10 Ways To Pray Effectively & Get Results

As I write this it is almost the end of November. This year has been challenging for most of us and has for sure flown by. It is usually at this time of the year that I take time to take stock and audit the past year.

As a Leadership and Productivity Coach, I do believe in and set goals. In fact one of my best products was my Vision Board Workshop which I have since converted into a Vision Board Workbook.

I usually use my goal setting sheet and set 3 – 5 goals. This year one of my goals was to grow spiritually. By this I mean I wanted to restore the relationship I have with my heavenly father. I wanted to grow in my prayer and fasting and also to read my bible consistently. As I do the audit I am glad to give myself a 3 out of 5.

At the beginning of the COVID 19 Pandemic I was blessed to be part of a prayer group which prays daily six days a week. This group helped me tremendously and today my family can testify that whereas I am not yet where I would love to be, I am certainly not where I used to be. This prayer group taught me that knees do not lie and that we can take anything and everything to God in prayer. Thank you to Irene, Charlene and Bridget. May God bless you all and enable you to continue with the work that He started in you.

This group also introduced me to the book by the Kendrick Brothers called The Battle Plan For Prayer. It is this book that is the basis of this post. I highly recommend this book for anyone wishing to grow in the area of prayer. You can check out an excerpt of the book HERE.

 

What Exactly Does Praying Mean?

The way I have always known it is that praying simply means talking to God our Heavenly Father. We all know that in order to have comfortable communication, you need to begin by connecting with the person you want to talk to. In this case, being comfortable talking to God starts with you establishing a personal relationship with him. The way we get into this relationship is through His son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The words of Acts 17: 27 – 28  and Ephesians 1:3 provide clarification on this.

27God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he^[a] predestined us for adoption to sonship^[b] through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—

In my humble view, from these two scriptures we can deduce that, God as the creator is always close to each of us as His creation. Yes He is the sovereign God and is in control of everything He created. However, He wants to get personal and close to each of us and He does this by asking us to get to Him through His son Jesus Christ.

The second verse builds on this point and shows that once we know God through His son Jesus Christ then we can partake of all the benefits of knowing God as our Heavenly Father. This means we can ask Him for anything and everything through prayer and if it is His will He will grant it.

I believe the question on your mind now is Rosette how do I get into a relationship with Jesus Christ.  First things first. I believe the starting point is recognizing the sacrifice that Jesus Christ did to save us and therefore grant us access to the Heavenly Father. I know for sure that the only way we can be forgiven of our sins and reconciled back to God is through the atonement of the cross. Once you accept that, then the words of Romans 10:9  give us the solution:

⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

To this end, it appears safe to conclude that in order for each of us to have that personal relationship with our Heavenly Father; all we need to do is declare the Lordship of Jesus Christ and believe in the work He did on the cross and that God raised Him from the dead.

I will share a simple pray that you can say to fulfill this scripture at the end of this post. For now, allow me to show you that in order to get results through prayer there are certain rules we need to follow.

How To Get Results Through Prayer

As stated above, this post is drawn from the work of The Kendrick Brothers in their book on Prayer. In Chapter 11 they refer to The Locks of Prayer. Then in Chapter 12 they refer to the keys to prayer. It is from reading these two chapters that these 10 ways to get results through prayer come about.

#1. Ensure That You Have A Relationship With Jesus Christ

As stated above, we as Christians can only have access to our heavenly father through His son Jesus Christ. In John 17:3 -5, we read clearly from the words of Jesus Christ Himself:

³ Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. ⁴ I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. ⁵ And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

Without a doubt it is clear from these verses that we can only get eternal life by knowing God the Father Himself through his Son, Jesus Christ. As stated above, getting eternal life requires entering into a personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ.

#2. Begin Prayer By Seeking For Forgiveness For Sin

We know that as human beings we are all sins and unless we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness this can hinder our prayers. These statements are backed up with the words of Romans 3:23-24 and Psalms 66:18

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

¹⁸ If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;

Keep in mind that all sins regardless of the gravity keep us away from God and lead to death unless they are confessed. It follows therefore that when we go to God in prayer the first thing we should do is ask Him to forgive us where we have sinned. If you are aware of sin mention it if not still ask for forgiveness for what you may have done or failed to do.

#3. Focus On Praying To God Not For Show

In Mathew 6:5-6, Jesus lays out clearly for us how we are to pray;

⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

From these scriptures what is clear is that the purpose of prayer is not for public consumption or show but for us to communicate in private with our Heavenly Father. Like the Kendrick brothers caution us, even when you are addressing a group of people \”always keep in mind that you are playing for the audience of one\”.

#4. Clarity is Key in Prayer

Still as Jesus teaches us how to pray, he cautions us against praying long repetitive prayers. He goes on to remind us that our Heavenly Father already knows what we need even before we ask for it. Reminds me of the scripture that says before you pray I will answer. Let us look at these two scriptures in Mathew 6: 7-14  and Isaiah 65:24

⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,^[a]
but deliver us from the evil one.^[b]’

¹⁴ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

²⁴ Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear.

It appears safe for us to draw a conclusion that by giving us what today we call The Lord\’s prayer, Jesus provided a precedent for us to follow in prayer. He wants us to do the following. Praise God our Heavenly Father, pray for the work he does in the world, and to present our daily needs and struggles to him among others. What this spells out is that we serve a God of order and He wants us to maintain order as we communicate with him.

#5. Pray With Confidence

In addition to maintaining clarity as we communicate with our Heavenly Father, we need to also be confident as we pray. We see in Haggai 2:8 God declares that He owns all the silver and Gold. Similarly in Psalm 50:10 he reminds us that all animals belong to him. He goes on in James 5:14  to tell us that when we are sick we need to ask the elders of the church to pray over us.

⁸ ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty.

¹⁰ for every animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.

¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.

After telling us that everything we need can be solved by us praying, Jesus says in James 4:2 that we do not have what we want because we have not asked for it.

² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.

From the above scriptures we see that whatever need we may have, we need to confidently present it to God in prayer and if it is according to his will and plan for us, he will grant it to us.

#6. Pray With Contentment & Gratitude

I know for sure that living a life of gratitude and contentment makes us better people. I have written and made a case for the fact that gratitude is a magnet for blessings. When we go to God to pray, he asks that we do so with grateful hearts.

In Psalms 100:4, we are asked to enter His courts with thanksgiving and praise. To me what this means is we need to be grateful for what we already have before we ask for more. God has shown that he is a loving father who can be depended upon. Therefore we need to come to him with an expectant heart and trust that like he says in Hebrews 13:8 He is a God who is constant and never changes. He promised and he will always fulfill his promises.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

#7. Pray in The Name Of Jesus Christ

We have already seen above that the only way we can get to our Heavenly Father is through his son Jesus Christ. In John 14:13-14, we see that Jesus is telling us if we ask for anything in his name God will grant it. Keep in mind though that the prayers we make in Jesus\’s name need to be according to the will of God. I like what Priscilla Shirer says in one of her sermons. That if we are sincerely following God and seeking to do his will then our desires often align with his will. That is why in Psalm 37:4 we are told that when we delight in the Lord he grants the desires of our heart. It follows therefore that as we work on our relationship with God, he will take away the desires that do not conform to his will.

¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

⁴ Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

#8. Give More Than You Take

We have all met certain people who like to take more than they give. The bible is very clear when it comes to giving. In Acts 20:35, we see that the blessings are reserved for the givers not the takers. In addition, in Proverbs 21:13, Jesus showed us that we should not keep everything for ourselves but we should be willing to share with those who do not have as much as we do. He goes on to say that if we shut our ears to the poor when we cry out, we will also not be answered.

³⁵ In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

¹³ Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor
will also cry out and not be answered.

#9. Be Persistent In Prayer

One of my favourite parables in the bible is the one about the persistent widow in Luke 18: 1-8,  I love the verse where Jesus says if even the unjust judge gave in because the widow persisted how much more our Heavenly Father.

8 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ² He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

⁴ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

⁶ And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸ I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Similarly in Mathew 7:7-8, we are told that when we ask, seek and knock the door will be opened. To this end, we are to be persistent as we seek God and never give up.

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

#10.  Always Pray With Faith

We all know that faith is believing what you cannot see. When we pray we are communicating with a God we do not see but believe that He exists. In addition to having a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father, I personally think this is the next big thing.

In Mark 9:23-24 Jesus clears states that anything is possible if we believe. I would want to think that faith is like a muscle the more we use it the more strong it becomes. Growing in our faith is a daily process and it starts with us trusting that God is a keeper of the promises he makes. The more we go to God with anything and everything and He answers us, the more our faith in him grows.

²³ “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

As we pray in faith let us always keep in mind that God our Heavenly Father is aware of our needs, he is able to meet those needs, he cares for us, and he will answer if it is according to his will.

Finally,

As stated above, the first way to get results through prayer is to ensure that you have a personal relationship with God the Almighty through his son Jesus Christ. The words of John 14:6 come to mind.

⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

In view of this, if you desire to have a personal relationship with God please go ahead and say this simple prayer.

Heavenly father, thank you for sending your son Jesus Christ to die for my sins. I chose to turn away from my sins and accept the free gift of salvation which Jesus Christ gives. I am making you the Lord of my life henceforth and ask that you write my name in the book of life. In Jesus\’s name I have prayed Amen.

If you have honestly said this simple prayer you are now beginning a journey with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Reach out to the nearest church and ask them to disciple you. I also recommend that you download the YouVersion Bible App and dive into the many plans therein which will help you grow in your walk as a Christian. Congratulations, you have made the best decision of your life and the best is yet to come your way.

Rosette is a Leadership and Productivity Coach she is also a Certified DISC Trainer with the John Maxwell Team. She Co founded The Africa Women Leadership Summit which brings together women in leadership and helps them sharpen and grow their leadership.

She helps her clients live a Simple, Productive and Contented life. She has qualifications in Law, Business Administration and Human Resource Management and Development. You can book a complimentary session with her HERE.