When we pray to God we should not only request small things
but with a holy boldness we should pray for great things.
If the thought of labouring over a topic in prayer causes
you to break out in a cold sweat then simply pray short one
sentence, sincere prayers instead. A sentence or two may be
all that's needed to exhaust the topic for you for the time
being. If this is so, just move on to the next item without
feeling guilty for your brevity.
1. Effective prayer should be grounded in scripture. The
Bible is our only guide. To put it in a nut shell trust in
God through knowledge and conformity to orthodox
Christianity. Faith though trust in God, understanding God,
one God in three persons, God the Father, God the Son and
God the Holy Sprit. The only path to God is through Jesus
Christ.
Gospel of John 10:7 Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you
the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who ever came
before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not
listen to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me
will be saved. And faith:
Romans 10:17. Consequently, faith comes from hearing the
message, and the message is heard through the word of
Christ.
2. Adoration is the expression of love and our yearning to
be close to God. Through our faith we will naturally move
toward worship and praise.
Ps. 95:6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel
before the LORD our Maker;
Ps. 100:2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him
with joyful songs.
3. We must confess: and not be self-righteous [that is
confident of one's own righteousness, especially when smugly
moralistic and intolerant of the opinions and behaviour of
others.] We must develop a close relationship with God
starting with prayerful confession - we must become intimate
with him. To do this when we pray we should confess our
wrongdoing, confess to our hurting of others, confess to our
not behaving as we should [in short our sins]. Just to admit
we seek God's forgiveness and seek his absolution in prayer
is to begin to develop a closer relationship with him.
1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness.
4. To thank God for everything is a function of prayer.
Sometimes it is easier to thank God when things are going
well; seldom do we give thanks - if we pray at all - when we
feel stressed in life. We should be confident knowing always
that God provides for us precisely what we need.
Paul gave us good advise when he told us - "be joyful
always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances"
(1 Th 5:16-18).
Ps 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts
with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
5. Asking in prayer: The Bible encourages us to bring our
requests to God in prayer; to be confident when we pray and
not to doubt. James 1:6 encourages us to be confident and
not to doubt. James adds in 4:2-3 that we do not have
because we do not pray. And that if we pray and do not
receive it is because we ask with wrong motives. We should
not try with our prayers to put pressure on God to do our
will. We should put all concerns into his hands and to help
us through prayer to conform to God's will.
1 John 14 - This is the confidence we have in approaching
God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears
us.
1 John 15 - And if we know that he hears us - whatever we
ask - we know that we have what we asked of him.
About The Author:
Kalisti Juma works with Tunawaza http://www.tunaweza.com
working in East African communities.
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