Praying to learn how to Pray....effectively

amadeus said:

One that I can never forget is this one:

"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." James 4:3

What is amiss?

When I knew that my natural father was dying, I could have prayed for God to intervene, as Hezekiah did for himself. I believe that Hezekiah asked amiss and if I had prayed that prayer for my father, it also would have been amiss...

"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" Heb 9:27

Death comes to us all according to God's plan. The question for us is, are we ready for our own death? Or for the loved one who is close to passing or already gone, as to whether like Lazarus God's will is for that dead man in the flesh to rise up for the glory of God? There is no one correct answer that applies to every situation, which is why we need more than just what we read in the Bible. We need to be led by the Holy Spirit.

What the fervent prayer of a righteous man can accomplish for someone who does not know God is to allow the person who see that there is something else which is worth while. We cannot truly 'win' a soul as only God gives any 'real' increase, but our prayers, if we are righteous and we are praying fervently, will allow a person to make an informed decision as whether or not he will follow God. The final decision to believe and obey God always belongs to the person. Neither you nor I can make that decision on his behalf!

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amadeus said:

"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." James 4:3

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amadeus said:

My old pastor, now 95 years old gives a testimony on behalf of his father, a World War One veteran who served in France. He was full blood Chippewa from Ontario, Canada, who was called in his time the "Indian healer" because he prayed over many and many were healed. My pastor as boy witnessed many of the healings. This one time a young couple came to Bro Raincloud with their tiny infant who was suffering from a severe case of infantigo (impetigo). He told the couple to wait for him a couple of minutes and he went away alone and talked to God first. Only when God gave him the 'go ahead' did he come back and pray for the child. He prayed and the child's skin immediately began to heal. The point was he would not even pray for the child until he was certain that it was God's will to do so.

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amadeus said:

This is where for me praying in "unknown" tongues is an answer. How can a person pray for God's will when it means that a loved one will die? It may at the time be a selfish prayer, praying for more time for a loved one, but for anyone who has loved anyone who has died, it is certainly understandable. Even loving God and knowing how I should pray sometimes to pray for some things would be nigh onto impossible. When we let go and let God provide the words, which we do not understand, we accomplish His will for us in a thing that we could not do alone...

We may not be able to see the whole picture very well, but God can. He knows what all of the results will be. You and I praying only know the pain and emptiness such a loss will bring to us. Remember Jesus own prayer here:

"And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." Matt 26:39

Jesus knew not only that he was going to die, but that it was to be severely drawn out and painful death. He asked that he be given a pass... but then he relented with that last phrase... "not as I will, but as thou wilt"!

Apostle Paul is given the explanation even though we may not really see or understand it all!

"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Rom 8:26-28

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amadeus said:

One thing that got my attention years ago was this verse:

"Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure." I Tim 5:22

Consider that verse in conjunction with this one:

"They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." Mark 16:18

We are to lay hands on the sick so that they may recover but not so fast as that...! Talk to God about it first, before you touch them!

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Berserk said:

Before this thread was birthed, I was contemplating starting my own thread on the biblical principles of effective prayer. I hesitated because (1) even prayer principles diligently followed often don't work if they are mechanically applied and (2) because hard experience has taught me that some prayer principles are far more effective than others. So I think the best way to proceed is discuss old-time Methodist Class meetings.

In the late 18th an 19th centuries, Methodism required its members to attend a weekly Class meeting. In these meetings members had to describe their outer life with its spiritual opportunities and their inner life (the current state of their soul) during the past week. They would then discuss this and pray for each other based on what the shared. The result? By 1870 40% of all Americans became Methodists! That's 40% of all Americans, not 40% of all American Christians! Methodism spread so rapidly that lay circuit riders had to substitute for the lack of ordained clergy.

By 1900 Methodism had become more affluent and more respectable and many no longer wanted to air their dirty linen in a weekly Class meeting. So Class meetings became optional, meaning they were all but abolished and Methodism has experienced a slow steady decline ever since!

Experience has taught me that today the most important key to effective prayer is to be part of a weekly prayer group. Private devotions and church prayer chains are far less effective. Why? Good question. An expectant faith is the single most crucial key to intercessory success. But you can't "try" to believe. The very concept of "trying" makes you look within to see how much faith you have, and when you do that, if is as if you punch a hole in your soul during this introspection and all the faith drains out! But small prayer groups build up the faith of the participants naturally as members feed off of each other's faith. Indeed, the very act of going to the trouble of driving to a church or house to join 5 others for the specific purpose of intercession is already a powerful act of faith.

Beyond that, 2 principles of private prayer strike me as crucial (1) The greatest danger to effective intercession is the unconscious need to manipulate God into complying with our desires. Many praise and thank God for His many blessings in the unconscious hope that by buttering up God, He can be manipulated into compliance. The prior step for purifying praise and thanksgiving is well expressed in 2 psalms which teach us how to feel awe and reverence towards God for His own sake rather than for what He might do for us:
"Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart...But wait patiently for Him (37:4, 7)."
"Worship the Lord in the beauty of His holiness. Tremble before Him, all the earth (Psalm 96:9)."

(2) But how can you do this when you feel little delight and awe in your heart? In my my experience the key is to learn how to "pray in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18)," a discipline Paul considers the key to waging effective spiritual warfare. Praying in the Spirit is Spirit-directed prayer that just effortlessly and joyfully flows spontaneously from the heart. It takes me about 45 minutes of agonizing intercession to enter this state. btw, I don't believe speaking in authentic tongues is possible without first mastering this discipline. Only when the Spirit controls the tongue praying in English will the Spirit control the tongue to speak in a heavenly language.

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