Prayer As A First Choice, Not A Last Result

Prayer is simple. God tells us exactly what to pray, how to pray, when and to whom. if you’re unsure of the reason to pray or the effectiveness of prayer, that’s what I want to talk about. I know that for a long time in my life, probably until I was a sophomore or so in high school, I didn’t quite understand prayer and how it worked.

I guess the first thing we need to talk about is what prayer is. In general, it’s any time you talk to God about something. He gave us the scriptures so that He could tell us what we need, but He knows that we need interaction in relationships. We grow closer to people the more that we talk to them and form trust, and that’s why He gave us prayer. Anytime we worship, there’s a physical and a spiritual aspect. Since we worship Him in spirit and in truth, we know that the spiritual aspect of just bringing our thanks and requests and praise to Him is for Him, and the physical giving of the prayer by stopping what we are doing and either mentally or vocally speaking to Him is for us. The prayer reminds us that we depend on our Father, and it brings to light the blessings He gives us. For prayer, there are 4 different parts mentioned in scripture.

1 Timothy 2:1 The different Greek words used here, the first part is supplications (1162- prayer, request, supplication). Supplication is asking or begging for something both earnestly and humbly. This includes your personal requests to God. The second one mentioned, Prayer, is worship or praise to our God, usually orally (4335- earnest, oral prayer, usually in worship). And so this includes when you recognize God’s power, His glory, His mercy towards us, or when you recognize that your prayer is through His son and by His will. The third one, Intercession, is intervening on behalf of someone else (1783- intercession). So this is when you pray for someone else that’s struggling physically or spiritually. And the last one mentioned is giving of thanks, which literally translates as grateful language given in a way of worship to the Lord. This is different from the prayer type because it isn’t talking about your praise and respect for God, such as the line “Glory be Your Name” in the Lord’s Prayer, but is more talking about the thanks you give to God for the blessings He’s given you, such as thanking Him for your food or something else.

So next I want to look at what we pray and why. We are all used to saying “in Jesus’ name” to close out our prayers. Yes, we pray this to acknowledge that our prayer is through Christ and to the Father, but this statement means so much more. Colossians 3:17 We are to do all in the name of the Lord, and this phrase is the same as when a police officer says “stop in the name of the law”; What they really mean is by the authority of the law. We do all by God’s commands, under His authority. In the same way, to pray in Christ’s name means to pray by His authority, which means your prayer should be submitted to His laws. Prayers, to be answered, must be according to Christ’s teachings and authority.

Just because you tack on “in Jesus’ name” at the end of a prayer does not give that prayer some special power if it’s not according to God’s word.

When we pray and request something that isn’t in line with His word, it will not be answered. Our prayers should be given with a heart humble enough to accept God’s will. We should be making righteous requests. In Mark 8:33, Peter is rebuked and told that he isn’t considering God’s will. Peter definitely thought it was a righteous thing to say that there was no way Christ would be defeated by death, but he didn’t see God’s will and Christ told him he was only being mindful of things of men and not of God. In the same way, we can pray what we believe is a scriptural, righteous thing and not receive it because it actually doesn’t align with God’s will. I guess in this way, God can talk to us through our prayers too, because if He doesn’t grant your request then you know that something about it wasn’t in His will. An unaccepted prayer should lead us to study what we prayed for, and hopefully make us grow closer to Him once we realize why the request wasn’t righteous.

“Even though we may not know the specific will of God for our lives, we must pray with a heart that is ready to accept the events God allows, understanding that God has a will that we aren’t always fully knowledgeable of.” (I forgot where that quote is from but I really like it)

So, how do we have an effective prayer? What kinds of prayers does God receive and grant, and which ones does He not hear? As I said earlier, the first thing you must do is make sure that it aligns with God’s will. The next thing we have to do is believe. Matthew 21:22 God tells us that belief is a requirement for prayers to be answered. We must believe that God is true, that He will grant righteous requests. James 1:5-8 If we do not ask in faith, then why bother praying? If you are going to ask God of something, believe in His willingness and ability to answer your prayer. Prayer answers are not promised to the unfaithful, the unbelieving. He also won’t grant selfishly motivated requests. Even if the request itself is righteous or within the boundaries of His will, He will not answer self-serving prayers. James 4:2-3 Here James writes that it’s the heart problem that causes them to ask and not receive. Like Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8, he asked what was obviously a righteous thing, to be able to do miracles, but because he only wanted the power to make a name for himself, he was denied the power and had to repent. If we pray and ask God for a large salary in the future so that we can bless others and foster orphans and care for the sick, I have no doubt in my mind that He would grant that request. But, if you ask that same request with intent to be rich, just to build a reputation and buy luxurious things for yourself, why would he grant that request? How does that further His will? It doesn’t. We have to have the right intent when we pray.

Ephesians 6:18 , 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 Prayers need to be fervent and persistent. After meeting all the other criteria, say it’s a righteous request and your purpose is for good and you believe God will grant it, but after one prayer it isn’t answered. Luke 11:5-9 because of persistence, the request is granted. God may see it as a prayer not against His will, but not necessary for the fulfillment of His will, so He’s not wrong to deny it. But, because of the love He has for us, if we continually pray for it, He will grant it to His children. Now time to apply all of this to everyday, simple prayers.

One example I can think of is, when I learned exactly how prayer worked and understood what I needed to pray for, I stopped praying for individual guys to be the right guy for me. Instead, I made a list of all the biblical qualities I should look for in a godly husband, and I started praying, knowing it was a righteous request, that God would help me to be fulfilling in my life towards His will as a single person, or to show me the man who fit all of the qualities in His will and who would help me get to heaven more so than I could help myself alone. We can sometimes selfishly pray for certain jobs or successes that we know would not bring us or others closer to God. God is going to grant your prayers that ask for His will to be done, for you and others to build and strengthen the church. I want to look at one last example in scripture of where God providentially answered someone’s prayer when it was in line with His will and the man’s intent was right. 2 Kings 20:1-6(11).

Hezekiah was prophesied to die soon. It was in God’s will that he die. But, Hezekiah prayed to the Lord and asked to live longer because of his faithfulness, and the Lord granted his request. The Lord answers prayers, and He’s so good to us. With our prayers being in line with His will, with the right intent of the heart, persistent, and in belief that He will answer them, we will have answers. Matthew 7:7-11.

With all this being said, whenever we are troubled, whenever we are blessed, whenever we are in heartache or joy, we need to first go to God in prayer. It is how we build our relationship with Him. If we rely on ourselves, prayer will be a last resort. If we aren’t sure God will answer our prayers, it will be a last resort. But, knowing that He has all power, love, and ability to answer our prayers, He should be the first we go to when we have any thanksgiving, prayer, intercession, or supplication.

I hope this was helpful, keep praying 🙏🏻❤️