Effective Prayers

We all want to pray effective prayers. We want to see our prayers answered and to receive what it is we ask for. But how do we get there? How do we pray effective prayers that God answers? Well, the answer is both simple and difficult. The simple part is to pray effective prayers is to pray faith-filled prayers that align with the will of God. The difficult part is to recognize our authority in Christ and to position ourselves to receive the answers to our prayers. Both parts require us to understand the authority and position we have been given in Christ and to put that understanding into practice.

The thing that amazed the Jewish religious leaders about Jesus was his level of authority. When he was 12 years old, Jesus traveled with Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem. If you remember the story, Mary and Joseph leave Jerusalem after the Passover celebration and realize that Jesus is not with them. They return to Jerusalem to look for him and find him in the temple courts. Luke 2:47 says that everyone who heard Jesus was amazed at this understanding and his answers. When Jesus begins his public ministry and delivers the sermon on the mount, Matthew 7:28-29 says, “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.”

Authority is an incredibly important concept for us to grasp. It was a concept that the entire nation of Israel struggled with in regards to Christ. In Luke 7:1-10, we find the story of the Roman centurion who approaches Jesus for healing on behalf of his servant. He tells Jesus that there is no need for Jesus to come to his servant but only to speak the word. The centurion indicates that he knows this is the case because he understands the authority of Jesus. Jesus responds by healing the servant and saying he had not seen such faith in all of Israel! Jesus could perform the miracles that he did because he had the authority of the Father. As the Son of God, Jesus had full access to all the power of God the Father and could use it on His behalf.

In Luke 10:19, Jesus said: “I have given you power (authority) to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power (physical ability) of the enemy; nothing will (in any way) harm you.” As disciples of Jesus, we have been given his authority. We can operate with his power and on his behalf. That’s why Jesus told his disciples in John 14:12-14 that “whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” When we ask for things in Jesus’ name, we are asking for them under the authority Jesus has given us. That is why Jesus said he will do it. It isn’t about us. It isn’t about our works or our righteousness. It is about Jesus’ position of authority in the kingdom and his delegation of that authority to us as his disciples.

Jesus tells his disciples in John 16:23-24 that “in that day, you will no longer ask (as in the sense of asking for a favor) me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give me whatever you ask (as in the sense of demanding as a right with authority; demanding as an inheritance) in my name. Until now you have not asked (demanded as a right with authority) anything in my name. Ask (demand as a right with authority) and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” Before Jesus delegated his authority to us, we could only ask God for things as if we were asking for a favor. Now that we are a part of the body of Christ, we are adopted into God’s family. We possess the authority that Jesus gave us. We possess the resurrection power of Jesus. Now, we can demand as a right of inheritance those things which God has already promised us through Christ.

There are many promises in the Bible available to us as believers, but how many of those promises are we actually experiencing in our every day life? If we aren’t experience those promises every day, there is a disconnect between the reality of our life and the Word of God. We know that God can not lie, so the disconnect is not on God’s end of the equation. God does not withhold any good thing from us. Instead, the disconnect must lie on our end of the equation. In order to see our prayers answered we must see it, believe it, and receive it.

We must see it. We have to have a picture from God about the promises we are trying to claim. We need to see them as reality in our lives. We do this with the eyes of our faith. Hebrews 11 is a list of those who received the promises of God through faith. They saw the promises as completed long before they saw the promises come to pass in their lives.

We must believe it. We have to believe the picture of that promise from God. We have to have a firm understanding of what it is that God is promising us. We have to trust that God’s Word is true. We have to believe that God is able to do what He has said He will do. We have to believe that God is willing to do what He has said He will do.

We must receive it. We need to understand our position of authority in Christ and stand on that to receive the answer to our prayers. It’s this part that is the most difficult for us. We can fall into the trap of thinking we are unworthy for God to answer our prayers, but answers are not based on our ability. They aren’t based on our righteousness. We don’t have righteousness apart from Christ. All our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). The answers are based on the righteousness of Christ. It’s all his power and his authority, and those are guaranteed!

Likewise, we can fall into the trap of faithless prayers. These prayers seem contrite on the surface. They ask God “if it be His will” to do such and such for us. Yes, it’s important to approach God in humility. It’s also important to approach God with reverence and respect, but Jesus commanded things to happen. Peter, when he approached the crippled man by the Gate Beautiful, likewise didn’t pray “God, heal this man if it be your will.” He commanded. It’s easy for us to separate ourselves from apostles and think that those men had something we don’t have, but really they are no different than us. We have the same authority that they had. If we lack anything, it’s a proper understanding of our authority and identity in Christ.

We can also refuse to receive. This is especially seen in areas of our life where we have linked our identity with something that isn’t God’s best. When Jesus approached the man at the Pool of Bethsaida he asked him if he wanted to be healed. That’s because this man had been sick for 38 years. His sickness could have been so linked to his sense of identity that he refused to receive. How often do we read promises in the Bible and believe that they are for someone else, but not for us? We say things like, “Oh, that’s just the way I am” or things to that effect, but who we are is completely defined by who God says we are. God is the ultimate source of truth, and He should be the ultimate source of our identity as well.

So if you want to pray more effective prayers, take a lesson from Paul. When Paul prayed for the believers, he always prayed that they be given revelation and knowledge of who God is and of what they have as an inheritance in Him. When we begin to understand our position of authority in Christ, when we begin to renew our mind so that our thoughts line up with God’s thoughts, we will not only know the good and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2), but we will also know how to pray commanding prayers….effective prayers….prayers full of faith that enable us to receive everything we ask in Jesus’ name.