Pattern for Prayer Part 2

By Ben Godwin, Silver Cup Ministries: www.bengodwin.org (used with permission)

The Power of Prayer
John Wallace wrote, “Prayer moves the hand that moves the world.” Prayer places all the resources of heaven at your disposal. The value and power of prayer is immeasurable. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16) The scriptures are replete with examples of how prayer turned the tide in the favor of God’s people:

• The cry of Israel moved God to deliver them from slavery in Egypt—Exodus. 2:23.
• The prayer of Elijah shut up the rains for three and a half years. Then, when he prayed again, God restored the rain—James 5:17-18.
• The desperate prayer of Hannah produced a son—I Samuel 1:12-20.
• Prayers of repentance spawned a city-wide revival in Nineveh and postponed the judgment of God—Jonah 3:8-10.
• The New Testament church was birthed out of a prayer meeting—Acts 1:14.
• Prayers of Jesus and the apostles healed the sick and raised the dead.
• The prayer of Paul and Silas brought an earthquake to a Philippian jail—Acts 16:25-26.

Numerous other examples could be cited. The power of prayer has and can literally change the course of history. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Pointers for Prayer:

• Pray periodically: “And when thou prayest…” (Matthew 6:5) Notice Jesus said when not if you pray. Make prayer a habit that you engage in periodically throughout your daily routine.

• Pray without pretense: “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.” (Matthew 6:5) Motives matter to God. The purpose of prayer is not to impress people or appear religious but to draw close to and make a spiritual connection with the God of the universe.

• Pray in private: “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy father which is in secret: and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” (Matthew 6:6) Corporate prayer is desirable at certain times and there is much power in having others agree with you in prayer (Matthew 18:19). But the real secret to prayer is secret prayer! The word translated closet in the above verse is from a Greek word meaning “bed chamber”, a place where husband and wife share intimacy. A married couple will say things in private they would never say otherwise. Likewise, when you get alone with God, you will share things out of your heart that you wouldn’t with other people in earshot.

• Pray differently than pagans: “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” (Matthew 6:7) Some religions incorporate the use of chants that are repeated over and over for extended periods of time. Jesus called this “vain repetitions.” This does not mean that it is wrong to pray repeatedly about a certain need. For instance, Elijah prayed seven times for rain. Paul prayed three times for God to remove his thorn in the flesh. Even Jesus prayed the same prayer three times in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus simply wanted us to avoid memorized, mechanical prayers that don’t come from the heart.

• Pray with persistence: After Jesus concluded the pattern prayer in Luke 11, He told the Parable of the Friend at Midnight. In the story, a man has a guest show up unexpectedly and he comes to his neighbor’s house to borrow food to feed him. The neighbor initially makes excuses and refuses to help him, but the friend persists. Eventually, the neighbor gives him what he needs. The point is simple—if persistence pays when requesting a favor from a reluctant friend at midnight, how much more does persistence pay when petitioning a willing God? Jesus followed the parable up with this famous verse, “Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” (Luke 11:9)

• Pray with precision: “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” (1 John 5:14-15) Prayer, like archery, involves aiming at and hitting a target! The target in prayer is the will of God. James explained a common cause for unanswered prayer, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” (James 4:3) God will not answer prayer that is inconsistent with His will. The way to know the will of God is to stay immersed in the Word of God. Jesus stated, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” (John 15:7) Notice the conditional term “if.” For if we truly abide in Him and His Word abides in us, we won’t want anything that is contrary to His will. Let God’s Word guide your prayers like arrows to the bullseye of His will. This will increase your effectiveness and eliminate wasted time praying for the wrong things.

F. B. Myer astutely observed, “The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.” James added, “Ye have not, because ye ask not.” (James 4:2) The words of an old hymn are fitting, “Oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.” May we all develop a greater discipline for daily prayer. May we all follow the pattern for prayer that Jesus provided. May we all utilize this key to the resources of heaven and realize how powerful an ally is this priceless gift called prayer.