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What Makes Prayer Successful

Writer's picture: Zachary AcostaZachary Acosta

The Goal of Prayer


In a culture of busyness and instant gratification it has become increasingly easy treat God like a vending machine. We don't acknowledge Him until we need or want something and then we expect immediate results after we pray. This culture has trained us to prioritize our needs, wants, and personal comfort. We must not forget that God does not exist for our personal happiness; We exist for His eternal glory. If prayer is perceived as a conversation instead of as a means to obtain something related to our personal happiness, success should be measured by the depth of intimacy rather than the amount of “answered prayer from the vending machine of Heaven”.

Intimacy with God doesn’t mean we just say nice things to Him. Intimacy is continually experiencing and growing in the knowledge of His heart. Did you know the mystery's within the heart of Jesus are not inaccessible for you and I? The secrets of the Lord are reserved for those who fear Him (Psalm 25:14) and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is true understanding (Proverbs 9:10). Through conversation with God we can begin to uncover all that's hidden away in His heart. The Apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesian Church to have a Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus (Ephesians 1:17), and he prayed for the Colossian Church to be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and insight (Colossians 1:9). We can access the very intentions and emotions of the heart of God through prayer.

We may have our own agenda when it comes to our prayer time but so does He. We may approach God with a list of requests and while those are certainly important to Him, He has a bigger plan taking place. His priority for our prayer lives is firmly anchored in the unveiling of the knowledge of His heart by drawing us into life-long friendship with Him. This isn't to say He doesn't care about our requests though. He is able to both fully care for our requests while also drawing us into friendship. In fact, every time He responds to our requests it's a display of His loving-kindness which is meant mostly to cause us to be even more dependent on Him.

In His infinite wisdom God has created you and I with limitations. Our limits as humans lead us to a place of leaning on Him in all areas of life. Often we experience moments where we walk through valleys of crisis, heartbreak, and seasons of striving that lead us to the end of ourselves. It's in this place that our weakness is exposed before God. Here at the end of ourselves, we often lift prayers of desperation to God and through admiting our weaknesses and we become fully dependent on His abilities and His strength instead of our own. Paul understood that when we confess our limitations and weaknesses, His power is made perfected. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). Voluntary weakness is a dynamic of intimacy that will lead us to experiencing a fresh measure of the power of God. It's important to note that God doesn't delight in our incapabilities, He delights in the opportunity to serve us.


The Principle of Agreement


As we behold Him we become like Him. It's in the "becomeing like Him" that we begin to have an "effective prayer life". Effective praying doesn't mean we say all the right words or have the most poetic language, it simply means that His desires become our desires thus leading us to pray for His will to be done. Apart from God we might think we know the best strategies for life but the reality is there is a path that is the most excellent way and it is only accessed through intimate agreement with His heart. Phillipians 1:9-10 says, "And this I pray, that your love may overflow still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may discover the things that are excellent". What actually gives weight to our whispers of agreement in the place of prayer is a lifestyle that is rooted in agreement with His ways.

Cicumstances in life tend to challenge our agreement with Him, all while the enemy spits lies at us trying to get us to question God's character. In light of this, if we are to persist in agreement with God it requires a few things. We must have confidence that He is who He says He is and that He will do what He says He will do. If we don't believe those two things we'll likely try to accomplish life's tasks in our own strength apart from God and the resources of His Kingdom. However, If we remain confident in Him and His abilities, an unrelenting consistency to boldly approach Him until there is breakthrough will be the result. Luke 18 demonstrates a widow's restless pursuit for justice because she knew the unjust judge had the ability to grant her that very justice. Imagine what happens when the people of God relentlessly approach Jesus who is a true and righteous judge.

God's Kingdom is relational and the workings of His heart are advanced through partnership. This is exciting for you and I because, we have a role to play in carrying out the plans and purposes of God's heart. Mike Bickle says, "We can't do His part and He won't do ours". In His patience God will wait to move until we ask Him to.

Jesus also linked the principle of agreement to corporate prayer. (Matthew 18:19-20 NASB), "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." When believers gather in His name and agree with one another, The Father will respond and Jesus will manifest His presence there too. This is one of the many reasons corporate prayer is essential to sustaining a successful prayer life. Together, we inspire, encourage, and challenge one another to continually agree with God despite our circumstances.


The Greatest Commandment - Defining Success

(Matthew 22:34-40 NASB), “But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him: 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Often we allow the culture around us to determine our definition of success. In America, the business model of success seems to have infected our definition of success; more people, more money, more “stuff” equals success. I'm glad the Kingdom of Heaven doesn't opporate according to American standards. American success, however, isn’t always a bad thing. We all love when our hard work and dedication to something brings positive results to our lives don't we? But if we allow this type of mentality to be our only definition of success we will find ourselves in a works/results-based relationship with God which will lead us to remain distant from Him (espcecially when we haven't "perfomed well").

In Jesus' response to the Pharisees He uncovered the true definition of success. Jesus taught that success isn’t defined by what we can do for Him in our own strength but by the consistency of our love for Him. If we love Him we are successful. There is a sweet simplicity found here because even the weak expression of our love does not disqualify the authenticity of it. Weak love is still real love, and the journey of genuine Christianity is learning to grow and persist in real love.

Hear what Jesus said about success to a woman named Martha: He entered her home and Martha was focused on all of the preparations while her sister Mary was preocupied at Jesus' feet listenting to Him talk. When Martha confronted Jesus, she asked Him to tell Mary to stop being distracted and to help her with the preparations, but in His response He told Martha that she was actually the one who was distracted. Jesus said that Mary had chosen the "one thing necessary" and the "good part". Mary was successful in this moment even though there was a list of tasks still unfulfilled.

(Luke 10:38-42 NASB), “Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who was also seated at the Lord’s feet, and was listening to His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do the serving by myself? Then tell her to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary; for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

In light of all of this we must understand that prayer, conversation with God, is God’s primary plan for us to grow and persist in love for Him. It’s not mostly about just getting what we want from Him, It’s about getting Him. Despite how busy we might be, how incompetent and unprepared, or how under qualified we might feel; every small sacrifice we make to sit at His feet along with every gentle whisper of prayer that is rooted in love is a deposit in what Jesus defines as eternal success.




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