EFFECTIVE

Maybe especially when we think about praying, we want our prayers to be effective. But are they? And how do we know? Scripture talks about the effective fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth much (James 5:16). It seems that there must be a way to enhance our probability. So how can we be that effective fervent pray-ers? Remember in the gospels the disciples saw Jesus praying and the effectiveness of this act? So they asked Jesus how to pray [I'm using the NKJV]

   " It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples. 

    "Our Father in heaven,

       Hallowed be Your name.

       Your kingdom come.

       Your will be done

       On earth as it is in heaven.

       Give us day by day our daily bread.

       And forgive us our sins,

       For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

       And do not lead us into temptation,

       But deliver us from the evil one.”

Christian and non believer all know of this prayer. Have you ever considered what Jesus was teaching? While it is a prayer in and of itself, the prayer is also a model of how we should pray. Most pray this prayer but don't apply it.

So what are the elements? It begins by stating the relationship - Father and child and then immediately begins in praise and worship - honoring the Father and then attesting to who He is and how we should proclaim Him: Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. Do we really want this? If so, how are our words and behaviors displaying this? Do we seek His will? Do we remember:

   "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things (see verse 32) shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Matthew 6:33-34

Sometimes we stop at just verse 33 and we should continue the thought (v.34) And sometimes we don't connect this to how we pray. If we want to be effective in our prayer life then we have to put praying and we as pray-ers in the proper perspective. Do we bring praise and worship to the Triune God, Creator of everything? Do we honor Him or do we expect Him to know we honor Him even though we don't say anything?

"They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me" is a rebuke from Jesus (quoting Isaiah) in Matthew 15:8-9 and Mark 7:6-7 and we need to take this to heart. Praise and Worship does set the tone, the atmosphere in which to present the needs. Otherwise... are we only bringing needs to the One who can and does answer prayer? Praise and Worship really isn't for the God of the Universe... it's for us. To put us in a context.

[This is part 1 in a new series.]