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Scripture for the day: Matthew 6:6-7 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
Thought for the day: “The secret to effective prayer;” now there’s a subject that could, and certainly has, filled more books than we can effectively read in a lifetime. Briefly, very briefly, there are certain characteristics of effective prayer that we can look at this morning.
First, the purpose of our prayer. Our purpose is not to bring before God a laundry list of needs and wants. He’s invited us to lay our burdens down and we have every right as children of God to do exactly that. However, that ought not be our primary motive in prayer. In fact, I wonder if we haven’t lost much of our effectiveness in prayer by making it about things rather than about Him. Our only real motive must be to have more of God; more of His love, His holiness, His will in our lives.
Second, a major purpose of coming before the Lord, especially to begin the day, ought to be renewal of our commitment to obedience to His direction. As we look forward to the day laid out before us, not knowing what may happen before we lay our head down when the day is done, our prayer should encompass the desire that obedience would be the guiding principle of life, regardless of consequences. This is what Paul meant when he encouraged us to become “a living sacrifice” to the Lord.
Third, if our prayer is to be effective, we must learn the hard lesson that prayer isn’t a one-way street. We’ll never hear God speaking through the Spirit if we don’t pause from time to time and just listen. I wonder if the Lord isn’t sometimes frustrated when we come before Him in prayer and never pause long enough to hear His side of the conversation. I wonder if He doesn’t shake His head in sorrow as we whisper amen and rush off into the day, saddened because we missed the Word He had for us, the Word that would have spared us grief or increased our joy. Try this little exercise sometime. Find a place to sit quietly, without interruption, for as long as need be (I know, this alone can be a challenge). Set your list of needs and wants aside and pray simply, “Lord, what or who do you want me to pray for today?” Wait. Trust that the Lord will put on your heart what He deems best. Whatever, or whoever, comes to your mind, pray for that situation or person. When you’ve prayed for that item on God’s list, wait patiently for the next prayer need to be given you by the Spirit. Pray for that and then repeat the exercise.
Finally, our prayer ought to be primarily intercessional. This doesn’t mean our personal needs are unimportant. They are, and the Lord knows all about them. At the same time, Jesus told us that the Father knows what we need before we even think to ask. We are to seek the Kingdom of God and let Him worry about the needs He knows we have. If we are to pray as Jesus prayed, our appeals before the throne will be for others. What an amazing privilege we’ve been given, to petition the God of our salvation on behalf of those who in need, not because of any merit that lies within us, but through His grace and because of who He is.
Now, take some time (no one’s going to give it to you) and spend those few moments sitting quietly at the feet of the Savior. Find out what He wants rather than telling Him all those things He already knows all about. Then, in obedience to His message to you,
Go take on your world. - Bill