Prayer is a crucial part of your relationship with God, yet it’s tempting to neglect this vital communication because it can sometimes feel like your prayers just bounce off the sky.

If this is happening to you, you are likely making prayer far more complicated than it needs to be.

Simply put, God wants to hear from you. He longs for a relationship with you. And that’s what prayer is—an extension of an existing relationship. The better the relationship, the better your prayer life.

You don’t have to pray as eloquently as some of the preachers you see. God isn’t looking at your vocabulary. He’s looking at your heart.

So let’s talk today about how to pray prayers that get answered.

Fortunately, Jesus gave us explicit instructions in Matthew 6:5-15. They are:

Pray in private.

In Matthew 6:6 Jesus says, “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.” Like any good relationship, God wants you to make time for Him.

Be sincere.

When you pray, don’t babble on and on like the Gentiles do in Matthew 6:7. Robotically reciting words will not get your prayers answered because they are not from your heart. This doesn’t mean that you don’t need to be persistent; you do. But sincerity is more important.

Follow Jesus’ formula for prayer.

In Matthew 6:9-10, Jesus gave us an outline for effective prayer.

It starts with worship: “Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.

We are to exalt His name above all else.

Then it continues with His Will: “May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”

Remember that you are praying for God’s will to be done, not yours.

Then comes the requests:

“ Give us today the food we need,” followed by the confession and forgiveness of sins. “And forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who sin against us.”

We are to keep our confession and forgiveness of others constant and current.

Then we ask for protection: “And don’t let us yield to temptation but rescue us from the evil one.”

We recognize that we are powerless over Satan and the temptations of this world without God’s sovereignty. As you can see, your prayers should look radically different than the prayers that beg for your requests to be granted

Be bold.

The blood of Jesus gave us access to our heavenly Father, but if you have not accepted Jesus as your savior, you will likely find your prayers bouncing off the sky. That’s because the only way to get to the God the Father is through His son. Jesus made it plain in John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Yes, we are all creations of God but we are not all children of God. To become a child of God you must be adopted into His family. Thankfully He made that very easy to do, but it’s your choice. He will not force you but you will also not get family privileges if you have refused to enter into the family.

If you are ready to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, pray this with me: “Jesus, I invite you into my life. I repent of my sins and acknowledge that I need you. Would you be the Lord of my life? Amen.”

Yes, it’s that simple and if you prayed that prayer from your heart, you are now born again into the family of God. Welcome!

Believe.

One of the greatest barriers to prayer is unbelief. So often, we pray prayers and doubt they will get answered. That’s showing a lack of trust in God. Hebrews 11:6 says: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” What’s the point in praying if you aren’t going to believe that He will answer you?

God loves you so much that He sent His son Jesus to die on the cross for you so that you could have direct communication with Him. My prayer is that you will take full advantage of that gift.

Want more? Let’s grow in faith together. Join us for a FREE 5 Day Mountain Moving Faith Devotional. You can grab it here

Hi, I’m Kris.