Guideline 1. Effective prayer is based on the revealed word of God.
Because all the scriptures are fulfilled in Christ and help to form our lives in Christlikeness, praying appropriately chosen words of scripture is one effective way to pray. But whether we use the Bible's words or our own words, our prayers should be consistent with the purposes and promises of God as they are revealed in the Bible. Luke 24:44-49; 2 Corinthians 1:18-22; Ephesians 6:17-18; 2 Timothy 3:14-17.
Guideline 2. Effective prayer is grounded in our faith in the reign of God.
Jesus’ basic gospel was that the reign of God is at hand (available to us) if we will repent and believe the good news. Jesus’ miracles revealed the kingdom’s presence. Answers to our prayers also demonstrate the kingdom’s presence. We are to pray with confidence that God is in charge and is prepared to answer faithful prayers. Mark 1:14-15; Matthew 12:28; Luke 7:20-23.
Guideline 3. Effective prayer is directed toward making the reign of God visible.
Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come; your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” He taught us to, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” trusting that all our needs would be fulfilled as the kingdom takes first place in our lives. We are commanded to make the kingdom visible in our ministries, and we are blessed by the results. Matthew 6:10, 33; Luke 10:1-12, 23-24.
Guideline 4. Effective prayer is “in the name of Jesus.”
“In the name of Jesus” is more than a verbal formula tacked onto the end of our prayers. It means that the request is offered with the intent that it be found fitting to Jesus’ compassionate character and redeeming, reconciling mission. We pray in the name of Jesus because we are his ambassadors in this world, already speaking and acting as his representatives. John 14:13-14; 15:16; 16:23-24; Acts 3:16; 4:8-12; 16:18; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20; Ephesians 4:32—5:2; 5:18-21; Colossians 3:12-17.
Guideline 5. Effective prayer begins with seeking the Holy Spirit.
God wants to give us good gifts. The very best gift that he can give us is his loving, purifying, guiding, and empowering presence in our lives through the Holy Spirit. Jesus instructs us to ask, seek, and knock fr this gift. When we do not know how to pray, the Holy Spirit will teach us how to pray. When we cannot put our prayers into sensible words, the Holy Spirit will carry the sense of our unintelligible groanings to the throne of God. Luke 11:9-13; Romans 8:26-27; Ephesians 6:17-18.
Guideline 6. Effective prayer is offered from purified hearts.
James notes that sometimes we do not have because we have not asked, and sometimes we do not have because we have asked wrongly to spend the answer on our own passions, our own desires that flow from divided hearts. We cannot be wavering between godly solutions and ungodly solutions and expect that our prayers will be answered. James counsels us to purify our hearts, to get single minds about our trust in God and his wisdom. James 3:13—4:10.
Guideline 7. Effective prayer is offered in the context of the community of faith.
When two or three of us gather in the name of Jesus for the sake of his mission and agree in prayer, based on the leading of the Holy Spirit, the effect of the prayer is powerful. Since significant agreement among any group of human beings does not come easily, the mere fact of agreement sometimes is evidence that we are listening to the Holy Spirit. Consistent with Guidelines 5 and 6, we must be sure that our agreement flows fron the Holy Spirit and not from the spirit of this world. Matthew 18:19-20; James 5:13-18.
Guideline 8. Effective prayer persists.
This is not to say that we need to treat God as an unrighteous judge that we must wear down with our constant pleading. The point is that, if an unrighteous judge can be worn down by repeated pleadings, then God who is already favorably disposed toward the good of his children can be trusted not to forget our needs. We can wait with confidence that our prayers will be answered in the right time and in the right way. We may wish to check back in from time to time to reaffirm our faith in what we have asked and to continue to listen to see if God would redirect our prayer in some way. In the end, even if we must wait through this life, we want to be found still trusting the goodness of God and his power to answer our prayer in the best possible way. Luke 11:5-13; 18:1-8.
Guideline 9. Effective prayer puts its faith in God and not in our own faith.
It is not the quantity of our faith, but the fact that we are willing to put whatever faith we have into play that counts. Even faith as small as a grain of mustard seed will suffice when we take our stand on it. Mark 9:14-29; Luke 17:5-6.
Guideline 10. Effective prayer is something that any believer can do.
Some people may have special spiritual gifts for intercession, healing, miracles, etc. But all Christians can pray effectively. None of us are experts at prayer. All of us will have some learning moments in prayer. But not one of us is excluded from lifting up the concerns of people in need before the throne of God. The key point is that there is no insufficiency in God’s love, grace, power, or wisdom, and that is what determines the results. Therefore, all of us may pray effectively. Just do it. Philippians 4:4-7; Colossians 4:2-4; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; 1 Timothy 2:1-7.
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