AN EFFECTIVE PRAYER

The are 3 major things that would keep your prayer life alive.

Desire

Discipline

Delight

You need desire to start something but discipline is what gets you going….then delight would be the result.

Now lets look at this 3 words individually:

Desire

Desire means a strong feeling of wanting something to happen. Synonyms of desire includes but not limited to hunger, passion, proclivity, propensity, thirst, will. Mark 11:24 says….“Therefore I say onto you. What things soever you Desire, when ye pray, believe…… In other words God is saying before you pray about anything I need you to have a desire….I need you to hunger….I need you to have the passion…..I want it to be a natural proclivity or propensity for you…I want you to thirst….I want you to have the will. Because only when you desire you can do whatever it takes to adhere to the necessary discipline needed to actualise your desire.

But desire isn’t enough. At some stage you would lose the drive. That’s when discipline comes in.

Discipline

What does it mean to be disciplined? Before we understand what is means let's first understand the word ‘Discipline’. Discipline means the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behaviour. The words RULES and CODE OF BEHAVIOUR stands out! To accomplish anything of value there are rules and code of behaviour you need to adhere to. For example you need to follow a particular rules and code of behaviour to successfully study a doctorate degree. You can’t have a wishy washy behaviour and expect to succeed.

So to be disciplined means to show a controlled form of behaviour. Synonyms for discipline are control, self command, self government, self control, will power, conduct. Proverbs 22:29 says…. “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mere men”….In other words before you achieve something of worth or value you need to be disciplined. Before you can have an effective prayer life you need to have self command…self govern…..self control…..will power to sustain your prayer life.

Delight

What does it mean to delight in something? Synonyms for delight includes joy, relish, glee, excitement, satisfaction, fruition. Psalm 37:4a says “Delight yourself in the Lord……” God is saying the only way to delight yourself in me….to relish in me…..to be excited about me is to know me and desire my will. God’s will!

While it’s ok to have personal wants and needs, that you can request in prayer, you better make sure that your prayer is channeled towards the will of God. Because you can’t pray or request beyond your knowledge which, I’m afraid, is limited. But when you pray the will of God you'r praying in the realm beyond the 4 walls of the limitations of your mind. That’s powerful! That’s why praying in tongues is key.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE 3Ds

God gives you the desire; as the Bible says in Phillipians 2:13…it is God who worketh in you to will and to do His good pleasure. This means you don’t have to feel condemned if you don’t have the desire. All you need to do is ask Him.

However when God gives you the desire it’s your responsibility to be disciplined. Meaning you need to find time daily to pray and be consistent.

Then answers and results would follow….thats when you begin to delight.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

In Mathew 6:9a Jesus said... “After this manner therefore pray ye….” The word manner means a way in which a thing is done or happens. Just like there is a way to excel in a degree, discipline or career so also there is a way to excel in Prayer.

Now I would shed more light on the Lord's Prayer.

Jesus taught.....

OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE THY NAME

Now I don’t know about you but anytime I’m faced with life’s issues and what may seem to be an insurmountable mountain I always feel relieved to know I have a Father that is bigger than the biggest mountain and greater than the greatest problem.

This means that the creator of heaven and earth….the one that with His infinite wisdom laid the foundation of the earth…..the one that governs the solar systems and places them it their orbitals….the one that doesn't just know the amount of stars in the sky but calls them by name…the alpha and omega….the King of kings…this same God isn’t just God but is my Father.

Now I have 2 girls. As at the time I’m writing this blog the first is 4 yrs and the last is 2 yrs. They always like running round the house with me chasing them. So one morning they saw me and started to run in anticipation that I would chase them…and I did but not for long because I got exhausted.

After they failed trying to get me up to continue chasing them they gave up and went to stand in front of the Tv; as their custom when watching TV. Whilst laying on the floor trying to catch my breath I couldn't help but notice how engrossed they were with the cartoon characters moving on the screen. With a smile on my face I embraced the warm feeling I began to have for them. “I can’t believe how much I love them”…. I said under my breath. Like a response; the words that resonated in my spirit stunned me. "God loves them even more”….its says! It’s good to have a God that loves us so much and He’s not too busy being God but has time to be our Father.

THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE

I believe this is the heart of the prayer. This is more of a demand and declaration than a request. Now a Kingdom is a domain controlled by a King. A kingdom consists of intricate systems needed to achieve certain goals. A well organised Kingdom would have a system that secures health or healing for it people or a system that makes sure it people are well informed or have good quality education….or a system to secure good infra-structural facilities….a system that is ready to uphold it people that all times.

Its very important to note that if someone from a very great kingdom steps out into another domain different from the original kingdom all these systems should also be in operation. The kingdom should provide enough resources to ensure that it’s ambassador is well catered for wherever they are. More often than not there would be a battle to make sure of this.

The verse says…’as it is in heaven so also will it be here on earth’. Now your earth is you and everything that’s connected to you. Your peace…your health….your family….your career etc. In the kingdom of God there is peace…so the systems that secures peace must be in operation in your life; here on earth. In the Kingdom of God there is health….so the systems that secures health must be in operation in your life; here on earth…..in the kingdom of God there is joy….so the systems of joy must be in operation in your life; here on earth.

Matthew 11:12 says from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. Now I'm not saying you should be physically violent but have a disposition that says ‘I wouldn't give up until I have what’s mine”.

GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD

Jesus clearly understands that we would be faced with new challenges daily hence He expects us to request for our daily bread. The bread here is the Word. We see this in Matthew 4:4 when Jesus said "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. The Word here is the spoken Word (Rhema) and not the written Word (Logos)

‘Give us this day’ means that the is a bread for each day. God love us so much that He has gone into the future seen everything and prepared a Word for us for that day. All you need to do is to ask for it.

FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS

Now loads of people interprets this as we need to forgive before God forgives us or if we don't forgive those that wrongs us God wouldn’t forgive us. But I dear to differ…because if this is the case then we are in trouble. Think about it….if someone really close to you betrays you; the obvious natural reaction is hurt…then confused…then betrayed….then anger. My point is in most cases you don't just forgive like that. It could take time. So my question is would God withhold His forgiveness from you because of this? Don’t think so!

I believe what it means is that you need to learn how to forgive so you can truly appreciate and receive God’s forgiveness that he makes available for you. God would give his forgiveness but if you harbour un-forgiveness you wouldn't be able to receive it.

AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL

This verse lets us know that we need to always be alert and on our guard. 1 Peter 5:8 says Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour

Imagine waking up in the morning and engaging in your normal routine. You have a shower, got dressed and had breakfast. ‘Today is going to be a good day’…you thought to yourself. Everything was going fine until….until you pick up a phone call that made you do something that ruined your whole day…..or you made a wrong choice.

Have you ever made a decision in the past that you wished you didn’t….maybe if you asked Him to lead you not into temptation and deliver you from evil you may have been delivered from that situation. So we are expected to be on are guard daily and asking Him to to lead us each day.

Paul said in Ephesians 6:14-17: Stand therefore (Don’t shake or be perturbed), having your loins girt with truth (what do you know because it would get you free), and having on the breast plate of righteousness (knowing you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and you have rights to a good and abundant life), and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace (no matter the storm outside you have peace inside), Above all, take the shield of faith wherein you shall be able to quench every firing dart of the wicked (you have faith in the Word of God so whatever the wicked does or say you know that you are safe). And take the helmet of salvation (allow the Word of God renew your mind so you would begin to see like Christ so your decisions would be glorious..Rom 12:2), and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (you speak the Word of God in every situation)

FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, THE POWER AND THE GLORY FOREVER

Now your prayer is coming to an end. You start by praising Him and you would end by praising Him. It's all about Him and His kingdom.

CONCLUSION

Light travels at a speed of over 670 million mile per hour. Putting this in perceptive…if someone travels at this speed they can circumnavigate round the globe about 7 times in 1 second. Information via your fibre optic internet arguably moves at this speed. So this is the speed at which the world can influence ones desires because we are bombarded with information. The information you hear triggers what you would desire.

Just like you enter into a physical store or an online store and see how they market some cloths and you just desire it and can do anything to have it. The reason for this is because of their marketing strategy that has passed the right information with enough power to persuade you to desire it.

So the question is how can you have a sustainable prayer life that’s on fire. It’s clear that we need to pray because a Christian without prayer is a Christian without power. James5:16b says the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. So no prayer no power…less prayer less power. So how do you sustain it?

May I suggest to you that It's not about the prayer itself as it is the reason for the prayer. Your reason shouldn't be for thing you want to get but God Himself. Because prayer is a 2 way communication…So your desire shouldn't be on prayer but on God. If you desire to know God you would desire to pray. How can you desire to know Him? His Word. Focus on His Word and it’s inevitable your desire for Him would grow. It’s impossible to know God’s Glory (His Word or Jesus) and not desire Him.

Have you asked yourself why you don’t have the natural desire to pray? Prayer has now become a chore and not a delight. Well maybe you’ve given yourself to the words of the world which feeds the flesh. Due to this you are ready to discipline yourself in canal things to yield a delight that’s not of God.

It’s time to change and begin to focus on His Word so you can know Him. Only by knowing Him would we Desire Him and be ready to Discipline ourselves to pray; then Delight comes naturally.