The Reading Plan is designed to guide you through daily scriptures and reflections, helping you deepen your understanding and strengthen your faith. Simply follow the daily readings provided, meditate on the scripture, and reflect on how it applies to your life. You can revisit previous days or jump ahead to future readings at your own pace. Stay consistent, and watch your spiritual growth unfold as you engage with the Word daily.
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5Day Reading Plan
Communing with God
- Grace
Creflo Dollar
Praying should be communion with God, not religious tradition. Our prayer lives should be constant and consistent, not something we do sporadically every now and then. When we pray in our everyday living, we grow spiritually and strengthen our relationship with God. Life has enough trouble and drama; regularly praying all throughout the day when we get stuck in something keeps us plugged in to God and allows us to hear from Him at just the right time.
How to Use the Reading Plan:
About the Author:
Creflo Dollar serves as the Senior Pastor of World Changers Church International in College Park, Georgia. He has authored transformative books like Radical Life of Grace and Why I Hate Religion. His award-winning television broadcast, Changing Your World, reaches nearly 1 billion homes globally.
Day 1The Guidelines for Prayer
A strong prayer life is part of having a close, personal relationship with God. As Christians, praying is our way of having a conversation with Him. We never know when we may need to talk to God and confer with Him about an issue; it’s therefore imperative to know how to pray effectively. Stripping away religious protocol and simply being real with Him strengthens that critical connection.
Religion has taught us to complicate our prayers; the reasoning is that the longer and more complicated we make them, the more God is likely hear them. However, this isn’t what Jesus taught. He called people hypocrites who stand on the streets praying publicly. He instead instructed the people to pray in secret and to avoid using vain repetitions.
This isn’t to say that it’s wrong to pray in public, just that the motives behind our prayers matter. Jesus prayed constantly, but His prayers were normally short and direct. When He was on the boat with His disciples and a storm arose that threatened to sink the boat, He calmed the storm with three words: “Peace, be still.” When He brought His friend Lazarus back from the dead, all He needed to say was, “Lazarus, come forth” to see results.
The exception to keeping our prayers short is praying in tongues. This kind of praying isn’t to impress others or to petition God, but to build ourselves up and promote our spiritual growth. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he who speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself. Jude urged the believers to build themselves up in their most holy faith by praying in the Holy Ghost.
God wants to hear from us every day. Prayer allows us to do this. Maintaining those lines of communication keeps us grounded.
Scriptures:
Matthew 6:5-7
Mark 4:39
John 11:43
1 Corinthians 14:4
Jude 1:20
For an in-depth study on effective prayer in the kingdom of God, check out Creflo Dollar’s 10-message series, Prayer Into Communion, or his book, Foundations for Christian Living: Praying in Tongues Edition.
Day 2Prayer According to Jesus’ Finished Works
Prayer is how we have the two-way conversations with God that we need every day. Our prayers to Him are the most important form of communication we can have. It’s therefore important to prevent religious tradition from diluting their power. God wants us to present our real, authentic selves to Him when we pray; however there’s some protocol to remember.
Prayer has changed from the old covenant of the law to the new covenant of grace. Because of the finished works of Jesus, we no longer have to beg and plead with God to do good things for us; we can now thank Him for what He has already done. Under the old covenant, David asked God not to cast him away from His presence or take His Holy Spirit away. By contrast, Paul assured the Hebrews under the new covenant that God would not in any degree leave them helpless, forsake them, or relax His hold on them.
We must understand the difference between prayer before the cross and prayer after the cross. In the Old Testament the people petitioned God to give ear to their words and to consider their meditation. Now, we can have confidence that whatever we ask according to God’s will, He hears us. We know that because He hears us, we have the petitions we ask.
Before Jesus came, mankind had to ask God to hear his prayer, to listen to his cries for help, and not to ignore his tears; man was simply a guest. Now, we can be confident that He hears our prayers. If we’re in Christ, God see us as righteous; the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
Never stop talking to God. He loves to hear from us. As our heavenly Father, He’s always willing to take our call.
Scriptures:
Psalm 51:11
Hebrews 13:5, AMPC
Psalm 5:1
1 John 5:14, 15, NKJV
Psalm 39:12
James 5:16
For an in-depth study on effective prayer in the kingdom of God, check out Creflo Dollar’s 10-message series, Prayer Into Communion, or his book, Foundations for Christian Living: Praying in Tongues Edition.
Day 3A Model of Effective Prayer
Religion and a relationship with God are two different things. A strong example of this is how we approach our prayer lives. Praying should be communion with God, not religious tradition. Looking at it from the lens of grace gives us the right perspective.
We must pray from our hearts, but religion turns our prayers into recitations of empty words. Jesus gave the people a general outline for prayer, which later came to be called “The Lord’s Prayer.” This is a beautiful prayer, but because Jesus was fulfilling two ministries at once before His death and resurrection, much of it is Old-Testament based. He never meant for it to be memorized and recited word-for-word.
New-Testament prayer is prayed in Jesus’ name. Jesus told His disciples that previously they asked for nothing in His name, but the Father would give them whatever they asked in His name. He said to ask, and they would receive, so that their joy would be made full. This was definitely not an Old-Testament mindset.
There’s no power in simply reciting the Lord’s Prayer from memory. Jesus taught a model of effective prayer that begins and ends with thanksgiving and praise, with our petitions sandwiched in the middle. We’re to make a joyful shout to God, sing the honor of His name, make His praise glorious, and declare how awesome His works are. We can rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything.
Powerful prayers are based in gratitude and thankfulness, not fear of retribution or punishment. David prayed for God to hear his cry for mercy and not to bring him into judgment. By contrast, Psalm 136 is devoted to giving God thanks for His mercy and deliverance. Praying with the right attitude keeps us in the joy of God’s presence.
Scriptures:
Matthew 6:8-13
John 16:23, 24
Psalm 66:1-3, NKJV
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Psalm 143:1, 2, NIV
Psalm 136:1-26
For an in-depth study on effective prayer in the kingdom of God, check out Creflo Dollar’s 10-message series, Prayer Into Communion, or his book, Foundations for Christian Living: Praying in Tongues Edition.
Day 4Connecting to God through Prayer
Prayer is our life-saving connection to God that allows for uninhibited and frequent two-way communication. The world, however, has no understanding of its power or ability to change things. It still operates under a law-based mindset, which involves constantly begging and pleading for God to do things. By comparison, grace-based prayers involve continually thanking and praising Him for what He has already done in making heaven our final destination.
Our prayers are an opportunity for us to deepen our relationship with Jesus, not to beg and plead for things. Jesus had to explain to His disciples that just like an earthly father gives good gifts to his children, our heavenly Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. God sees us as righteous because of our faith in Christ; He’ll never abandon the godly or let their children beg for bread.
We’re to continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. It’s God’s will that we rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything. Believers are the righteousness of God; the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
Life in heaven is waiting for us. However, life on earth has enough stress and drama; we frequently need to rest while on our Christian journey. When we’re weary and exhausted, God tells us to take His yoke upon us and let Him teach us. He’s humble and gentle, and gives us rest for our souls.
Prayer has been transformed from Old-Testament self-effort and perfect performance to New-Testament belief. Faith the size of a mustard seed empowers us to order a mountain be moved, and it has to move. Whatever we pray for, if we believe we’ve received it, it’s ours. This is genuine authority the world doesn’t have.
Scriptures:
Luke 11:1-13
Psalm 37:25, NLT
Colossians 4:2, NKJV
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
James 5:16, NLT
Matthew 11:29, NLT
Matthew 17:20
Mark 11:24
For an in-depth study on effective prayer in the kingdom of God, check out Creflo Dollar’s 10-message series, Prayer Into Communion, or his book, Foundations for Christian Living: Praying in Tongues Edition.
Day 5Prayer: Our Personal Communion with God
Believers navigating today’s world are living in a hostile environment. Most people live only by their physical senses and don’t understand the things of God—this includes prayer. The prevailing mindset that we don’t need God and have everything under control cuts us off from Him. The fallacy with this type of thinking is that when things go wrong, we won’t be able to hear God when we desperately need His direction and guidance.
This kind of spiritual deafness is tragic. God’s will is that we can hear from Him; He’s always talking to us, but focusing too much on our own problems keeps us from hearing what He’s saying. Unbelief is one hindrance to hearing from God. Paul warned the Hebrews about having an evil heart of unbelief in departing from God.
An undeveloped spirit is another hindrance. The Holy Spirit speaks to us through our spirits; our conscience is the voice of our spirit. Letting Him speak to us in this manner protects us from getting disconnected from God. In Him we live, and move, and have our being.
Hearing from God is critical to finding our way in life. When we call to Him, He’ll answer us and show us great and mighty things that we don’t know. God loves us and wants to commune with us through prayer; communing with Him is part of the type of intimate, personal relationship He wants with us. God inhabits the praises of His people; therefore, whenever two or three are gathered in His name, He’s there in the midst of them.
We can get discouraged if we can’t hear God. This is why we must always pray and not lose heart. As His sheep, we hear His voice, He knows us, and we follow Him. This keeps us on track.
Scriptures:
Hebrews 3:12, NKJV
Acts 17:28
Jeremiah 33:3
Matthew 18:20
Luke 18:1
John 10:27
For an in-depth study on effective prayer in the kingdom of God, check out Creflo Dollar’s 10-message series, Prayer Into Communion, or his book, Foundations for Christian Living: Praying in Tongues Edition.
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