How to pray effective prayers - 3 Important Conditions

Nobody likes the thought of unanswered prayers. I know I don't. And for any of us that has ever felt that God is not hearing us, it can be a very, very discouraging feeling. Those are the times when we have to run back to the Word of God and find out why our prayers may not be getting answered and examine ourselves in the light of what we find. 

Well today, I am writing about 3 very important reasons why our prayers can easily not get answered.

1. Forgiveness: I wrote a post on forgiveness some weeks back. Not only does unforgiveness (which eventually leads to bitterness) make you an emotional slave to whatever was done to you in the past, it also hinders your prayers. 

And when ye stand praying, forgive, if we have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. - Mark 11:25



Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;


Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. - Matthew 5:23-24 



These are the words of Jesus. If it wasn't that important to the Lord that you forgive BEFORE you come before Him in prayer, He would not have made that emphasis.  


2. Faith: Most Christians believe that God is mighty and He can do whatever He wants etc and we aren't wrong! God is powerful and He is the Almighty. However, God cannot do anything for you if you do not believe in His ability to meet that need. When Jesus walked the earth, He had the anointing without measure (Luke 4:18) and yet check out this Scripture:

  

He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them - Mark 6:5

Why? If you read earlier you will find out that the people in that town did not believe in Jesus because they were so familiar with Him. He had grown up in their neighborhood, his family lived in the neighborhood and now He was saying what ? That He is the Son of God? ! They didn't believe He could do anything powerful and so no miracles happened there. A lot of us have become so "familiar" with God that we no longer really believe that He is more than able to do exceedingly , abundantly more than we can ever ask or imagine.

But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. - James 1:6-8

Many of us in the church today only have mental assent of the fact that God is all-powerful. But as to whether God can REALLY, REALLY work a miracle in our lives; I've seen many hesitate. 

I like what a man in the gospel of Mark did when he did not believe : he asked the Lord to help him overcome his unbelief (Mark 9:24). I have to confess : I have used that prayer myself !

3. The Word of God should abide in You: In other words, let the Word of God live heart and be alive in your everyday life.  I really believe that allowing the Word to abide in you is an ongoing process. Nonetheless, whatever level we're at in allowing the Word of God abide in our hearts, there is always room for improvement. It's my dire prayer that as you visit this blog, you would become a student of the Word of God for YOURSELF. I think we have enough people in the church who simply listen to what the preacher has to say or what so-and-so's opinion is on this or that topic without searching the Word for themselves. 

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. - John 15:7

Yes we need our pastors. I've been blessed immensely by having AMAZING pastors. Having an amazing pastor who preaches wonderful sermons on Sundays and Wednesday mid-week service is not enough though. You need to know the Word for yourself and discern and understand it yourself (sometimes I genuinely wish I could stand on a rooftop and scream this out !). That is what you and I have the Holy Spirit for. 

Examine yourself. Could any of these things be the reason why you seemed to have prayed about a particular situation for so long without results ? I am not saying it is but I believe it's worth considering. I am a work in progress myself and I am examining myself too as I write. 

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This is the second post in the prayer series we started last week. Stay tuned this week for the next post ! 

God bless you for reading !

You are loved relentlessly by a powerful Savior. 

Gertrude.

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