Bible Study Praying effectively

[Papa Zoom]

Prayer is so important in the life of the believer. And yet many of us struggle with effective prayer. There are probably many good ideas people employ when they pray. This is just one.

P R A Y

Praise:
Psalm 100:1-4
Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Make the starting point in prayer, a praise to God. Enter His courts with praise and singing!

Repent:
Psalm 19:12-13
Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.

We don't always know when we get into an area that isn't just right. Ask God to search your heart and reveal those things that you haven't recognized as sin.

Ask:
1 John 3:21-22
Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

Matthew 7:7-11, Jesus tells us
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

Keep in mind the following:
First, in John 14:13, Jesus says your request must glorify God,

“And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”

Second, in John 15:7, He says your request must be consistent and in harmony with His Word,

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”

And finally, in John 16:23-24, Jesus sets the condition that your request bring you joy,

“And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

Over and over, Jesus commands you to ask. But when you ask, make sure your request will glorify God, that it is consistent with His Word, and that it will bring you joy.

Yield:
Psalm 37:4 provides us the “Y” in the acronym P-R-A-Y.

Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

The Hebrew word for delight in this verse literally means to become soft or pliable. Yield to the Spirit's prompting in your life.

Please share your own approach to prayer. The above is from Bible.com and is one I'm exploring.

 

[reba]

AMEN

 

[Christ_empowered]

My approach to prayer is to pray frequently and praise God for His goodness, then go thru what Jesus says to do when one prays (pray for one's enemies, those who despitefully use you, speak all matter of evil against you falsely, etc.), including praying for gov't leaders, which...whoa. I find my heart has softened towards Trump, etc., even though I"m still -not- a fan.

I pray for my parents, people I know, myself. I ask forgiveness for sins I can name off, and for more general sin patterns I deal with--pride, self-love, looking backwards, refusal and/or inability to forgive 70x7, etc.-- and for what it takes to genuinely repent and move foward.

I do go before God w/ specific requests, but I'm getting better about praying for His perfect will. That's obviously His work in my life, because praying for His perfect will requires a level of love and trust in Him that...I certainly did not have for a while there.

Oh, and I pray for some churches around here, too. I'm not a huge megachurch fan, but I pray for the congregants at the local megachurch, the little PCUSA church I went to as a kid, the Pentecostals, and the man who was minister at the megachurch, until he got fired.

basically...for a number of reasons, prayer has been a huge part of my walk with The Lord. I'm still something of a pariah around here (being labeled with "Schizophrenia" is actually a big step up, if that tells you anything), so there were times when I -definitely- did not feel welcome in churches 'round here. Since I didn't feel welcome in church and I'd been stressed and electroshocked so much, prayer was something I -could- do, vs in-depth Bible study, which...I'm doing more Scripture reading now, but its like Verna often tells me: "God know right where you're at."

 

[I'M Grams]

We pray a meal time ! When we are together.... I am now living with my son and his family

Wife and 8 children, they take turns in praying..........

I also pray when I get in bed.

And my first part is thanking GOD for HIS SON JESUS....... And what JESUS did for our sins........ HE has no sin !

But we all do............ And now I thank GOD for taking my husband home, because he was in pain all the time...

Even thought I miss him a lot, I rather have him in heaven then here in pain....

And this does make me feel good ! Because GOD know I mean it all !

AMEN!

 

[WIP]

Prayer is so important in the life of the believer. And yet many of us struggle with effective prayer. There are probably many good ideas people employ when they pray. This is just one.

P R A Y

Praise:
Psalm 100:1-4
Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Make the starting point in prayer, a praise to God. Enter His courts with praise and singing!

Repent:
Psalm 19:12-13
Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.

We don't always know when we get into an area that isn't just right. Ask God to search your heart and reveal those things that you haven't recognized as sin.

Ask:
1 John 3:21-22
Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

Matthew 7:7-11, Jesus tells us
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

Keep in mind the following:
First, in John 14:13, Jesus says your request must glorify God,

“And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”

Second, in John 15:7, He says your request must be consistent and in harmony with His Word,

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”

And finally, in John 16:23-24, Jesus sets the condition that your request bring you joy,

“And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

Over and over, Jesus commands you to ask. But when you ask, make sure your request will glorify God, that it is consistent with His Word, and that it will bring you joy.

Yield:
Psalm 37:4 provides us the “Y” in the acronym P-R-A-Y.

Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

The Hebrew word for delight in this verse literally means to become soft or pliable. Yield to the Spirit's prompting in your life.

Please share your own approach to prayer. The above is from Bible.com and is one I'm exploring.

I like this post but what I'm not sure about is what you mean by "praying effectively." Sometimes we just don't know what to pray but we can rest assured that the Holy Spirit knows our hearts.

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[a] with groanings which cannot be uttered. Romans 8:26 NKJV

 

[for_his_glory]

Prayer is very hard for some people as they do not know how to pray or they think there should be some grand format to follow to make a perfect prayer. Some are even afraid to even approach Jesus as they feel he is unreachable in their lives for the way they live, but Jesus will hear the prayers of anyone who has a sincere heart for the Lord no matter who they are and in all boldness will come to him.

Hebrews 4:16 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 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Praying is humbling ourselves before the Lord and making a petition before him in simplicity of words for whatever our need is. Jesus, as our mediator, sits at the right hand of God making intercession for the saints of God as he presents our petitions before the Father. You do not need eloquent elaborate words or long prayers that use vain repetitions like the Pharisees used as God called them hypocrites because they were arrogant in their ways loving to have others see them in such formality who made the outside of themselves look good, but were nothing more than full of iniquity, Matthew 6:5-8.

1Timothy 2:5 for there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus

Jesus is our mediator to the Father and just wants us to sit and talk with him like we would sit and talk with our best friend. Our prayer language needs to be in this same way. When you have a need just talk to him and speak from your heart. We do not have to be repetitious in our prayers as Jesus already heard you the first time. Pray once and then stand strong in faith to know God has heard your prayer and then just keep praising him and thanking him for his answer to your prayer even though you might not see an answer yet, but know that God in his timing will answer you. Gods answer may not be what we want to hear at times and his answer can be no at times, but God knows what is better for us then we do and we need to trust in this.

Mark 11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

 

[Papa Zoom]

I like this post but what I'm not sure about is what you mean by "praying effectively." Sometimes we just don't know what to pray but we can rest assured that the Holy Spirit knows our hearts.

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[a] with groanings which cannot be uttered. Romans 8:26 NKJV

I guess I'm both trying to get at the proper way to approach prayer and to understand it. Jesus taught us to pray and some follow His prayer as a model for theirs. I think effective prayer is prayer that both glorifies God and changes us. It helps to develop a relationship with God that is personal, intimate, honoring, and even comforting. I'm just now exploring prayer in a way to improve my own prayer life and to learn to take prayer as seriously as does God.

Found this: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-main-ingredient-in-effective-prayer

 

[Truthfrees]

i learned a few years ago to ask God how to pray - what i mean is i know an issue or a person needs prayer - but i want to know how God wants me to pray -because i want results - no sense praying if i'm not going to get results

so i actually talk to God for as long as it takes for Him to show me how to pray for a specific need

i get much better quality and quantity of results this way

prior to this i used to THINK of what was the best way to pray - i'd think of what scripture says - and use a lot of brain power making sure i prayed properly - wow what a lot of work - and i wasn't 100% sure how i was praying was right or not

i like the new way of asking God to show or tell me how to pray much better

when God shows me how to pray for a situation i learn a lot of things i never knew before - so leaning on Him rather than my own understanding is tremendously rewarding

great thread Papa Zoom

 

[Kidron]

-
Prayer, is having a conversation with God that includes praise and thanksgiving, and requests.
Listening is a part of the conversation.
Most Christians, speak in a hurry, then go, go, go.
But prayer is not just the request, its also the quite heart time spent listening for the peace that passes all understanding to flow.

Here is something interesting..
In a little while, or, at some point, you are going to pray.
Before you do, God already knows what you are going to say.
Isn't that interesting?

The Bible tells you to "pray without ceasing", and this does not mean to pray perpetually.
It means to be disciplined about it, to do it regularly, and to do it with sincerity.

WE are also to "ask, believing", as without this, God is not activated.
See, God is already aware of all your issues, but He is activated by your faith.
"without faith, it is impossible to please God", and its also impossible to get Him involved in your need.
God is aware of your need, but He is moved by your faith.
Now, this will sound strange to you, but...the fact is...God is obligated by your faith, to help you.
Your Faith obligates Him, and why?..>Its because this is how HE set up the process of faith, to work.
He, God, created this situation, whereby, if you believe, then God will do.
Salvation works exactly the same, as God has declared that "if you believe", then He will save.
There is no, could, would, or might......its is a fact, that when you do what God says, then He will do what He said He will do.
And the knowledge of this, gives wings and certainty and stability to our faith.
The reason we can KNOW that God will answer, is because He said He would, according to His stated condition of "ask, believing< ", and He can't Lie.
Where Christians get hung up and flounder and back up and stop believing, is usually based on TIME.
WE ask, then the situation does not improve the next day, and in fact, im might get a whole lot worse, and then, we are done believing.
We are always aware of time frames, and delay, but God is not working or existing within these realms, He is not bound by time, so,
because we are, we are always looking at the clock, and accessing the delay, and doubting... instead of just putting the situation in God's hands, and leaving it there and let it go.
Often, God is dealing with a multitude of people and situations that are all connected, that He has to work out so that YOURS can be resolved that you've prayed about, and this takes a few mins, Christian
We are to "cast our burden on the Lord" and then we are to back away, and let Him handle it, and this means we have to turn off the clock, and instead just live in expectation, as expectational trust, IS Faith.


Now I want to give someone a fair warning.
You.
I want to spare you from a terrible situation.
Listen to me.
Stay close to God, no matter how you feel, no matter how you fail, and no matter what is wrong, or how long its been wrong.
Alway, stay close to God., because, you will find yourself in a tight spot, and if you have not been staying close to Him, then you will find
that you will not be able, in the crisis, to ask Him to help, and you will be so tortured in that situation.

Let me give you an example.

Middle of the night, you get a call from the ER, and your mother, brother, child, is there.
You get up, and go.
Your, mother, brother, child, husband, ......wife......is nearly dead.....and you need to pray.
But you can't.
Oh sure, you can mouth the words, you can speak a few verses, but your heart is a stone in your chest and your faith is dull and dead.
THIS is because you have not been close to God, .. you have instead been caught up in the stuff the world provides, and you've been away from God, and your heart toward Him has been cold for a while.
So, there you are, in the ER, in a crisis, and you can't pray....you CANT PRAY.....and all you can do is feel this stinging horrible condemnation when you try, and tears won't help.
This is a terrible place to find yourself, and many find themselves in something like this, even if its not an ER situation...
So, fair warning...
Stay close to God.
You'll be so glad you did, especially when you never knew what was coming......and you don't.


God bless,


<K><

 

[Albert Finch]

"He who believes in Me the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father" (John 14:12).

Are we walking with an earnest expectation of the miraculous? Are we truly expecting to see the goodness of God manifested (birthed) on earth, or are we just hoping that it will be? Hope in God is good, but the Lord wants to turn our hope into a living, breathing expectation.

GOD IS CALLING US to supernatural living and it begins with an expectation of the miraculous.

The enemy of our soul is always trying to discourage us and cause us to lose sight of who we are in Christ and all that comes along with our birthright. We are governed by the natural (what the news says, what the doctor says, etc.), yet we are children of a supernatural God who asked us to PRAY that things would be on earth just as they are in Heaven (Matthew 6:10).

Every promise, every jot, every tittle, every utterance from God is ours. Though it tarries, we continue to expect and don't give up.

 

[Razeontherock]

What a great topic! Many great contributions so far, too. My main thrust furthers ideas that have been stated:

if prayer is talking with God, who should do more talking? I am of the steadfast opinion that His Word is more important than my ideas, so I want to do more listening than talking. Peter was such a goof-up in this area, which gives me great encouragement that God can tolerate my own foibles and is still willing to speak with me. Then I renew my mind via Scripture and have my mind blown, that He is not merely willing but He actually loves a wretch such as me.

That's a pretty good start to prayer, I find. Continuing, hearing Him via Scripture I inevitably find stuff I really like, want, and could benefit from; so I ask God to shine more Light on it, to bring it to life in me, for Jesus Himself to do that in and through me by His own Power, etc.

That's the habit I like best

In terms of prayer being effectual? The Bible speaks of "fervor;" I take this to mean our emotions are not merely ok, God can use them. I am reminded of the shortest sentence in Scripture: Jesus wept. This in conjunction with one of the greatest miracles recorded. Hmmm.

That same Scripture talks about the one doing the praying being righteous.

I also try to limit my prayers that I expect to be "effectual" to those things I KNOW the will of God. Some find that redundant, but God gave our species dominion, over this Earth, everything on it, (and under it) and everything that happens here. In this way I find prayer very much to be us giving God our permission to do what He wants to. Another way of saying that is our prayer puts the amen to His yea.YMMV, and this is in no way to be misconstrued as some formula for miracles.