STEPS FOR AN EFFECTIVE PRAYER LIFE

1. SANCTIFY YOURSELF –

“Now we know that God heareth not sinners:
but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.”…John 9:31

Make it a constant practice to stay free from sin. Be constant in repentance. Even with all your efforts to be righteous, it may be that you have sinned without knowing it. We all are continually learning God’s will. We all are in a constant state of growth and cleansing. The Bible says that Job was a perfect and upright man, not only because he feared God but also because he “eschewed” evil. That means he not only avoided and sidestepped evil, but also put it away from him. He was active in preventing sin from entering his life. He made decisions every day to follow God’s will. Keep yourself from sin and worship God. People who are not saved, who are living a life of sin, cannot expect God to hear their prayers. Your question----how then does God hear the sinner’s prayer for salvation? The answer is simple. God does not hear the prayer of a sinner. When a person responds to the touch of God on his or her heart and looks up to God to be saved, when that person makes the decision to accept Christ as Personal Savior, at that moment, that person is no longer a sinner. The conversion happens even before the prayer. The prayer is a result of the new birth. Therefore the prayer that is prayed is not a “sinner’s prayer” but a “prayer of faith” whereby that soul is saved.

2. KNOW GOD’S WILL – "And this is the confidence that we have in him,
that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask,
we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him"….1 John 5:14-15

How do you know God will hear and answer your prayer? You know because you are praying according to His will, asking for and saying the things that are correct, and asking with the right attitude and mindset. Knowing God’s will for humankind is possible only through knowledge of His Word. Make yourself available for Bible Study, Sunday school, and all those activities that help you to understand what God wants.

3. ABIDE IN HIM –

"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you,
ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you"…John 15:7

What does it mean to abide in Christ? It means to let your life be hidden in Him, to live through His eyes. Have you ever met a parent who was trying to live their life vicariously through their children, trying to accomplish the things through their children that they didn't or couldn't do? That’s what it means to abide in Christ. Live your life vicariously through Him. Expect the empowerment of Christ to be at work in your life in every situation. Let the mind of Christ be your mind. Don’t just read your Bible, but practice it. That’s how His words abide in you, by activating those words in every situation. Don’t just think about them but do them, perform them, act them out.

4. PRAY ALL THE TIME –

"Pray without ceasing"…1 Thessalonians 5:17

That probably sounds extreme to you. But prayer is not just about falling to your knees and bowing your head. The nature of prayer is that you worship God and place your requests before Him. You can do that anywhere, because you can pray in your heart; you can whisper a prayer; you can take a walk in solitude and talk to Him aloud. There are many ways to pray. As you investigate the options, you’ll find them. You can pray about everything. Prayer is not always a long drawn out process; it can be just a few whispered words communicating with the Master. It can be about anything and everything. Nothing is too small or too big to pray about. Develop the habit of praying.

5. PRAY HIS WORD –

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness:" 2 Timothy 3:16

Sometimes getting started in prayer is hard because the words are not there. Sometimes you can’t think of what to say. That’s when the Word of God should kick in. The Word of God is given by inspiration of God. If you pray the Word of God, you will be inspired in your prayer and the words that need to be said will begin to flow. For example, you could begin your prayer with the Scriptures provided in this lesson:

          “Lord I thank you for your Word that is given by inspiration. I will let it through Your Holy Spirit inspire me
           to pray in the right way. I thank you that You forgive my sins. I will worship you and avoid evil in my life
           that You may hear me when I pray. Teach me your will that I may pray according to it. As I present these
           petitions to you today, I make myself available to you to do your will.”

This is only an example of how to begin. As you become more experienced in prayer you will develop your own beginning, just as people develop their own styles of handwriting and speech. Your relationship with God is unique to you and Him.

6. PRAY IN THE SPIRIT –

"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities:
for we know not what we should pray for as we ought:
but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us
with groanings which cannot be uttered.
and he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit,
because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God…Romans 8:26-27

Pray that God will bless you with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, because the way you will receive the most help in prayer. Along with the baptism of the Spirit, you will receive a prayer language that is unique to you. There are ways we need to communicate with the Lord God that do not go through the human manner of communication, but through the Spirit. Through the utterance of that unknown tongue, you not only can pray those things that you cannot find words for, but your own spirit will be edified, because God uses that language to build you up as well. When you begin to pray and the Spirit begins to give you the utterance do not stifle it. Do not quench the Spirit. Remember that God does all things decently and in order. He will never have you speaking in tongues at an inappropriate time or in an inappropriate place!

7. HAVE FAITH IN GOD –

"And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain,
Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea;
and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe
that those things which he saith shall come to pass;
he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you,
what things soever ye desire, when ye pray,
believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them"….Mark 11:22-24

No matter how well you pray, or how often you pray, you cannot expect your prayers to be answered if you don’t believe. Why would you ask a person for something you don’t expect to receive? Why waste your time in prayer? In the book of James the Scripture tells us that we cannot expect to receive anything from God if we are double-minded and do not ask in faith. We must not allow our faith to waver. If you want to be effective in prayer, you have to make the decision that you will have faith in God. It doesn’t matter what the situation looks like or what’s happening around you – God is the constant in the center of your universe. None of the other variables mean anything. Focus on God when you pray, not on the situation, not on other people, not on possibilities or impossibilities, not on pros and cons, not on maybe or maybe. Focus on God and understand that with God nothing is impossible. HAVE FAITH IN GOD!