In prayer we show our total dependence on God who created
all things and us and by Whom all things continue to exist.
In prayer we give praise, honor, glory and reverence to His
name for His greatness and goodness. We recognize Him as the
source of all blessings. It is also the outpouring of our hearts
desire. In Romans 10:1 the apostle Paul says, "Brethern,
my hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel, is that they
might be saved." Our prayer must come from our heart.
Prayer to God is only reserved for those who are obedient
children of God. We are told in John 9:31, "Now we know
that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper
of God and does His will, He hears him." There are people
whose prayer God will not hear. Isaiah 59:2 says, "But
you iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins
have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear." To
allow anything to separate us from the fellowship of God, so
that He will not hear our prayers is a very serious matter.
It is a sad situation for those who try to pray to God if God
will not hear them. But it is their own fault, because they
are not obedient to God. They could be obedient if they wanted
to be.
Then we read Proverbs 28:9; "One who turns away his ear
from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination." God
looks with disgust at the prayer of one who is not faithfully
following His will. What a pitiful situation it is for us when
our prayers become disgusting to God. Could anything be more
hopeless? We also read in 1 Peter 3:12, "For the eyes
of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to
their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against those who
do evil." The Lord desires to hear the prayers of His
faithful children and His eyes are watching out for them. What
a great and wonderful blessing this is.
When we pray to God, we must be humble and not self-righteous.
Our Lord gave a parable which illustrates this requirement
very well. In Luke 18:9-14 we read, "Also He spoke this
parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous,
and despised others: Two men went up to the temple to pray,
one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you that I
am not like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give
tithes of all that I possess. And the tax collector, standing
affar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but
beat his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I
tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather
than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
and he who humbles himself will be exalted." The attitude
we have when we approach God in prayer and other worship is
very important.
If we approach God with an attitude of showing great pride
and arrogance in ourselves, but contempt and scorn for others,
then God will despise this kind of prayer. Our prayers must
be like the attitude of the tax collector. From what our Lord
is trying to teach us here, when we approach our Creator in
prayer we must be humble, not proud or self-assertive, but
modest, unpretentious and our prayer must be from the heart.
We are told in 1 Corinthians 14:15, "I will pray with
the spirit and I will also pray with the understanding."
Our prayers should not be flowery and to impress other people,
because God will not be impressed with such. Jesus says in
Matthew 6:5, 7, "And when you pray, you shall not be like
the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues
and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of
men. Assuredly, I say they have their reward. 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." The
only reward someone who prays a prayer like this receives is
the recognition he receives from men because God will not heed
his prayer. We are also warned not to use vain repetitions,
such as repeating something over and over. This type of prayer
makes us a hypocrite because it is pretentious.
Our prayers must be asked in faith. Concerning our prayers
James 1:6-7 says, "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting,
for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed
by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive
anything from the Lord." We must have faith in God and
if we are faithful and obedient to Him then He will hear and
answer our prayers, otherwise we will receive nothing. Jesus
says in Mark 11:24, "Therefore I say to you, whatever
things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them,
and you will have them." So we must have faith if we expect
God to answer our prayers.
Since Jesus is our advocate or go between with God, Jesus
says in John 14:13, "And whatever you ask in My name,
that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." Our
requests to God must be in the name of or by the authority
of Christ.
Another requirement of God answering our prayers is we must
be forgiving of others. Jesus says in Mark 11:25-26, "And
whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone,
forgive him, that your Father in heaven may forgive you your
trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father
in heaven forgive your trespasses." How important it is
to be forgiving of others? Could the Lord be any clearer as
to what will happen to us if we are not forgiving? The Lord
will not forgive us. We will be eternally lost. According to
Isaiah 59:2, it is our sins that "separate us" from
God so we cannot go to heaven. We must develop a forgiving
attitude toward all people so that God will be forgiving of
us so we can go to Heaven.
How we treat others can also affect the way God hears our
prayers. In 1 Peter 3:7 we read, "Husbands, likewise,
dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife,
as to the weaker vessel, as being heirs together of the grace
of life, that your prayers may not be hindered." Our prayers
can be hindered by the way we treat our wife, husband, children,
relatives, friends, acquaintances, or strangers.
We must pray regularly and not just when we are in trouble
and need God. As 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, "Pray without
ceasing." Also we are instructed in James 5:16, "The
fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." If we
expect our prayer to be effective, it must be fervent and we
must be righteous. In our prayers we must, with all earnest,
show great feeling and intense devotion to God.
The things we ask must be in accordance with God’s will.
1 John 5:14 says, "If we ask anything according to His
will, He hears us." Our requests to God must not contradict
His will but must be in agreement with it. We should not ask
for anything contrary to His will or for selfish things on
our part. Our prayers must be "in spirit and in truth" if
they are to be heard by God.