There are many different kinds of prayer. In Ephesians 6:18, the Apostle Paul, by the Spirit, admonishes us to always pray with all prayer and supplications in the Spirit. What then are the types of prayer we have to be praying with? Knowing these kinds of prayers will help you employ various prayer weapons for results. Some of the types of prayers include:

 1. The Prayer of Thanksgiving
It is that prayer that brings thanks and adoration to God for who he is and for everything in our lives. David said, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise will continually be in my mouth." It is also a type of prayer that comes to God, thanking Him in advance for answered prayer. At the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus said to the people around him to remove the stone at the entrance of the tomb. "Father, I thank you that you have heard Me, and I thank you because you always hear me," he said, lifting his voice—John 11:39–42. Then, after he proceeded to call forth Lazarus, And behold, Lazarus came forth. Glory to God. This kind of prayer is founded on the revelation that before "need" came, God was, and is still, our very present help in times of need. If he is present, then we can trust that he has gone ahead of us, even to make help available to us.

2. The Prayer of Faith
The prayer of faith is a type of prayer that calls for those things that are not as though they were. Thus, this kind of prayer rather makes confessions of the results expected as though they have come to pass. Instead of asking, confession is made of the answers. This prayer is founded on the faith that Jesus declared on the cross: It is finished. Even in the Old Testament, men prayed this kind of prayer. Jonah prayed a prayer of faith when he was in the belly of the whale (Jonah 2:1-5). – Jonah began his prayer this way:

     "I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction,

     And He answered me.

    "Out of the belly of Sheol, I cried,

     And You heard my voice.

 Jonah continued his prayer by putting all his communication in prayer to God in the past tense. For instance, he is now praying from the fish belly yet he says I CRIED OUT TO THE LORD as though he is out of the belly of the fish and recounting his experience. Faith looks beyond the present predicament and sees the results. Hence, the prayer of faith prays and confesses the results as though they have come to pass.

 

 Every situation and every circumstance will call for the type of prayer for results. Never pray amiss. 

3. The Prayer of Intercession
Intercessory prayer is also another kind of prayer of which we need to be aware. Intercessory prayer stands in the gap between a person and God. It is a prayer that is made for other people, nations, cities and towns, etc. Paul exhorted in 1 Timothy 2:1-2 that we intercede for all men, including kings and those in authority. There are times when people need spiritual help, such as salvation. However, such people are unable to bring themselves to the place of their own salvation because pride or ignorance is hindering them. Intercessory prayer can be a solution. Moses interceded three times for the children of Israel with a fast of 40 days and nights each time—Deuteronomy 9:16–27.

 4. The Prayer of Agreement
The prayer of agreement is when two of God’s people agree in spirit to pray together about a matter. This kind of prayer requires that all parties involved agree. It is founded on the principle revealed by Jesus in Matthew 18:19—Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. The prayer of agreement is powerful in that such joint efforts produce profound synergic effects. Remember, two is better than one. This kind of prayer is very useful when a situation is overwhelming for you.

 Spiritually, prayer is a coding language. It enables the believer to code what should happen instead of leaving by chance. Remember, what has been, is that which shall be (Eccl 1:9).

5. The Prayer of Enquiry
The prayer of enquiry is very useful when we are not sure of what is happening, either around us or in our families, workplaces, in our countries, or churches. Prayer is powerful when we have accurate knowledge of the matter at the centre of the prayer. Without knowledge, we can pray amiss. Further, there are times we do not know how to proceed, or we are presented with so many options that we are unsure which one is the one God wants for our lives, our children, our neighbours, or our nations. We can pray by basically asking God questions for clarity. When he was in great distress, David enquired of the Lord. His family had been taken and he didn’t know how to proceed. 1 Samuel 30:8

 

6. Prophetic Prayers
You will agree that God has a plan for every life, every community, and every nation. In other words, God is a God of purpose. In the beginning, God gave the earth to man to rule it as an extension of the kingdom of Heaven. Hence, the earth has to conform to the plans and policies of the kingdom of heaven, and it is a man who has to make sure that happens. Prophetic prayers enforce God’s vision and plan for our lives, cities, nations, etc. These visions can't just be made up; they have to come from God. For instance, Daniel understood from the prophetic books of Jeremiah the number of years they should spend in exile (Daniel 9). Immediately, Daniel began to pray. What was he praying about? – The release of his people from captivity would happen as God told his prophet Jeremiah it would. He was enforcing prophetic decrees. On earth, prophetic prayers enable a man to bind something and heaven will ratify it, or lose something on earth and heaven will grant such enforcement. Similarly, there are many things God has spoken concerning His people including Isaiah 2:2. We can pray to enforce these prophetic decrees

7. Petitioning or Supplication
Petitions or supplications are prayers that we offer to God in which we ask and petition Him to intervene or help us. We often pray for His mercies, strength, guidance, or provision. All these are prayers of petition. We petition him when we realise that we need reinforcements. Jesus said when we pray we should say, "Give us this day our daily bread" (Luke 11:3). Meaning, there is a planned allotment daily from God for everyone. When we wake up, we are to petition him for the release of our allotment.