Prayer is very essential in the life of the redeemed. It generates power to force out wicked forces that oppress people on earth and also establishes a relationship with God. To be prayerless is to be powerless. To attain the height we crave in the Christian faith, prayer is inevitable.
The Chambers dictionary defines prayer as speaking reverently to God to express thanks, make a request, etc. But often, people limit prayer to making requests which is a selfish perspective as it relates to what prayer is.
Prayer is beyond asking God for your desires. He knows your needs. God has already made provisions on how your needs are to be met in His word. So, what we are to do in our prayer is to return the word of God to Him for what He has said concerning the particular need that we desire. Prayer is much more than having fellowship with God. Your genuine community with God will ultimately result in divine intervention in any given situation.
However, in our communication with God, He has set some standards that will make it effective. How you respond to these required principles determines how positive your prayer will be. It is having the right attitude in your prayer life that will attract God’s attention to your direction.
Fundamental of prayer
Repentance: Read and meditate on (Luke 18: 13). Repentance is the prerequisite for your prayer to be heard and answered by God. Sin hinders answers to prayers. Sin terminated the relationship between man and God in the Garden of Eden. But Jesus came to restore this lost privilege to man. Please pray this prayer of salvation before you continue reading:
“Lord Jesus, save me; I am a sinner; forgive me my sins; cleanse me with your precious blood and make me a child of God. Deliver me from evil and direct me to the paths of righteousness. I strongly believe that my salvation process has started today. Thank you for saving me.
Instruments needed for answered prayers
Faith: Read and meditate on (Mark 11: 24 and James 1: 6, 7): Praying without the application of faith results in futility. Prayer of faith says, God will do it and I know and believe that He will do it. Faith is unavoidable for productive prayer.
The Word of God: It is the prayer made in line with the word of God that produces the effect; prayer without quoting the word is just words. Read and meditate (Psalm 89: 34). The will of God concerning you is located in his word, so when you are praying, search the word as it relates to your situation and begin to remind God what he has said in his word concerning your welfare. Read and meditate Mathew 8: 17; 3 John 2; 1 John 5: 4.
Thanksgiving: Read and meditate on (Psalm 100: 4): When you want to enter into a shut door to collect something, you must unlock it to gain entrance. It is wrong to approach shouting or crying for the item to reach you until you locate the right thing to do to enter.
So from this illustration, the above scripture is saying that whatever must enter the throne of God must give thanksgiving and praise their rightful place. If you want your prayer to enter the throne of God for a positive answer, you must start it with appreciating God in thanksgiving. Before you open your mouth to make any request, lift your hands and remember His past benefits to you. So, give thanks to God always.
Praise: Read and meditate on (Acts 16: 25-26): Praise is appreciating the Almightiness and greatness of God. You worship Him for His sovereign authority and His omnipotence God does answer prayer, but you magnetize His magnetic presence with praise. When God steps into your situation freedom is secured, and God doesn’t lose in battles. Every battle of life gives way to the appearance of the almighty God.
Charity: Read and meditate on (1 Corinthians 13: 1): Have read the verses? That scripture is very evident that praying without charity is making noise. The Biblical understanding of charity is love. Faith, which it takes to please God cannot work without love. When you respond to the commandment of God, he will also respond to your situation.
Love is the great commandment of God. Read and meditate further on (Mathew 22: 36-39). Your love for God with your entire being is the determining factor for Him to pay attention to your situation. God first loved you and gave you his only son, so reciprocate and also show it to your fellow man.
To authenticate your love for God, you should love your neighbour. You can’t say you love God without showing it to your neighbour. It is hypocrisy! Secure your destiny by loving God and man. Walking in hatred is a trap from the enemy that rubs you of your place in God.
Love is a great attribute of God. You must possess that too as a child of destiny to maintain your relationship with God. Also, show it by releasing what you have to God and men.
Righteousness: Read and meditate on (Isaiah 59: 1-2; Psalm 66: 18): Every unrighteous act makes your prayer inactive until genuine repentance is in place. So, give righteousness a place in your life for effectual prayer.
Fervency in prayer: Read and meditate on (James 5: 66, 17, 18): Seriousness in prayer is very relevant if you must touch the heart of God. It is an indispensable principle that makes prayer effective. Until you are serious with God, He won’t be serious with you. Seriousness is reciprocal in the sight of God. Pour out your whole heart when you are communicating with God. If your prayer is coming from the head, and not the heart, it won’t produce.
God’s heart: Read and meditate on (I Timothy 2: 5; John 2: 1): These scriptures are proofs that you can only go through our Lord Jesus to touch the heart of God for intervention. He is the one that pleads your case before God when praying. He is the great intercessor of the redeemed. (Romans 8: 34). There is no other person in heaven that can stand between you and God to intercede for except Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit (Romans 8: 26).
The name: Read and meditate on (John 14: 13): The name of our Lord Jesus is another force that cannot be taken for granted for any prayer that must have meaning to God. When you mention the name of Jesus in faith, you provoke the power of the almighty God to perform. Every other name bow to his name. Sickness, sin, poverty, etc are all names, but the name of Jesus supersedes them.
His blood: Read and meditate on (Leviticus 17: 11): You couldn’t have been saved without the blood of Jesus. Whatever virtue the name of Jesus carries, the blood carries the same. You cannot separate Jesus from His blood. When you plead the blood of Jesus in prayer you communicate mysteries that throw the devil off balance.
During the Exodus from the land of Egypt, the Egyptians were plagued with all manner of afflictions, but Pharaoh didn’t let the Israelites go until the blood liberated them ultimately. (Exodus 12: 7-23). The blood of Jesus is still speaking for the saints today. God does not change.
Fasting: Read and meditate on (Mathew 11: 12): Some wicked forces must be forced out of your way by adding the force of fasting to your prayer life. Fasting energizes your spirit man, causing you to do extraordinary things beyond your natural ability.
You can let go of food at times to engage your spirit man. It makes your spirit agile to handle some stubborn forces. Read and meditate further on (Mark 9: 29).
3 things to avoid during prayer
Crookedness: Read and meditate on (Proverbs 15: 8 ): Crookedness is wickedness, and it is an abomination unto the Lord. You cannot get anything from God until you learn how to be straight. The devil might be deceiving you to believe that it is God when you are receiving anything through crooked means. It destroys in the ultimate. If God does not delight in your prayer, nobody else will answer you. Please stop crooked characters and live right if you must receive a genuine answer to your prayer.
Unforgiveness: Read and meditate on (Matthew 6: 14, 15): God’s attention is drawn to your situation when your sins have been forgiven. If sins are not forgiven, heaven will not open. Therefore, for your heaven to open, you must make a deliberate choice to forgive others so that God can also let go of your trespasses. The price of unforgiveness is great.
To record and be free from the reproach of unforgiveness, you should abide by the covenant of forgiveness. Until you forgive those that have trespassed against you from the dept of your heart, the ears of God will be deafened towards your prayers.
Family strife: Read and meditate on (I Peter 3: 5-7): Quarrelling between husband and wife is a deadly trap that Satan always set to hinder family prayer. Family strife is a demon that must be cast out by responding to the above scriptures. It must be avoided no matter whose cause it might be.
Conclusion
God says in everything, we should give thanks and that is doing His Will (I Thessalonians 5: 18). When you do His Will, the answer is sure. Now that you have prayed, celebration is the only way to authenticate your faith for the faithfulness of God to perform. Start acting as someone sure of the answer. Behave it and confess it. Abstain from any action of doubt through your attitudes. Read related posts on our prayer page of the site.
