Pray Effectively Part V

 YIELD: The Fourth Step in Effective Prayer

 

Psalm 37:4 provides us the “Y” in the acronym P-R-A-Y, the four elements to effective prayer we have been discussing over the last few devotionals. 

Here is what Psalm 37:4 says,

Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Now the Hebrew word for delight in this verse literally means to become soft or pliable. This means that “delighting” in the Lord is assuming a yielded posture before God. 

So the “Y” in P-R-A-Y stands for yield. The question is: How do you practice yielding to God when you pray? Yielding is when you stop talking, and you wait, listen, and seek to hear from God. 

In my own practice of prayer, I will often bow before God and ask Him, “God, is there anything You want to say to me? Do You have any instructions for me? Is there anything You want me to change?” 

Then I silently wait for Him to speak to me.

As you assume this posture of being yielded and waiting quietly before Him, you will be surprised at some of the things that come to your attention: “You need to spend more time with your daughter,” “Take your wife out on a date,” “Bake your neighbor a pie and build a bridge over which the gospel can travel,” “Spend more time praising Me,” “Show your gratitude and appreciation for those who have been helping you in your life.” 

You will indeed hear from God if you ask Him to speak into your heart, and wait silently before Him. 

That is the last element of effective prayer: praise, repent, ask, yield. Your prayers can indeed be effective if you commit to these four principles. That is how to P-R-A-Y.

*Psalms 37:4

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.

Pray Effectively Part IV

 The Conditions for Answered Prayer

 

Last time we talked about the “A” in the acronym P-R-A-Y, which is our way of understanding the steps in effective prayer. That “A” stands for ask, and I have come to believe that too many Christians don’t believe that God wants them to ask.

God wants you to ask. He really does. But there are some conditions He gives in order to answer your requests. In John chapters 14-16 we find a number of these conditions.

We need to remember that these are Jesus’ last hours with the disciples; and He wants them to understand how prayer really works. Over and over He emphasizes the need to ask, but His answers will be based on three conditions.

First, in John 14:13, Jesus says your request must glorify God,

“And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”

Second, in John 15:7, He says your request must be consistent and in harmony with His Word,

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”

And finally, in John 16:23-24, Jesus sets the condition that your request bring you joy,

“And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

Over and over, Jesus commands you to ask. But when you ask, make sure your request will glorify God, that it is consistent with His Word, and that it will bring you joy.

*John 14:13

You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.

*John 15:7

But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!

*John 16:23-24

At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name.  You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.

Pray Effectively Part III

 ASK: The Third Step in Effective Prayer

 

In the last two devotionals we discovered that praise and repentance are the first two steps to effective prayer. Today I want to show you the very important third step of asking.

Last time we talked about how repentance is searching your own heart and asking God to put the spotlight on it, and then repenting of anything that He shows you. When your heart is clean, you can have confidence before God when you ask. As 1 John 3:21-22 says,

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

In Matthew 7:7-11, Jesus tells us,

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

Pretty clear, isn’t it? God loves you and wants the very best for you. Be careful not to water down the words of Jesus, or somehow try and explain them away or complicate them. He meant just what He said.

But there are some conditions. And next time we will look at those conditions for receiving what you ask God for.

*1 John 3:21-22

Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.

*Matthew 7:7-11

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?  Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not!  So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.

Pray Effectively Part II

 REPENT: The Second Step in Effective Prayer

 

In the last devotional we began to look at what makes for effective prayer by using the acronym P-R-A-Y. The first step is praise. Today, I want to focus on the second letter of our acronym, “R”, which stands for repent. 

By repentance in prayer, I mean taking the time before God to search your heart and repent of anything that has come between you and Him. Psalm 19:12-13 expresses it well,

Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.

Verse 12 begins with the question, “Who can understand his errors?” The psalmist is telling us, “You will not always know when you do something wrong. You will not always know when you get into an area that is not right.”

What David is pointing to are the secret faults and presumptuous sins which can still have dominion over you—even though you may not be aware that what you did was wrong. 

For example, sometimes we can allow attitudes to get into our hearts that we don’t realize are inconsistent with God’s character. Or sometimes we can do and say things that are detrimental, not only to us, but to others, and not really understand the damage we have done. 

How do you deal with these sins? You come before God and say, “God, put the spotlight on anything in my life that has raised a barrier between You and me, and I will repent of it.” 

So when you pray, ask God to reveal any sin in your life you may be overlooking. God will honor your heart of repentance.

*Psalms 19:12-13

How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.

Pray Effectively Part I

 PRAISE: The First Step in Effective Prayer

 

Praying consistently will change your life. In fact, many of the blessings God wants you to enjoy will never be realized unless you pray.

I think all Christians know they are supposed to pray, and all Christians want to pray. But many of God’s people, if they are completely frank and transparent about the issue, would have to admit their prayer life is somewhere between mediocre and non-existent.

Over the next few devotionals, I want to share with you four simple points which I have put into an acronym: P-R-A-Y. If you can spell the word pray, hopefully you will be able to remember how to make your prayer life more effective, and you will be inspired to pray more consistently.

Psalm 100 helps us understand the first letter, “P”, in the word P-R-A-Y, which stands for praise. Psalm 100:1-4 states it well,

Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Verse 2 tells us, Come before His presence with singing. And in verse 4 notice the words “enter into.” In other words, praise is how you are to enter God’s presence. It is the best way to begin your prayer.

When you want to come to God, you start with thanksgiving. You start with singing. You start with praise. Or, as The Message says, Enter with the password: “Thank you!”

Today, and every day, make praise the starting point of every conversation with God.

*Psalms 100:1-4

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.

Finding Rest Part V

Find Your People

 

Community—a body of individuals who unite together in fellowship, sharing attitudes, interests, and goals.

Intimacy with God doesn’t mean shutting yourself off from other people. In fact, sometimes it means making space for them. Rest is the perfect time to celebrate life with people you love. We’re not made to do life alone. We need each other.

Think about the kind of people you want in your life—people who inspire you to be better, to be more like Jesus. You are directly influenced by the people you spend the most time with. Are the people you’ve allowed into your life helping you grow?

Reflect: Reach out today and invite a friend to get together. Meet in person if you can, or at least connect on a video or voice call. Don’t set an agenda. Just show up and enjoy one another’s company. Afterwards, write down anything God showed you during your time together.

*Proverbs 13:20

Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.

*Galatians 6:2

Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.

*1 Corinthians 12:25-27

This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

*Hebrews 10:24

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

Finding Rest Part IV

Meditate on Scripture

 

Listen—to actively engage in hearing, giving thoughtful attention.

All Scripture is inspired by God. When we read or listen to God’s Word—and when we then actively reflect on what it says—over time, we learn to recognize God’s voice. Purposeful time in the Bible requires making it a priority to focus on just being with Jesus.

When you read or listen to Scripture, give it enough time and space to really let the words, the meaning, the tone, and the context wash over you. YouVersion offers hundreds of audio versions of the Bible, so it’s easy to just press Play and listen.

If you have a Google or Amazon voice activated device, you might enjoy listening to Psalms with YouVersion Rest. Simply try one of the following:

“Ok Google, open YouVersion Rest.”

“Alexa, open YouVersion Rest.”

(You can also find our YouVersion Rest Playlist on YouTube, and try our YouVersion Rest Video Collection inside the Bible App.)

Reflect: Set aside 30 minutes today to read or listen to God’s Word. During that time, snooze your calendar and notifications. Take notes and journal your thoughts.

*2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

*John 10:2-5

But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.  The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.  They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”

*Romans 10:17

So faith comes from hearing that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.

*Psalms 116:7

Let my soul be at rest again, for the Lord has been good to me.

*Psalms 91:1-2

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.