EFFECTIVE PRAYER


A. "WITH MY WHOLE HEART HAVE I SOUGHT THEE; O LET ME NOT WANDER FROM THY COMMANDMENTS" - PSALMS 119:10
  1. Whatever the shortcomings of the Psalmist may have been at times:
    1. His prayer to God was sincere and wholehearted
    2. It was not life that of the hypocrite who uses vain words to persuade his goodness - Luke 18:11-12; Matt. 6:5
  2. This is one reason:
    1. Why divine providence preserved so many of the Psalmist's prayers
    2. Why the Holy Spirit uses them so effectively to teach men how to pray
B. EFFECTIVE PRAYER
  1. Is marked by whole-heartedness:
    1. "When thou said seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek" - Ps. 27:8
    2. "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee; my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is" - Ps. 63:1; 119:2; Examples: Hezekiah on his death-bed prayed earnestly and his prayer was effective - Is. 39: Daniel prayed earnestly and his prayer was effective - Dan. 9; Elijah prayed earnestly and God heard his prayer - James 5:17-18
  2. Is in harmony with the will of God:
    1. Writes John, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him" - I John 5:14-15
    2. Our prayers will ever be, "Not my will, but thy will be done" - Matt. 26:39; Luke 22:42
  3. Its motive is:
    1. Wholly unselfish as was the prayer of the man of God for Jeroboam - I Kings 13:6; of Moses for Pharaoh - Ex. 8:8-9; 9:27-29; as Elijah prayed for rain - I Kings 18:36-46
    2. It is offered with a purpose - and that purpose it that God shall be honored and glorified by that which we request of the Lord
    3. This is the foundation of effective prayer - Rom. 15:6-9; Rev. 15:4
C. NATURE OF EFFECTIVE PRAYER
  1. It is unselfish:
    1. So many prayers are marked by human selfishness as were the prayers of the Pharisees - Matt. 6:5; as was the prayer of Balaam - Num. 22:23
B. Dear reader, pause and think seriously how often we are tempted to ask the Lord for a gift or a blessing - so that it may serve our own gratification; Examples: Think of Simon the sorcerer - Acts 8:18-22; Hezekiah, too, used the answer of the Lord to his prayer to glorify his own self and not the Lord - Is. 38:39; even Moses erred and places the emphasis of the giving of water out of the rock to himself and Aaron - Ex. 20:9-13
  1. It has the good of man in view:
    1. That was not the case of the request of the sons of thunder - Luke 9:51-55
    2. It was true of the petition of King Solomon - I Kings 3:5-10; also of the earnest prayer of Moses for Israel - Ex. 32:31-35
  2. Prayer is most effective:
    1. When our personal life supports our petition - this is the very foundation of effective prayer
    2. The leaders of ancient Israel failed utterly to support their prayers by a constant life -Matt. 6:5; 23:1-22
    3. Of this type of petitioner, God says "They honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are removed far from Me" - Is. 29:13
  3. These, dear friends, are some essential facts about effective prayer:
    1. However, only God, who reads our thoughts and knows the motives of our prayers, determines the answer
    2. Effective prayer is not the result of our own worthiness, but rather the expression of God's love and compassion
    3. None of us know how to pray as we ought to, God's Spirit makes intercession for us - that is one encouragement to the suppliant - Rom. 8:26
    4. Prayer, effective prayer, is a science about which very few know too much about - we are still learners in the school of prayer - and we shall do well to ask the Lord Jesus to teach us how to pray.


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