Prayer is the greatest weapon and privilege that believers have, yet so often it goes unused because we misunderstand how to employ it and how to engage in effective prayer. As believers it is very easy to fall into a pattern of thinking that causes our prayers to be ineffective, and in turn we fail to see the value of prayer, so we stop praying. Prayer is simple, yet powerful. Effective prayer is not dependent on a ritual or ceremony that is designed to somehow appease God’s requirements. It is an opportunity to engage with the Almighty creator of the universe on a relational level, just as a child with his father.
Prayer should be intentional, persistent and consistent. Prayer without an intentional focus is somewhat like continually talking to someone without really having anything to say, it is wearisome and fruitless. Jesus taught that we should be persistent in prayer in Luke 18:1-9 and Matthew 7:7-11 showing that God is eager to grant us justice in the earth, but often justice is delayed simply because we fail to pray persistently. Consistency in prayer simply means that we are praying with the faith that our Father hears us and answers our prayers, praying with that confidence causes us to have a consistent heart posture and attitude towards God when we pray.
And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:15,16
James tells us that effective prayer is the result of fervency and righteousness. Fervency implies that the one offering the prayer is serious and passionate indicating that they have full faith that their prayer is indeed being heard. Righteousness is a concept that seems to unfortunately be lacking in much of the modern church today. Somehow, we have managed to conflate the idea of righteousness or right standing before God, with self-righteousness, which comes from a misplaced idea of our own importance and self-appoints us to maintain a judgmental attitude toward the imperfection of others while ignoring our own.
True righteousness finds its roots in the fear of the Lord, another concept that seems to have slipped from the modern Christian mindset. Prayer is our approach to God to make our petitions known to Him, and while it is very important that prayer be on a relational level as a child with their father it is also crucial that we never forget that we our coming before the Great King, don’t present yourself before Him impure and unprepared. Attempting to pray effectively while carrying the baggage of hidden sins, the cares of life and a divided heart will nullify our prayers and render them ineffective. Pleading the blood consistently over your mind, heart and actions when you come before God in prayer positions you to be in a place of purity to hear His voice. Prayer is not a one way communication, it is a two way conversation. Being positioned to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying and declaring allows us to come into a place of agreement with the heart of God and what has been established in God’s heavenly counsel. Jesus taught that we have the authority to release on Earth those things that have been released in Heaven and to bind those things on Earth that have been bound in Heaven. (Matt 16:19, Matt 18:18)
Having said all that, we come back to the original question; why pray? In short, prayer brings us back into the intended position of authority that God originally created us to hold. Prayer brings back to the place of counsel with God, where we converse with Him and exercise our proper authority by bringing His dominion into the earth. We are the conduits that Holy Spirit desires to flow through to bring the justice and awakening from Heaven and into Earth. When we pray we are not simply pleading with God in the hope that maybe He hears us, we pray from a place of confidence that we know He hears us. We pray because it was in the original design of creation where Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the day, on a relational level as a Father and His children.
As you pray remember your prayer is highly valued by God, He desires to walk in relationship with you and converse with you. Heaven waits in eager anticipation of your prayers.
