Our Christian book for this month is How to Pray Effectively since the National Prayer Day is observed on the first Thursday of May and will be held on May 2, 2019 and May 7, 2020 and May 6, 2021.
How to Pray Effectively is a Bible study which uses practical examples from the Bible to show you the things you should do to ensure your prayers are answered. This Christian prayer book also answers the following questions:
*Who can
pray effectively?
*How can
I pray effectively?
*When
can I pray effectively?
*Where
can I pray effectively?
*What
can I use to pray effectively?
How to Pray Effectively Book Excerpt
How Can I Pray Effectively? Part 1
To pray effectively, you have to do the following:
A.S.K
The Bible tells us that You do not have because you do not ask. (James 4:2)
So, if you
want to pray effectively, you must A.S.K. (ask, seek, knock).
Therefore,
“Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek and you shall find it. Knock and it
shall be opened to you. Because everyone who asks receives and those who seek
find and to them that knock, it shall be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)
Ask Specifically
The Bible tells us that When you pray, do not use vain repetitions like the heathen
because they think that they shall be heard because of their many words. Do not
be like them since your Father already knows what you need even before you ask.
(Matthew 6:7-8)
So, if you want to pray
effectively, you have to ask specifically for what you need in your prayers.
We can
see a good example from Hannah because when she was praying for a child, she
specified that she wanted a baby boy. (1 Samuel 1:11)
Therefore,
when you are praying, specify the problem that you want God to solve for you.
Or in other words, knock on the door that you want Him to open for you.
Ask in Faith
The Bible tells us that Ask in faith, without doubting,
for the person who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the
wind. Let not that person suppose that they will receive anything from the Lord
because they are double-minded and unstable in all their ways. (James 1:6-8)
So, if you want to pray effectively, you must ask in faith. This
means that you have to pray while being sure that God will answer your prayers
and while seeing yourself with your mind’s eye receiving your answer from Him
since Faith is the substance of things
hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)
Therefore if you are praying for God to give you a spouse,
you have to see yourself walking down the aisle with them on your wedding day.
If you are asking God for a baby you have to feel yourself cradling your child in
your arms.
Even if what you are praying for seems impossible to receive
because of your human circumstances, you still have to believe that God can
grant it to you because God is Able to
do more than we could ever ask for. (Ephesians 3:20)
In addition to believing with your mind that God will answer
your prayer, you also have to speak your faith. We can see that when King
Jehoshaphat and the Israelites were attacked by multiple armies, as he was
praying, he expressed confidence in God’s ability to help them for he said, “Are you not our God who drove out the
inhabitants of this land before Your people and gave it to the seed of Abraham
forever?” (2 Chronicles 20:7)
Therefore believe with your mind and confess with your mouth
the thing that you are asking God to give you.
If for example you are praying for healing of your body, believe
with your mind and declare with your mouth that since God is the One Who
created your body, He is also able to heal it.
If you are praying for your marital problems to be resolved,
believe with your mind and declare with your mouth that since God is the One
Who joined you and your spouse together, no one should separate you. (Matthew
19:6)
If fiery darts of
doubts enter your mind and one part starts thinking, “My prayer will be
answered” while the other thinks, “My prayer will not be answered”, decide to believe that God is able to answer
your prayer because With God all things
are possible. (Matthew 19:26)
Use this Scripture as your shield of faith so that you quench those darts before they stop you from receiving anything from the Lord.
Use this Scripture as your shield of faith so that you quench those darts before they stop you from receiving anything from the Lord.
If your emotions try to destabilize you by tossing you to
and fro between “I don’t feel like my prayer was heard” and “I feel I will get
an answer”, cling to With God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26) until your emotions
settle and you are once again certain that God has heard your prayers and He is
answering them.
For optimum results, this Prayer Journal should be used after reading How to Pray Effectively which uses practical examples from the Bible to teach you 20 things that you should do to ensure your prayers are answered. This Christian prayer book also answers the following questions:
*Who can pray effectively?
*How can I pray effectively?
*When can I pray effectively?
*Where can I pray effectively?
*What can I use to pray effectively?
This blog post is part of our Prayer Series. Click on the links below to read other blog posts in this series.
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