5 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR PRAYER TIME EFFECTIVE, PRODUCTIVE AND IMPACTFUL

Life would be meaningless if whenever we are overwhelmed by life’s problems that are beyond our control, our only option would be to give up and cave in under its weight. But Blessed be God! We don't have to give up or be subdued under the weight of the pressures of life. We have a God and Father that we can go to in prayer, to recharge our spiritual batteries and be refreshed, finding lasting solutions to our problems.

Prayer is God's gift to His children. It is one of the most powerful weapons God could have gifted us with. It is our never – failing, never – busy, open line of communication to God. Among other things, prayer is our secret place of rejuvenation, protection, restoration of hope and power generation. Take prayer away from the life of a believer, and you would have robbed them of spiritual power.

As powerful as Jesus was while on earth, His most treasured place was not before the multitudes preaching the gospel or when he was performing miracles rather, it was the secret place of prayer. He usually would get up a great while before it is day, slip away into a secret and quiet place, just to pray. 

Oh how important prayer is to us as believers! That's why, in this loaded and highly informative article, you would learn;

• Why you should pray
• What effective prayer is and;
• Five things you MUST do to have an effective prayer life

Why pray?

Man was created and wired to depend on God to have his needs met particularly those things that he cannot do for himself. We were not created by God to function or exist in isolation. Neither were we created by God to exist independently of Him. God expects us to depend on him and one of the strongest ways to prove this dependency is by praying. 

When we pray, we acknowledge His power to give to us all that we desire. Prayer is an expression of our faith in God to meet our needs and grant our desires. Prayer is the place of communion, where man builds intimacy with his Maker and fans the flame of his relationship with HIM. The place of prayer is where we generate spiritual power to overcome adverse situations and keep being victorious.

If you don’t pray, you would become a prey!!!

The devil is scared when you pray. Yes! You read that right. The devil hates it when you pray because he knows that in your prayers lie your power. So he prefers to keep you from praying so that you can be at his disposal, but you must refuse!! Today, put on the whole armor of God. Don’t only pray, but learn to pray the right way, so that you can have answers. 

James 4:3a

Has the devil been harassing you in the place of prayers? Have you been praying and it looks as if the Lord is not hearing? Do you pray so much and yet you have nothing to show? If you fall into any of these categories then it’s time to learn what an effective prayer is and how to make it happen.

What is an Effective Prayer?

Suffice it to say that not all prayers would receive answers. The truth is that, God does not hear everyone’s prayers. Even the men of old had this experience and they cried out in Isaiah 58:3

Simple and straightforward, an effective prayer is that prayer that receives answers from God. 

I remember times when I would pray and it would seem as if God is sending me answers right there and then. I was so sure I would have an instant testimony, but days turned into weeks and weeks into months and sometimes the answer to my prayers doesn’t just come. Have you been there before? If yes, then know today that you can change all of that. You also can experience the joy of answered prayers in the five simple steps I’ll be showing you below. 

1. Pray the Word

God cannot say no to His Word. As a matter of fact, God is honor bound to perform His Word. Psalm 138:2

When you are praying God's word you are praying His will and when we pray according to His will, the Bible says that He hears us.

 Here’s the secret…

There’s no challenge you have that doesn’t have a solution in the Bible. Thus, anytime you are faced with life’s problem, first search out what God’s word says about that problem. 

• If you’re sick, there are scriptures on healing
• If you're  indebted, there are scriptures on abundant provisions and miraculous debt cancellation
• If your situation seems to be hopeless, there are many hopeless cases that were turned around in scriptures

So, find your own word and when you do, hold God by His word because He always watches over them to bring them to pass.

2. Pray with faith

Mark 11:22 – 24, Matthew 21:22

Faith is the currency of the Kingdom with which we obtain promises and receive our desires. God can never say no to faith and when God sees a heart full of faith in the place of prayer, answers are released

All through scriptures, no one went to God in faith and returned empty. No one exercised their faith in God and their desires weren’t granted. Faith is radical. Faith is daring. Faith does the impossible. Faith moves mountains, and when faith in God is absolute, results are inevitable.

3. Stay off sin

Psalm 66:18, John 9:31, Isaiah 59:1 – 2

The prayer of a sinner is an abomination unto God. God’s eyes are too pure to behold sin. No sinner can approach unto God. Therefore, examine your heart before you begin to pray and repent from every unconfessed sin, so God can accept your person, listen to your prayer cry and send you answers.

4. Fight off Distractions

2Corinthians 10:4 – 5

Learn from Jesus who always would go to a quiet place whenever He wants to pray. Distractions are real and they are satan’s gimmicks to hinder you and take your attention away from your prayer. Like Jesus, every time you want to pray; go into seclusion and free your surroundings of whatever can make your thoughts wander.

Note also that it is not only physical materials that can distract during prayers. Your mind can get so busy that it distracts you from being effective in prayers. Therefore, there is need for every believer to be disciplined in keeping their minds from wandering while praying. Bring every thought to the obedience of Christ, let your mind be freed of worries and whatever can keep it busy and wandering. 

5. Ask The Holy Ghost for Direction 

1corinthians 2:9 – 11

Many people see asking for help as a sign of weakness but they are wrong. Asking for help is actually wisdom. The Spirit of God is our Helper, One who knows what we need and understands the will of God for us per time, and so, He is more than worthy to be our Compass in the place of prayers. The Bible is clear that we do not know how to pray as we should but the Spirit helps our infirmities. Ask Him for help and direction when next you want to pray and you can be sure that answers are guaranteed. 

After all said and done, the truth is that, God answers prayers if only we approach our prayer time the right way. Follow these five steps today and you would never pray another day in your life without receiving answers.