How does prayer work?

Answer

There is no magical formula for prayer. In simple terms, prayer is maintaining communication with God—speaking to Him, spending time in His presence, and drawing near to Him. Through prayer, we express adoration and gratitude to God, we present our requests to Him, we intercede for others, and we gain insight into His character and His will for our lives.

Understanding how prayer functions is a natural part of maturing in our relationship with the Lord. As we cultivate an active and continual relationship with God our Father through Jesus Christ His Son, empowered by His indwelling Spirit, we uncover the essence of prayer.

Prayer is a distinctly human activity; no other creatures have the privilege of communicating with their Creator and Redeemer in this manner. However, prayer can seem daunting, particularly if you are unfamiliar with the practice or if you have been taught to view prayer as a complicated, formal, or ritualistic activity.

The cornerstone of effective prayer is a redemptive connection with Jesus Christ. Jesus instructed us to pray in His name (see John 16:23-24), meaning to pray in His authority, based on our union with Him, for purposes that would honor and glorify God. Because Jesus serves as our “great high priest,” we can “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence” «Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. », (Hebrews 4:14,16) «Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.», (Hebrews 4:14,16).

Effective prayer—prayer that produces results—must be offered in faith (James 1:5-7). Part of praying in faith, Jesus taught, is that we persevere in prayer and never give up «And he spoke a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; », (Luke 18:1). Prayer is relational. It is not meant to be forced but, rather, to flow comfortably from the heart since God knows our hearts (Psalm 44:21; Luke 16:15; Acts 15:8; Romans 8:27).

Prayer is based on God’s love for us. As children of a compassionate Father, we can trust God and turn to Him to care for our needs (Isaiah 64:8-9; Psalm 103:13-14).

If we genuinely want to know how prayer works, we will make it our mission to study the prayer life of Jesus Christ, God’s Son. More than anyone else, Jesus shared a close personal connection with God the Father, and, therefore, He is our best example to follow.

Jesus gave His disciples this specific teaching about prayer:

“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!” (Matthew 6:5-8; NLT).

Jesus stressed honest, heartfelt prayer based on a loving relationship.Relationship with God the Father. Through the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus also gave His disciples a pattern for prayer. First, He showed them what their motives in prayer ought to be—that God’s name be honored and His will be fulfilled: “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’” (Matthew 6:9-10).

Submission to God’s will was a defining characteristic of Jesus Christ’s prayer life (see Luke 22:42). God answers prayer that aligns with His will: “This is the confidence 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” (1 John 5:14-15).

Jesus taught the disciples that, through prayer, they could come to God to meet their daily needs: “Give us today our daily bread” «Give us this day our daily bread. », (Matthew 6:11). Our Father takes care of us. We don’t have to worry about what we might need today or in the future; we talk to God about our needs, and we depend on Him as our faithful provider.

Prayer also involves searching our hearts, recognizing that we need God’s forgiveness, and confessing our sins: “And forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us” «And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. », (Matthew 6:12, NLT). Just as our Father graciously forgives us, we are to forgive those who wrong us. Giving and receiving forgiveness is a vital element of our intimate fellowship with God in prayer.

Jesus also taught that prayer is an opportunity to receive strength from God to resist the enemy.S Temptations: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13;cf: 26:41). Prayer helps us stay connected to the Holy Spirit’s power and guidance to resist temptation and conquer sin.

Pastor and author Andrew Murray offered a profound insight into effective prayer, stating that “it must be for the glory of God, in complete surrender to His will, with unwavering faith, in the name of Jesus, and with a perseverance that, if necessary, refuses to give up” (With Christ in the School of Prayer, Fleming H. Revell Co., 1895, p. 6).

So far, we have only begun to explore the depths of how prayer operates. The Bible contains a wealth of information on this subject. Ultimately, prayer is sustained by the believer’s continual relationship with the living God. Those who belong to Christ have the special privilege of dedicating their lives to uncovering more and more about prayer through intimate communion with their heavenly Father.