God’s Instructions for Answered Prayer

(How to Get Your Prayers Answered)

“Prayer is not monologue, but dialogue; God’s voice is its most essential part. Listening  God’s voice  is the secret of the assurance that He will listen to mine.” – Andrew Murray

The following article is an excerpt from my upcoming book, “The Life and Killing of Jesus.”

Matthew 6:5-8, “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. 9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11Give us this day our daily bread. 12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”

Jesus is teaching that there is a wrong and proper way of praying. Notice how Jesus begins in verse 7. He says when you pray, not if you pray. Paul emphasizes what Jesus taught on the consistency of prayer: “Pray without ceasing. 18In ever thing, give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you”(Thessalonians 5:17-18). Prayer is to be a time of rejoicing, worship, and giving thanks. That is an important observation; However, the main point Jesus is making is the motive of prayer. Is it to impress others, or is it to reach the throne of God?

I’m sometimes amazed at the length of some public prayers and wonder why they are so long and sometimes with meaningless repetition. Notice what Jesus says again in verse 7: “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” Jesus says in verse 7 not to pray as the heathen do. So, to a Jewish audience on that day, to pray like a heathen meant to pray as an unbeliever, someone who didn’t even know God. The Greek Word translated as “meaningless repetition” is “babbling” or “stammering;” this is somewhat like what a baby in its crib might do. Here is the truth: Quantity does not make up for quality. The prayer Jesus prayed in John chapter 17 was private, and it was only about 3 minutes long; this is just my opinion, but I believe that 15 seconds is plenty long for public prayer, and 3 minutes is plenty long for private prayer for the average, person, which most are, and which I think I am. I realize some have an enormous responsibility and may need a more extended prayer. However, it is far more important what God says back than what we say to Him.

We don’t impress God with our prayers; He owns the universe. The purpose of our prayers is to communicate with God to express our worship and petitions. The Pharisees had various prayer books for specific occasions: The Sabbath day and special holy days, such as Yom Kippur or Rosh Hashanah. We do not need prayers that are written in advance. The primary purpose of prayer is to have a meaningful conversation with God in our own words, expressing our present needs and worship. Jesus tells us in verse eight that the Heavenly Father knows what we need before we ever pray. God is concerned with the frequency of our prayers, their quality, and our attitude.

The more time we spend in prayer with God, the better things will go for us. It is of the essence that we learn how not to pray before we know how to pray. There are many verses about prayer from which to learn, and below are some of them:

• “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). 
• “Pray rejoicing in hope, being patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer” (Romans 12:12). 
• “Rejoice evermore” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). 
• “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6). 
• “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6:18).    
• “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (Matthew 21:22). 
• “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2). 
• “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26). 
• “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not” (Jeremiah 33:3). 
• “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7).

The Lord’s Prayer is probably the most misused part of all scripture. Christians often use this prayer contrary to what Jesus intended. In the first place, this was not a prayer that Jesus would pray, and he did not need to be forgiven of sins. In the previous verses, Jesus has been teaching to avoid repetitious prayers, yet Christians often do the opposite by repeating this model prayer repeatedly. Some might ask why Jesus gave us this prayer if He did not want us to repeat it mindlessly. Here’s why: Effective prayer requires sensible structure, logic, and purpose to have meaning; the model prayer is the blueprint, which has all of those features. 

Notice how Jesus starts in verse 9: “After this manner, therefore, pray ye:” He didn’t say, “Repeat after me when you pray.” We start our prayers with adoration and worship of God. Second, we express our present needs; third, we describe our relationship with others by our willingness to forgive them. In summary, our prayers should always include worshipping God, personal concerns, and concerns for others.

Each one of those three main topics has subtopics. First, our prayers will be directed to God in our relationship with the Father.; “Our Father which art in heaven.” Second, we are to acknowledge who our heavenly Father is; He is Holy, “Hallowed be your name,” which expresses our adoration for our Father and our worship of Him. Third, we are to be eternal-minded by“Thy kingdom come it will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We acknowledge that the kingdom will be set up on earth one day.

There are also some subtopics under our personal needs: First, we are instructed to lift our individual needs to God, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Bread is synonymous with all our needs. Second, we must confess our sins, “Forgive us our debts,”which is our sins. The third is our relationship to others: Jesus says in part b of verse 12, “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,” or to forgive others their misdeeds toward us. We should spend time confessing our sins to the Lord and seeking His forgiveness. We should also resolve our anger and resentment toward others who have said or done harmful things to us. In our subsequent study, Jesus will return to this topic in verses 14-15. So, we will wait until then for further comment.

Relating to our personal needs, Jesus says to pray for protection in our spiritual warfare with Satan. “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”God does not lead us into the temptation to sin. In the original Greek, Jesus meant to lead us away from the enemy’s temptations. Therefore, we should pray for His protection and deliverance when we are under Satan’s attack. Satan is a real foe and enemy of believers who poses a real danger. We can expect attacks from Satan and the demons who follow him, so it is expedient to pray for God’s protection and deliverance. Prayer will empower us to withstand those attacks.

Finally, we must be careful not to pray as the Pharisees or like those who have no relationship with God. Through Christ, who imputed His righteousness to our account, we can boldly approach God, taking full advantage of all the blessings He has promised us.

When we structure our prayer to include the three major areas Jesus gave us in His examples in the model prayer and the subtopics, we can expect a prayer that gets God’s attention and brings results. The point is to use the outline Jesus gives and then fill it in with your worship and petitions from your heart. Our future life on this earth and our heavenly rewards depends significantly on our prayer life. When you pray according to the instructions given in the model prayer, expect results. God will be speaking back to you and taking action.