P. R. A. Y.

1 Thes 5:17; Ephes 6:18; There is a need for constant prayer. As good Christian people we often check this off thinking we’ve got it and understand it. However, how many times do we go without praying? We should be constantly in prayer with God. A conversation between the Christian and God. We ought to want to hear from God.

Romans 12:12, God doesn’t want a one-way conversation and He doesn’t want a quick session of 5 minutes. Books about prayer, there are hundreds and thousands of them out there. However, Jesus told us how to pray and what to pray. We don’t need these extra prayers especially if they involve self and overlook Christ.

James 5
The real test is not about prayer but if we do it and do it correctly. We will never be where we need to be until we fully humble ourselves to prayer. There is public prayer and private prayer. Public prayer is the typical congregational prayer where we pray together for each other’s prayers. We do a lot of that and one can’t have too much of pray.

Praise
Matthew 6:9-10
The first thing to do in your prayer is to praise Him. One has to understand who it is that you’re praying to. A lot of times we go at praying with it focused on ourselves. We should start our prayer by praising God.

Repentance
Matthew 6:12
If you’re not willing to forgive your neighbor then how do you expect God to forgive you? Giving mercy where mercy isn’t deserved is one of the hardest things for a human to do. If there is going to be fellowship between you and God then you’ll need to ask for forgiveness. There should be a cry from the soul when sin occurs and a wanting to rid oneself of it.

Ask
Matthew 6:13
One doesn’t need to ask until they’ve honored God and repented of their sins. When we go into prayer we go to Him because He’s the only one that can do them. If someone else could do them we would certainly ask that person.

Yield
The proud will not have their prayers answered. This is because they don’t pray to God but for others to hear them. Effectual prayer is between you and God. It’s a two-way communication where He speaks to us and we are speaking to Him. There are things He wants us to do too. We should be saying yes to God and no to everything else. When He says for us to do something we should just do it. Prayer is not just about what you want but what He wants too.