Locks and Keys: Part 2

I hope you have searched your hearts for what can hinder our prayers.  Today, let's look to see what can make prayer more effective.

The Keys: Ten things that make prayer effective

1.  Praying by Asking, Seeking and Knocking
Matthew 7:7-8, 11 - "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to  him who knocks it will be opened.....If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who seek Him!"

2.  Praying in Faith
Mark 11:24 - "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you."

3.  Praying in Secret
Matthew 6:6 - "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you."

4.  Praying according to God's Will
1 John 5:14 - "This is the confidence we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us."

5.  Praying in Jesus' Name
John 14:13-14 - "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it."

6.  Praying i Agreement with Other Believers
Matthew 18:19-20 - "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.  For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst."

7.  Praying while Fasting
Acts 14:23 - "When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed."

8.  Praying from an Obedient Life
1John 3:21-22 - "Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight."

9.  Praying while abiding in Christ and His Word
John 15:7 - "If you abide in Me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."

10.  Praying while Delighting in the Lord
Psalm 37:4 - "Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart."


A SUMMARY OF THE LOCKS AND KEYS OF PRAYER

1.  You must be in a right relationship with God.
2.  You must be in a right relationship with other people.
3.  Your heart must be right.

These are by no mean exhaustive lists on prayer.  But they are a good start in understanding more and more about prayer and it's importance in our lives.  As you embark on this deeper understanding and experience of prayer, please share your experiences in the comment sections.  Once a week we will have a time of sharing our prayer requests as well.  Let's lift each other up and share together what God is doing in your lives.  I'm expecting great things from our Great God!

~ Locks and Keys of Effective Prayer - The Love Dare Copyright 2008 by Stephen Kendrick & Alex Kendrick

~ All scripture used in the locks and keys is from the New American Standard Bible unless otherwise stated.