How to Pray - 4 Effective Prayer Lessons
INQUIRE
EFFECTIVE PRAYER Lesson #1
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Philippians 4:6 (NLT). We are encouraged to express our concerns to God, but how can I pray with confidence? Four key words answer this question.
- REMAIN. Remaining is the key to successful praying. In John 15:7(NLT), Jesus states,"But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! Colossians 3:16 (NLT) says,“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.”
- The second key word is ASK. Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:7, 8 (NLT) “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened." Someone has said, when we get to heaven we’ll find a lot of unopened packages with our name on them, because we did not claim them through prayer.
- The third key word is FAITH. In Matthew 21:22 (NLT) we read, "You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.” Faith, which is an attitude of believing, pleases God. Your faith adventure begins in prayer.
- The fourth key word to answer the question about praying with confidence is RECEIVE. If you are remaining in Christ, and if you have asked, faving faith to believe, get ready to receive the answer. In other words, when you pray for rain, carry an umbrella. John 16:24(NLT) says, “Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy."
HEAR
EFFECTIVE PRAYER Lesson #2 "I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!" Psalm 116:1-2(NLT)
Spending time developing our own personal relationship with the Lord Jesus so that he hears our voice and we hear his is the most life changing investment of our time. Jesus modeled this with his Father in his humanity. God passionately desires to communicate with us through our prayer conversations. He wants to speak right into our cares and concerns, and tell us secrets we don't even know. He speaks clearly to us through his Word, the Bible, as we intentionally listen to his Spirit. Therefore, the more we pray and read his Word and listen, the more we recognize his personal language of life-giving words to us. A simple guide to help us be more effective in our dialogue with God can be remembered by the word ACTS.
- Adoration - This means I worship God just for Who he is. In adoration we verbalize our worship, praise, honor, and exaltation of God. Many of the Psalms help us focus on the attributes of God, such as his loving kindness, his mercy, his majesty and others. Adoration is expressing our love for him through our words.
- Confession - As we begin our prayer with a worshipful adoration of God, the Holy Spirit will often reveal any sin in our life that needs to be confessed. To confess means to “agree with”. In other words, I agree with God concerning my sin - that it is sin. I also agree with God that the blood of Jesus Christ has paid for that sin. This naturally leads me to thank him for His forgiveness and provision.
- Thanksgiving - Giving thanks expresses faith, and faith pleases God. That's way prayer truly is a faith adventure. In giving thanks we are expressing verbally our gratefulness and appreciation for what God does. Thanksgiving is also saying, “God I trust You.” It is the opposite of whining and becoming bitter. We thank God for the good and the difficult. Which requires more faith?
- Supplication - Supplication with thanksgiving is letting our requests be made known to God. We are praying for everything that concerns us, as well as for the needs of others. Supplication includes intercession and petition. ACTS helps us to be “on the alert” in our prayers.
OBEY
EFFECTIVE PRAYER Lesson #3
"Then the Lord said to Elijah, “Go to the east and hide ... drink from the brook ... So Elijah did as the Lord told him." 1 Kings 17:2-5 (NLT)In order for us to be effective in our prayers, we must have these two qualities that were a part of Elijah's lifestyle. We must be open to God's will and to his direction for our lives as is revealed through his Word and Spirit.
Reading and studying the Word enables us to learn what the will of God the Father is. And as we know his will, we can pray and ask according to his will. For example, 2 Peter 3:9 (NLT) tells me that God "does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent." Obviously,when I am contending for the souls of men and women, boys and girls around me who do not know Christ, I can be sure that I am praying according to God's will.
The Word of God also tells me that I am the Lord's witness. Isaiah 43:10 (NIV), 'You are my witnesses," declares the Lord.' This means that I do not only pray for the lost, but I also go and tell them what I have seen, heard, and experienced of the Lord. I go and share the Good News of God's love and forgiveness with them. When the Word of the Lord came to Elijah, he obeyed and went and did according to the Word of the Lord.
Hearing and knowing God's Word and then going and doing according to His Word, will result in many answers to our prayers.
FOR the ADVANCE of GOD'S KINGDOM
"...but the people who know their God will display strength and take action."
Daniel 11:32
God has an agenda. It's his kingdom. Prayer enables his kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. One of the greatest needs as followers of Christ is to discover and experience the privilege and power of life-generating prayer. God desire to expand his kingdom in partnership with us. Significant movements of the Spirit of God have always been preceded by a very strong prayer emphasis and awakening. Dann Spader, President of Global Youth Initiative says, "Prayer saturated every aspect of Christ's life and ministry. His ministry began and ended in prayer. For Jesus, prayer was a source of strength, a time to learn his Father's heart, and a time to listen to the Father's desires." If Jesus needed prayer how much more do we? To what extent are we focusing and depending on prayer?
There is a world of lost people. Jesus launched his ministry after 40 days of prayer and fasting. Would you join other champions of prayer who have committed themselves to fasting and prayer and to teaching these disciplines to other Christians, inspiring believers to trust our sovereign God to send revival to our needy domains, cities, nation and world.
A great force of God's power will be released as we commit ourselves to effective prayer . In Acts 4:24 (NLT) we read how "all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God." The result was a great boldness in sharing God's message. It is our earnest heart cry that you will be directed and enabled by the Holy Spirit to inquire, hear and obey for the advance of God's kingdom and become personally involved in standing in the gap on behalf of lost people. Also, that you will be actively involved in boldly sharing God's good news with people in your sphere of influence.
- "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." James 5:16b (NASB)
- "The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results." James 5:16b (NLT)
- "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:16b (NIV)
- "The prayer of a righteous man has a powerful effect." James 5:16b (Good News)
How to facilitate an hour of prayer
Written by Karen Braun with some thought borrowed John Baerg