By Ms. Sasha
It is perfectly normal to wonder whether you are praying the right way or whether or not you heard from God. These questions usually arise when our dreams aren’t fulfilled. In this article, we will show you four effective strategies to get more of your prayers answered, and how to communicate with God more confidently and with greater assurance:
- Pray Boldly
- Pray Out God’s Plan
- Do Our Part and
- Stay Humble
Picture This
Zoe sat on the couch in her play clothes, waiting for her mom early Saturday morning. It was clear that she was ready given that her shoes were already on. Her mother smiled knowingly at the bottom of the stairs. “Ready?” she asked. Zoe was more than ready. She loved going to the fountain in the middle of the plaza where her mom shopped every Saturday.
There were at least 100 pennies at the bottom of the fountain from all the wishes she made over the past two years. She reached in her pocket on her way out of the door to ensure her penny was still there. Relieved, she skipped to the car. Making a wish had become quite a tradition.
After shopping, Zoe’s mom always treated her to an ice cream cone. She had cherry today. Just as she was finishing the mushy goodness of the last of the cone, she started speed walking toward the fountain. She had a specific wish in mind. Her mother waited on the bench a few feet away.
As Zoe took the penny out of her pocket, she paused. “Go ahead…make your wish,” her mother said. Instead of stating her wish this time though, she threw her arm back and quickly hurled the penny into the fountain with all of her might. Gazing down into the pool, she started to count the pennies inside the well out loud. Forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven, forty-eight.., her mother interrupted, “Zoe, we have to go now. Your Auntie should be stopping by 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.” Eager for an explanation, she stared into her mother’s eyes. Breaking the gaze, her mother looked up slightly and quickly glanced to the right, before looking back at Zoe. What would she say?
Have you ever been like Zoe, but instead of with pennies, with prayer?
Let’s look at a few ways to move from wishes to a life where we get more of our prayers answered.
Pray Boldly
“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)
One way to touch God’s heart when we pray is by praying boldly. He loves it when we ask him questions, and we’re not shy about it. It acknowledges to him that we view him as someone who is trustworthy.
Sometimes, we don’t do this. We talk in circles. We skate around issues. We say, “God, could you maybe, possibly, one day give me a…?” We hesitate because we don’t believe we deserve certain blessings. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. God wants us to enjoy our lives. As Jesus stated in John 10:10, “[he] came that you may have life and have it more abundantly.” His desire for us couldn’t be any clearer.
If Jesus didn’t want us to be blessed, he wouldn’t have made all of the sacrifices that he did. Jesus died on the cross and rose again, so that our sinful impulses and addictions couldn’t control our lives anymore. Before this tremendous act, Jesus spent his days teaching, healing people, giving them a fresh start at life, and multiplying food and wealth to meet people’s needs. He still does the same today. Whatever blessing you’re needing right now, my friend, know that God desires you to have it and has a plan in place for you to receive it.
Another reason, we avoid praying bold prayers, is we think that God doesn’t want to be bothered with small matters. However, God is not like us. He doesn’t have to put in more effort to solve big problems and less effort to solve small ones. With his immense power, he can answer all prayers easily, big or small. Knowing this, we need to be forthright with God and pray for whatever we truly need, even if it feels uncomfortable.
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. I believe God led me to wear those shoes in response to my prayer, to show me he cared and that I could pray about anything.
Pray Out God's Plan
You and I may have our own plans, but God also has a plan for us. Sometimes our plans coincide with His, and sometimes they don’t. However, the more we draw close to God, the more our plans start to resemble His. The solution then, between knowing what to pray for and not knowing what to pray for is to become closer to God. This way, we can rest assured that our prayers will receive answers more frequently, since we are following His instructions.
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.
Although God does want us to be happy in the present, he considers all aspects of a prayer before He says yes. If answering our prayers may cause pain to another person, God will expertly deny us and guide us toward a better plan.
When we read God’s Word, we get to understand Him better and better each time.
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.
Do Our Part
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 create the perfect scenario to honor our parent(s) on their upcoming birthday. However, in our regular prayer time, God may instruct us to take it a step further and call our parent(s) twice a week.
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. Don’t be afraid of getting it wrong. If you don’t know God’s full plan the first time, he will redirect you.
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.
“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)
Stay Humble
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 life 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 peep the game and realize the PDA was only for the crowds. However, we can be intentional about making sure God knows we love him both in front of people and behind closed doors. Doing so is sure to make our relationship 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, do your part, 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 we want to pray effectively, we 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 begin to recognize more often when he is talking to us.