Effective Prayer

by Skip Heitzig | February 9, 2024

Prayer is one of the most common human activities. I think it's safe to say that all over the world, people pray. But I think every believer would admit, "I don't pray enough." Now, to have an effective prayer life, you don't need to be a pastor or a missionary.

The Bible says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). That is, be all-in when it comes to God. And you can do that if you're a doctor, an accountant, a zookeeper, or a mortician. Prayer is an exercise of dependence on God and humility before Him.

In the United States, the average computer user—that's probably most of us—spends forty-nine minutes per day managing emails. But how much time does the average Christian spend managing "knee-mails," prayers? Only three to four minutes per day.

In the book Answers to Prayer, George Müller wrote, "I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord…. And so, I saw the most important thing I had to do was give myself to the reading of the Word of God—not to prayer, but to the Word of God. And here again, not the simple reading of the Word…but considering what I read, pondering over it, applying it to my heart. To meditate on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed."

Müller added, "Prayer is most effective after the inner man has been nourished by the meditation of the Word of God." His prayers to God were prompted by the Word of God entering his heart. It became a conversation.

Our prayer should be driven by what we read. If your prayer life has gotten a little rusty, or you're in that three-to-four-minute crowd, this could freshen it up a bit. Let what you say to God be prompted by what He says to you in His Word. When you read the sure promises or the warnings, those become promptings so you can dialogue with God.

Remember this: the prayer that God accepts is the prayer that God directs. Our prayer should conform to God's will. And the only way we can know that is by digging into His Word. You see, prayer is really a cooperation; it's aligning my will with God's will. It's like God makes a promise, and we say, "I want to be a part of this. I want to enter into cooperating with You." God invites us in.

And here are a couple of His invitations to prayer. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4:6). "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16).

Fervent and effective are two English words to translate a single Greek word, energeó, where we get the term energetic from. Let your prayers be with power, energy, and feeling. Genuine passion in prayer can be very effective.

So, when you think about that simple but profound command to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, strength, we know part of that means to relationally hear from God and speak to Him. Jesus invites you in your prayer life to not just mumble things, but to be passionate, authentic, and genuine.

Copyright © 2024 by Connection Communications. All rights reserved.

For more from Skip Heitzig, visit ConnectwithSkip.com, and listen to today's broadcast of Connect with Skip Heitzig at OnePlace.com.