How to Pray Effectively
No one is better qualified to teach us about how to pray than Jesus Himself. We often read of Him spending the night in prayer. Even on the night before His crucifixion, we find Jesus praying. This may have been one of the reasons His disciples asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). His response was something that we now call “The Lord’s Prayer” (Luke 11:2–4; Matthew 6:9–13). If we were to be completely accurate, we would instead call it “The Disciples’ Prayer.” The true “Lord’s Prayer” is found in John 17, where Jesus prays right before His arrest. It is Jesus’ longest prayer on record.
Keep Your Motives Pure
Motive is everything in prayer. As Jesus points out in Matthew 6:5, it is a sin to pray insincerely. We, like the people Jesus criticizes in this passage, can still be guilty of hypocrisy and self-centeredness in our prayers. We can try to impress others with our devotion to God through our eloquent prayers. It is tragic but true: sin knows no boundaries. It can follow us to the very throne of Heaven.
As we come to God in prayer, we should make sure that we “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1). Otherwise, our prayers will not be effective. As the psalmist David writes, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear” (Psalm 66:18).
Make Your Private Prayers Longer than Your Public Prayers
We can learn something from Jesus’ prayer life. Jesus’ prayers were short when offered in public, but they were long when He was alone with His Father. All too often, our public prayers are long, while our private prayers are short—or non-existent. In reality, Jesus showed us that it should be the other way around. He encourages this practice further by saying, “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:6).
Recognize the Objective of Prayer
Jesus gives us a valuable insight into prayer when He says, “Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8).
Prayer is not instructing or informing God or bending His arm.
The object of prayer is not to bend the will of God to mine, but to get my will in line with His. True praying is not overcoming God’s reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness. Martin Luther once said, “By our praying, we are instructing ourselves more than Him.” God only answers the requests which He inspires.
