Power of Prayer (Principles of Prayer)

March 4, 2023

Power of Prayer (Principles of Prayer)

Why is prayer so important?

Prayer is communication with our Heavenly Father. Just like you would communicate with the people that you love in your life, the Lord desires the same communication with His children. He wants to have a relationship with us that consist of more than just spending time with Him on a Sunday afternoon. We have to get to a place in our lives where we understand and realize the importance and the power of prayer.

Ask yourself this question: what would happen if I didn’t talk with my spouse on a daily basis? The end result would be: a distant relationship, no intimacy, no connection, and no familiarity to them. There is no way that a relationship like that would ever last. It is the same kind of scenario with the Lord, if you put Him on the back burner and speak to Him one day a week you will be completely disconnected to God’s voice. You have to be willing to have dedicated prayer time devoted just for Him!

God’s Word is very specific in John 10:27-28 when it states, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” These two verses of Scripture are very telling. The Lord is declaring the fact that His sheep will know His voice.

Why is that important? The reason hearing God’s voice is so significant is because that is how we are able to: understand God’s character, get God’s direction, get God’s help, be in the midst of God’s presence, and know God’s will for our lives. If you are struggling with your prayer life, ask the Holy Spirit to help you in this area. Not having a strong relationship with the Lord is something that you just cannot afford.

When we include prayer into our daily routines, we are inviting the Lord to help us do what we know we cannot do in our own power. We are fighting against an adversary that is consistently attempting to snatch every blessing and create strongholds. The power of the Holy Spirit that dwells on the inside of every believer has the ability to guide, help, and lead you to living a victorious life.

There are some key principles of prayer that you want to understand so that you can have an effective prayer life:

Key Principles of Prayer

Begin with thanksgiving and praise

Psalm 100:4

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.”

The first thing that we want to do when we come to the Lord in prayer is to make sure that we set the right atmosphere worthy of the King that He is. He is our Heavenly Father, the Creator of every living thing; He deserves all of the honor, glory, and praise. Begin your prayer by thanking God for Who He is and for all that He has done for you. Understanding the proper way to come to the Lord will make all the difference.

Before I got a hold of the power of effective prayer, I used to come to the Lord with my prayer list: asking Him for things that I wanted, things that I thought that I needed, and to be honest it was really just about me, me, and me. I had to come to the realization that the Lord is my Heavenly Father and just like I wouldn’t come to my parents with my list of needs and no other communication, I shouldn’t treat the Lord in that manner.

He wants a true authentic relationship with every one of His children with genuine communication. We have to come to Him with thanksgiving which in turn allows His gates to be opened up for us to even enter into His presence. The second part of the verse of Scripture is giving us the key to having the ability to enter into His courts or settled abode where He dwells and that key is praise.

Praise in its simplest form is shouting out the greatness of God. It is describing His attributes, magnifying Who He is, and letting other people know just how faithful He is! It is speaking about Him in adoration for all that He has done in your life. As for me, it is difficult for me not to praise the Lord for all that He has brought me through. I almost didn’t make it to tell my story, but God!

Praising the Lord continually will help you fight some of your strongest battles against the enemy. He hates your praise and worship to the Lord. When you can give adoration to God even when you are really going through it, it will actually confuse the devil and his demons because they will not know what to do next!

Repent and come to God with a pure heart

1 John 1:19 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Psalm 66:18 “If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.”

I wanted to highlight these two passages of Scripture that are so important when it comes to our prayer life. In the first verse, John is letting us know that if we confess our sins from an authentic place, the Lord is faithful to forgive us. The reason why sin is so detrimental to your relationship with God is because it causes a barrier between you and Him.

The Lord is extremely clear about what He thinks concerning any kind of sin regardless of how small or big it is. When you ask God for the forgiveness of your sins, He is faithful to cleanse you in that very instant. The key part of repentance is to do your very best to turn away from the sin that you are repenting from. Continuing in willful sin is what will get you into trouble.

We can never forget that the Lord doesn’t look at your outward appearance but He is extremely concerned with the condition of your heart. He has the ability to tell whether or not you are repenting authentically. This brings me to the second passage that I want to highlight in the book of Psalms.

Psalm 100:4 could not be any more transparent. The Lord is telling us plainly that if we hold iniquity (sin, evilness, or wickedness) in our hearts, he is not going to hear us. So, if we are praying to Him but haven’t dealt with the grime and filth within us, He isn’t hearing a word that we are saying.

That is why it is so critical to maintain a clean heart. I know that it is easier said than done because we are not perfect and we all fall short. The fact of the matter is that we serve a perfect God that has given us His perfect Spirit that lives on the inside of us. He will lead and guide you into all truth, John 16:13. He is our Helper and will help us with anything that we need including keeping our hearts pure.

I have many articles on the importance of the Person of the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit-The Spirit of Power, Love, and a Sound Mind!, The Holy Spirit-Our Helper, and The Holy Spirit-Our Prayer Partner!

Believe what you are praying

Mark 11:24 “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

Here we can see that Mark through the leading of the Holy Spirit is showing us that we should pray with full belief that we can receive what we are asking God for. There are definitely some stipulations to receiving what you are requesting from the Lord, but if you are meeting all of His requirements then His Word is telling us that there is no reason that we should have any doubt in our minds.

There is no point for you to pray empty prayers when in your heart you don’t believe that God will come through on His promises. Faith and belief in the Word of God is an important part of your trust that He is Who He says He is and will do what He says He will do. The enemy is a master in the art of planting seeds of doubt in your mind that God isn’t the absolute Truth. The devil is a liar!

Hebrews 11:6 states, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” The main part of this passage of Scripture out of the Old Testament that I want to highlight is the part where the writer of Hebrews states that we must believe that God is.

God is Who? That God is the Creator, our Sovereign Lord, The God that Provides, The Lord our Banner, The God of Peace, the Lord that heals, and so much more! He is the embodiment of everything we will ever need.

I have an article that goes over the Names of God: Praise His Name.

One of the main ways that we can develop our confidence and trust is by reading, understanding, and applying His Word daily. As we meditate on it day and night, God’s plan for our lives will begin to reveal itself through the Scriptures. When the guarantees that God promises us throughout the Bible begin to become visible, your faith will naturally build and grow.

Forgive

Mark 11:25-26 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

A lot of times Christians overlook the power of forgiveness. It is a vital part of your prayer life and spiritual journey as a believer of Christ Jesus. He is unmistakably letting us know in this passage of Scripture that if we fail to forgive others, He will not hear our own prayers. You don’t ever want to take that risk. Let go of any offense that you might have against your brothers and sisters before even approaching the throne of grace.

The Lord forgave us for the transgressions that we committed against Him and He expects us to do the same. It has to do with having a heart and compassion that reflect Jesus Christ living on the inside of you. Can you imagine the impact that you could have on a person that sees you forgive them even when they know they don’t deserve it? Something like that can only happen by the power of God.

If you want your Heavenly Father to hear your prayers regardless of how strong of a prayer warrior you may happen to be, you have to forgive. It is not a request, the Lord is commanding us to let go of every offense. If you choose to hold on to your bitterness and animosity, your prayers are nothing but vain repetitions that will not receive any results.

One of the most important basic principles to your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ is forgiveness. Not only will unforgiveness shut out your prayers but it also opens up doors to the enemy to have the legal right to wreak havoc in your life. Trust me; I had to learn the hard way that forgiveness is something that you will have to embrace if you want to live a victorious Christian Life in the Kingdom of God.

I have several articles pertaining to this topic: How to Overcome Unforgiveness, The Importance of Forgiveness, and Forgiveness: Appreciate your Enemies!

Pray in the Name of Jesus Christ

John 14:14 “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”

Anything that you ask in prayer can never leave out the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the reason that we can come to the throne room of grace boldly in the first place. We can conclude in this passage of Scripture that John through the Holy Spirit is letting us know that we have the ability to ask the Lord for anything. The fact of the matter is that there is nothing impossible for God and we must come to Him believing that completely and wholeheartedly.

Jesus died on the cross at Calvary for the sins of all of humanity. Had He not been successful in being the One and only sacrificial Lamb, we would all be doomed to eternal separation from our Heavenly Father. When we end our prayers in the Name of Jesus it’s as if we are coming to the Lord in the authority of Jesus and not ours. We are addressing God with full acknowledgement that Jesus Christ is our Savior, Intercessor and Advocate. When the Lord sees a believer washed and cleansed by the blood of His Son Jesus, He doesn’t see us but He sees Christ in us, Colossians 3:3.

One thing to remember is simply saying the Name of Jesus at the end of your prayer doesn’t mean that you are always going to get what you are asking. The main thing that you want to consider is whether or not you are asking the Lord for His will for your life. I am going to go into more detail on the next principle of prayer: praying according to God’s will.

Pray according to God’s will

1 John 5:14 “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”

This is a clear example of why praying the Scriptures is so vital. We know that God’s Word is His divine outline for our lives. We can stand in assurance and confidence that His Scriptures are complete Truth which God honors. He places His Word even above His own Name that is how important it is to Him, Psalm 138:2.

Another thing to point out from this passage from the Bible is that the Lord is stating that He will hear us if we are asking Him something that is in His will for us. It doesn’t say that he might or that he could hear us, but it is explicitly stating that He will hear us. This is one of His many guarantees that are scattered throughout His Word.

How does one know if what they are asking the Lord for is His will for their life? One question that you can ask yourself is: is what I am asking the Lord for lining up with Scriptures found in the Bible? There is such a thing as praying amiss. James 4:3 describes “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

God is such a loving Father, He is love but one thing He does not want is for us to be distracted with the wrong thing. So, if what you are asking Him for is going to lead you in the wrong direction, you just might not get what you are asking for. Just like a parent would not allow their child to have something that they know is bad for them, our Heavenly Father is even more protective over us than that.

Pray without ceasing

Luke 18:1 “Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.”

Here we can see that Luke is describing how one should pray and it’s without ceasing regardless of the situation that you are facing. A lot of times we allow the adversities of life to prevent us from praising God. It is in those challenging moments that we should pray even harder. We cannot forget that the adversary is a lion prowling around in search for someone that he can completely devour, 1 Peter 5:8.

That is why it is so significant that we pray continually. This gives us our daily bread and that daily connection with the Lord where we can: discern the direction that we should go, receive knowledge when we need it, and be alerted when the enemy is lurking. Remaining in constant prayer builds up that much needed hedge of protection from the schemes of the devil.

Ecclesiastes 10:8 is a perfect depiction of what happens when your hedge of protection is broken. It states, “He who digs a pit will fall into it, And whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a serpent.” In other words a person that allows their hedge to be compromised is a prime candidate to be bitten by the serpent (devil).

When you pray without ceasing you are able to form such a sturdy border around you that it is difficult for the enemy to penetrate it. The devil cannot stand prayer, praise, or worship to the Lord because he desires to have people bow down and worship him. That is why it is vital that we put on and keep on our garments of praise. The demonic Kingdom can sense when you are a true believer of Jesus Christ. When the presence of God is surrounding you it makes it challenging for them to strategize an attack against you.

God’s plan for all of us has always been for us to have a life and one in abundance, John 10:10. We also have a strong adversary that wants to snatch away every blessing that the Lord wants to give us. Prayer is the fuel needed in our spiritual engines so that we can sustain the strength to fight off the snares of the devil.

Conclusion

There is no doubting the significance of prayer; it is literally the power that you need to preserve you as a believer of Jesus Christ. There are things that need to be done in order to maintain an effective prayer life. We can never forget that we are communicating with our Heavenly Father, the King of Kings, and we cannot address Him just any kind of way.

I went over just some of the principles that you can implement to enhance your prayer time with the Lord. One of the main things that you want to remember is that God looks at your heart. So, when you come to Him in prayer lead with your heart. He wants nothing more than to spend intimate time with every single one of us. Unfortunately, the only time that most of us give Him is one Sunday a week and then He doesn’t hear from us until the following Sunday.

We have to make sure that we make intentional efforts to put time aside every day to spend with the Lord. It will be the most valuable time that you will ever spend on anything. The amount of prayer time that you devote to God will reflect in every other aspect of your life, undeniably!

Also, don’t forget to check out my other blogs:

Power of Prayer (Praying the Scriptures)

Praise His Name

The Power of Praise

The Dangers of Pride

The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 1

The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 2

The Spiritual Laws of God-Restoration

The Spiritual Laws of God-The General Principles

The Spiritual Laws of God-The Power of Your Tongue!

The Spiritual Laws of God-Having an Understanding

The Power of Your To ngue