Key Prayer Principles

Pastor Gary Oser

I have been sharing with you on the subject of prayer. Over the next couple months I want to share some principles in regards to prayer.

First, pray in Jesus’ name.

Jesus said in John 14:13-14, “‘Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”

To ask in Jesus’ name does not mean just tacking the words, “…in Jesus’ name” on the end of your prayer. Rather, it means your prayer is consistent with Jesus’ desires and character. One of the ways to be sure you are praying in Jesus’ name is to pray the words of Scripture (the Bible). Jesus promises, “‘If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”

Second, pray with the right motives.

It is easy to do the right thing for the wrong reason. We can even do that with prayer. James says in James 4:3, “You ask and you do not receive because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your own pleasures.”

We often pray for things because we want to be comfortable and have a problem-free life. It is easy to pray for things which we think we need. However, we should pray as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane right before He was arrested and crucified. In the Garden, He prayed, “‘Not My will, but Your (the Father’s) will be done.’” If you are not seeing answers to prayer, you might check your motives."

Third, from Jesus’ instructions about prayer in Matthew 6:7, don’t use meaningless repetition.

Certainly, Jesus wasn’t saying that we shouldn’t repeat prayer requests. The idea is that of adding words without adding meaning. At the end of this verse, Jesus says, “‘…for they (the Gentiles, non-Jewish people) suppose that they will be heard for their many words.”

As we pray, we need to be careful we don’t just mindlessly go down a list of names or requests. One commentator well said, “Prayer that is thoughtless and indifferent is offensive to God, and should be offensive to us as well.”

Finally, don’t give up!

Prayer is hard work. It takes time and energy, so it is tempting to let up or give up. Jesus shared a Parable (story) in Luke 18 for the purpose of encouraging us. According to Luke 18:1, Jesus, speaking of His followers, says, “‘…that they should always pray and not give up’” (NIV).

God delights to answer our prayers, but He doesn’t always do it as quickly as we would like. We need to keep on praying and believing that God will answer in His time and way.