Effective Prayer

One practice that I have had trouble being consistent with is prayer. 

At times, I have been very regular, and consistent. At times, prayer has been practically non-existent. Sometimes, God has seemed close. Sometimes, God has seemed far away. Sometimes, he has acted quickly, enthusiastically, and powerfully. Sometimes, it seems like God is saying "Are you kidding?"

And at times, when I have been consistent, it seems like the prayer gets mechanical, formal, and repetitious.

Some people look at prayer, as if it is a check-box to mark off. Or it is a magic spell to get God to give you some sort of advantage.

What if prayer is an expression of a person's relationship with God, and one of the means of partnering with God in affecting the spiritual climate of the places that person touches.

Seeking God to intervene becomes part of relationship. It becomes more like asking your dad for help with homework, or to play with you, or to get your kite out of a tree.

Sometimes, it seems like there are rules for effective prayer. And by rules, I don't mean there is formal structure and routine to follow. I mean a rule more like: "Look both ways before you cross the street." It is just something you do, you make it a rule, so you don't get hit.

But even rules require a little flexibility. I know of a Japanese college student who got hit by a car crossing the street. It wasn't that she didn't look. She followed her habitual pattern. But that pattern does not work in the US, because Japan, like the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, drive on the other side of the street. Look left, then right, doesn't work in Japan.

I am reading a book called "Moving Mountains" by John Eldredge. He is trying to describe (what I am calling) rules of effective prayer. There are two rules, that are introduced in this book, that I am hoping to implement to grow in relationship, and effectiveness.

The first rule is: get aligned. When we give our allegiance to Jesus, we can be said to be choosing to be getting our lives aligned with God. Please understand, I am not referring to this initial, fundamental alignment.

Every day, we get battered by the world: war, crime, discrimination, bad attitudes at work, and driving on a freeway. Life seems intent to blow us off course. Each blows distracts us, twists us away from a properly tuned relationship with God. We forget who he is. We forget who we are.

Getting aligned is simply getting God, our lives, the world, and everything that is going on, back into the correct focus, and perspective.

We can do this by spending time in worship. Worship is simply bringing to our attention the greatness of God. We remind ourselves of his character, and attributes. We remind ourselves of his works for us. We remind ourselves of how he views, and treats us.

We can also declare our alignment. This could sound a lot like giving him allegiance again. We confirm our desire to know him, to be transformed, and to live as he designed. We could confirm our desire, and intention, to think, speak, feel, and act in agreement with his intentions for our lives. We could confirm our desire to live as we were designed, as fully as possible.

The mis-aligning forces pull us away from agreement with God, with his word, and with his plans, and purposes. They put a strain on our relationship with our Father. It is agreement with God that powers prayer's effectiveness. So, alignment ought to be step one in gaining prayer effectiveness.

The second rules is: ask God what he wants me to pray for.

People discuss why God is not working in an area. There is sin. There is a timing issue. There are blocking issues. There are a number of layers, interlocking together.

Sometimes, situations are simple. Sometimes, they are very complicated, and confusing. They are like a gigantic log jam. blocking a river. Who do you suppose would know which log to push? Which way? How hard?

I know situations where I don't know what to do, what to say, or even how to pray. I would probably make things worse, if I did something. So, I ask the one who does know.

Get aligned. Ask the Expert.