Prayer is seeking God, yearning after God, desiring to be with God. Prayer is not about giving orders to God, making demands, or twisting God’s arm. Prayer is communion with God—having fellowship with him.
We are called to be more than people who seek biblical correctness in doctrine. We are called to dwell with the Most High God—to live in the presence of “the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God” to whom be “honour and glory forever and ever” (1 Timothy 1:17). We earnestly seek the God of the Bible, not just knowledge about him. We want him.
Do you want him, or are you satisfied just knowing about him? We should constantly remain aware that we exist in the presence of holiness. In him “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). We know God sovereignly controls every aspect of our lives and will do whatever necessary to draw us closer to him.
Every conflict, trial, heartbreak, and sorrow in your life has one purpose: to send you to your knees and drive you to the God of the Bible. Every battle is won on your knees. Every victory is won in God’s presence. The battle belongs to the Lord. That is why we pray. Here are eight strategies for effective prayer.
Love and Praise
Effective prayer must begin with love and praise. When approaching God, we need a sense of his majesty. We must recognise him as both sovereign Lord and loving Father. We come before him with loving adoration and praise for who he is. We love him because he first loved us. We approach with praise in our mouths and blessing in our hearts. We boast about his greatness and awesome power in our lives and world.
I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you” (Psalm 66:3).
Gratitude and Thanksgiving
Effective prayer must include gratitude and thanksgiving. We show gratitude that God loves us and calls us into his presence. We don’t begin with complaints and requests. We are grateful for the privilege of standing before a holy God. “I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving” (Jonah 2:9). We remain thankful for our salvation—he has already done enough. He died for us—that’s enough. Thank God for the cross, for Jesus, for saving your soul.
Sometimes we become so overwhelmed with burdens that we forget where he brought us from. We forget we have much more to be thankful for. Remember: salvation is enough!
Recognition of God’s Holiness
“Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully” (Psalm 24:3–4).
Our God is holy, and we must approach him with reverence. We cannot approach God as we would another person. God is not like us—he is transcendent and holy. The Bible instructs us:
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.
Realise who you are addressing. Be aware you are in the presence of holiness. “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11).
Before making requests, affirm: God’s character (he is almighty and nothing is impossible for him), majesty (he is sovereign King and ruler over everything), nature (he is holy; he alone is God and beside him there is no other). “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy” (Revelation 15:4).
Desire to Please and Obey God
Are you approaching God wanting things your way? Or do you come determined to please and obey him—no matter what? Regardless of circumstances, come to God committed to obedience. Don’t approach with conditions or terms (“if you do this, I will do that”). There’s no bargaining with God. Your heart’s attitude must be “Yes, Lord!”
Come with a spirit of obedience and desire to please him. “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him” (2 Corinthians 5:9).
Confession of Sin and a Pure Heart
Because God is holy and does not tolerate sin, we must approach with a pure heart:
Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.
You cannot approach God clinging to sin while expecting him to hear your prayers: “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (Psalm 66:18). Yet we thank God for Jesus and the blood of Christ that cleanses us from all sin: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Humbly confess your sins with confidence in the blood of our Saviour, through whom we receive forgiveness.
Unselfish Approach
When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he began with “Our Father.” He didn’t say, “My Father.” He could have, but was teaching that prayer is never selfish. The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 teaches that true prayer is never just about me.
We’ve become so self-centred that our prayers focus solely on our needs, desires, problems—then we wonder why God doesn’t answer. We should bear one another’s burdens. We should name others before the Lord in prayer. We should weep before the Lord for our brothers’ and sisters’ needs. Often when we do this, God meets our needs too. “Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered” (Proverbs 11:25).
Stop praying selfishly about only yourself and your family. Start praying for those in need around you. Pray for persecuted missionaries. Pray for the drug dealer and prostitute on the street. Pray for government leaders. Pray for believers everywhere—there’s so much to pray for.
Perseverance
One of prayer’s most difficult aspects is persevering when God seems silent. God knows how easily we lose heart, which is why Jesus told a parable “to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.”
In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?
“Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Pray until something happens. Keep knocking until the door opens; seek until you find. Ask until you receive an answer—hold to his promise: “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13).
Humility
Many approach God in prayer with boastful attitudes. They pray as if giving orders to the Lord. They “declare and decree” as if they possess God’s authority and sovereignty. Some think they are like God or are little gods. You are made in God’s image but are not a god—you are a created being; God is Creator. No creature can ever become a god.
Remember you are dust: “Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust” (Isaiah 40:15). The humble heart cries out: “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:4). The humble heart always seeks God’s will to submit to it.
Jesus provides the greatest example of humble submission in Gethsemane, when facing the sin of the world and God’s full wrath: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). As John MacArthur says: “Prayer is not asking God to do my will; it is bringing myself into conformity with his will, and asking him to give me the grace to enjoy it.”
The purpose of all prayer is God’s glory. Prayer must always seek to glorify God, lift up his name, and exalt his holiness. “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). God answers prayers to display his glory.
If you don’t know God, the only prayer that will glorify him is asking for mercy on your soul—when you surrender. Repent! Ask God to save you! God is always glorified when sinners repent!
About the author
Mario Maneville is the pastor-teacher of Reformed Community Church in Belville South, South Africa. He is husband to Charlene and father to his children.
