How To Pray To God Effectively | 7 Keys To Unlocking Your Prayer Life

How To Pray To God Effectively

There are Christians who love God and desire to do God’s will, and God is pleased with them, but one thing that holds some people back is the lack of an effective prayer life. The Bible tells us to pray continually, and God wants to hear from us and establish effective two-way communication with us. 

Some people soon backslide when they feel like God is not answering their prayers or their prayers hit the ceiling and do not go any further. They backslide and look for other avenues to get their problems or requests met, but God is sitting on His Throne and waiting to hear from us because He delights to hear from His children, and He wants to answer our prayers so that our joy may be complete (John 16:24). 

So how do we pray to God effectively to ensure that He hears us and answers our prayer? I will give you some keys that will help you develop an effective prayer life with God. 

Do Not Approach God With Worry: (Philippians 4:6) Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. 

When you approach God in a state of worry, fear, and unbelief, it makes communication with God (prayer) ineffective. When you go before God, enter into His presence in a state of thanksgiving, sound mind, speaking from your heart, and make your request known to Him. 

Worrying is a state of mind that can cloud your judgment. It can create a false sense of reality and make something worse than it actually is. The best way to override worry is to replace it with gratitude. Being worried and living in that state of emotion does not solve the current situation that evokes anxiety. Instead, come to terms with the current situation and shift your perception from what is lacking to the abundance present; you might find an opportunity in abundance. Worrying can make you miss opportunities. 

Anytime you find yourself getting worried about something, begin to give thanks for the things that you have, thank God that He has given you breath and strength to go through the day. Thank God for his provision and protection. Repeat the act of thanksgiving until that emotion of worry dissipates. Continue with thanksgiving all the time, and let it create joy within you. So when you go before God, you go to Him with thanksgiving and joy. 

Forgive People Who Have Hurt You: (Matthew 18:21-22 NIV) Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Forgiveness is a fundamental principle in the Bible and in the lives of all believers. Jesus talked about it a lot to His disciples, and when Peter asked Him how many times shall we forgive our brother or sister, Jesus said seventy-seven times, meaning a lot of times. If we know to ask for forgiveness from Our Father any time we sin against Him, and He is faithful to forgive us and never hold our sin against us, then we should do the same for our brothers and sisters. 

(Ephesians 4:31-32 NIV) Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. In Ephesians 4:32, the Bible talks about forgiving each other just as Christ forgave us. The act of forgiveness removes hurt, pain, resentment, and all sorts of murky emotions that clog up our hearts and makes it impossible for The Lord to communicate with us. 

(Mark 11:25 NIV) And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” 

(Matthew 5:24 NIV) Leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. In this verse, Jesus tells us to go and reconcile or forgive our brother or sister and then come and offer our gift. When you go before God, evaluate your heart, and make sure you are not holding anything against anyone. Forgive and come to God with a clean heart, it is one way of effectively communicating with God. Forgiveness is healthy spiritually and physically as well. 

(Proverbs 17:9 NIV) Whoever would foster love covers over an offense,

    but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

Do Not Doubt What You Are Praying For: (James 1:6 NIV) But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

Doubt creates fear in the mind and makes a person lean towards uncertainty. When you pray with doubt in your mind, you conclude that your prayer might or might not be answered, and this creates a “wave-of-the-sea” like scenario. Exchange your doubts with certainty, possibilities, and belief. Do not pray with doubt in your mind; instead, pray believing that what you ask for will be done and is possible with God. 

Do Not Hold Onto Unbelief: (Mark 9:23 NIV) If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes. 

When you express disbelief, you make it clear that you don’t believe that something is true. When you approach God in prayer, you have to believe that He will answer your request. When you hold unbelief in your heart, then it makes it impossible for prayer to be answered. Go to God with faith, praying according to His will, and believe that your prayer will be answered.

Be In Constant Rejoicing/Joy/Thanksgiving: (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV) Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 

(Read 2 Chronicles 20)

Be in a state of joy always. Joy is a state of being happy and glad without external factors. In contrast, happiness is a temporary state of joy often due to external stimuli. Joy is permanent, while happiness is temporary. You want to be in a state of joy and thanksgiving. 

God loves a cheerful heart; sometimes, it can be challenging to stay in a state of joy. A way you can stay in constant joy is to meditate on the goodness of God in your life. Begin to thank God for the little things He has done for you, be in constant thanksgiving, and before you know, your mind will be filled with things you are thankful for, and as you give thanks, God will provide you with more things to be grateful for so your joy may be complete. 

God delights in our rejoicing and thanksgiving, and He hears and answers us when we worship Him. When you are joyful, you naturally live a life of love and compassion, and it is also good for your health because joy removes all forms of stress, and we all know how stress can be harmful to our health. 

Live An Upright Life: If you are battling a particular sin or sins in your life, I encourage you to make it your prayer point and present that request to The Lord. Have a sincere conversation with God and ask Him to heal you from that sin. When you sin, the enemy holds that sin over you, and it creates a legal hold, and sometimes there are “certain sins” that “ties God’s hands” so that He can not move in our lives or hear our prayers until that sin is dealt with, so watch out for that, and be discerning. A good example of this is in (2 Samuel 21). 

(Proverbs 15:29 NIV) The Lord is far from the wicked,

    but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

(Isaiah 59:2 NIV) But your iniquities have separated

    you from your God;

your sins have hidden his face from you,

    so that he will not hear.

(John 9:31 NIV) We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will.

Pray Continuously: After you have checked off the above pointers from your list, and you know you are in right standing with The Lord, your prayers to Him should be constant. The Lord loves to hear from us all day, all the time. Speak to Him when you are cooking in the kitchen; speak to Him when you are going for a walk; you get my point. Prayer should not only be said when you wake up in the morning or going to bed at night. During the day, instead of letting your mind wander and having the enemy play in your mind, direct your thoughts towards God and talk to Him. Some of my answered prayers were three-second prayers I said to God when I was doing normal daily activities. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV) Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Also, when you make a prayer request to God, though it might tarry, know that God will answer that prayer if it is according to His will for your life. Do not give up on those desires The Lord puts on your heart; continue to pray for them. Do not give up when the answer has not come yet; continue praying. The parable of the persistent widow is a good parable to read, of which Jesus told His disciple that they should always pray and not give up. (Luke 18:1-8 NIV) 

In short, to have effective communication with God, you have to be sure that – 

You are not praying with worry/anxiety in your mind

You have forgiven anyone who has wronged you

You are not praying and doubting at the same time

You do not go to God with unbelief in your heart

You live in a state of joy and thanksgiving and Not anxiety

You are living an upright life

You are praying continually

And make sure you are praying in season and according to God’s will for your life. 

Thank you for reading, and I hope this post will help you reevaluate and reassess your prayer life if you have to – If you need counseling or coaching, you can contact me at lnjlifecoaching@gmail.com