Chapter 1: The paradigm of prayer
Apostle Paul prayed prayers that most Christians would never dare to pray. Not because he was more spiritual, but because he understood something about prayer that changed it from 'begging God for help' to 'partnering with God' in what He's already done.
And when you discover what apostle Paul knew, when you see how radically different his prayers were from the prayers most believers pray today, everything about your prayer life will shift from powerless petition to powerful partnership with the Father.
There is a reason apostle Paul's prayers produced results that most Christians never see.
It was not because he prayed longer. It was not because he prayed louder. It was not because he was more desperate or more devoted. It was because apostle Paul understood his position in Christ in a way that most believers do not understand.
And that understanding changed what he prayed for, how he prayed, and why he prayed.
Today, you are going to see apostle Paul's prayers with fresh eyes. You're going to discover what he knew that most Christians miss.
And when you apply this revelation, when you start praying the way apostle Paul prayed, you'll move from hoping God might answer to knowing He already has.
This is not just about better prayers. This is about a completely different paradigm of prayer rooted in who you are in Christ.
Chapter 2: Petition vs. revelation
Let us start by examining what most Christians pray for because the contrast with apostle Paul's prayers is stunning. Most believers pray prayers like this:
"God, please help me." "God, give me strength." "God, make me more like Jesus." "God, help me overcome this sin." "God, give me more faith." "God, bless me." "God, provide for me." "God, heal me."
Do those sound familiar? They should because that is what's taught from most pulpits. That is what's modeled in most prayer meetings. That is what believers have been conditioned to pray.
Prayers of petition, prayers of pleading, prayers that treat God like He is holding back. And we need to convince Him to release what we need.
But here is the problem. When you read apostle Paul's prayers in Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, you do not find those kinds of prayers.
You do not find apostle Paul begging God to make believers more righteous. You do not find him pleading with God to give them more faith. You do not find him asking God to heal them or provide for them or make them more spiritual.
Instead, you find something completely different. Apostle Paul prayed that believers would know. He prayed for revelation. He prayed for understanding. He prayed that their eyes would be enlightened to see what they already had, who they already were, and what had already been done.
And that difference is everything because the kind of prayer you pray reveals what you believe about your position in Christ.
If you are praying for God to make you righteous, you do not believe you're already righteous.
If you are praying for God to give you faith, you do not believe you already have faith.
If you are praying for God to make you whole, you do not believe Christ already made you whole.
Your prayers expose your theology. And for most believers, their prayers reveal that they're living far beneath what Christ secured for them at the cross.
Apostle Paul did not pray that way because Paul understood something most Christians do not understand. He understood that in Christ, everything has already been given.
Second Peter 1:3 says, "According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness."
All things. Past tense. Given. Done. Finished. Apostle Paul knew that.
So, he did not pray for God to give believers things they did not have. He prayed for believers to become conscious of things they already had.
He did not pray for God to do something new. He prayed for believers to see what God had already done.
And that shift, that fundamental shift from praying for provision to praying for revelation is what transformed apostle Paul's prayer life from religiousity petition to covenant partnership with God.
Chapter 3: Analyzing Paul's prayers
Now, you must understand this perfectly, apostle Paul never prayed for believers to receive what they already possessed in Christ. He prayed that they would know what they possessed because knowing is the key to experiencing.
You can have everything and experience nothing if you do not know what you have.
Apostle Paul never prayed for believers to receive what they already possessed. That sentence should revolutionize your prayer life.
Because if everything has already been given, if all spiritual blessings are already yours in heavenly places according to Ephesians 1:3, then the prayer you need to pray is not "God give me." The prayer you need to pray is, "Father, open my eyes to see what you've already given."
So, let us look at exactly what apostle Paul prayed and why it is so radically different from most modern prayers. Open your Bible to Ephesians 1:17-19.
This is one of apostle Paul's most powerful prayers and it reveals everything about what he knew that most Christians do not know.
He writes that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding, being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us ward who believe according to the working of His mighty power.
Notice what apostle Paul prayed for. He did not pray that God would give them an inheritance. He prayed that they would know the inheritance they already had.
He did not pray that God would give them power. He prayed that they would know the power that was already available to them.
He did not pray that God would call them. He prayed that they would know the hope of the calling they'd already received.
Everything apostle Paul prayed for was about knowing, seeing, understanding what was already theirs, not receiving something new, becoming conscious of something already given.
This is revolutionary when you let it sink in.
Because if Paul, the apostle who wrote most of the New Testament, the man who had seen Jesus Christ face to face, the believer who experienced more of God's power than almost anyone in history, if apostle Paul did not pray for believers to receive more from God, what does that tell you?
It tells you that the problem is not God's willingness to give. The problem is our awareness of what is already been given.
The issue is not provision. The issue is revelation.
God has already provided everything. The question is, do you know what you have?
Let us go even deeper into this prayer.
Chapter 4: The three key petitions
Apostle Paul prayed specifically that believers would know three things.
First, the hope of His calling. What does that mean?
It means knowing who you are in Christ, knowing your identity, knowing your position.
Most believers are still trying to become something. But apostle Paul prayed that they would know they already are something in Christ Jesus.
You are not trying to become a child of God. You are a child of God.
You are not trying to become righteous. You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
You are not trying to become accepted. You are accepted in the Beloved according to Ephesians 1:6.
The hope of His calling is the settled certainty of who you are because of what Lord Jesus Christ did. And apostle Paul prayed that you would know that.
Second, apostle Paul prayed that you would know the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, not your inheritance in God.
God's inheritance in you. Think about that.
God has an inheritance and you are it.
You're not just receiving an inheritance from God. You are the inheritance He values. You are His treasure, His prized possession, His delight.
And when you know that, when you are conscious that God looks at you and sees His inheritance, His treasure, His beloved child, everything about how you approach Him changes.
You do not come begging. You come confident.
You do not come wondering if He cares. You come knowing you are His inheritance.
Third, apostle Paul prayed that you would know the exceeding greatness of His power toward you who believe.
Notice that the power is already toward you, not coming to you someday, instead is already directed toward you. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is available to you right now. Not because you earned it, because you're in Christ.
And apostle Paul's prayer is that you would know it, that you would become conscious of it, that you would recognize the power that is already working in you.
Now, compare that to the prayers most believers pray. "God, give me power." "God, make me strong." "God, help me." Do you see the difference?
Apostle Paul's prayer assumes everything is already given and prays for awareness. Most believers prayers assume nothing is given and beg for provision.
One is rooted in covenant confidence. The other is rooted in religious ignorance and the difference in results is staggering.
Chapter 5: Practical prayer examples
Here is a practical example of how this works.
Imagine two believers facing the same financial crisis.
The first believer prays, "God, please provide for me. I do not have enough. Please give me what I need. Help me, Lord." That's a petition prayer. It is rooted in lack. It is focused on what they do not have. And even though they might quote Philippians 4:19, their prayer reveals they do not really believe it yet. Because if they believe God supplies all their need according to His riches and glory, they would not be begging Him to supply. They'd be thanking Him that He already has and asking Him to help them see how His provision is going to manifest.
The second believer praying like apostle Paul's prayer says, "Father, I thank You that You supply all my need according to Your riches in glory by Christ Jesus. That is a finished promise, a completed work. I ask You now to open my eyes to see how You're already working, to give me wisdom to know what steps to take, to help me become conscious of Your provision even before I see it with my natural eyes. I trust You. I rest in Your faithfulness."
Do you see the difference? Same situation. Radically different prayer.
One is begging for provision. The other is asking for revelation of provision that is already secured.
One produces anxiety. The other produces peace.
One keeps you focused on the problem. The other focuses you on God's faithfulness.
And here is what's remarkable. The second prayer gets answered faster and more completely. Not because God loves that person more, but because that prayer aligns with how faith actually operates.
Faith does not beg. Faith receives.
Faith does not focus on lack. Faith focuses on provision.
And when you pray for eyes to see instead of hands to receive, God opens those eyes.
And when your eyes open, when you see His faithfulness, when you become conscious that He is already working, your heart rests. And rest is the evidence that faith is present.
Let me show you another example. In Ephesians 3:16-19,
Chapter 6: Knowing and experiencing
Let me show you another example. In Ephesians 3:16-19, apostle Paul prays that He would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height. And to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
Again, what is apostle Paul praying for? That they would be strengthened, that they would comprehend, that they would know.
He is praying for awareness, for understanding, for the eyes of their hearts to be opened to what is already theirs.
He is not asking God to love them more. He is asking that they would know the love that is already there.
He is not asking God to fill them with His fullness. He is asking that they would be conscious of the fullness that is already in them because Christ dwells in them.
Notice something critical here.
Apostle Paul prays that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. Christ already dwells in every believer. Colossians 1:27 says, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." He's already there. So why is apostle Paul praying that Christ may dwell in their hearts?
Because there is a difference between Christ being in you positionally and Christ dwelling in your heart experientially. Christ is in you whether you're aware of it or not, but He dwells in your heart. He makes Himself at home in your consciousness, when you become aware of His presence through faith.
Apostle Paul's prayer is that these believers would become so conscious of Christ in them that Christ's presence dominates their awareness, their thoughts, their responses. That is what it means for Christ to dwell in your heart, not positionally, but experientially.
This is the pattern in every one of apostle Paul's prayers. Philippians 1:9-11, Colossians 1:9-12, every single one.
Apostle Paul prays for knowledge, for understanding, for revelation, for awareness. Why?
Because apostle Paul knew what most Christians do not know or not realize. He knew that you already have everything you need in Christ.
You are not lacking anything. God is not withholding anything. The issue is never God's provision. The issue is always your awareness of God's provision.
And when your awareness increases, when you become conscious of what you have, when you see clearly who you are, your experience automatically aligns with the truth.
Look at Colossians 1:9-10. Paul writes, "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God."
What is the prayer? That they might be filled with knowledge, that they might have wisdom and spiritual understanding, that they might increase in the knowledge of God, not that God would give them something new, that they would know what God had already given.
And notice the result. When you are filled with the knowledge of His will, when you have wisdom and understanding, you walk worthy, you are fruitful, you increase, not through striving, through knowing.
The knowledge produces the walk.
The understanding produces the fruit.
The awareness produces the experience.
That is the pattern.
That is what apostle Paul knew. And that is what transforms prayer from religious begging into covenant partnership.
I said it powerfully. The tragedy of the modern church today is not that believers lack anything in Christ. It is that they do not know what they have in Christ. And so they beg for what they possess, strive for what they are, and seek for what is already been given.
The prayer of faith is not asking God to do something. The prayer of faith is thanking God for what He's already done and asking Him to open your eyes to see it.
The prayer of faith is not asking God to do something. The prayer of faith is thanking God for what He has already done. That's the revolution.
That is what apostle Paul knew. And that is what transforms prayer from powerless petition, begging, to powerful partnership with God.
Chapter 7: Applying the shift
Here is where everything we have covered in this entire study comes to a point.
You know you are righteous.
You know you have faith.
You know God is your Father.
You know worry is disobedience.
You know meditation on God's words , day and night, renews your mind.
You know spiritual hunger comes from tasting grace.
You know all of that theologically.
But the reason it has not transformed your daily experience the way it should is because you have not been praying like apostle Paul's prayers.
You've been praying religious prayers. Prayers that ask God to make you what He already made you. Prayers that beg God to give you what He already gave you.
And those prayers keep you trapped in ignorance of your position instead of moving you into divine consciousness of your position in Christ Jesus.
But when you start praying the way apostle Paul prayed, when you shift from "God make me.." to "Father, help me see what You've already made me," everything changes.
When you stop praying, "God, give me strength," and start praying, "Father, open my eyes to the strength that is already in me because Christ lives in me," you move from petition to partnership with God's truth.
When you stop praying, "God, heal me," and start praying, "Father, help me become conscious of the healing You already provided by the stripes of Jesus Christ," you align with truth instead of begging for truth.
And here is what happens when you pray for revelation instead of provision. God answers that prayer every time. Why?
Because God wants you to know what you have even more than you want to know it.
He is not holding back revelation. He is waiting for you to ask for it.
James 1:5 says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him."
Ask for wisdom. Ask for understanding. Ask for revelation. And God gives liberally. He does not rebuke you for asking. He delights in opening your eyes.
This is what Jesus meant when he said in John 16:23- 24, "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye not asked anything in my name, ask and ye shall receive that your joy may be full."
In that day after the resurrection, after you are in me and I'm in you, you won't need to ask me for things.
You'll ask the Father for revelation of what is already yours in me, and He will give it.
Ask for eyes to see.
Ask for understanding to comprehend.
Ask for wisdom to know. and your joy will be full because you'll finally be conscious of everything you already possess.
This is the prayer of partnership. This is the prayer of someone who knows their position and is asking God to make that position real in their consciousness.
This is the prayer that moves you from striving to resting, from begging to receiving, from ignorance to knowledge.
And this is the prayer that produces transformation. Not because God is finally giving you something He was withholding, but because you are finally becoming conscious of what He already gave you when you became His child.
Let us bring this to absolute clarity.
Chapter 8: The result of true prayer
What apostle Paul knew about prayer that most Christians do not know, is this.
Prayer is not about convincing God to give you what you don't have. Prayer is about asking God to open your eyes to what you already have in Christ.
Apostle Paul did not pray for believers to become righteous, to receive faith, to get power, to be blessed. He prayed for believers to know their righteousness, to recognize their faith, to comprehend their power, to see their blessings.
Because apostle Paul understood that in Christ, all things have already been given. The issue is never provision. The issue is always revelation.
This changes everything about how you pray.
Stop praying, "God, make me more like Jesus." For you are in Jesus Christ. Instead, pray "Father, open my eyes to see who I am in Christ."
Stop praying, "God, give me more faith." You have the faith of Christ living in you. Pray, "Father, help me become conscious of the faith I already possess."
Stop praying, "God, heal me." You were healed by the stripes of Jesus Christ. Pray, "Father, help me know the healing that's already mine and manifest it in my body."
Do you see the shift?
One set of prayers keeps you focused on what you think you lack. The other set focuses you on what Christ already provided.
And when you pray that way, when you pray like apostle Paul's prayers, when you ask for revelation instead of provision, wisdom instead of works, understanding instead of striving, God answers every time.
Because God delights in revealing truth to His children.
He delights in opening blind eyes. He delights in showing you who you are, what you have, and what He has done.
I am who God says I am. This is my identity in Christ.
I have what God says I have. Ths is my inheritance in Christ.
I can do what God says what I can do. This is my authority in Christ.
And as He does, as your consciousness increases, as revelation dawn in your heart, your experience changes. Not because God finally gave you something, it is because you finally saw what He gave you 2,000 years ago at the cross.
My final word on this.
Chapter 9: Practical application
Show me a believer who prays as apostle Paul's prayers, who asks for revelation and understanding instead of begging for sprovision. And I'll show you a believer who walks in victory, peace, and the manifest goodness of God. Not because God favors them more, it is because they see more clearly. They know who they are. They understand what they have.
And what you are conscious of, you experience.
Show me a believer who prays as apostle Paul's prayers. That is the difference. Not more effort, more awareness; not more striving, more seeing.
And when you see clearly, when you know deeply, when you understand fully what you already possess in Christ, everything you have learned in this entire study moves from your head to your heart and transforms your daily walk with God.
The practical application is simple. Read apostle Paul's prayers, not just casually. Study them.
See what he prayed for. Notice what he did not pray for and start praying the same way.
Pray for the eyes of your understanding to be enlightened.
Pray to know the hope of His calling.
Pray to comprehend the riches of His glory.
Pray to be strengthened in your inner man by becoming conscious of Christ dwelling in you.
Pray for divine revelation. Pray for divine wisdom.
Pray for divine knowledge of what you already have and watch what God does. Not gradually giving you things you're begging for, but suddenly opening your eyes to things that have always been yours.
And that revelation, that consciousness, that awareness will produce more transformation than a lifetime of religious striving ever could.
Chapter 10: Final challenge
If this teaching has shown you that prayer is about revelation of what you have, not petition for what you lack, I want you to declare it right now.
On a piece of paper, write these words. "I pray as apostle Paul's prayers. I ask for eyes to see what Christ has already given me. "
Do not write it as a religious formula. But write it as a settled decision to shift your prayer life from begging to seeing, from petition to partnership with God.
This is you aligning with the way apostle Paul prayed and the way God designed, desired and demands prayer to function in the new covenant.
Do it now. Write: I pray as apostle Paul's prayers. I ask for eyes to see what Christ has already given me."
Now, understanding how to pray as apostle Paul's prayers is absolutely transformational. But there is one statement Jesus made about faith that if we actually obeyed it would eliminate 90% of the doubt and striving in the Christian life. It is a statement we read all the time, but we keep ignoring. And when you finally see it for what it actually says, when you understand what Lord Jesus Christ was revealing about how faith operates, everything about your walk with God will shift from complicated to simple, from striving to receiving. This is the final revelation that brings everything full circle. You need to hear what Jesus said.
