In Matthew 6:9-13, the Lord taught His disciples the right way to pray. Prayer is an outcry for assistance. It summons your ally to join forces with you in your fight against your foes in order to be victorious. Usually, when an individual encounters a problem too big to handle, he will call for the help of others. In the midst of a famine, when Elijah went to ask for water and food from the widow of Zarephath, he was simply praying (1st King 17:8-16). Also, when this widow’s son died and she cried to the man of God to restore him back to life, that was a prayer (1st Kings 17:17-23). Furthermore, when Rachel asked Jacob to give her children, she was praying (Genesis 30:1). In 2nd Kings 6:25-29, we see a woman praying to the king for help in enforcing her agreement to feed on another woman’s son after her own son had been devoured. From all these cases, it can be established that prayer can be made to individuals, kings, men of God and ultimately, to God Himself. People also pray to the devil and his agents, when they go to them for help. There are some believers who go to their villages to cry to their unsaved parents for help over a nagging issue. Such parents are compelled to consult their oracles and apply charms in resolving these issues. When this occurs, that believer has been brought into covenant with the idols consulted, thereby giving the demonic spirits behind such idols the right to manipulate their lives. Be very careful who you run to for help!

When Rachel asked Jacob to give her children in Genesis 30:1, Jacob got angry. Rachel even threatened to commit suicide if she did not have children. Her husband’s response in Genesis 30:2b says it all:
“Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?”
She was directing her right request to the wrong quarters. What she was asking was beyond his ability. Many times, we pray to the wrong person or send our desires to those who cannot truly help us. The Bible in Psalm 60:11 says,
“Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.”
Are you channelling your request to men instead of God? Stop doing so today! God is the only one with all the resources to meet all your needs; therefore, it is wise to direct your entire requests and cries to Him alone. As you do so, He will hear you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.