Prayer is a basic ingredient in abundant Christian living. It will be impossible for a Christian to grow significantly in his relationship with Christ if this important element is missing. Developing a prayer list is a helpful tool to aid the prayer time. It could be kept in the back of eg. a devotional notebook. The following format is one way to develop the prayer list:
Date; Request; Prayer answered
What is prayer?
Prayer is verbal communication with God. Prayer is simply, talking with God. It is the means God has established to enable us to respond and communicate with Him. Prayer is the second part of the divine communication process. The first part is God speaking to us through His Word (the Bible) and His Spirit. The second part is your response to Him in prayer.
"Correct" way of praying?
Some Christians misunderstand the nature and purpose of prayer. There is a tendency to regard effective prayer as dependent upon the right liturgy, terminology, or ritual. The right words must be used, and the right pronunciation must be rendered. This is not the case.
What is correct then?
It is important to know that prayer is simply a matter of talking to God. You do not need fancy words or theological or complicated technology. God desires us simply to talk to Him. However, prayer is not just a matter of saying words which is part of it. The words must be an expression of our heart. We must not only talk to God, but also mean what we say. Prayer not backed up by heart is useless and merely an empty and futile exercise.
Purposes of Prayer
God's Word reveals to us a number of purposes for prayer.
A. Prayer satisfies the deepest needs of the human heart.
God has made us in such a way that we need His fellowship. One of the ways of communing with God is through prayer. Prayer alone meets the deep, inner restlessness of the human heart. This is clearly taught in the following Scriptures: Psalm 42:1-2, 63:1, 5-8
B. Prayer is a means of discovering God's guidance.
God has determined that prayer is one of the necessary ingredients in discovering His will for our lives. The peace and direction God gives us through our prayer life is attainable no other way. Read Matthew 7:7, James 1:5
C. Prayer is the means God has given us to deal with worry.
As Christians, we should not be overcome by worry and anxiety. Freedom from these problems is a mark of the supernatural changes that comes with your surrender to Christ. The natural man has no way of dealing with these problems. Read Philippians 4:6-7, Peter 5:7
D. Prayer is the means of communicating our needs and concerns to God.
Through prayer, God has given us a legitimate means of communicating these needs. Prayer is a means by which you can do something constructive about the various things that concern you. These concerns could be people, projects, missions and circumstances. Read John 16:23-27,Hebrews 4:16,1 John 5:14
E. Prayer aids us in our fight against sin and temptation.
One effective way to deal with sin and temptation in our lives is through prayer. The Bible tells us that when we are faced with temptations, we are to pray for God's strength, wisdom and victory over sin and temptation. Read 2 Thessalonians 3:1-3; Matthew 6:13; 26:41
Developing Effectiveness in Prayer
It is not only important to know "why" a Christian must pray, but also "how" to pray. The following is a list of five steps to effective prayer life. It is important that every Christian be clear on all of these points.
A. Balanced Prayer life
Some Christians may have the tendency to pray only for a particular thing or person. For example, one may continually ask God to supply personal needs or perhaps pray only for missions; or even pray for others to the exclusion of your own needs There should be a good balance in one's prayer life instead.
The Bible exhorts us to "be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know unto God" (Phil 4:6). These are three essential elements of effective prayer in this verse.
- Requests - the personal needs and desires we express to God
- Supplications - the requests we make for other people and projects.
- Thanksgiving - remembering to thank God for His answers and provisions for our needs.
As a Christian, a flawed human, there is also a tendency to forget to pray. The answer to this problem is to have a systematic prayer life. The best way to be systematic is to use a prayer list. Read Ephesians 1:16; Colossians 1:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:2
C. Consistent Prayer Life
A prayer list will help you to remember what to pray. One of the ways to be systematic prayer life. Prayer before meals, prayer before sleep, prayer before and after devotion time.
You must discipline yourself to be consistent in prayer that you will begin to see and experience the benefits of prayer. People who say that prayer does not work could be those who do not pray consistently. Your prayer should develop into a vital and constant communication with God. A helpful way for this to occur is to develop the habit of sentence prayer. This means praying short prayers through the day, on the train, bus or where ever you are, as requests comes to mind. This will definitely help develop consistency.
D. Specific Praying
There might a tendency for some to be too general in prayer. It is important to pray specifically. The reason is that when God answers your prayer, there is no doubt in your mind that it is by His grace and mercy that God sends His help.
E. Persistent Praying
Many Christians often pray once for something and no more, or they become discouraged and stop praying for something after just a short while. God desires us to be patient and persistent in your prayers. It demonstrates our willingness to trust God and His beautiful timing in answering. Read Luke 11:5; Romans 1:9-10
Possible Hindrances to effective Prayer
There are things in life that can hinder our prayers. The Bible tells us that there are a number of obstacles to prayer.
- He is not praying in faith or believing (James 1:5-8)
- He is simply not praying enough or really asking for anything (Matthew 21:22; James 4:2)
- He is asking for the wrong things and for the wrong reasons (James 4:3)
- He has unconfessed sin in his life (Psalm 66:18)
- He is having unresolved martial problems (1 Peter 3:7)
- He is living outside God's will (1 John 5:14-15)
1. If God knows everything, why is there still a need to pray?
- God commands it.
- He delights in our prayers.
- It helps to remind us of who God is and help us to put Him in the right perspective. God is not a "money-shaking" tree where we come to Him only in times of trouble and then forsake Him when all else is smooth in our life.
- It is the time we come before Him to confess our sins and ask for forgiveness. This is important as sin separates us from God
Go through psalms for prayers. You may pray using the help of scriptures. Jesus also taught us how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13.
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