” And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
Luke 11:1
Prayer can be a very boring, uninteresting, and unfruitful activity when we lack knowledge of what it is all about and how to do it. I can talk to myself or talk to someone, but just speaking words into the air is one thing I am sure I don’t like and will never have time for. Real prayer is born out of the conviction and consciousness that, indeed, there is a supreme being who is listening and ready to respond. Genuine Prayer takes soberness. For example, what exactly are you going to say in your prayer? If you were going to talk to someone about something very important, you would take time to find out exactly what to say. You would have to be very conscious of what you are saying and why you are saying it. For example if you are going to talk to the LORD about your job, I believe if all you say is ” Oh God look at my job” then it’s not going to do you no good. If you were conscious that you were talking to a real being, then you would not be that vague in your prayer. For example am not going to say to my rich friend, ” Please friend look at my job”, that does not mean anything, I will have to talk to him soberely and if he made a promise I would sure say, ” Dear friend, you made a promise to give me $10 000, and now I come to claim that promise and moreover can you also give me $2000 more”.
Hosea 14:2 says ” Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.” That means present facts to the LORD as you would present facts to just anyone who is willing to help you. And how do you do that? When I was a young boy, the Coca-Cola company came to our school, and they would give out some cases of soft drinks to any student who would come up and recite their motto. Based on their promise, I came out and recited their motto, and I got free cases of coke. I only presented to Coca Cola their very own motto and basing on their promise that was enough to earn me cases of soft drinks. Not everyone who was thirst got the free soft drinks, some were shy, and some didn’t know the motto, so they could not get a hold of the free cases of coke. God demands that we present to him his word if we are to get anything from him.
1 John 5:14-15 says ” And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” A good lawyer can only intelligently debate by bringing facts to the judge in relation with the dictates of the law. He will say ” according to section so and so, a man who does this is not guilt”, this is exactly the same approach God expects when he calls us to pray (ask anything) according to his will ( his word, his constitution), there is a way he has prescribed for us to follow in asking, if we ask any other way he won’t hear us. We are to bring God his word in prayer for him to honor it. God does not honor the word of any man, he however honors his word in the lips of any man. That is why without the word of God dwelling and abiding in you richly, you cannot pray effectively. I have often said that’s why many so-called prayer warriors have not been effective. Many lack the knowledge of the word. They can even pray for 48hours but praying ignorant prayers, and God won’t be hearing.
