Effective Prayer: Chapter 13 Prayer and Grace

Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To Him be the glory forever!”

Romans 11:35,36

It is quite possible that the greatest detriment to an effective prayer life is that we simply do not realize that it is not our job to originate prayer. Prayer originates in the heart of our Lord, and He inspires us to pray what His will is, so that He can do it. The Apostle Paul was appalled at the self-effort continually exercised by the Galatians, because their self-effort kept their Christian life from working. “You foolish Galatians!—After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (Gal. 3:1-3)

No doubt he would say the same thing to us today if he were to observe our praying, noticing how much we pray our own will at God, rather than seeking Him until He has revealed His will to us.When you come right down to it, all of the Christian life is lived through the enabling of the Holy spirit—it is Jesus who lives the Christian life in us—it is not we who live the Christian life by ourselves.

Many believers know this fact, and practice dependance on the Lord for service, for witnessing, for preaching, for getting through hard circumstances, and then when it is time to pray, began to beg and plead for what their own idea is! Throughout the New Testament, we must take a look at all ofthe verses that contain the term “through Christ” or “in the Spirit”—these are terms that have to do with us doing the work, or the praying, in the energy of another. Doing things for Christ is one thing, and doing things through Christ is quite another thing.

I began wondering one time why it was that Israel had so many battles with the Philistines in the Old Testament. The Philistines were Israel’s worst enemy, and they were always battling with them. David’s victory as king was made possible because he defeated all of his enemies, including the Philistines. But David’s battle cry was “the battle is the Lord’s” and he only fought battles that the Lord had told him ahead of time were already won.

Eventually I looked up the meaning of the word ‘philistine’ in a concordance and found that the spiritual meaning of the word is to “wallow in self”—no wonder this enemy was the one that had to be fought the most. The tendency to do things in our own power, when only the power of Christ will suffice is a human tendency.

It takes practice learning to pray by relying on the Holy Spirit for the content of our prayers. But we can learn to discern the gentle leading of the Spirit all the time, hour by hour and day by day. Onlyin this way will we find our prayer life effective, because God only answers the prayers He inspiresLet’s ask the Lord to give us the gift of “ears” that we might hear His sweet voice, so that we can pray according to His will.

Because of our natural aversion to prayer God Himself must stir up the work of prayer in us. Just as faith is a gift of God, so prayer is a gift of God. Therefore, praying people are a gift from God, and movements of prayer are a gift from God. And if God is giving this gift, He will not fail to answer the prayers that He Himself has actually stirred up to begin with.

David Bryant.

I do not see prayer as man acting upon God, but God acting upon man. It is Jesus expressing His own ministry of intercession through those He has drawn and energized by His Spirit.

John Dawson

The lesson that has become more basic to my thinking than any other is that prayer begins and ends with God.

John White

The efficacy of prayer does not depend upon my ability as a ‘prayer’ or on the intensity of my praying. It does depend upon my trust. But even my trust, my faith, is not strictly my own doing. “It is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph. 2:8,9)

Roger Palms

Prayer is a grace, a gift from God.

Karl Barth

Effective Prayer: Chapter 12 Prayer and God's Will

"For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."

- Philippians 2:13

"And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will." 

- Romans 8:27

Some of the most perplexing things about prayer that people seem to question the most is this — ”How do I know that what I am asking for is according to God’s will?” You often hear people adda phrase at the end of a prayer where some request is offered—”If it be Thy will.” This phrase sounds like a hope more than a certainty, as if some sort of guessing is going on. Unfortunatelymost people pray their own wishes, add this phrase and then wait, wondering if something is going to happen.

We don’t have to live in such uncertainty, because we are assured that we can know what God’s will is. John 7:17 says “If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” There is a condition offered here for getting ready to know what God’s will is.

First we ask Him what His will is, and wait and meditate on scripture until He shows us—but more importantly it is essential that we give up our will before we can know what His will is. Unfortunately, most of us have very concrete ideas about what God should be doing. Most of our prayers are us trying to get God to do what we want. Since He doesn’t have to bow to our wills, it seems that a different attitude might be in order.

The trouble is, our fallen natures never want what God wants.But God has made provision even for this as the verse above states. He works within us to will His very own will in us. When you find that your desires are so strong, ask Him to will His will in you—you’ll find that what you think you want will totally change. It may take some time if your desire is particularly entrenched. But as you seek His face, He will reveal what He desires so that your will and His can become one.

THEN what you ask for will happen. There doesn’t seem to be any shortcut in this process. God never answers prayer that is contrary to scripture, so searching the Word of God is a wonderful roadmap to understanding. Often as you seek Him, you will sense the Spirit bringing to mind scripture that you already know, which makes the path ahead much more clear.

The apostle Paul makes it clear that we can know God’s will in Colossions 1:9—”for this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” This tells me that knowing God’s will isn’t guess work—it’s the certainty of His promise which He always keeps. Let’s stop guessing and inquire as to what His will is—this is ASKING.

Wisdom is the special gift of the Lord for our quest to know His will. It is beyond intellect and knowledge. In a willing mind, wisdom enables a person to hear with God’s ears and see with His eyes. Praise and rejoicing in the Lord makes what the Lord’s will is clear and also prepares us to be willing to do it!

Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance to guide us; it puts our wills in a condition to receive what He wills for us. It changes our moods and gives us keen desires. When we commit a decision, choice or uncertainty to Him, the sure sign that we have really relinquished it and know that He has the authority and responsibility to guide our steps, we surely will sense a profound peace. Our wills are His, and we are free of the terrible tension of thinking that we are in charge of everything.

"Our wills are totally incapable of desiring God’s will until they are set free by being born again. He wills His will in us."

- Lloyd Ogilvi

Effective Prayer: Chapter 11 Prayer and Quietness

Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place.

Mark 6:31

One of the most asked questions about prayer is always “What do you do about the distractions that keep you from focusing on the Lord and what He wants to say to you?” Several good Christian writers have made suggestions about this, one of which is to focus on some story in the Bible where you picture yourself in the scene with Jesus, or some other section that you can identify with. By really thinking about scripture, so that your concentration is away from yourself, the distractions lessen a lot.

Another idea is to use praise music, especially the quiet peaceful kind to help focus on Jesus. Songs that are familiar keep your mind humming along and focusing upward. Above all, don’tTALK. Our talking is the worst thing we can do if we really want to hear the Lord. Every time we pray, we are really simply turning to Him to discuss the thing with Him. It is essential that we hear what He says. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are nothing like our thoughts. His solutions are always different than any we would think of. The biggest block to knowing God’s will is usually that we are so busy telling Him our will that we can’t consider that His way and will might be different than ours.

For anyone who has been used to talking to God, explaining the situation to Him, telling Him what to do, begging, pleading, etc., this will be difficult. But keep in mind that you are having a discussion with the creator of the universe, who knows more, sees more, and wants more than we can even imagine. Practice in this discipline will help us a great deal to realize that our weakness is
where His strength comes through. The less we strive to pray, the better it will be for us.

Sometimes the times when we are the most tired, the most worn out, are the very best times to pray, because we lack the strength to strive too much. Jesus longs to speak to us, to tell us things we don’t know, to share His mind so that we can do our part and ask for that Will to become ours. It isn’t in talking a lot that prayer happens. It is in refraining from talking that knowledge of His will becomes the most clear. The world is noisy enough without our adding to its din. “Be still, and know that I am God!” (Psalm 46:10)

As we determine in our own minds not to chatter at God, He will enable us to quiet our own hearts and listen. Open ears are His gift to us, so striving is a detriment to hearing. Practice this by meditating on scripture, writing questions and answers (revelation) and God gives it. Sometimes if our minds are busy writing, our hearts can then tell what the Lord is saying. Eventually we become used to the sense of His presence, and will recognize it all the time, because of His character and the beauty of His personality. God has given His Holy Spirit that we might be able to communicate. Be still and know!

Before we are ready to start our intercessory prayers, we need to wait before God until we know we have established communication with Him. This is a time of silence when we are shutting out every other thought and distraction around us. This is not talking to God. Just a complete mental drawing to Him, and then, as He promised, he will draw nigh to us.

Evelyn Christianson

Do not be afraid of silence in your prayer time. It may be that you are meant to listen, not to speak. So wait before the Lord. Wait in stillness. Wait as David waited when he “sat before the Lord.” And in that stillness, assurance will come to you. You will know that you are heard; you will know that your Lord ponders the voice of your humble desires; you will hear quiet words spoken to you yourself, perhaps to your grateful surprise and refreshment.

Amy Carmichael

Finding a quiet time: with young children in the home there will be few uninterrupted stretches of time So watch for free minutes, chinks of time throughout the day to seek God. The question really is, “How much do you want to pray?” Claim this promise for the quiet heart: “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace...” (1 Cor. 14:33)

Catherine Marshall

Effective Prayer: Chapter 10 Prayer and Faith

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Mark 11:24

There is always a lot of confusion about the subject of faith when we are praying. Most people begin praying by pouring out their wishes at God with no idea about what God desires to do. It is no wonder that it is so important to learn to listen to what God says in prayer, because He really does reveal His will and bring assurance that He is going to do something. That assurance is faith.

The bible says that “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." (Rom. 10:17) Any time you bring some request before the Lord, it is wise to search scripture at the same time. As God speaks to you through scripture, assurance will come to you that He is hearing and guiding your praying. The main thing that is required in this is a yielded heart, a willingness to have God do whatever HE desires.

As human beings, we have such a tendency to demand our own way, and to be positive that what we want is what He wants. This is dangerous, because if God doesn’t produce that wonderful assurance in your heart that what you’re asking for IS what He desires, we dare not be so positive!

If we lift up some petition to the Lord, asking Him to purify our asking, inviting Him to line us up with what He wants, He will purify and gently change what we are praying for. We must be honest when we have no faith at all that He even hears, and tell Him that, asking Him to produce faith.

Then ponder the verse above—as you confess your unbelief as sin, and ask for the faith to know that God is hearing and will show you what to pray for so that what you are asking lines up with His will, it is amazing that you actually can KNOW that you have what you’ve asked for before you see it happening! A tremendous peace and a sense of well-being comes over the prayer that is in line with what God wants.

In wondering how long you pray about something—we pray until that mighty assurance comes from the Lord that He agrees with your prayer, and it is done in Heaven. (Actually He has brought you into agreement with His prayer) The promise is that if it is done in Heaven, it will surely be done onearth. And as we patiently wait, praising God for what He has already assured us that we have—we will see the thing come to pass.

Many believers simply do not believe the verse written above—that you can know that you have what you asked for, but that doubt usually comes from praying our will instead of consulting with the Lord to see what His will is. We may have to ask for the willingness to want His will, but He understands that and will even change our will for us. (Phil. 2:13)

It is indeed a marvelous thing to know that what you are asking for is even then while you are still praying being done, because God has given you assurance—FAITH.

How long shall we pray? Pray until faith comes, and then praise until you see what has been prayed for in front of your eyes.

Watchman Nee

Prayer is asking for rain. Faith is carrying the umbrella.

Robert C. Savage

The power of prayer rests in the faith that God hears it. The moment I am assured that God hears, I feel drawn to pray and to persevere in prayer.

Andrew Murray

If you pray for bread and bring no basket to carry it, you prove the doubting spirit which may be the only hindrance to the gift you want.

D. L. Moody

You must pray in faith. You must expect to obtain the things for which you ask. You need not look for an answer to prayer, if you pray without any expectation of obtaining it.

Charles Finney

Prayer in faith is so uncommon, that our Lord questions if He shall find any of it on the earth when He comes back again.

H. Clay Trumbell

Helplessness united with faith produces prayer.

O. Hallesby

Effective Prayer: Chapter 9 Prayer and Humility

You say, “I am rich, I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich, and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness, and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Revelation 3:17,18

One thing that happens in studying about prayer is that in order to really have personal contact with God, we need to come bowed down, with no arrogance, in a yielded attitude. Sometimes we think of God as too much of a pal, even though He calls Himself our friend—and lose the view of how Majestic He is!

Matthew 6:7,8—Jesus in describing prayer to his seeking disciples said “Do not think you will be heard because of your many words, because your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” I have never been in a class where this verse is mentioned that someone in the class didn’t articulate the obvious question— ”then, why are we praying?” The truth is, it isn’t God who doesn’t know about things—WE are the ones who don’t know what we need.

The most persistent wrong belief about prayer is that we have to explain things to God, beg for things from God, and insist on our will from God. Nothing could be more of a mistake or a bigger problem in the life of prayer. We go to God in the first place, because HE knows what He wants to do. He knows what we need, and HE knows the circumstances that we are troubled about far better than we do. So we go to God with our hearts bent to receive His wisdom, knowledge of His will, and a resolution to whatever it is we are considering.

Most of us have spent many years explaining to God what He should do. Keep in mind that the word ASK means “to inquire of the Lord,” in order to find out what He wants, knows and wills. Asking is not begging, or insisting on our own way. There are times when we are so needy that we absolutely cannot do anything but want what we want. What then? Philippians 2:13 tells us “He works within us to will and to do His good pleasure!”

He works within us to will His will when our will can’t yield. It is amazing how much yielding up of our own abilities we have to do in order to really pray. We hear so many “Do this, Do that” prayers—but friends, God would have us know that we are not the boss. He is Lord, we aren’t. We must ask Him to show us what we look like to Him, and then we will see how truly needy we are. The verse above will be one we will have to agree with— we are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. The trouble seems to be that we have learned to cope with so many things that we don’t know how needy we are.

Frustration in prayer is used by the Lord to show us that without Him we can truly do-NOTHING—not even pray! Lord, have mercy on us and produce in us a yielded heart. Admittance to the school of prayer is by an entrance test with only two questions. The first one is: Are you in real need? The second is: Do you admit that you are helpless to handle that need? Why would God insist on helplessness as a prerequisite to answered prayer?

One obvious reason is because our human helplessness is a bed-rock fact. God is a realist and insists that we be realists, too.

"Admittance to the school of prayer is by an entrance test with only two questions.  The first one is:  Are you in real need?  The second is:  Do you admit that you are helpless to handle that need?  

Why would God insist on helplessness as a prerequisite to answered prayer?  

One obvious reason is because our human helplessness is a bedrock fact.  God is a realist and insists that we be realists too. So long as we are deluding ourselves that human resources can supply our heart's desire, we are believing a lie."

- Catherine Marshall

"The first thing that makes prayer acceptable to God is the brokenness and humility of the one who prays. “If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray. I will hear from heaven.” 

In other words, what makes a heart upright and what makes prayers pleasing to God is a felt awareness of our tremendous need for mercy."

- John Piper

Prayer is radical conversion of all our mental processes because in prayer we move away from ourselves, our worries, preoccupations, and self-gratification— and direct all that we recognize as ours to God in the simple trust that through His love all will be made new." 

- Henry Nouwen

"The deepest prayer at its nub is a perpetual surrender to God. God gives where He finds empty hands."

- Thomas Merton

Effective Prayer: Chapter 8 Prayer and Purity

If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

Psalm 66:18

We must remember who it is that we are contacting when we pray. It is the Most Holy God, whose Holiness is so Holy that when we really encounter Him, He makes us Holy. You can’t really come into God’s matchless presence without something changing in you. We are all so much more sinful that we really realize.

This is why many people who write about prayer suggest that we start with a time of praise and adoration, considering the attributes of the One before whom we are bowing. Studying God’s names, which reveals all that He is, has the effect of humbling us greatly, which will cause us to bow our hearts before Him even more.

The next thing suggested is that we enter into confession, which will surely come about as we allow God to search our hearts. Don’t think that it is enough to just confess your deeds that you think of in your own power that is sufficient, because when God reveals His view of your heart He will not only show you deeds, but causes of any type of bentness.

If our prayers are hindered the most by unconfessed sin in our lives, surely one of the first things we should do is to agree to Psalm 139:23,24—”Search me, O God and see if there be any wicked way in me.” Then wait before the Lord as He shows you what to confess. Remember that confession is to “Agree with God’s view of our condition, as He shows it to us.” It isn’t confessing what we see, it is confessing what HE sees.

This process gets us ready to bear the Lord’s Jesus’ prayers more than any other thing we can do. A purified heart can then hear what God has on His mind, and this will many times lead to intercession for His concerns in the world. One of the most common reasons that we aren’t very effective in praying for big issues is that our own heart’s condition is getting in the way.

The purpose of scripture is also to show us our condition, which often leads to prayers of confession. It is the confessions of the saints saints that causes God to empower us for intercession so that His purposes in the world can be accomplished. Don’t think that you will be used much for prayer concerns if your own life isn’t in a constant state of being changed.

A believer’s life should have something changing in it every single day. We need to be continually cleansed from our own unknown condition and to be continually cleansed from the defilements of walking in an unclean world. It isn’t possible to live in a sinful place like we do without being offended by others over and over again.

Forgiveness washes us clean and fits us to be praying for others again. Just in case you might be thinking that you never get offended, check the condition of your thinking when you get out in traffic and view the selfish driving of others, which reveals our own selfish driving! It’s a zoo out there—many times the animal is us!

Prayer requires that we deal with God—this God who is determined on nothing less than the total renovation of our lives. We would rather have a religious bull session.

Eugene Peterson

Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.

John Bunyan

To confess our sins to God is not to tell Him anything He doesn’t know. Until you confess them, however, they are the abyss between you. When you confess them, they become the bridge.

Frederick Buechner

Until known sin is judged and renounced, we pray and plead in vain.

J. Oswald Sanders

My biggest problem is not demons. I am my biggest problem. It is only when God has cleansed my own wicked heart that participation in the redeeming work of intercession becomes possible. It is then that the power to change history is released through prayer.

John Dawson

Effective Prayer: Chapter 7 Prayer and Relationships

"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

Mark 11:25

One of the greatest hindrances in effective prayer is the presence of resentment and bitterness toward another person. Our responses to the things that are done to us, when held onto deteriorate into resentment and bitterness, and totally blocks the channel of God’s communication to us.

It is not without reason that the above verse says that if we are praying and we have something against another person, we MUST forgive, because forgiveness, the cleansing of our own contaminated hearts, restores the presence of the Holy Spirit in our prayer time.

Without His presence we can’t have a dialog with God, and will be left talking to ourselves! God’s intention is that we become channels of His love into the hearts of others. There is no other place that we can prove our genuine Christian faith than by forgiving someone WHILE they are being impossible. Of course we can’t do this unless we are empowered by the Holy Spirit.

When people wonder why they can’t hear, and prayer isn’t becoming a dialog, the first place to look is to ask God to search and see if there be any wicked way in us. (Psalm 139) If there is, it can be quickly confessed and forsaken so that our communion with our Lord is restored.

We stack up a lot of resentments against parents, just from the simple process of growing up. With all that baggage still intact, we then think we can get married and have children, be involved in jobs, etc. and have continual good relationships. If someone drives you crazy, and you hardly know them, ask God for a good insight into the contents of your own heart. You may be experiencing an “old rag” that needs to be removed.

Every person we meet in the present can trigger old undealt with anger and resentment. We must deal with ourselves first before we know for sure if someone is doing something to us or not. A very small offense seems like a bomb going off to a person who has already harbored a lifetime of rage at a parent! Our response is a picture of what WE are like, not necessarily is it a picture of the person who seems to be so offensive.

No relationship can endure when the people involved don’t walk in constant forgiveness. We are all sinners, walking toward a cleansed life, but nobody is finished yet. Our conflicts with each other are God’s opportunities to continually change our life. Let’s not miss our opportunities by focusing on other people. We are meeting the enemy, and he is us!

Jesus was on the cross, forgiving as He was being crucified. We, too, are meant to live in a way that forgives even while offenses are being committed. Keep in mind that doing this is only possible through the Holy Spirit, who accomplishes forgiveness in us. When we are offended, we don’t feel like forgiving anyone—Don’t worry about it, we can still ask the Lord to cleanse us of what people do so that we can be free even if we don’t feel like it. It’s called obedience, and He always does the work!

"If we do not love one another we certainly shall not have much power with God in prayer."

- D. L. Moody

"A loving spirit is a condition of believing prayer. We cannot be wrong with man and right with God."

- A Kneeling Christian

"Criticism of others nails them to the past. Prayer for them releases them into the future."

- Frank Laubach

"A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Intercession leaves you neither time or inclination to pray for our own “sad, sweet self.” The thought of yourself is not kept out, because it is not there to keep out. You are completely identified with God’s interests in other lives."

- Oswald Chambers