Prayer

“I’m giving you $630.00 over the next three weeks…”

I stood there amazed by God as she walked away. My hand was clenching what would be the first installment of the money she had promised. More than money, I was holding the answer to a prayer I had been praying over the past week.

See, our church was going through 21 days of prayer and fasting and one seemingly small prayer I had consistently prayed was that God would help me buy tires for my car. It’s not that I had no money. But new tires would definitely have to come out of my savings.

It turns out, after returning my tithes to God I had just enough for the new tires. Thank you, Jesus, for another answered prayer.

I want to set a foundation for this blog.
• God is good and He loves you.
• God enjoys answering prayers.
• No need of yours is too big or small.

Armed with that knowledge you would think that more people would pray regularly. But they don’t. I think it’s partially because praying seems complicated. What do I say? How long do I pray? How do I know He hears me? So I want to give you three keys to praying effectively.

Three Keys To Effective Prayers

1. Pray Privately

Matthew 6:6
6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

If the only time you pray to God is at church and before meals then it’s no wonder you feel defeated. More than not being seen, praying in private allows you to connect with God in a more intimate way. Fruitfulness in your public life stems from intimacy in your prayer life.

Praying privately postures you for honesty and vulnerability, which is the best soil for a true connection with God.

2. Pray Short

Matthew 6:7
7 “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.

Another reason why I think so many people give up on praying is that they spent an hour or two praying about everything once and didn’t see anything change. Because of this, they come to the conclusion that prayer is time-consuming and ineffective — a lie from Satan.

Praying short allows you to clearly communicate your needs to God while not carrying the burden of having to carve out a huge chunk of time.

3. Pray Consistently

Matthew 7:7
7 “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 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

This one is the most important of all.

I grew up in the country which means we didn’t buy firewood, we cut it ourselves. The process of cutting firewood isn’t easy, it can be exhausting and defeating. Until you learn a better way. If you strike the wood at the same place long enough it will soon split open with ease. The satisfaction of the split almost seems to cover the labor it took to get there.

Praying consistently creates a rhythm of faith and expectation that allows you to see prayers answered. It also seems to diminish the accumulated hours it took to find resolve and breakthrough in your prayer journey.

I want to encourage you. Don’t buy into the lie that prayer doesn’t work, it’s complicated, or it’s not worth it. Prayer is a privilege and it’s to our advantage to connect with God in an intimate way every day.