EFFECTIVE PRAYERS

For the past one week , the Lord laid in my heart the burden of praying and not just praying but praying effective prayers. The prayers of a RIGHTEOUS man availeth much( James 5:16) and quoting you pray but there is no answer because you ask AMISS( James 4:2-3). This two verses kept me on my toes and I could not help but ask the Spirit of the Lord to teach and counsel me through the virtue of prayer. Prayer, we simply say is communication with God and communication is such where you send a message and the recipient answers to complete the cycle, now that's communication. So thinking on such lines, prayer requires no other treatment in heaven rather than answers because it is the breath of a regenerated Spirit but for this prayer to be answered, it has to be EFFECTIVE. Consistent effective prayer is the way to maintain an awesome and great Christian life but if your prayer life drops and your prayers are offered merely then your spirit man is already stooping low.

I read a quote which says that it is not how long you spend in prayers, the results you get is what matters. Did you hence receive answers? Are you experiencing change in you after prayers? Are your prayers availing much?

You have to prepare yourself to meet with God via prayer because it is a way through which we fellowship with the Father. Every encounter with God is born out of adequate preparation. Look closely into Exodus 19 and realize how meeting God needs so preparation. There will be no manifestation without preparation. One thing we should consider here is the heart preparation. The Lord does not see as man sees, He looks at the heart(1 Samuel 16:7) why? because the heart is the place of communion with God and man. The heart has to be right with God= You've got to be righteous. What becomes ultimate is a function of what goes on in your heart. God does not rate your prayers according to your education level, or tribe, residence or the number of years you stayed in salvation. He rates you by what He sees in your heart and concluding that what moves God is your heart. To prepare, you have to consecrate yourself; Purity is vital when you communicate with God. Prayer flows where sin is absent. Whatever you allow to corrupt your heart blocks your direct access to heaven. You cannot embrace sin and expect God to embrace you.You have got to repent! Consecrate your life to God, allow yourself to be cleansed with hyssop and thou shall be clean. Be ye sanctified of the Lord!. You should also be free of murmuring(Isaiah 45:9) You cannot expect God to hear you when all you do when praying is complain and make offenses against Him. Refuse to complain and let Him know that you have no alternative besides Him. There are actually people who even threaten God to backslide if He does not answer please, Be offense free! One another thing I presume is also important is to forgive. Forgive others just as you have been forgiven. Be that one person who is full of love and no matter the hurt, still goes ahead and forgives.

For you to also pray effectively. You have to be full of the Word, be that person that meditates on the Word day and night, chewing precept upon precept, the Word being your daily food and feeding your spirit man daily with the Word. I believe the moment you pray and begin using the Word of God, heavenly audience is certain and your prayers have worth. You can never ask in accordance to the will of God if you do not have the Word in you and the Holy Spirit. Everything that concerns the Kingdom of God is founded and rooted in the Word that is why all other things will pass away but the Word remains to be forever. God can never go against His Word, whatever He says He is faithful to fulfill, so when you begin speaking to God via His Word answers are assured and your prayer will avail much. You have to spend time reading and studying the Word because the Holy Spirit will only bring to remembrance what you have hidden in your heart. Your task is to study it and hid it in your heart. The Word will ignite a fire in your heart and pushes you to pray fervent and effectual prayers.It  will take the fire in your heart to draw the fire from heaven. When you therefore enter the presence of God on the basis of His Word then God is obliged to step into your case.

You also have to know how to enter the throne room of God. One is through faith. Faith is a potent force via which prayer is productive. Until faith is in place, prayer will end up in frustration. As powerful as the Word is, it can only yield where faith is present( Hebrews4:2). Until the Word enters in your heart and generates faith then praying can be mere. The Word will grant you audience but faith will motivate God to act for you. God therefore always answers prayers but you determine the answers to your prayers. Another thing, enter the gates with thanksgiving, enter His courts with praise, approach the throne room in and with worship. Acknowledge the sovereignty of God above your affairs. Also,  come with supplication, I have always known that this is a time you present what you want and need before God but this means praying with scriptures. Don't just present that need in a funny way, let the need be word prepared and have a faith ignited heart, you will receive a response from heaven. How much you also take pleasure in the affairs of the Kingdom determines the answers you  get, seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all the other things will be given to you. Don't be self-oriented! Pursue the virtues of the Kingdom and all other things gentiles look for shall be made available. When praying, learn to listen. Don't do all the talking be alert in the spirit, open up your heart to receive what God has to say to you. Always important!

The seal of your prayers should always be in the Name of Jesus. The Word says that if you ask anything IN MY NAME you shall recieve it. This seal compels heaven to dispatch answers. Prayer is  of so much importance in the life of a Christian and one will never learn how to pray if they are not praying."Prayer is not eloquence, but earnestness; not the definition of helplessness, but the feeling of it; not figures of speech, but earnestness of soul."  Hannah More

Let effective prayers rise.

Lord, make me, mould me and teach me to be an effective prayer warrior