Teach Me How To Pray: Part I

I love prayer! I love talking to God. I love declaring out loud and putting the enemy in his place. I love to see God respond!

 

I love how God can move in an instant with prayer, how he shows up because of His power, grace and love!

 

He just wants us to manifest His kingdom here on earth, and a way to do it is through prayer. In prayer, we can search for Him and ask for the deepest longings of His heart. Yes, you read that right, His heart, not mine. I know that the Word says that He will give you the desires of your heart, and that’s true, but my heart’s desire is to know His heart so that I can move from it.

 

I’m in Christ and Christ is in me, and in order for Him to live through me, I want to partner with Him, and what a better way than to know what He desires.

 

I’ve seen people healed with prayer. I’ve seen family members come closer to God because of my prayers. I have gotten a job because of my prayer. Hey, I even met my husband because the Lord was so faithful in answering my prayer.

 

But there have been times, like now, when I don’t see the prayer answered fast enough. So, I wonder if I’m praying enough or is it unbelief? Are my prayers effective? Maybe it’s just impatience on my part to see the promise come to pass.

 

Are my prayers effective?

 

You know what the Word says: “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:16) But how do we know we’re praying effectively?

 

Well, the first thing I would ask myself is, am I praying according to God’s will? Am I praying from His heart or as a reaction to my situation or as a reaction to the enemy?

 

I don’t know about you, but I no longer want my prayers to come out of my flesh or as a reaction to whatever I’m going through. I want my prayers to be faith-filled, meaningful and reaping a harvest of results! Not according to my own understanding, but according to God’s will and Word.

 

Whether I feel it in my body or not. Because to be honest, sometimes I’ve wanted to “feel” something to know that He hears me. When all I have to do is trust His word that says, “my sheep know my voice and hear them.”

 

So, if we want to know how to pray effectively, all we need to do is study how Jesus prayed. The good thing is that He already answered that in Matthew 6, by giving His disciples a blueprint to bring heaven on earth with prayer.

 

How did Jesus pray?

 

Even before we see Jesus sharing how to pray, he gives brief instructions on what not to do:

“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.”

(Matthew 6:5-7)

This part right here is so meaty but it’s just the appetizer.

 

First, He is telling us not to be like the hypocrites. But what’s a hypocrite? According to the Greek hypokritḗs, it means: a theatrical actor; a figurative two-faced person; a pretender. The Pharisees were constantly putting on masks of devotion in front of people to show themselves as pure, devoted and holy. They wanted to be seen as important and knowledgeable in the things of God before others and always keep an air of superiority; that’s why they prayed out in the open. But Jesus knew the truth, what was hidden behind those masks, and it wasn’t true devotion.

 

They just wanted to be acknowledged by people in a moment where all they needed to do is acknowledge His presence, which makes me think, this is a matter of the heart. Our hearts are like deep wells that can hide things we’re not aware of, that’s why the Word says we need to guard our hearts with all diligence for out of it spring the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23).

 

Second, Jesus tells us where to pray. He tells us to go to our secret place and pray to Our Father, not to make a spectacle of ourselves, but to do it behind closed doors. And why should we do that? To build intimacy with the Lord.

 

This is a place where we can be completely vulnerable with God. We shouldn’t be afraid of our nakedness in front of God; He has seen it all and knows it all, and He wants us to come as we are, with our stress, our faults, our disappointments, our whole hearts, even if our hearts are hurt or not in “the right place.” He doesn’t judge us; He just wants to relate to us and heal us as we commune with Him.

 

There’s always a change that happens in us when we pray.

 

I have prayed in times of desperation, where I cannot take the pain or burden anymore, and I have been refreshed and lifted. I have come to Him with requests from my heart and He has answered. I have prayed when I’m in tears, angry or hurt by a situation or person and He has brought comfort, peace and wisdom. I have cried for help, and He has come to my rescue. He has always heard me because He is the God who hears and knows our voice.

 

Third, He tells us not to repeat senseless words over and over. How many times have I found myself repeating words out of unbelief, like desperately wanting God to answer me NOW or give me the answer that I want, or just to make sure that I’m not missing anything.

 

But this is not effective prayer because no results will come out of unbelief.

 

How to pray effective prayers?

 

Ask yourself this, have I seen results after I pray? Regardless of if it’s been immediately or sometime after.

 

Have you received the answer to your prayers? Have you experienced a change in your life after you pray?

 

If your answer is no, well don’t fret, there’s nothing wrong with you. This is just your time for a change! It’s your moment to realize that prayers are not complains to God, but rather an effective weapon against the enemy and also a great “tool” to get more intimate with God and bring kingdom on earth!

 

So how to do it? Well, for the purposes of this post I will just share three keys to set your atmosphere for prayer based on the Scripture above. On the next post I will share more on effective prayers.

 

1. Acknowledge God’s presence and come to Him with an honest heart.

 

Sometimes I start by praising Him or thanking Him, but other times I like to stay silent for a moment and invite the Holy Spirit to speak. I began to do this some time ago and I found that it helps me not to react to my circumstances or to the turmoil happening in my mind. Once I do that, the Holy Spirit definitely answers and sometimes leads me to pray in my prayer language or shows me a Scripture to pray into.

 

2. Find a quiet place to pray without distractions.

 

If I’m alone, I pray pacing in my living room, other times I go into my closet to pray if there’s noise outside, so that I can really focus on Him and not what’s around me. Distractions will most likely be there, but if there’s a way I can minimize those, I’ll do that, like closing the door, taking my watch off, and silencing my phone.

 

Some people pray in the shower or in their cars because they find that’s the only time they have for themselves. Just find the right space for you.

 

3. Write your prayer down if you want to avoid going around and round.

 

To be honest, I don’t write my prayers down all the time, just when I’m journaling, but I do believe that writing them down helps with focus and with keeping my prayers on record for some other time.

 

What if my prayers are not yet answered?

 

If you have yet to see the answer to your prayers, I would say, keep pressing in, keep seeking God. He will definitely reveal an answer, whether it is “Yes,” “No,” or “Not yet.” 

 

But what happens if He is silent? Has that happened to you? Well, I have this happen to me and I start feeling a little desperate, lol, but I’ve come to know that when this happens it’s because there’s something more to it.

 

He wants to build something more important in me while I pray. He wants to see if I’ll come back to seek His face or just give up.

So, it’s not always a matter of getting our “desired” result, but about the change that He wants us to experience in our hearts as we pray. It’s about building our intimacy with the Most High God.

 

There’s always something to expect when we pray, we just have to be open to seeing. Never give up!