Twenty Guidelines For Effective Prayer

From: ‘Prayer Changes Everything,  written by Bennie Mostert

• Persevere in prayer (Luke 18:1)
 “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not
give up.”

• Pray with confidence (Heb. 4:16)
 “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

• Resist the devil (Jas. 4:7)
 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

• Allow God to work (Ps. 37:5)
 “Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him and He will do ...”

• Pray specifically (Phil. 4:19; 4:6)
 “And my God will meet all your needs … in everything, by prayer and petition … present
your requests to God.”
•
 Pray in Jesus’ Name (John 4:13-14)
 “And I will do whatever you ask in my Name so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.
You may ask Me for anything in my Name and I will do it.”

• Pray in faith (Mark 11:22-24)
 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain:
‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he
says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer,
believe that you have received it and it will be yours.”

• Pray according to God’s promises (2 Cor. 1:20)
 “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through
Him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.”

• Don’t try to dictate to God (Isa. 55:8-9)
 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my
thoughts than your thoughts.”

God is almighty (Eph. 1:19-21)
 “ … and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of
his mighty strength which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and
seated Him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, and dominion, and every little that can
be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.”

• Pray according to God’s will (1 John 5:14-15)
 “This is the assurance we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to his
will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have
what we asked of Him.”

• Pray with expectation (Jer. 33:3)
“Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not
know.”

• Praise and thank God for answers (Ps. 100)
 “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, serve the Lord with gladness … ”

• Obey God and live a holy life (1 John 3:21-22)
 “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive
from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him.”

• Confess and break with all conscious and unconfessed sin (Prov. 28:9, 13)
 “If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable … He who conceals
his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

• Pray fervently and earnestly (Jas. 5:16)
“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

• Pray from your position of authority in Christ (Eph. 2:6)
 “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ
Jesus … ”

• Saturate your prayers in praise and worship (Rom. 11:33-36)
 “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his
judgments and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who
has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God that God should repay him? For from
Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever! Amen.”

 Wait upon the Lord so that He can answer you (Isa. 40:31; Ps. 145:15)
 “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like
eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isa. 40:31).
 “The eyes of all look to You and You give them their food at the proper time” (Ps. 145:15).

• Be honest with God in your prayers; do not try to hide things or misrepresent things
to God (Ps. 139:23-24)

“Search me, O God and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if
there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting