Friday, May 7th  – Effective Prayer

I want my time in prayer to be a wise investment and not just a beating of the air. I know the Word of God does the Work of God, I look to the Bible and ponder some prayer aids found there. Good prayer needs to arise out of the heart, not just the mouth. I think more good things are wrought in prayer than by dreaming.

Real effective prayer is a time to release faith. In Luke 11:1 the disciples never said, Lord teach us how to pray, their request was that Jesus would teach them to pray; Lord teach us to pray, we need the birth of a prayer warrior spirit, in us first and others second.

Our prayers should be guided by the following principles:

A pure heart, Psalm 66:18 “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” God is not looking for perfect hearts but pure hearts.

A forgiving spirit, bitterness and anger is growing in the church and our world in general. This bitterness and wrath hinders the effectiveness of prayer. A forgiving spirit is necessary to walk on heaven’s sod. If your prayers seemed hindered, check who you are bitter, angry, or unforgiving?

The principle of faith, James 4:3 “Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed”. How sad today, we pray many words and then worry. Worry is a type of doubt and doubt is a type of fear. Heb. 11:6 “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”

A right motive, James 4:3 “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts”. God’s glory should be the motive.

Let it be God’s will and not ‘mine’, 1 John 5:14 “This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask any thing according to His will, He hears us”. Jesus prayed for God’s will to fulfill His purpose.

We must pray in Jesus’ name, Jesus said in John 14:14 “If ye ask anything in my name, I will do it”. Have you ever written a check and filled it all out properly and forgot to sign it? Legally that check is worthless without a valid signature. We pray to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ.

Praying in the Spirit, Jude 20 “But ye, beloved building up yourselves on the most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost”. The Spirit of God knows the heart of God, and the Son’s wishes. Good effective prayer must get beyond the letter of the law into the Spirit of the law. We don’t always understand the spiritual battles ongoing in this world. We thus yield to God’s Spirit and can pray more effectively.