How to Pray Powerful Effective Prayers

These are things that prayer warriors do. These are things that people who know the secret place do. Number 1, they pray sincerely. In Matthew 6:7-8, we read, when you pray, don't babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. But don't be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask. Amen. You ask him. Do you know one of the ways you know that you believe in prayer? It's not really complicated. I'm not— it's not a trick question. One of the ways that you know you believe in prayer is that you pray. One of the reasons why believers struggle with their prayer life or don't pray is because deep down there's this doubt, this question, does it actually work? And when you pray, recognize that one of the tests of your sincerity is whether or not you pray in private. It's one thing to pray in public where people can applaud you for selling— sounding eloquent. It's one thing to pray in public where people can say, look at how spiritual they are. It's one thing to pray in public where you can impress people with your spirituality, but it's something else entirely when you pray privately for the audience of one. Amen. You see, people who perform, of course they'll pray publicly. But the real test is whether or not you pray privately. Because only when you pray privately are you doing it only for God. I mean, if you don't believe in prayer, or if there's that doubt, or if it's not performative, then why else would you go and pray privately? There's nobody there to applaud you. There's nobody there to be impressed. And so this is a great test of your sincerity, whether or not you pray privately. It's wonderful to pray in public. The early church did it. Jesus did it. The disciples did it. But be careful that your motives aren't to be seen, that it's not just for show, that it's not just a demonstration to others. And be careful that when you pray, that you don't babble on and on as the Gentiles do. That you're doing it with a script, that you're doing it out of ritual. You're doing it thinking that the repetition itself is what's going to cause the prayer to come to pass. When we pray, we pray with sincerity, recognizing that we are having an actual conversation with God. I want you to really think about the implications of that. That when I go to pray, I'm actually talking to and hearing from The Creator of the universe, the one who formed it all, the one who knows time from beginning to end, the one who understands human nature, the one who can do anything and knows all things. I'm having a conversation with him. Now that kind of sincerity brings forth power. Why? Because you are engaging in an actual relationship with your heavenly Father, not just going through the performance, Not just praying a list of scripted prayers, not just repeating the same words again and again thinking that God will reward you because you said it 1,000 times, but recognizing that you are having an actual audience with God himself. Think about how excited we would be if we knew that we were going to gain an audience with a billionaire or a powerful politician or someone who had the ability to move and shake things in this world. If you were going to have an audience with the billionaire, I'm sure you'd have your case laid out as to why they should give you enough money to solve your problems. If you were going to have an audience with the politician, I'm sure there'd be some problems in your life that you'd bring to them knowing that they could fix. Now consider that you have an audience with God, and not only do you have an audience with God, he desires to hear from you. That he's welcomed you in and he says, you tell me what you need. That's the kind of faith that we need. That's the kind of sincerity. Recognizing that I'm actually talking to God, not just going through the motions of it to check it off my list and say I've been a good Christian today, but talking with and making connection with God. That's number one. They pray sincerely. Number 2, they pray with faith, boldly knowing God can do it, not limiting their prayers to what they think is reasonable. In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if it was— if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, may you never bear fruit again! And immediately the fig tree withered up The disciples were amazed when they saw this and asked, "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" Watch this. Verse 21. This is astonishing. Then Jesus told them, "I tell you the truth." In other words, believe me. I tell you the truth. If you have faith and don't doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, "May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea." And it will happen. Now, look at me here. Remember, this is Jesus talking. We're gonna read verse 22. And make sure you read this through the eyes of faith. You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it. Amen. What a promise. What a promise coming from the Lord Jesus Himself. What does that tell me? That tells me that when we pray for things that align with God's will and they don't happen, that the issue is not God and the issue is not God's Word. The issue is our ability to receive. Now, let me tell you, this world, your existence on this earthly plane, is a test for the world to come. When we go to be with the Lord and we're ruling and reigning, we're not just going to be sitting on clouds playing harps all day. I don't even know how to play the harp. We're not just going to be sitting around doing nothing. That would be torture. All eternity just relaxing. Yes. What we will be doing is managing and handling kingdom affairs. And so you have to understand that the way God operates in this realm is through your faith. Can God do whatever he wants to do whenever he wants to do it? Absolutely, you bet. He can wipe us all off the face of the earth and choose to accomplish his will regardless. He can do that. Amen. But what he has chosen to do in this earthly realm is work through humanity. And he works through humanity by way of their faith. It's not that God needs your faith to do it. It's that he's chosen to use your faith to do it. In this way, we limit God When we pray small prayers. When we pray prayers that are aligned with what we think is reasonable. We pray according to timelines that we think work. Lord, one day, one day, one day. That's much easier to pray than, Lord, now, now, now. We pray things on a smaller scale, smaller amounts, smaller acts of favor. more reasonable requests, and you're begging for crumbs when God has a table laid before you. You're taking sips when an entire ocean of favor is yours. Amen. God wants you to begin to pray prayers that are so big they go outside what you think is reasonable. You see, when you pray according to what you think is reasonable, When you pray according to your timeline, when you pray according to your ability, really what you're doing is you're wishing according to your power instead of praying according to his. Wow. And we shrink God's influence because he can only do— and remember when I say he can only, remember the context that that's how he chooses to work in this world. He could do whatever he wants. When you pray small prayers, you're shrinking his influence Because he can only do what you have the faith for. Wow. So if you shrunk your prayers to fit your mindset, you are praying according to your ability. You might as well do it yourself. But when you pray with faith, you trade your ability for his ability. You trade your power for his power. You trade your resources for his resources. You trade your timeline for his timeline. Faith is that great exchange of man's strength for God's grace. But it only comes when you pray with faith. Number 3, they pray with gratitude. They don't get bitter with God when He doesn't answer according to their timeline. This is the other side of the coin. In Philippians 4:6-7, we read, don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. That's a different sermon for a different day. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then, watch this, then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Notice here that it's possible to pray for something while still being grateful for what he's given you. Now, I'm in the social media world. It's how many of you found our ministry. Not the only aspect of our ministry, but it's a large part of it. And one of the interesting things about the social media world is that people are more free about their opinions and their humanity, especially when they can hide behind a screen in anonymity. Amen. And one of the more interesting things I've noticed is that whenever I talk about something positive like faith or belief or for persistent prayer, believing for your miracle, it's inevitable I will get 1 or 2 comments from people, and you know I love you, I'll get 1 or 2 comments from people who are complaining about what God hasn't done and using that as an excuse to not believe for what he can do now. Amen. Oh, I've been asking God that for 30 years and he just ignores me and rejects me and doesn't love me. And everybody else gets their prayers answered, but I don't. Everyone else gets their miracle, but I'm overlooked. I see God blessing them over there and someone over here, but it seems like I'm just someone that God doesn't want to bless. And what they call prayer is really just complaining in front of God. It's self-pity. It's not a prayer meeting, it's a pity party. And what they're doing is they're trying to manipulate with their emotions God into a response because they do it with people and then they try to do it with God. But God doesn't move in that way. And so what happens is the pain of today keeps them from believing for the miracle tomorrow. They don't think anything good's gonna happen to them or for them. And they get stuck in this place. Why? Because they see themselves as victims. And victims have a spirit of entitlement. Can I just tell you plainly? There is no such thing as a Christian victim. I'm not saying bad things don't happen to Christians. And I'm not saying you don't feel pain. I'm saying don't let the pain become your identity. Amen. Yeah. There's a difference. I feel pain, I feel hurt, I feel angry. Valid, understandable, reasonable even in some cases. But when you let that feeling, that disappointment, that pain become intertwined with your personality and your character, your nature, your identity, now you are entering into the place of bitterness and entitlement. It's not possible to be a Christian victim because in every circumstance we are victorious. You can't even make a Christian a victim by killing them. I'm not saying it's right, so don't go say Pastor David said— I don't like them, if they're frustrating me. No, no. But think about it. Even when we die, we live again. And if we're persecuted, if we're martyred for our faith, the Spirit of glory rests on us, and we experience the riches of His presence. Even when you kill a Christian, you have not made them a victim. In the legal sense, yes, but not in the spiritual sense. I've had people steal from me, and they don't know I know they stole from me. And I say it's not possible to make me a victim even then, because when you steal from me, it's just me sowing a seed. Amen. You take it, God will bless me still. Amen. This might be a little extreme for some, but you know what? We're Christians, yes? We're followers of Jesus. We're disciples. We follow that way. It's different, not of this world. We're peculiar people. People get weirded out by that. What do you mean? Now, I'm not saying, again, not saying go steal, and I'm not saying What I am saying is we never become victims. We never let that identify us. And so some Christians will take their every disappointment and pain and heartache and unanswered prayer, and they get it to this place where they just— they're hoping that if they throw a pity party for long enough, someone will look and come and rescue them. That's not faith. That's not faith. That's dependence on man. Are you receiving this this morning? Yes. Okay. So they pray with gratitude. Gratitude and faith go hand in hand. Thanksgiving is the send button on your prayers. When you pray and then you thank God, that is an act of faith. Thankfulness postures your heart for faith. When you struggle with faith, if you're dealing with doubt, If you're dealing with cynicism, if your heart has been hardened by disappointment after disappointment, start using your words to thank God for the miracle. Start thanking him for the healing. Start praising him for the breakthrough. And that gratitude positions your heart in alignment with faith. Number 4, they pray the word. Now let me show you something. In 1 John 3:21-22. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. Look at what it's saying. If our heart doesn't condemn us, if we do what He says, If we keep his commands, we do those things that are pleasing in his sight, then whatsoever we ask, we receive of him. Think about that. If his word remains in you and you remain in him, he says, you can ask me for anything and it's yours. What does the Scripture say? Delight yourself in the Lord, he'll give you the desires of your heart. Why is that? Because when you delight yourself in the Lord, his desires become your desires. When you pray the word, you are praying according to his will. You're praying according to his ways. You see, many believers don't recognize what prayer actually does. The will of God is like a fixed river. The direction and the flow is set. Amen. Some believers look at prayer as a means of trying to change the direction of that river. Prayer is not you changing the direction of the river. Prayer is you jumping into the river and joining the flow. So then, when I pray the word, I'm aligning myself with the word. And when I pray what God's will is, I'm praying His will. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I'm praying in alignment with Him. And when I pray in alignment with Him, His Word is in me, I am in Him, and it's done. It's finished. Why? Because now I've aligned myself with Him. You can't pray against demons you're sleeping with. That's right. You can't ask God to bless your finances if you're not giving. Come on. You can't ask God for healing if you're not taking care of your body. Come on. You can't uplift someone you're gossiping about. Right, right. The authority of the word comes upon you When you live in alignment with the Word. You know what? You know what? I wasn't gonna read this one, but I'll read it to you. Look at what Proverbs 28:9 says. Proverbs 28:9. He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination. Now, I don't know how we filter that exactly through the New Testament, But the principle, I'm sure, stands, that there's something about living in disobedience that affects your prayer life. In fact, the Scripture tells us that if men, if you're harsh with your wife, God's not going to hear your prayer. You say, well, what about wives who are harsh with their husband? The Bible doesn't mention that. It just doesn't mention that. Different roles, different responsibilities. Amen. You pray in alignment with the Word. You pray what He promised, and it is yours. So, as you obey the Word and pray the Word, it is guaranteed that it will be established in your life. So, they pray the Word. Number 5, they pray persistently. Matthew 7:7-11 says this. Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, everyone who seeks finds, and to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. You parents, if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not. So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, How much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him! Pray. Ask. Seek. Knock. Don't give up. Now, some Christians get this confused with Jesus' point on vain repetition. And they think, well, I can't pray for something repeatedly because that's vain repetition. No. Jesus didn't say that repetition alone was wrong. He said vain repetition. Repetition without sincerity and faith. But repetition with sincerity and with faith and with proper motivation, that is persistent prayer. Notice the language. To everyone who asks, an answer will be given. Everyone who seeks will find. And if you keep knocking, The door will be opened. I'm feeling kind of tired. Doesn't look like it's going to happen. Keep knocking. I'm praying for them, and they only seem to be getting worse. Keep knocking. Lord, I don't know. I've asked for this so many times that my heart is growing heavy because I'm beginning to doubt. Keep knocking. You keep knocking on that door, and Jesus promises the door will open. It has to open. It has to open. The breakthrough has to come. The miracle has to come. Either we believe the Word of God or we don't. Ask, seek, knock. You will receive the answer. You will look. You will find what you're looking for. The door will be opened. Amen. We believe the words of Jesus despite what circumstances around us are saying, 'cause circumstances may say we're crazy. We may look around and it looks like nothing is changing, and that's very frustrating, I know. But we go by faith and not by sight. We go by faith in what God has said, not by what we see in the natural. Ask, seek, knock, pray persistently. Next, they pray with compassion and love. Their hearts become for those who they pray over. They begin to sense God's divine love for the people they're uplifting. Compassion brings longevity. You cannot experience longevity when it comes to ministry and praying for others without compassion and mercy. Those 2 are different. See, compassion is that tenderness, that care, that ability to put yourself in someone's circumstance. Just because you don't understand someone's issue, just because you don't understand someone's circumstance, just because you don't understand someone's struggle doesn't mean that it should be dismissed. I don't understand it. I've never experienced anything like it. Where's the compassion? And then mercy is more to do with your patience. Isn't it interesting that we're very impatient with the weaknesses of others, but when it comes to our own weaknesses, we want understanding? We can explain that away. Well, that was different because— when it comes to others, we judge their actions, but we want people to judge our motives. When you pray, you're praying with love and compassion, seeing them through God's eyes, not just who they are now, but their future, recognizing that God has breathed life into that individual, so that when you pray, it's with great love and compassion. Next, They pray selflessly. Selflessly. In Matthew chapter 9, we see something interesting transpire that bleeds over into Matthew 10. Jesus is traveling through towns and villages. He's teaching in the synagogues, announcing the good news of the kingdom. He's healing the sick. He's casting out devils. He has compassion on the crowds. And he looks out at the people and he says, the harvest is plentiful. The harvest is great. In other words, there are so many people who are ready to hear this message. There are so many people who are ready to receive healing. There are so many people who are begging to be free. There's a world out there that's begging to be set free from its mediocrity. That they might step into the fullness of what God has for them, leaving the darkness, stepping into the light, the marvelous light. You and I have been tasked with prayer. Prayer is more than just the means by which we receive what we desire. Prayer is more than just the means by which we can change our character and nature. Prayer is more than just a means by which we can Acquire miracles on behalf of another. Prayer is the means by which we cause the earthly to become heavenly. To terraform the earth. To establish kingdom dominion. Think about it. Jesus says the harvest is plentiful. He's looking out at these crowds and he's saying, we need help. And he turns to his disciples and says, you pray to the Lord of the harvest. Lord of the harvest. God would send forth workers. That's at the end of Matthew 9. If you look at the beginning of Matthew 10, Jesus is sending out the disciples. So in other words, he says, pray to the Lord of the harvest. They pray, Lord, send workers, and then he sends them. More than receiving and doing, Prayer is about becoming, and those who walk in power recognize this. Prayer is more than just about us; it's about the greater, the kingdom. It's about touching lives. Prayer. Is the laying down of self, that God's power might be made manifest in us. So Lord, I pray you help us to do it, to apply these truths, to be people of prayer. Use our lives for your glory, Lord. Pour us out as a drink offering, every last drop, we pray. Amen. Let all that we are glorify you and establish your work. Teach us to pray. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. And the church said, and you typed in the comment section. Amen.