesis 1:3). Creation responds to words spoken in faith on the basis of God's will.

Then Jesus handed that authority to us: "In my name shall they cast out devils... they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mark 16:17-18). He didn't tell us to ask Him to send angels every time we meet a demon. He told us to cast it out.

So when you're sick, your healing has already been provided. "With his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). You can ask God for guidance, or pray in tongues to build your faith. But the actual release of that healing into your body is done with your words. Speak to your body. "He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Romans 8:11).

One thing command never does: it never targets people. God hasn't given us authority to order another person's will. For that, we need the next kinds of prayer.

5. Petition

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Philippians 4:6).

The subject of petition is God. As we mature, though, petition grows. We begin to recognise how much He has already provided, so we stop asking for what's already ours and start receiving it by faith, taking our inheritance.

6. Intercession for people

God has given every person free will, and He doesn't violate it. That's why everyone must hear the gospel and choose for themselves.

So we can't command people. We intercede, addressing our prayer to God, and God influences hearts. "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord... he turneth it whithersoever he will" (Proverbs 21:1). The Holy Spirit convicts; He doesn't force (John 16:8).

Intercession is also how we enforce God's will on earth. "Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven" (Matthew 18:18). The person you pray for receives the benefit, and you're blessed in the process too.

7. Prophecy

Like command, prophecy isn't addressed to God. You speak it over yourself or over a third party: a person, a family, a community.

And it always comes from the finished work of Christ. "I declare in the name of Jesus that all things are working together for my good. I'm walking in the fullness of my purpose. I'm in alignment with the perfect will of God in every area of my life." Every word of that lines up with Scripture (Romans 8:28), so you can speak it boldly.

8. Devotion and dedication

The last kind of prayer goes back to God alone. "Lord, I surrender my heart to You. I lay my life before You." Jesus prayed it in the garden: "Not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42).

Paul calls it offering ourselves as "a living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1). God is the subject, and both He and you are touched by it.

What to do with this

Next time you pray, stop and ask one question: who am I talking to right now?

• Worshipping, thanking, petitioning, interceding or surrendering? Talk to God.
• Facing sickness, a demonic attack or a stubborn situation? Use your authority in Christ and speak to it.
• Building yourself up? Pray in the Holy Ghost.
• Standing on what Christ has done? Declare it.

You may find that some prayers you thought weren't working were simply pointed in the wrong direction. Point them right, and keep going.

---

If this blessed you, watch the full teaching on YouTube.

I'd love for you to join my WhatsApp community, where we keep growing in these truths together.

Got a question? Just hit reply. I read every email and I'll be glad to answer.

Prefer to read online? Read this on Medium.

God bless you,
Michael Adegoke