PRAYING EFFECTIVE PRAYERS

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The following excellent article on prayer is taken from “Your circumstances are not guidance” by Duncan Edward Pile which appeared in http://www.patheos.com on August 29, 2022. Heed Duncan’s advice it will change your life.

How do you know if your circumstances are from God? The church of my youth taught that if you prayed about something and gave the outcome into God’s hands, saying ‘thy will be done’, whatever happened would be God’s will.

If a person asked God for a blessing, the failure of that blessing to arrive would be interpreted by the spiritual leaders of my youth as an answer to prayer, the answer being ‘no’. This approach is not in line with the teachings of Jesus.

‘Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name…ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full.’ John 16:22-24

As well as filling us with joy at the goodness of God, receiving from him also brings the Father glory.

‘And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.’ John 14:13,

If receiving from God brings him glory and fills us with joy, why would we be wary of expecting it?

One of the ways in which I am most richly assured of the loving nature of God is in specific answers to specific prayers. I believe the Christian life can be a journey into increasing discernment, powerful prayer, and the direct intervention of God through the leading and might of the Holy Spirit. That has certainly been my story. The Lord guides us, leads us, and is faithful. He wants to get involved in the details and circumstances of our lives.

Increasing answers to prayer

For me, the key to seeing prayers answered is to discern the will of God before you make a request. The Holy Spirit involves us in bringing his will to pass, leading our prayers, and filling us with the authority to speak powerful, effective words. We are his hands and feet, his church. God does not bypass his children in order to make his will manifest.

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” James 5:16-18,

The will of God is enacted through the prayers and actions of those who walk closely with the Holy Spirit and follow his leading.

Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, and his instruction carried none of the fatalism I see in so much of the Evangelical movement, which seems to pray as if tossing a coin into a wishing well, singing ‘Ke sera sera, whatever will be will be.’

Jesus told his disciples to pray ‘Thy will be done, on Earth as in Heaven.’ Or in other words, we pray that God’s will be as perfectly and completely performed here on Earth (in our lives and circumstances) as it is in Heaven, where the Lord reigns supreme. The powerful prayer of a person in tune with the Lord starts with discerning God’s will, embodying the emotion and power of the Holy Spirit as he pours might through us, and giving voice to what we feel and perceive.

Once we learn to follow his leading we can pray in power, and that Spirit-led prayer is incredibly effective, cutting through resistance and genuinely changing things on a practical level. I have seen extraordinary answers to prayer throughout my adult life, praying in exactly this way. I’ve known intercessory prayer where the emotions of God flood through me and I’m left huddled and groaning, crying out with the compassion of God. I’ve smashed through resistance and barriers in the Spirit, going to battle on someone else’s behalf. The same is true of every person I know who walks closely with the Holy Spirit. We lend him our bodies, emotions, and voices, and pray as led. We are spiritual beings, praying Spirit-led prayers.

The enemy of faith

The difference between habitually answered and unanswered prayer is a life of faith versus a life of uncertainty.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 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 1:5-8

The instruction to believe and not doubt is not about mental discipline. To free ourselves from instability, double-mindedness, and spiritual ineffectiveness, we must have a clear, singular belief that God is good. He is not the author of suffering.

“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:16-17,

God does not change. His intentions towards us don’t shift. He is the author of love, joy, and peace, and is committed to bringing each of us to a place of genuine wholeness. Naturally, this is a lifelong quest, but it is essential to understand the trajectory, and that our ultimate destiny is glory. ,

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

“But as it is written, what no eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9,

Once we’ve established a heartfelt belief in God’s unrelenting goodness towards us, and his commitment to bless our lives, we are ready to ask for the gifts and blessings he promises in his word. When our hearts and minds are singular, we are ready to receive.

To recap – the two key ingredients to praying in the will of God (and seeing that will come to pass) are knowing the goodness of God and learning to be led by the Spirit. To pray without the knowledge of God’s unchanging love is to build a house without a foundation; to pray without the knowledge of God’s will through the Holy Spirit is to waste oxygen. To pray ‘thy will be done’, while considering that might express itself through either blessing or suffering, is to be utterly deceived. To pray in the Spirit, led and empowered by God, and standing on the sure foundation of a knowledge of his unchanging goodness and compassion towards us, is to enter the miraculous. The person who prays in this way lives a life of effectiveness, influence, and spiritual power.

I return to the teachings I was offered in my youth. Praying for something and ‘offering it to God’ is no guarantee of an outcome God desires. It is in fact, a guarantee of unanswered prayer because such a prayer is riddled with uncertainty and doubt. That person will receive nothing from the Lord.

Progressive Christianity is no closer to the truth of this than the most conservative, Calvinistic congregation, in my opinion. From what I read here on Patheos (and elsewhere), they too are in the business of keeping the Holy Spirit at a distance and offering weak apologetics for unanswered prayers.

I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but for me, this remains the greatest blind spot in the ongoing Evangelical/Progressive debate. Both groups minimise the power of the Christian life, reducing the role of the Holy Spirit and embracing Christian fatalism. I pray that our hearts will be turned to the Lord and that we have the humility to accept that the life of faith is lived in the tangible power of the Spirit, who leads us in discernible ways and leads us to prayers that transform the world around us.

Lead us, Lord, I pray. Humble us, Lord, I ask. Bring us back to the spiritual power and authority all believers are called to. Amen.

WHAT DOES PRAYER DO?

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One of the genuine marks of the Christian faith is that we do not worship a distant God. He isn’t some distant being with no care or interest in His people. Jesus made it possible for our Heavenly Father to send the third person of the Trinity to indwell our spirit. Our spirit is the lamp of the Lord and before The Fall was indwelt by the Holy Spirit which is the oil needed for God’s lamp to function.

“The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts.” Proverbs 20:27

The Holy Spirit indwells those whom He has redeemed.  He is the one that produces the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. He is the one that provides the gifts of the Spirit for ministry. He is our counsellor, teacher, and comforter. He is the one that enables us to live a Christian life. That’s why Paul was able to write  “rejoice in the Lord, again I will say rejoice. The Lord is at hand. And we know that is the reality for a believer because He has “saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Timothy 1:9). Before the ages began God had a personal plan for all of His people; He doesn’t orchestrate this from a distance, He is within His people.

Not only is He present, but He also wants to hear from His people. God desires believers to communicate with Him through prayer, and He doesn’t just want some highlights. He calls the saints to bring everything to Him “by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” 

At any moment, by the merit of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, Christians have the divinely given right to approach God with anything through prayer. The One who created and sustains the universe not only can hear your prayers, He wants to answer those prayers. Prayer is absolutely amazing because Christians have a more challenging time getting in touch with their utilities provider than directly communicating with the Lord and creator of the entire universe. If that fact about prayer doesn’t excite you, nothing will. Note also the Holy Spirit will help you pray.

“Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Philippians 4:4-7

Through Christ we have the opportunity to pray, but what does prayer do in and to a believer? This Scripture reveals four things.

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7

“Do not be anxious about anything” – That’s a bold statement. But it’s true because if “God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). We know God is for us because He wants to hear our prayers and take a personal interest in what’s going on in our lives. He knows all things but still wants us to approach the throne with all things.

“But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” – Praying to God and bringing our needs to Him reminds us that he has already supplied the greatest need of all, His Son (James 1:17, Romans 6:23) which is why we pray in His name.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” – Prayer isn’t always answered in the manner we desire, but it is always answered.

Prayer connects us to God and each other as we live as God’s people in this fallen world. In a word, it’s hard to be at each other’s throats while we’re on our knees together in prayer.

Adapted from a post by David Chambers “Four things Paul teaches us about prayer” http://www.patheos.com

PRAY EXPECTANTLY

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Do you pray expecting God to answer? In this prayer, note what David says after pleading his case; he watches expectantly. David expects God to respond.

“Listen to my words, Lord; consider my sighing. Pay attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for I pray to You. At daybreak, Lord, You hear my voice; at daybreak I plead my case to You and watch expectantly.“ Psalms 5:1-3

Notice how specific David’s prayers were and how specific God’s replies.

“And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.” 1 Samuel 30:8

After this David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To Hebron.” 2 Samuel 2:1

God always prepares His servants, His people to do the job He calls them to do. Note, how God prepared the people to follow Joshua just as they did Moses. Likewise God will prepare you and all those that are to work with you, to do the job He has called you to do.

“The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.” Joshua 3:7

Just as God had Moses part the Red Sea to allow the Israelites to cross, he also had Joshua part the Jordan River to allow the Israelites to enter the Promised Land.

“Then Joshua told the Israelites, “Come closer and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” He said: “You will know that the living God is among you and that He will certainly dispossess before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites when the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth goes ahead of you into the Jordan... When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, come to rest in the Jordan’s waters, its waters will be cut off. The water flowing downstream will stand up in a mass.” Joshua 3:9-13

There is power in prayer. When men work they work but when men pray, God works,

Just as David is a great example of how to pray correctly, sadly he also shows us what happens to our relationship with God when we sin as grievously as David did. First, we notice it separates us from God. God uses Nathan to tell David about the extensive consequences of his sin of killing Uriah and taking his wife Bathsheba.

“Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbour, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.‘ David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.” 2 Samuel 12:10-14

Note this prayer of thanksgiving by David well after the grievous sin involving Uriah and Bathsheba. He had learnt an important lesson: “kept myself from sinning“.

“He (Lord) rescued me from my powerful enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my distress, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out to a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; He repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands. For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not turned from my God to wickedness. Indeed, I have kept all His ordinances in mind and have not disregarded His statutes. I was blameless before Him and kept myself from sinning. So the Lord repaid me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in His sight.” 2 Samuel 22:18-25

GOD ANSWERS PRAYER

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God is behind a massive wave of Muslims coming to Christ in the past 30 years according to David Garrison, executive director of the evangelical missions group Global Gates and author of A Wind in the House of Islam. Garrison has described his three years traveling the Islamic world and interviewing more than 1,000 Muslim-background believers. “What I discovered was this remarkable surge and movement towards Jesus Christ coincided with the beginning of 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim world, 28 years ago this year,” Garrison said. He travelled 250,000 miles investigating movements where at least 1,000 Muslims in a community had been baptized into the Christian faith, but he never made the prayer link until he shared his findings with Paul Filidis of World Christian Concern, who helped launch the 30-Days of Prayer for the Muslim World in 1993.

1st 30 Days prayer guide
THE VERY FIRST EDITION OF THE 30 DAYS PRAYER GUIDE, FROM 1993

“I’d come back home and sit down with my friend Paul and I told him about these movements that we’re seeing probably 84% of all the movements that have ever happened in history have happened in the last 30 years, and that’s when Paul looked at me and said, ‘David that’s when we began 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim world.‘” While Muslims might not know that Christians are praying for them, God knows and He’s listening, Garrison said. “And as He promised our prayers are tearing down strongholds, they’re opening up hearts and they’re aligning us as Christians with God’s desire for the Muslim world to know His Son, Jesus Christ.”

All About 30 Days of Prayer

The purpose of 30 Days is to call Christians to pray with love and respect for Muslims around the world. In doing so, we hope to see:

+ Christians gain a better understanding about Muslim people, their faith and their various, diverse cultures.
+ An increase in efforts to respond with love and compassion to the needs of Muslims around the world.
+ A greater interest in Jesus among Muslim peoples.

We do this by hosting an annual prayer event coinciding with Ramadan each year, and creating prayer guide that enable Christians to pray regularly.

HOW TO HEAR FROM GOD – TRUST HIM

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Learn from the amazing life of George Muller. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

“You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:2-4

GETTING IN STEP WITH GOD

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Teach Me Your Paths – Psalm of David (Psalm 25)

David understood the truth of God’s Word. “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.” Psalm 66:18-19

What about us? Do we know God has heard our prayers as David did? Read what David had to say in this Psalm and then let us consider what we now have in Jesus and how we pray.

“Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.” Psalm 25:4-5

“Good and upright is the LORD; therefore He instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble His way. All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.” Psalm 25: 8-10

“For your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great. Who is the man who fears the LORD? Him will He instruct in the way that he should choose. His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land. The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear Him, and He makes known to them His covenant. My eyes are ever toward the LORD, for He will pluck my feet out of the net.” Psalm 25:11-15

We know David was a sinner (Bathsheba and Uriah) but he understood repentance and God’s forgiveness. He was a man who feared the Lord. God even said He was a man after God’s own heart. What does this mean? I think it means David knew and trusted God and was doing His best to live that out. What we need is humility in relation to ourselves and confidence in relation to God.

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Consider now what Jesus has provided for all who believe in Him as Lord and Saviour. Through His sacrifice, Jesus made it possible for our Heavenly Father to send the Holy Spirit to indwell our Spirit, to be our counsellor, teacher and comforter.

“The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27

For us the Spirit is there revealing God’s will to us in the Scriptures and bringing God’s prayer concerns to life within us. He is searching our hearts and trying our ways so He can bring us to true repentance. He reveals the glory and goodness of God so that our prayers will be filled with praise and thanks.

We can be confident that God will hear when we come to Him. God answers every prayer that starts in heaven, every prayer born in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, every prayer based on a sure promise from His Word. As we pray to our Heavenly Father we need to acknowledge the Spirit and ask Him to help us to pray aright and to recognise His promptings that our prayers may be pleasing to our Heavenly Father and accomplish His purposes.

DOES GOD SPEAK TO US?

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Dr Martin Luther King certainly knew He does. God speaks especially to His people but also to anyone in order to achieve His purposes in His world. Even kings such as Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:1-3) and Darius (Daniel 6:28), to name two kings of major empires, Babylon and Persia. Read one of Martin Luther’s encounters from his book Stride Toward Freedom (1958): “I got out of bed and began to walk the floor. Finally I went to the kitchen and heated a pot of coffee. I was ready to give up. With my cup of coffee sitting untouched before me I tried to think of a way to move out of the picture without appearing a coward. In this state of exhaustion, when my courage had all but gone, I decided to take my problem to God. With my head in my hands, I bowed over the kitchen table and prayed aloud. The words I spoke to God that midnight are still vivid in my memory. “I am here taking a stand for what I believe is right. But now I am afraid. The people are looking to me for leadership, and if I stand before them without strength and courage, they too will falter. I am at the end of my powers. I have nothing left. I’ve come to the point where I can’t face it alone.”

“At that moment I experienced the presence of the Divine as I had never experienced Him before. It seemed as though I could hear the quiet assurance of an inner voice saying: “Stand up for righteousness, stand up for truth; and God will be at your side forever.” Almost at once my fears began to go. My uncertainty disappeared. I was ready to face anything. “Three nights later, on January 30, I left home a little before seven to attend our Monday evening mass meeting at the First Baptist Church. A member of my congregation, Mrs. Mary Lucy Williams, had come to the parsonage to keep my wife company in my absence. After putting the baby to bed, Coretta and Mrs. Williams went to the living room to look at television. About nine-thirty they heard a noise in front that sounded as though someone had thrown a brick. In a matter of seconds an explosion rocked the house. A bomb had gone off on the porch.

“The sound was heard many blocks away, and word of the bombing reached the mass meeting almost instantly. Toward the close of the meeting, as I stood on the platform helping to take the collection, I noticed an usher rushing to give Ralph Abernathy a message. Abernathy turned and ran downstairs, soon to reappear with a worried look on his face. Several others rushed in and out of the church. People looked at me and then away; one or two seemed about to approach me and then changed their minds. An usher called me to the side of the platform, presumably to give me a message, but before I could get there S. S. Seay had sent him away. By now I was convinced that whatever had happened affected me. I called Ralph Abernathy, S. S. Seay, and E. N. French and asked them to tell me what was wrong. Ralph looked at Seay and French and then turned to me and said hesitantly “Your house has been bombed.” I asked if my wife and baby were all right. They said, “We are checking on that now.”

“Strangely enough, I accepted the word of the bombing calmly. My religious experience a few nights before had given me the strength to face it. I interrupted the collection and asked all present to give me their undivided attention. After telling them why I had to leave, I urged each person to go straight home after the meeting and adhere strictly to our philosophy of nonviolence. I admonished them not to become panicky and lose their heads. “Let us keep moving,” I urged them, “with the faith that what we are doing is right, and with the even greater faith that God is with us in the struggle.

What is your experience with prayer? Hopefully, we can learn from Martin Luther King’s experience: if we are doing what is right and are moving forward in trust, then God will orchestrate the outcome.

Some of us will have an experience like that of Martin Luther particularly when we come before God in our weariness, confessing our inability to continue confronting a godless world. Sadly, much of the church no longer believes God answers prayer and is in total control of His universe. What about you?

GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS

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It’s difficult to overstate how historic it is for a sitting Australian Prime Minister to wear his faith so unapologetically, and humbly bring the nation’s needs before Almighty God. With 21,000 people in attendance, Scott Morrison prayed publicly for Australia at the Hillsong Conference, the biggest annual Christian conference in the nation. Scott Morrison petitioned God to intervene for young people struggling with mental health, veterans, Indigenous Aussies, those with disabilities, and for a break to the drought. Take a listen and be encouraged as we were.

https://youtu.be/_OrEq0wzAY8