A depressed Romanian Christian woman in a 1944 Siberian labour camp went outside her compound at night against orders. A guard endeavoured to shoot her for half an hour but found his arm was frozen. In the end he asked her if she had a praying mother. Yes, she surely had, and here was God answering that mother’s prayer for protection on her daughter. The imprisoned daughter returned to her compound a changed woman. [1]
Prayer is an audience with the King above all gods (Psa. 95:3). Most of us have never even had an audience with the Queen but here we are ushered in to speak with the King of creation! In and of ourselves we were unfit to enter God’s presence but God, Himself, made a way whereby His only Son took our sin and its punishment so that we could become personally related to Him in heaven.
God intimately knows us – we can’t utter a single word that He wasn’t aware of before we even spoke it (Psa. 139:4). Since we are so closely connected to our Father, we can talk to Him about anything that is in our hearts.
So here are 4 steps to praying effectively:
1. Pray in faith, believing that God hears and will not withhold any good thing from those who walk uprightly (Psa. 84:11). George Müller was a humble and godly man in the 19th century who had many amazing answers to prayer. eg On board ship to Quebec and was held up indefinitely by a heavy fog that had set in for days. In the presence of the disbelieving captain he prayed for it to lift, and it indeed did, there and then. [2]
2. Pray with thanksgiving. “Let your requests be known to God with thanksgiving” (Phil.4:6). Pray and then keep thanking God for the answer. ‘It is good to give thanks to the LORD” (Psa. 92:1).
3. Pray with patience. It takes time sometimes for prayers to be answered so be patient and persist. J.O. Fraser was a China Inland Missionary at the beginning of the 20th century to the Lisu people who lived in tribal settlements in mountainous regions of the Upper Salween. For 10 years the people were resistant to the Gospel but he had prayed and believed that thousands would be converted from the very beginning of his witness. After 10 years suddenly 3,000 tribespeople were converted. He wrote that his prayer from 10 years earlier had been answered.[3]
4. Pray in line with God’s will. Read God’s word and know what it says as a standard of judgment in all things. Read and meditate on it and allow the Holy Spirit to strengthen your soul and affect your life and walk, living nearer to God, and applying it to your life.
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[1] From https://vom.com.au/a-miracle-in-siberia/ accessed 1.3.22
[2] https://www.georgemuller.org/devotional/my-eye-is-not-on-the-fog2874126
[3] ‘Some may say, “Your prayer has at last been answered.” No! I believe it was January 12th 1915, that I was definitely led to ask God for “several hundreds of families” from the Lisu. I took the answer then, I believed then that I had it.’ From https://www.terryvirgo.org/articles/j-o-fraser-on-prayer/ accessed 1.3.22