This is the eighth post in a series on Praying Effectively. We talked about what effective prayers are and have more recently been taking a close up look at what factors make a prayer effective. If you are just joining me, please see the end for a special note before continuing!
(4.) Prayer is always to be directed by the will of God. It is governed by, and focused on, accomplishing His will.
It is worth repeating that, in prayer, we partner with God to bring about His will and purpose in our lives, the lives of others, and on the earth - as it is heaven.
Colossians 4:12
Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
Matthew 6:10
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Luke 22:42
Saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
1 John 5:14-15
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
• The motives for prayer must be pure. The purpose of our asking must be pure and aligned to God’s will. Impure, self-indulgent motives invalidate the prayer effort .
James 4:3
You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Amiss - kakōs (Greek)
kak-oce'
Adverb from Strong's number G2556; badly (physically or morally): - amiss, diseased, evil, grievously, miserably, sick, sore.
• Avoid all hypocrisy and vanity. Prayer must be intimate and focused, not an effort of the flesh. It must be void of all self-righteousness, pride and desire for public recognition.
Matthew 6:5-8
“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. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him."
• Effective prayer requires right attitude and right understanding. This goes beyond the actual words uttered. It is the product of right thoughts and understanding - about God’s will, His ability and His faithfulness - operating inside of the person praying.
Daniel 10:12
Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.
[This is the eighth post in a series on the subject of prayer. Last week we looked at the necessity of praying in the name of Jesus and talked about what that means. These posts are interspersed among other blog topics so for the easy identification of related posts, look for the label 'praying effectively - series' in the sidebar. If you are just now joining in I recommend that you read the first post where I shared my reason for doing this series. I hope to share practical keys and insight into praying effectively, in bite-size blog posts which you can easily follow.]
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