6 Steps to Effectual Prayer

Know what You want from God (Be Decisive)

JAMES 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that doubts is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Find the Scriptures that Support Your Request (Known will of God)

We know that faith begins where the will of God is known. And we know that God’s Word is His will. So find scriptures that definitely promise the things you are asking for.

The reason many people are not praying with confidence and faith is that they are not finding Scripture that proves that God wants them to have those things they are desiring

JOSHUA 1:8 8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt MEDITATE therein day and night, that thou may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for THEN thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and THEN thou shalt have good success.

Sometimes to build the Word into your spirit so you can stand in faith for an answer to prayer.

Ask (petition) God according to His Word

Certainly, the Lord knows what we need even before we ask, but He still said for us to ask Him.

Your heavenly Father knows that ye have need of all these things” (Matt. 6:32).

Jesus Himself said we are to ask God for what we need.

JOHN 16:23,24 23 And in that day ye shall ASK me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 24 until now have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

MATTHEW 7:7,8 7 ASK, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that ask receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.

Believe You Have Received

MARK 11:23,24 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. So ask God for the things you want and need, and then believe that you have them. In other words, when you pray, believe you receive what you asked for

Meditate on God’s Promises (Keep them in front of your eyes & Remind God of your Petition and His Word)

Prov 4:20-20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh

Stay in Faith and Give thanks to God for Answers before you see the results

Rom 4:17-21 in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

Now it’s true the believer won’t find specific direction for every decision he must make in life. But the Bible promises that the Spirit of Truth who dwells within us will guide us into all truth

(John 16:13). And the believer who is walking in fellowship with the Father and obeying His Word can rest assured that the Holy Spirit will lead and guide him in all the affairs of life.

The believer walking in fellowship with the Lord

Through His Word won’t ask for anything outside of the will of God. If a believer is not walking in fellowship with the Lord through His Word, he is not going to have a successful prayer life and get answers anyway. Jesus said in John 15:7, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

The Prayer of Faith and Petition

Before I pray for anything, I find the answer for what I want or need in the Word. And if I don’t know what God’s will is, I find out what the Word says because God’s Word is God’s will. I don’t just pray to be praying. I would be wasting my time trying to pray in faith if I didn’t know what the Word says. I couldn’t pray in faith. I would be praying in doubt and unbelief and it wouldn’t work. It would be just words

God and His Word Are One

How do I know I have the petitions that I desired of Him? Because I know He heard me. How do I know He heard me? Because I prayed according to His will. How do I know I prayed according to His will? Because God’s Word is God’s will, and I prayed according to God’s Word. Therefore, I prayed according to His will.

That is what gives us confidence, boldness, and faith to stand before God in prayer? It is the Word of God. The Psalmist of old said, “The entrance of thy words giveth light.” (Ps. 119:130). Again, the Psalmist said, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Ps. 119:105). When we walk in the light of the Word, we are not walking in darkness, and we can be effective in prayer.

Many times, when we pray, we pray in darkness because we are not basing our prayers on the Word of God.

Let’s read again: “… this is the CONFIDENCE that we have in him, that, if we ask anything ACCORDING TO HIS WILL” (1 John 5:14). But walking by sight and not by faith is what is hindering your prayers. Doubt and unbelief will rob you of God’s greater blessings and render your praying ineffective.

There is no question that it is God’s will to save the lost. Therefore, to pray for lost loved ones to be saved is to pray according to God’s will. When we know God’s will, we should have confidence before God when we pray.

1 TIMOTHY 2:4, Who [God] will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

2 PETER 3:9, The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

JOHN 3:16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Knowing what the Word says, you can see with what confidence we can come to God in

prayer. If our praying is according to His will, or His Word, He hears us, for His Word is His will.

JOHN 15:7

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Under what conditions did Jesus say, “ye shall ask what ye will” (John 15:7)?

He said, “IF YE ABIDE IN ME, and MY WORDS ABIDE IN YOU, [then] ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7).

If you are born again, then you are abiding in Him. But then He also said, … and my words abide in you….”