By Ms. Sasha
In this article, you're going to learn how to make your prayers more effective with 4 insightful strategies:
- Pray Bold Prayers
- Pray God’s Will
- Put Faith Into Action and
- Pray With Humility
Stay tuned for insights on each of these principles following this story.
The Turning Point at The Wishing Well
Zoe loved going to the fountain in the middle of the plaza where her mom shopped every Saturday. There were over 100 pennies at the bottom of the fountain from all the wishes she made over the past two years, and she couldn’t wait to go this week.
After shopping and ice cream, Zoe’s mom sat on a bench nearby, waiting for Zoe to make her wish.
Zoe hurled the penny into the fountain with all of her might and began counting – forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven, forty-eight…..Her mother interrupted, “Zoe, we have to go now. Your auntie will be stopping by the house soon.”
As Zoe and her mother were walking back to the car, her mother noticed that Zoe wasn’t as happy this time. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “Mom, do you know how many pennies I counted? I got up to 48, and only one of my wishes has been granted.”
Have you ever been like Zoe, but instead of with pennies, with prayer?
Let’s look at a few ways to move from a life of wishing to a life of hearing from God and recognizing how he is working.
The Bible Encourages Us To Pray Bold Prayers
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”- Hebrews 4:16, KJV
To pray bold prayers, we first must realize that God wants to hear from us regardless of whether or not we’ve recently sinned.
This scripture from Hebrews gives us permission to pray without being perfect. If we wait on that day, we will never pray. Even if we are obeying God more and more, we will never reach full-blown perfection. My friend, you have permission to pray no matter what you did.
Here's What It Means To Pray Boldly
When we come to God for mercy, we shouldn’t be shy about it.
God’s salvation for our lives is his primary concern. His forgiveness is what fuels our confidence in prayer.
Prayer gives us the chance to ask the almighty God to hold back or lessen the consequences of our failures. He does it all the time, but he wants us to make the request.
He is like us in the way that he loves a good redemption story. In fact, he created the redemption story when he died on the cross for our sins and rose again for our lives!
God also gives us the grace we need to live incredible lives.
John 10:10 says “I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.” (NIV)
God has plans for you, so ask him for what you need and desire!
He cares about matters big and small. Let me tell you a quick story of how God answered a small, but bold prayer.
One time, I lost my phone and couldn’t find it for two days. I decided to pray about it and stop worrying. I said, “God, you know where my phone is. Could you please help me find it? I believe you will, in Jesus’ name; Amen.”
What made this prayer bold was that I assumed God would care about this small matter even though it wasn’t spiritual or deep – something I was not in the practice of doing at the time.
The next day, I reached for a pair of shoes I hadn’t worn in a long time, and guess what? My phone was in the left shoe. A funny story indeed – but nothing about it was coincidence. God had answered my prayer, right after I prayed it, because it was bold and authentic.
God was showing me that I could pray about anything because he cares about it all.
Don't Forget To Pray God's Will
You and I may have our own plans, but God also has a plan for us. God’s plans are also known as God’s will. The closer we get to God through reading the Bible, prayer, and allowing his Spirit to guide us, the more we can start praying his will for our lives.
How We Know Our Prayer is God's Will
When we pray, the Bible says that we can have what we ask for. However, we must consider other scriptures about prayer and apply them to activate this awesome promise.
In James 4:3, the Bible warns us about praying amiss. When we pray amiss, we ask for things that are not in God’s plan. Some things seem like they may be a good thing to have, but they are not what God has in mind for us.
God sees our lives in its totality. Although God wants us to be happy in the present, he considers all aspects of a prayer before He says, Yes.
His purpose, Spirit, and sovereignty will often guide us to pray out his better plan.
When we read God’s Word, we get to understand Him better and better each time.
How to Better Know God's Plan for You
When we read God’s Word, we get to understand him better and better each time. It’s the same as when we talk to our friends. We may meet them and share something in common. Then, the next time we see them, we get to know them a little better. The more we talk to them, we find out more about their lives and begin to understand their actions, motives, and the way they think.
Similarly, when we read God’s Word, he is teaching us about himself, and how he feels about certain matters. The Old Testament is great for learning about how God feels. He makes his feelings about things clear through the adventurous stories. These stories are captivating and often surprising, but that’s God’s way of making things obvious to us, erasing the gray areas. God is decisive and clear.
Sometimes we pray without understanding who God is or taking the time to comprehend his heart through his Word. Those are times we are asking for his approval on our decisions, but somehow, things still seem ambiguous. However, when we know God, we can be sure that he will answer, and that our prayer was effective.
Check out our homepage for ways you can start connecting with God regularly.
God's Word Calls Us To Put Faith Into Action
“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.“ - James 1:22, NLT
Don’t just talk to God. Take action.
We just discussed how gaining a deeper understanding of God helps us to pray more effectively. However, what happens when we gain a general understanding of God’s heart, but lack a specific action plan for our lives?
These are the times when our simple prayers turn into prayer journeys.
These journeys require many conversations so that God can deliver his action plan to us in increments. For instance, God may be directing us to spend more time with a parent. In response, we have to pray about this again to find out how to accomplish this Godly goal.
If you don’t know God’s full plan the first time, he will redirect you.
The action plan we receive doesn’t always come from our daily Bible study, but can come straight from God’s Spirit himself. The Holy Spirit will remind us of things elsewhere in the Bible, and we can be sure that we are being led by God, because his direction will always flow with God’s consistent theme of loving others throughout His Word.
You may need to pray about what area of town to move to. As you begin taking action, listen for him to confirm his plan to you. If you don’t know God’s full plan the first time, he will redirect you.
What it really means to put faith in action.
Don’t get stuck if you don’t have a whole plan. God knows how to break things down, so that we are not overwhelmed. Even if you don’t have a whole vision from God, demonstrate your faith by taking steps. God is a tour guide waiting for you if you are willing to place your feet on “start.” He will lead you toward things you can enjoy and also tell you what to avoid.
Don't Forget To Pray With Humility
Here are two ways to pray with humility.
You and I may have no trouble asking God to bless us, but it’s also important to thank Him every time we pray. Thankfulness is a large part of humility. It opens us up to hear from God. It’s our acknowledgment that there is a God who is in control. When we’re thankful, we recognize the fact that someone did something for us. Most times, it’s something we couldn’t have done ourselves.
Thankfulness helps us to clearly understand our need for the Sovereign God.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” (Phil 4:6, NLT)
Another humbling attitude we should embrace is “praying in secret.”
Nope. You don’t have to hide your prayer closet to ensure that no one will ever know you prayed. That’s strange. However, it is good to have a place to spend meaningful, alone time with God. If we only pray before a meeting, in front of our children, or per request at a family gathering, then we are only praying at times when we can be complimented.
Imagine if our spouses were only complimenting us in public but never at home. We would soon realize their affection was only for good publicity. However, we can be intentional about making sure God knows we love him both in front of people and behind closed doors. Doing so will make our relationship with God better and more, well, rewarding.
“But when you pray,…pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” (Matt 6:6, NLT)
Re-Cap
So, in order to pray more effectively, there is a recipe that can be followed. Pray to God for what you need boldly, double-check what you’re praying for with God’s Word, start taking steps of faith, and be humble about it. These ideas are by no means exhaustive. They are good, Bible-based starting points to help ensure that we are praying with impact.
If you’re reading this, you’re already thinking about ways to elevate your prayer life. That is awesome. If you want to pray effectively, however, you must acknowledge that prayer is more than wishing.
Prayer is about connecting with God and working with Him to ensure that we have a chance to experience his perfect, well-thought-out plan for our lives. When we pray like this, we can look forward to seeing more of our prayers answered and feel more confident in our ability to recognize when God is speaking.
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