Effective Prayer

Effective Prayer (Bible Passages taken from the New International Version)

Have you ever sensed that God wants you to do something that goes against common logic. This happened to a farmer in South Africa 40 years ago. A Christian farmer has been told it will not be raining in the near future. He senses that God has told him to plant potatoes, though no other farmers in the area are planting potatoes. Let’s see what happened! The scene opens with the farmer’s pastor talking.

Faith and Potatoes: 143:18--151:45

God is powerful, and we can trust him? This story has challenged me.

Sometimes when we think about prayer we are like the deer caught in the headlights. We want to pray, but the whole thing seems so overwhelming. I want to share some practical ideas about how to pray.

Prayer is just having a conversation with someone who loves you, who has the best in mind for you, who wants to be near you. It is sharing your innermost thoughts with a caring confidant, a reliable counselor and wise guide.

In regular conversation we have different parts. We have casual conversation with a friend, we have commands from one person to another, we have laughter and fun, we have intense conversation about important things.

Prayer also involves different kinds of communication with God. Each having a purpose to improve our understanding of God, and our intimacy with him.


I. Praise
One kind of prayer is praise. Praise is different than thanking God for something he has done for us. Praise is telling God something I appreciate about his person, his character, or his power.

Praise is not something I do to puff up God’s ego. He does not need me to tell him that he is good. Praise really helps me, because it reminds me when life gets overwhelming that there is a powerful person who understands, and who can help.

Ps 63:3
Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.

Jesus told us in the Lord’s prayer to start with praise.

Matthew 6:9
"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,

If you are struggling to think how you would use words to praise God here are a couple of ideas.

Go to Psalms and read them back to God.
Go on a walk, be observant and tell God of the greatness of his creation.

Recently I found a list of God’s names on the internet. We can read a name of God and tell God what that name means to us. For instance on this list under A is Abba Father

http://www.smilegodlovesyou.org/names.html

Those are a few ideas on praise.

II. Read the Word
Besides Praising God when I pray I can Read the Word, or the Bible.
Someone described the Bible as God talking with us, and prayer as us talking with God. When I read the word of God as I pray I have a great two way communication. The Bible adds depth and content to my praying.

David in Ps 19 describes the impact of the Bible on us.

Ps 19:7,8

7 The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.

8 The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.


I can read the Bible for several things.

I can let God talk with me about developing my own character. I can then pray that character into my life, such as “God help me to listen more and speak less.”

I can find things I can pray into the life of another person.

I can find passages of praise to God.

Bev reads the Bible watching for a particular theme. A couple of years ago she read Ps and Proverbs looking for things it said about leadership.

I like to study what the Bible says about a particular word. One word study I did a few years ago was on the heart. I learned so much about how to guard my heart from wrong thinking when I looked up verses that had the word heart in them.


Biblegateway.com is a website where you can read in many versions of the Bible. You can also do word studies. You can do a word search for “love” for instance and see all the verses in the Bible where the word love is mentioned.

You can also look up where a verse is that you have heard of but can’t remember its location.

Sometimes when I read the Bible I become aware of areas in my life that are messed up, areas where I have sinned. This leads naturally to another kind of praying. I can confess my sins to God.


III. Confess My Shortcomings to God


Ps 139: 23,24 David is opening himself up to God’s insight.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.


God shows us areas of weakness so we can grow and become stronger in character than we are.

I John 1:8,9

8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.


When I am willing to admit an area where I am wrong, it opens my whole attitude to God to be teachable and is purifying to my whole life.


Another thing we can do in prayer is not say anything.
IV. Wait and Listen for God’s Voice

I don’t thinks Americans in general like to be quiet. It is unnerving to be silent. But quiet can be very useful at times.

After you read God’s thoughts, and you have gotten your heart ready, just sit quietly and listen. God could use something you read to change your thoughts about your life or your world. He might have something He wants you to do.

Have a pencil handy to write down you thoughts.

Ps 37:7

7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Ecc 5:2

2 Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
and you are on earth,
so let your words be few.

There are some cool words that describe different kinds of praying. One is intercession.

V. Intercession is Praying for Others

It means standing between God and the person. You are coming to God on their behalf. You can pray for God to help them, to heal them, to teach them or to protect them.

I Tim 2:1,2
1I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

I write the names of people I am praying for on a regular basis on 3x5 cards. It helps me keep focus. I don’t feel tied to the cards, but when I want to be structured it is there.
I can include any thing I want to pray for like our nation, or any movement or cause.

Use the power of God’s Word to pray for others and for yourself. give example
Another cool word for praying is petition.


VI. Petition is praying for Your Own Needs

When a person brings a petition to a king they are asking a special favor from a king. We can petition God for needs we have.

Matt 7:7
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Matt 6:11

Give us today our daily bread.

James 4:2 tells us some wrong approaches to petition.

You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Simply share your needs with God and ask him to meet them.

I also write some of the ongoing needs I have on a 3x5 card.


VII. Words of Thanks to God

Phil 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Thanksgiving balances the asking for your needs. It keeps us from having a complaining heart.

Bev read that people who end the day thanking God for good things in their life are healthier and happier than those who don’t.

When our kids were little we had thank you nights. We would not ask God for anything in our prayers. We would thank him for a good thing and for a bad thing, realizing that God could help us with the difficult things that happen in life.

VIII. Sing

Ps 100:2

Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.


Ephesians 5:19

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,

The power of singing it that it involves the emotions and the mind. It is hard to sing and be depressed at the same moment. You don’t want to hear me sing, I sing, but I usually do it when I am by myself.

The last aspect of prayer I want to share about is meditation.



IX. Meditation

We hear a lot about meditation these days. Christian meditation is not getting rid of things in my mind, but is filling my mind with a thought about God and then thinking about it’s implications in my life. For instance I can think about the fact that God is forgiving and think about what that means for me.

Ps. 1:1,2

1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.


I hope that you may have been encouraged this morning to spend some time with God this week.

You can take this list and pray in different ways at different times. Prayer does not have to be boring. It is developing an friendship with the Great and Awesome God. Remember He wants to be with you.