"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you." - John 15:7 [NIV]

“5.And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9. “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,

10. your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

11. Give us today our daily bread.

12. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

14. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.  - Matthew 6

7. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. - Matthew 7 [NIV]

“13. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. - John 14 [NIV]

“23. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
John 16  [NIV]

Prayer 

“But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.” - Acts 6:4.

Prayer is our part of our two way conversation with God. He speaks to us and makes his wishes known in many ways, but our part of the conversation is prayer. God has made known all the things he wishes for us that are pleasing to him through his Word. So it's the duty of every Christian to prayer continuously and read the Bible for answers and guidance concerning our lives. It's not enough to go to church every week and simply listen to a sermon or have your pastor pray for you. You must go to God with your own prayers. But that is not to say someone else cannot intercede on your half through prayer. The sweetest sound to God is your voice.

We see how even Jesus himself dedicated himself to prayer in the following Bible verses:

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." - Mark 1:35 [NIV]

"And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray." - Mark 6:46

"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." - Luke 5:16

"39. Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” 41. He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42. “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43. An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
45. When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” - Luke 22 [NIV]

How should we pray so that our prayers are answered? The answer lies in God's Word. We must pray according to biblical principals. Not just any prayer will do. It all lies in how we approach God and our attitude. So if we want to be effective at praying then we must understand the Bible. That is why it's important for prayer to go hand in hand with Bible study.

What must we do to get our Prayers Answered? The late Pastor Derek Prince writes in his book "Secrets of a Prayer Warrior" that we must meet 8 basic conditions for God to hear our prayers:

  1. Come with Reverent Submission
  2. Have Faith
  3. Pray in the Name of Jesus
  4. Approach God Boldly
  5. Have the Right Motive
  6. Forgive Those Who Have Hurt You
  7. Be Directed By the Holy Spirit
  8. Ask According to God's Word

Come with Reverent Submission
In the following Bible verse God hears Jesus's prayer because of his "reverent submission":

"During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission." - Heb 5:7

But what is "reverent submission"? Part of the answer lies in the Lord's prayer where it says "they will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." Therefore reverent submission is submitting your will to the will of God, and where your will conflicts with God's will, His will be done. In other words, we must surrender ourselves completely to God in order to make way for God to use us as an instrument of his will, knowing that he wants only the best for us.

Have Faith
If we do not have faith in God then our prayers will not be acceptable to Him.This condition seems obvious, but how do we get faith? Faith is not the same as believing that God exists. Faith comes from knowing that who ever seeks God will find him, and believing that whatever we ask for we will receive it. In other words God rewards those who diligently seek him.

"Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who diligently search for him." - Hebrews 11:6

We get faith by listening to and hearing God's Word and knowing his works. This comes down to reading the Bible. God already knows what we need before we even ask for it, but the key is praying according to his Word and the faith and expectation that we will receive it.

Pray in the Name of Jesus
Jesus is our biggest advocate in prayer. John 16:23-24 tell us that God will give us whatever we ask in Jesus's name. Jesus came, shed his blood and died so that we may be saved. It was becasue of Jesus's righteousness that were were saved, so when we pray we pray in his name.

Approach God Boldly

Bodly means approaching God with confidence and without condemnation. No problem is too great for God to handle, and it is precisely at our time of most need that he wants us to come with confidence and boldness. We should not short-change ourselves by pre-judging our own situation by thinking our problems are too trivial or so great that nothing can be done about it.

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." - Hebrews 4:16

At the same time that we approach confidently, we should do so without condemnation or guilt of wrong doing in our heart.

"21. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God. 22. and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him." - 1 John 3

The point is that if we are not righteous in our heart then our prayers will not be heard.

Have the Right Motive

"2. You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. 3. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." - James 4 [NASB]

God knows what is in our heart so when we come to him in prayer he knows our motives. The above verse says that when we ask and do not receive it's because the reasons why we ask is wrong because we are usually only thinking about our material comforts. Instead when whatever we ask for in prayer must bring glory to God. This is stated clearly in John 14:13.

 

Forgive Those Who Have Hurt You

"25. Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. 26. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions." - Mark 11 [NASB]


Be Directed By the Holy Spirit

"For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." - Romans 8:14 [NASB]


Ask According to God's Word

"And now, LORD, let the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house be established forever. Do as you promised." 1 Chronicles 17:23 [NASB]