5 Keys to Effective Prayer

In order to experience success in any area of life it has to be done on purpose.  My son Jordan has taught me a lot about success. Over the years I've watched him grow and develop into a strong man of God, a great student, and a Division I athlete.  Two years ago my husband and I stood beside our son as he signed his letter of intent to play basketball at the college of his choice. Never have I seen someone as young as he is be so determined to do whatever was necessary to get to the desired result.  He put in the work and spent countless hours, not because he was forced to, but because he made a conscious choice to do so in order to be the best he could possibly be.  In many ways Christians are like athletes and prayer is like a sport.

 We must practice the habit of prayer if we want to be effective; and the more we exercise our spiritual muscles in prayer the stronger we will become.  It takes time and effort in the place of prayer to become skilled at it so that you are spiritually fit to fight the good fight of faith and win the battles of life.

I first started praying when I was a young girl just after I gave my heart to the Lord.  I prayed because I enjoyed spending time with God, but as I grew older or more mature I should say life started getting tougher.  I needed to build spiritual stamina if I was going to make it through tough times.  And as a young wife and mom I was dealing with more issues than I care to list, and I was being challenged in areas that I knew nothing about.   Things were changing fast and I was about to be overtaken by all that was happening unless I did something about it.  So I began to take prayer much more seriously.  In fact, prayer became survival! At that point I made a decision to learn all that I could about prayer so that I could be effective.  I wanted God to hear me when I prayed and I wanted answers.  Isn't that what we all want?  After all, that’s why we pray.     

Below I’ve listed a few things that helped me become effective in prayer, and I'm sure you will find them very beneficial as you put them into practice.

•   Pick a place where you can be alone with God.  

•   Pick a time of day to spend time with God and be determined to stick to it.  

•   Read scriptures and stories from the bible on the subject of prayer.  The gospels include Jesus' teachings on prayer, and the book of Psalms is full of prayers.  You can also look in a bible concordance under the word Prayer and find hundreds scriptures on the subject.   

•   Meditate (think about or ponder over) prayer scriptures throughout the day.  You can stay on one verse for as long as you want, or pick one scripture per week or per month and stay on it until you feel that it's in your heart and you can quote it by memory.

•   Read books on subject of prayer.  Pray-ers Bear Fruit is a great resource, but there are many great books written on prayer.  My personal favorites are E.M.Bounds on Prayer, The Art of Prayer by Kenneth E. Hagin, and Good Morning Holy Spirit by Benny Hinn.  I also like Drawing Near by John Bevere.

Remember, if we want to be successful we have to be intentional about it;  And we do that by first making a decision to succeed, then coming up with a plan as to how we will accomplish it, and lastly putting the plan into action.  A prayer life is built one day at a time by being consistent.  And if we put in the time by making an effort to pray everyday we will become spiritually strong and equipped to handle whatever comes our way, and we can wage our war against the enemy who is always seeking to kill, steal, and destroy.   

We are not fighting against humans.  We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world. Never stop praying, especially for others.  Always pray by the power of the Spirit.  Stay alert and keep praying for God's people. [Ephesians 6:12, 18] 

Another interesting point that I learned from my son is how teams study their opponents.  I've see him watch tapes of the teams or players they were going to play against so that he could anticipate what to expect, or what the opponents strengths or weaknesses were.  Knowledge and preparation is necessary if we want to succeed.  When we realize who is behind what we're going through, and we condition ourselves through prayer, the devil will be no match for us.  God wants us to be masterful in our praying and be spiritually strong so that we can gain victory over everything the enemy tries to send our way.  God wants us to succeed not just in some areas, but in every area of life.    

Are you winning in life and being effective with your prayers?   I hope something that I shared will help you become stronger in your prayers and receive the desired results.

Always remember Pray-ers Bear Fruit!

Kathy