Ten biblical\ninstructions that imply essential conditions to effective prayer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1) Pray to the Heavenly Father<\/strong> (Matthew 6:9<\/strong>).\nThis condition to prayer might seem obvious, but it\u2019s important. We don\u2019t pray\nto false gods, to ourselves, to angels, to Buddha, or to the Virgin Mary. We\npray to the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who revealed\nHimself in Jesus Christ and His Spirit who indwells us.\nComing to Him as our \u201cFather\u201d implies that we are first His children\u2014made so by\nfaith in Christ (John 1:12<\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2) Pray for good things<\/strong> (Matthew 7:11<\/strong>).\nWe don\u2019t always understand or recognize what is \u201cgood<\/strong>\u201d, but God knows, and He is\neager to give His children what is best for them. Paul prayed three times to be\nhealed of an affliction, and each time God said, \u201cNo.\u201d Why would a loving God\nrefuse to heal Paul? Because God had something better for him, namely, a life\nlived by grace. Paul stopped praying for healing and began to rejoice in his\nweakness (2\nCorinthians 12:7\u201310<\/strong>). Pray\nfor God\u2019s goodness in your life and the life of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3) Pray for needful things<\/strong> (Philippians 4:19<\/strong>).\nPlacing a priority on God\u2019s kingdom is one of the conditions to prayer (Matthew 6:33<\/strong>).\nThe promise is that God will supply all our needs, not all our wants. There is\na difference and God makes this known as He supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4) Pray from a righteous heart<\/strong> (James 5:16<\/strong>).\nThe Bible speaks of having a clean conscience as a condition to answered prayer\n(Hebrews 10:22<\/strong>).\nIt is important that we keep our sins confessed to the Lord. \u201cIf I had cherished\niniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.<\/strong>\u201d (Psalm 66:18<\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5) Pray from a grateful heart<\/strong> (Philippians 4:6<\/strong>).\nAn essential element of prayer is an attitude of thanksgiving, mindful of Whom\nit is we are addressing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6) Pray according to the will of God<\/strong> (1 John 5:14<\/strong>).\nAn important condition to prayer is that it is prayed within the will of God.\nJesus prayed this way all the time, even in Gethsemane: \u201cNot my will, but yours be done<\/strong>\u201d (Luke 22:42<\/strong>).\nCertainly lift care, concerns and desires to God, but be willing to accept the\nresults as His reply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7) Pray in the authority of Jesus Christ<\/strong> (John 16:24<\/strong>).\nJesus is the reason we are able to approach the throne of grace (Hebrews 10:19\u201322<\/strong>),\nand He is our mediator (1 Timothy 2:5<\/strong>). A condition to prayer is that we\npray in His name, keeping God and His will front and center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8) Pray persistently<\/strong> (Luke 18:1<\/strong>). In fact, pray without\nceasing (1\nThessalonians 5:17<\/strong>). One of the conditions to effective prayer is\nthat we don\u2019t give up seeking His will as opposed to our own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 9) Pray unselfishly<\/strong> (James 4:3<\/strong>). Our motives are\nimportant as God knows them (Psalm 139:1-2). \nGod also knows our desire to please Him (Psalm 37:23<\/strong>) and responds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 10) Pray in faith<\/strong> (James 1:6<\/strong>). Without faith, it is\nimpossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6<\/strong>), who alone can do the impossible (Luke 1:37<\/strong>).\nWithout faith, why pray?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joshua\u2019s\nprayer for the sun to stand still, as audacious as that request was, met all\nthese conditions of prayer (Joshua 10:12\u201314<\/strong>). Elijah\u2019s prayer for rain to be\nwithheld\u2014and his later prayer that rain would fall\u2014met all of these conditions\n(James 5:17\u201318<\/strong>).\nJesus\u2019 prayer as He stood before the tomb of Lazarus met all of these\nconditions (John\n11:41<\/strong>). They all prayed to God, according to His will, for good and\nnecessary things, in faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The examples\nof Joshua, Elijah, and Jesus teach us that, when our prayers line up with God\u2019s\nsovereign will, wonderful things will happen. There\u2019s no need to be abashed by\nmountains, for they can move (Mark 11:23<\/strong>). The struggle we face is in getting\nour prayers lined up with God\u2019s will, having our desires match His. Congruency\nbetween God\u2019s will and our own is the goal. We want exactly what He wants;\nnothing more, nothing less. And we don\u2019t want anything that He doesn\u2019t want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Godly,\neffective prayer has conditions, and God invites us to pray. When can we pray\nbig? When we believe God wants something big. When can we pray audaciously?\nWhen we believe God wants something audacious. When should we pray? All the\ntime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ten biblical instructions that imply essential conditions to effective prayer: 1) Pray to the Heavenly Father (Matthew 6:9). This condition to prayer might seem obvious, but it\u2019s important. We don\u2019t pray to false gods, to ourselves, to angels, to Buddha, or to the Virgin Mary. We pray to the God of the Bible, the God […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[534],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n