8 Principles of Powerful
Prayer
#1 Short and Sweet: Do not get
caught up in long, exhaustive, flowery prayers in public. Matthew 6:5
#2 Pray in Secret: Have the deepest aspects of your prayer life in the
secret place where it is just between you and God. Matt 6:6;
Mark 1:35
#3 Vain Repetitions and
Informing God: Avoid using vain repetition when you speak to God. He will not act more favorably towards you
just because you say some special phrase over and over. Prayers should be conversational with
God. There should be a time where you
speak and a time when you listen for the impression of the Holy Spirit on your
heart. Always be mindful that you are
not informing God of anything when you pray.
We do not pray because God does not know what is going in our
lives. We pray to recognize our deep
need of a Savior and because our hearts are changed when we commune with our
divine Lord. The Holy Spirit takes our weak
prayers and mingles them with the mighty prayers of Jesus that is a sweet aroma
before the Father. Matt 6:7, 8
#4 Address the Father: When you begin
praying, address your prayer to the Father.
Many times we address Jesus first when we pray and this is not in
harmony with the model that Jesus gave us.
Yes, Christ is equal with the Father in divinity, but Christ is
subordinate to the Father in the role that He plays. Christ functions as our High Priest and as
such He is ministering on our behalf before the Father. That is why He gave us the model of
addressing our Father God in our prayers.
We must also never forget that God’s name is holy and must not be taken
in vain or used lightly. To do so is a
violation of the 3rd commandment. Matt
6:9; Jn 14:6
#5 Kingdom of God: We should pray
that God’s kingdom will be established in our hearts each day. If God is the ruler of our hearts then He
will no doubt have control of our lives and therefore be able to give us
victory over sin. It is only when
divinity is coupled with humanity that victory can be obtained. Matt 6:10; Dan 2:44, 45; Luke 17:21; Mark 10:15; Rom 14:17; Acts
17:30
#6 Bread of Life: We should ask God
to take care of our needs both physical and spiritual. The Lord feeds the birds and other animals
and He will feed us as well, but our greater need is for spiritual food. When Christ was here on earth He said that He
was the bread of life and that we
8 Principles of Powerful
Prayer
#1 Short and Sweet: Do not get
caught up in long, exhaustive, flowery prayers in public. Matt 6:5
#2 Pray in Secret: Have the deepest aspects of your prayer life in the
secret place where it is just between you and God. Matt 6:6;
Mark 1:35
#3 Vain Repetitions and
Informing God: Avoid using vain repetition when you speak to God. He will not act more favorably towards you
just because you say some special phrase over and over. Prayers should be conversational with
God. There should be a time where you
speak and a time when you listen for the impression of the Holy Spirit on your
heart. Always be mindful that you are
not informing God of anything when you pray.
We do not pray because God does not know what is going in our
lives. We pray to recognize our deep
need of a Savior and because our hearts are changed when we commune with our
divine Lord. The Holy Spirit takes our weak
prayers and mingles them with the mighty prayers of Jesus that is a sweet aroma
before the Father. Matt 6:7, 8
#4 Address the Father: When you begin
praying, address your prayer to the Father.
Many times we address Jesus first when we pray and this is not in
harmony with the model that Jesus gave us.
Yes, Christ is equal with the Father in divinity, but Christ is
subordinate to the Father in the role that He plays. Christ functions as our High Priest and as
such He is ministering on our behalf before the Father. That is why He gave us the model of
addressing our Father God in our prayers.
We must also never forget that God’s name is holy and must not be taken
in vain or used lightly. To do so is a
violation of the 3rd commandment. Matt 6:9; Jn 14:6
#5 Kingdom of God: We should pray
that God’s kingdom will be established in our hearts each day. If God is the ruler of our hearts then He
will no doubt have control of our lives and therefore be able to give us
victory over sin. It is only when
divinity is coupled with humanity that victory can be obtained. Matt 6:10; Dan 2:44, 45; Luke 17:21; Mark 10:15; Rom 14:17;
Acts 17:30
#6 Bread of Life: We should ask God
to take care of our needs both physical and spiritual. The Lord feeds the birds and other animals
and He will feed us as well, but our greater need is for spiritual food. When Christ was here on earth He said that He
was the bread of life and that we
must eat His flesh in order to be
saved. If we make the spiritual food of
the Word of God our priority then we will have the assurance that our physical
needs will be met. We must seek first
the kingdom of God and then all else will be added to us. Matt 6:11, 33; John 6:53-56
#7 Forgiveness and Forgiving: Without Christ in our lives we stand as
debtors before God. We have a sin debt that
we owe God and the only payment that is suitable is death. When we pray and ask God to forgive us of our
debts we are essentially asking Him to take away our sins. It is important that we confess each sin to
God so that we can pray to have victory over that sin. We must be careful to not just pray in vague
generalities. In public, yes, we should
speak in general terms because it not everyone’s business what we have done
against God. But in private we should
seek to have all of our sins washed away before the eyes of God. If you cannot think of sins for which you
need to ask forgiveness then ask the Lord to reveal it to you and He will do
so. Once you have asked for forgiveness
of your sins and received God’s forgiveness, then pray and ask the Lord to give
you a heart that is willing to forgive others.
We cannot expect God to forgive us if we are not willing to forgive
those who have wronged us no matter how severely they may have done so. Matt 6:12; Heb 9:22; John 1:29; Matt 18:34, 35
#8 Safeguard from Temptation: Lastly we
should pray that God will keep us free from falling back into our old
ways. When a person comes to Christ they
are said to be a new creature and that all things are become new. We must embrace this and move forward in that
promise. To linger in the past and to
wallow in our guilt is to give Satan a victory in our lives. It also says that we do accept God’s
forgiveness or that perhaps we do think Him capable of pulling us from the pit
of sin in which He found us. Matt 6:13; 2 Cor 5:17; Jer 17:9; Rom 7:19, 25
“…Jacob’s company, unarmed and
defenseless, seemed about to fall helpless victims of violence and slaughter.
And to the burden of anxiety and fear was added the crushing weight of
self-reproach, for it was his own sin that had brought this danger. His only
hope was in the mercy of God; his only defense must be prayer.” Great Controversy pg. 616 (emphasis
added)
must eat His flesh in order to be
saved. If we make the spiritual food of
the Word of God our priority then we will have the assurance that our physical
needs will be met. We must seek first
the kingdom of God and then all else will be added to us. Matt 6:11, 33; John 6:53-56
#7 Forgiveness and Forgiving: Without Christ in our lives we stand as
debtors before God. We have a sin debt
that we owe God and the only payment that is suitable is death. When we pray and ask God to forgive us of our
debts we are essentially asking Him to take away our sins. It is important that we confess each sin to
God so that we can pray to have victory over that sin. We must be careful to not just pray in vague
generalities. In public, yes, we should
speak in general terms because it not everyone’s business what we have done
against God. But in private we should
seek to have all of our sins washed away before the eyes of God. If you cannot think of sins for which you
need to ask forgiveness then ask the Lord to reveal it to you and He will do
so. Once you have asked for forgiveness
of your sins and received God’s forgiveness, then pray and ask the Lord to give
you a heart that is willing to forgive others.
We cannot expect God to forgive us if we are not willing to forgive
those who have wronged us no matter how severely they may have done so. Matt 6:12; Heb 9:22; John 1:29; Matt 18:34, 35
#8 Safeguard from Temptation: Lastly we
should pray that God will keep us free from falling back into our old
ways. When a person comes to Christ they
are said to be a new creature and that all things are become new. We must embrace this and move forward in that
promise. To linger in the past and to
wallow in our guilt is to give Satan a victory in our lives. It also says that we do accept God’s
forgiveness or that perhaps we do think Him capable of pulling us from the pit
of sin in which He found us. Matt 6:13; 2 Cor 5:17; Jer 17:9; Rom 7:19, 25
“…Jacob’s company, unarmed and
defenseless, seemed about to fall helpless victims of violence and slaughter.
And to the burden of anxiety and fear was added the crushing weight of
self-reproach, for it was his own sin that had brought this danger. His only
hope was in the mercy of God; his only defense must be prayer.” Great Controversy pg. 616 (emphasis
added)