Prayer is art. It is both objective and subjective. You can be very, very specific, or you can pray in general terms. Prayer styles vary from person to person. Just like no two people will ever paint the same picture, no two people are ever going to pray the same prayer.

The amazing thing is that God responds to the infinite variety of prayers that are presented to Him around the clock.

I know that you and I cannot comprehend a God who can pay attention to a million prayers simultaneously, but take my word for it, He can. Just remember, He presides over a universe that is 28 BILLION light years across, and ONE light-year is 5.8 TRILLION miles! He keeps your body functioning, although that requires micro-managing almost 100 TRILLION living cells simultaneously in your body. If our God can keep all that running on schedule, don't you think for one moment that He can't pay attention to you. When we say that God has infinite power, we are talking INFINITE. No limits whatsoever.

We have never preached God bigger than He really is. We have never overstated His abilities. We have never asked for anything that He cannot do.

Think about it. The widow woman in 2 Kings 4 was down to nothing. All she had in her house was a pot of oil. The prophet told her to borrow all the pots in the neighborhood. She literally filled up every pot in town out of that one bottle. Then she sold all the oil and paid off all her bills.

Now, would you have ever thought to pray for something like that? God has tricks up His sleeve that you and I cannot even imagine. That's why we should be completely uninhibited when we pray. Jesus said that if you can believe it, you can receive it.

A preacher I know got a call from a businessman in his town.

"Preacher, I need prayer."

"What for?"

"My business is failing. I have a new car dealership that is on the verge of bankruptcy."

"What do you want me to pray?" the preacher enquired.

"I want you to pray that God will send a tornado and destroy this place."

The preacher was shocked, but just kept listening. The guy figured he could start over with the insurance he could get out of such a calamity.

The preacher prayed.

That weekend, a Category 3 tornado swept through town and totally destroyed the car dealership.

The businessman collected the insurance proceeds and opened up a new dealership.

That is a true story.

You never know what God might do if you will pray. It's time to throw out all your preconceived, self-limiting ideas about prayer and just get down in the trenches and conduct guerilla warfare in prayer.

I took my own advice. The church I was pastoring in Birmingham needed a new roof, which was going to cost thousands of dollars that we did not have. I asked God to give us a new roof. Would you believe that within a WEEK, a hailstorm came through town and damaged that old roof? The insurance adjuster came out and appraised the damage. The insurance company paid for a completely new roof, and we did not spend one dime out of pocket.

I know that sounds crazy. It almost sounds dishonest. But it is NOT. I never did anything dishonest in that situation. I only prayed for a new roof. If you need a miracle, God is not ashamed or embarrassed to do whatever He has to, to give you your miracle.

One of the biggest hurdles in learning how to pray is learning how to believe that God will respond to ANY prayer that is genuine and full of faith. You do NOT have to be eloquent, articulate or verbose. Your prayers do NOT have to be well-structured, grammatically correct or humanly impressive. But they do have to be real. There is NO REASON why you or anybody else cannot learn to pray powerful prayers that work. Just give it a try.

The thief on the cross beside Jesus only had minutes left to live. He was nearing his last breath. But he knew this man Jesus was the Son of God, and he could not restrain himself.

"And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise," Luke 23:43.

With a NINE-WORD prayer, that fellow won the heart of the LORD of glory, and saved his eternal soul.

Nine words. God created the universe with only three words: "Let there be..."

Stop worrying about your prayer skills. Just pray whatever you can find in your heart to pray. You may just find that you can get your miracle in only ONE word - "Jesus!"