Christianity 101: Praying Powerfully and Effectively
Isaiah 59
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or His ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2 but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
A great brother in Christ (and honestly one of my greatest personal supporters in ministry from its inception) recently got into a phone conversation with me about prayer. This godly man is a prayer warrior, that’s for sure. He puts me to shame when it comes to praying. His love for this type of intimacy and communion with God is unquenchable. As we got to talk and I was expressing my biblical view on prayer, he exclaimed, “Why do people not teach the basics on prayer that you just mentioned to me, so the prayers of true Christ-followers will be powerful and effective?” I will leave you to answer that question for yourselves. But it is truly a BIG miss for many that I come into contact within my own ministry and life that simply do not fully understand biblical prayer. Prayer is something we are commanded to do continually (1 Thess 5:17), yet many do not know how to properly pray. That is clearly not a good scenario! It’s our main communication channel to a holy God yet people treat prayer irreverently and improperly.
When we think of prayer, many people think of things related to it like telling God what they want, maybe while bowing their heads, closing their eyes, getting on their knees, etc. Don’t get me wrong; these are all great things to do while praying if they help you stay focused on the Lord. But if we are to pray unceasingly, would it be possible to do some of these things mentioned all of the time (i.e. like while driving, in our workplace, etc.)? It is just not possible. Don’t close your eyes and drive…please!!! Prayer must be more than a mechanical and liturgical thing; rather it must be an intimate and exhilarating time spent with the Lord.
Here is something else to think about…what about getting quiet and listening to God’s answers to prayer? How much time do you personally spend on that? Do you even listen at all? “If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear. Consider carefully what you hear” (Mark 4:23-24). Prayer is a conversation between you and God; it should be two-way. When done, all the time praying should not be monopolized by you speaking to Him, telling Him what the best thing is to do (or maybe not to do). The Lord is a lot smarter than you and me (Isa 55:9). So it would be a lot wiser if He did more of the talking between the two of you…wouldn’t it? “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says” (Rev 3:22). “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jer 33:3). Do you truly give God time to tell you amazing things and explain what His will might be for you, versus you telling Him what your will is for yourself, your friends, and loved ones?
Prayer is clearly not about mechanics, but its effectiveness is definitely centered on following God’s instructions in regard to it. The Bible says in Rom 8:26, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” So then, if we do not know what we ought to pray for according to God’s Word, then what should we even pray for? Great question…I thought you would never ask! 🙂
First John 1:6-9 says, “If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” You may be asking, why is this passage so important in regard to prayer? It is due to our need for the Holy Spirit to be solely responsible for our prayers. If we walk by the Spirit who intercedes for us, we won’t pray selfishly (Gal 5:16) or with wrong motives (Jas 4:3), “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” When we are in active known sin, our fellowship is broken with that same Spirit in which we are in dire need for our prayers to be right and effective. This is why 1 John 1:6-10 is of the utmost importance in regard to prayer. Unreconciled sin breaks ours fellowship with God, hence rendering our prayer life lame.
God’s Word clearly speaks to this matter, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (Psa 66:18). You see, “the LORD is far from the wicked (those in active known sin), but He hears the prayer of the righteous” (Prov 15:29). A person being right with God is always a requirement in order for God to action your prayer(s). For instance, the Lord says, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matt 6:14-15). Can you see the linkage in the Lord’s Prayer; it connects your clearing up sin in your life to God’s forgiveness, with that specific sin being unforgiveness. Check it out… “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt 6:12). Many people have prayed this many times in their lives, but did they ever think about what they said?
Now, you are declared eternally righteous when you come to a true saving knowledge in Christ and accept Him as Lord of your life (Rom 10:9). “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). When this occurs, we are sealed for the day of redemption by the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30). This is also called being indwelled with the Spirit (see Rom 8:9-11 for details). The Holy Spirit is the One necessary for effective prayer. The true believer is placed in a righteous standing when saved (a.k.a. justification). But does this righteous (justified) standing guarantee all our prayers will be actioned by God? The answer is no! There is another aspect of righteousness that has to be maintained, enabled only by the Holy Spirit as well. A true believer must also maintain a right relationship with the Lord once he or she is saved (see again 1 John 1:6-10 above, or Prov 28:13). Jesus must become Lord over their life, not just Savior of it! This comes by obedience, in combination with continual and active repentance when a person is in sin, in order for sanctification (being molded into the image of God’s Son) to progressively occur.
For sanctification to take place, the Bible says…“Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (2 Cor 7:1). Sanctification is separate and distinct from justification and has to do with continually surrendering to the Spirit. This is in order for you to “walk by the Spirit [so] you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal 5:16). For your prayer life to be powerful and effective, progressive sanctification must be actively taking place in your life and not stalled due to outstanding sinful behavior. Hence, there is one aspect of being righteous connected to salvation, and another related to sanctification. Read the book of Romans for details about both facets of righteousness. The apostle Paul distinguishes them from one another in his writings. You must always understand that righteousness never comes from the flesh or human works, but only comes through the Holy Spirit. “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17).
Specifically for husbands, in regard to the relationship between how you treat your wives and your prayer life, “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered” (1 Pet 3:7). In this example, a righteous status before a holy God depends on how well a husband understands and treats his wife. It clearly states that this can affect a married man’s prayer life! If you do not have a constant connection to the Spirit due to any personal sin (this one in 1 Pet 3:7, or any other one for that matter), you will struggle with prayer effectiveness.
Some people say God always answers prayers with a “yes,” “no,” or “wait.” But the “wait” is really multifaceted, and breaks into two separate scenarios. That is crucial to distinguish. One says something like this, “My child I love you, but I am not actioning your prayers until you clean up your known sin, in which my Spirit is lovingly convicting you of.” The other is, “My child I love you, and I know what is best for you and will gladly action your prayer, but wait until the timing is right to do so.” So it’s more like God’s prayer answering options are: “yes,” “no,” “wait on Him,” or “waiting for you!” John 15:7 states, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Also, Luke 11:9 says, “And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you.” Are you starting to see the point; if you abide in Him, and walk by the Spirit, and are in a right fellowship with Him (all synonymous), then your prayers will be powerful and effective, as they will be Spirit-driven and always within His will.
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words” (Matt 6:7). Listen, your words are not important unless the Spirit is leading you to speak them. Long-winded prayers ensure nothing, unless the Spirit’s wordless groans are accompanying them and are in harmony with them. We must be “Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” (Eph 6:8). “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him” (1 John 5:14-15). Christ-followers only ascertain God’s will and wisdom (1 Cor 2:6-16) when they are in a right fellowship with the Lord. “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles” (Psa 34:17). Hence, a right condition and fellowship with the Lord is a predecessor for an effective prayer life. There is absolutely no doubt about it from what the Scriptures tell us. “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him” (1 John 3:22). Keeping His commands and doing what He pleases positively affects the success of our prayers! “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph 2:10). Those good works are totally enabled by the Spirit’s working in and through a believer; you bring absolutely nothing to the table (Gen 6:5; Gen 8:21; Rom 8:8)!
For all those who keep telling Christ-followers being holy as He is holy (1 Pet 1:16) is just a secondary matter, please get back into your Bible’s and study harder asking for more wisdom from the Lord (Jas 1:5)…He’s begging you…please! To be crystal clear about this; to be holy means you need to be surrendered to the Holy Spirit, you must live by the Spirit, and you must also know nothing you do in the flesh can ever please God (Rom 8:8)…NOTHING! To be holy has absolutely nothing to do with human works and effort, as those are filthy rags to God (Isa 64:6). To be holy means you are Spirit-led and act in accordance to the Spirit’s leading, which actually is the enabler for you to pray appropriately; the main point of this post. Bible teachers and preachers…you are severely handicapping the prayers of God’s precious saints and their relationship with Him by proclaiming, or even hinting, that an aversion to righteous living is OK solely because the Lord loves us. Instead exhort true Christ-followers that it is being in a righteous condition that makes you do godly works and pray effectively, via the Holy Spirit.
“Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (Jas 5:16). Again notice, there is a clear connection between righteousness, repentance, and effective prayer in this verse. Do you see it? Are you getting a better picture yet about biblical prayer? I truly hope so. (To note: a person’s repentance is NOT a work, but clearly an act of the Spirit. See my previous post on this topic: http://reachinghigherwithmeyer.blogspot.com/2012/10/confession-and-repentance-is-not-work.html). Look, the flesh would never repent…never! “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom 8:8).
Another example to prove the point of this post: read Isaiah 6 and see the cleansing that needed to take place for this prophet to be conversing with God. ”Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for’” (Isa 6:6-7). I truly hope my repetition is starting to make the divine point to you about scripturally sound prayer.
So to summarize about biblical prayer…God is not a magic genie in a bottle in heaven in which you just rub the bottle and presto…you get what you want! He doesn’t just answer prayer because you asked Him for something (although He does always love you and His grace is always available). Just because you dump your grocery list of prayer in front of the Lord and think your prayer requests will be actioned, quite simply doesn’t make it so. Yes, prayers will always be heard by God, as “Where can I go from [His] Spirit? Where can I flee from [His] presence?” (Psa 139:7) But the actioning of those prayers requires a right fellowship with God. Prayers must all be accomplished and communicated via the Holy Spirit, which you are only filled with when you are NOT in active and known sin (Eph 5:18). My suggestion; pray this before asking God for anything, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psa 139:23-24). Listen closely for His answer, and “then be earnest and repent” (Rev 3:19). It can revolutionize your prayer life; trust Him! And as far as a real example of how to pray, read Daniel 9:2-23; what a powerful and amazing example of effective prayer! Remember, prayer should be a two-way conversation in all of the hours in which you are awake and remember to do so; no canned formula required for doing it. Talk to Him as frequently as possible, and as commanded, but simultaneously always being a good listener. Give God a chance to speak!
The Lord wants to lead you in order to have the best life possible. You must seek His kingdom and righteousness first (Matt 6:33-34) in order for this to occur. God desires to be your closest and best friend (Jas 2:23) and has an amazing plan for your life! And yes, no matter what your condition, He ALWAYS hears prayers of repentance, as He desires to be in a close knit relationship with you (and all people for that matter). The Lord listens aggressively for prayers of reconciliation. And when prayer requests are urgent, seek out those around you who lead righteous lives, not just warm bodies that throw up idol words into the heavenlies. The more righteous people praying for something, you can be confident of this…you prayers will be answered! God loves us and He wants to answer each and every prayer you have…will you do what is necessary to let Him???
Hopefully you get the idea about biblically appropriate and effective prayer…I will pray over this post that you do!!!
1 Peter 3
12 For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous,
and His ears attend to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
2 Chron 7
14 And My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek
My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive
their sin and will heal their land.