Living In Victory Everyday

The Teaching Ministry of Evangelist Paul Duckworth

Living In Victory Through Prayer

When you buy something you expect it to work. If it doesn’t you take it back and complain. We are a bit like that with prayer. We say, “God I prayed but YOU didn’t answer. Why didn’t YOU do what I asked?” All of this puts the blame unfairly on God. We blame God as if it was His fault that He didn’t answer our prayer. We put the responsibility on God to answer our prayer. The truth is that the responsibility for answered prayer lies NOT with God but with us.

Why don’t we always see answers to our prayers? I think it is because we don’t know how to pray Biblically. We hear much teaching on prayer; how to pray, how to get God to answer, new formats to use etc. The truth is that most, if not all of these ‘new’ ways to pray do not have any Biblical foundation. That is why every month there is a new book out with a new format telling us how God wants us to pray in this day. For example, before ‘The Second Gulf War’ I heard of one intercessor who said that God told him that if 1,000,000 believers pray then God would deliver up Saddam Hussein and no blood would be shed. My first thought was, ‘What if only 999,999 people pray?’

I believe that the following eight Biblical principles on prayer will revolutionise your prayer life. Although I have listed eight keys to effective prayer I am not saying that there are only eight. These are simply the eight I have identified as being the most obvious.

1. Pray to God

Jesus told us that when we pray we should say, “Our Father…” (Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:2) showing conclusively that we should pray to God the Father, not to Jesus, not to the Holy Spirit. Jesus did not tell us to pray to Him. In fact He told us that He would be praying for us to the Father. If Jesus prays to the Father it is a good example for us to follow. It also shows us that there needs to be a relationship with God before our prayer is effective. We need to pray “Our Father”. As believers, God is our Father but if someone has not made Jesus their Saviour then God is not their Father. Therefore, they can not expect prayer to work.

2. Pray in Jesus’ Name (John 14:13)

Jesus spoke a lot about using His name (John 14:13; 14:14; 15:16; 16:23; 16:24; 16:26). Praying in Jesus’ Name is not some mystical phrase that we tag on to the end of our prayer to guarantee the prayer being answered. As though if we forgot to say “… In Jesus’ Name” our prayer wouldn’t get answered.

“In Jesus’ Name” is not like saying “abracadabra” or “open sesame”. It means to pray with the authority that is in His Name. We have this authority (Matthew 28:18-20). It is having the authority to use His Name as though Jesus Himself was giving the command.

Authority can only be used to enforce laws if that authority has been delegated. A policeman can enforce the law only after he has been given the authority to enforce the law. In America policemen are often called Law Enforcement Officers. They can only enforce laws once the law is in existence. If there is no law against something they can’t enforce it. We can only pray in Jesus’ Name, taking authority over those things we have been given authority over. Therefore, we can not add “in Jesus’ Name” onto a prayer that violates God’s word. For example, if we hate our boss we can not pray for our boss to die and go to hell and add “in Jesus’ Name” to the end of the prayer expecting it to work. That would violate God’s laws. Praying in Jesus’ Name is praying with His authority.

3. Pray According to God’s Will (the Bible) (1 John 5:14-15)

In general God’s will is God’s word. There are specific plans that God has for our life and general plans which are contained in His word. In Jeremiah 29:11-13 we see that we can seek God in prayer to know His will. There are two types of God’s will – His perfect will and His permissive will. God’s perfect will is God’s best for us. God’s permissive will is what God will allow even if it isn’t His best for us.

To pray according to God’s will we need to know God’s will. God’s will is His word (the Bible). God’s will for our lives will NEVER violate what is written in the Bible. Praying according to God’s will is praying according to God’s word. We pray wrong prayers because we don’t pray according to the Scriptures. Maybe that is because we are ignorant of what the Bible teaches (Hosea 4:6).

We pray prayers which are asking God to do what he has told us to do. For example, we pray for God to heal people but He told us to lay hands on the sick. We need to exercise the authority that He has given us. Failure to do that will lead to frustration. We will then start to ask if prayer actually works. This gives the devil an opportunity to say an emphatic “NO”.

If we think that it is God’s will for us to divorce our spouse because we are fed up with them, we are wrong. God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16). Ignorance of the Bible is a hindrance to answered prayer. If we can never discern God’s will for our life then we will have difficulty in praying in line with God’s will.

Even if you know God’s will for your life there is still a right way and a wrong way to pray. If God wants you to be a pastor, He will not give you immediate responsibility for a large church, so praying to be the pastor of a 1000 strong congregation will not be answered until after you have first looked after a small group, then have leadership responsibility, then become an associate pastor etc. There has to be a period of growth (Mark 4:28). When you have been faithful in the little things God will promote you (Matthew 25:21, 23).

God will answer according to our spiritual maturity. He will not give us something that we are unable to handle. That would make God irresponsible. You wouldn’t give an inexperienced teenager the responsibility to manage a large multi-national company. There would have to be a time of learning, growth, maturity, and experience.

4. Pray With the Right Motives (James 4:2-3)

Our motives must be selfless not selfish. If we selfishly pray for a million pounds just to have a big house and a lazy lifestyle, God will NOT answer that prayer. Of course, someone could give us a big house or money, or leave them to us in their will. But that is NOT necessarily God answering that prayer if the prayer is prayed with the wrong motives. God will NOT violate His own word. God knows our heart and we can not kid God by praying something but trying to hide our real motive from Him.

5. Pray Whilst Abiding in Jesus (not in sin) (John 15:7)

If we are in sin we can not be in Jesus at the same time. You can not be in two places at once. Therefore, sin cancels the effectiveness of prayer. Jeremiah 7 teaches us that God was unhappy with rebellious Israel. He told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 7:16 not to pray for them because God wouldn’t hear Jeremiah’s prayer. God wanted to teach them a lesson.

Psalm 66:18 and John 9:31 tell us that God does not hear sinners. That does not mean that God does not hear a repentant person’s prayer. There is a BIG difference between a sinner praying selfishly and what we call “The Sinners’ Prayer”. For example a sinner could pray that the police won’t catch them after they have committed a crime – God won’t answer that prayer. God won’t supernaturally erase finger prints or make the robber invisible etc. However, a sinner who wants to accept Jesus and has a repentant heart BEFORE they pray will be heard.

6. Pray in Faith

When we ask we do receive (Matthew 7:7) if we fulfil the requirements in Matthew 21:22 and Mark 11:24 (asking in faith). Just as when the fig tree was cursed (Mark 11:13-14), we can not see beneath the surface. We can not see what God is doing until we see the manifestation. We must believe that He is working. Many times we do not see the answer manifested in the physical realm because God is a spirit and He operates in the spiritual realm. We must reach, by faith, into the spiritual realm and appropriate the manifestation of the result of our prayer.

If we waver and doubt then we abort (or at best delay) the manifestation of the result of our prayer.

It is evident that there is often time between asking and receiving. There is seedtime and harvest (Genesis 8:22). That is, there is seed (which is planted) then time (waiting for growth) and then harvest (the manifestation). So, we see that the manifestation of what was prayed for is not when the prayer was answered; God answered when we prayed (Mark 11:24). Mark 11:24 is often referred to as the Prayer of Faith. All prayer should be prayed in faith. There is a difference between praying in faith and the Prayer of Faith. The strength of a prayer is not the length of a prayer. It’s not how long you pray, it’s how strong you pray. A strong prayer is a prayer prayed in faith.

7. Pray without Wavering (James 1:6-8)

According to James 1:7 if we ask wavering we will not receive anything. How do we waver? We doubt. We look at the time delay before praying and the answer. If it is longer than we think it should be we start to doubt and think that God hasn’t heard, or if He has heard He won’t answer. We are then double minded (verse 8). We pray one thing but think and say something contrary. In other words we start to think that our prayer isn’t working. As soon as we think like that the devil comes in and agrees with us.

8. Honouring Your Spouse

In 1 Peter 3:7 we see that a man should “give honour unto the wife…that your prayers be not hindered”. As this verse starts with, “Likewise” I believe that it can equally be applied to the wife honouring her husband. In other words if you do not love, honour, cherish or respect your spouse your prayers will be hindered. That’s a sobering thought to end with for all married couples!

Reaching the Lost, Teaching the found