1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,120 Speaker 1: Teach Us to Pray is brought to you by Life 2 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:05,600 Speaker 1: Audio and is a part of our Faith Toolkit series. 3 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:15,400 Speaker 1: For more inspirational faith affirming podcasts, visit lifeaudio dot com. 4 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:18,639 Speaker 2: Hello friend, you are listening to the Teach Us to 5 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:22,639 Speaker 2: Pray podcast with me Christina Patterson, where we teach believers 6 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:25,280 Speaker 2: practical and real life tips on how to grow your 7 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 2: faith in relationship with God through the power of prayer. 8 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 2: If there's one thing we've learned so far on this podcast, 9 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:36,520 Speaker 2: it is that prayer is powerful. And I will say 10 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 2: this lightly as some sort of Christian cliche, I say 11 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:43,199 Speaker 2: it because it's true. Through the power of prayer, I 12 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:48,640 Speaker 2: have seen lives changed, bodies healed, hearts transformed, and that's 13 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:51,240 Speaker 2: just in my own life. What I love the most 14 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 2: about prayer is that it doesn't have to be complicated. 15 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 2: As we've also learned, the five minute prayer at the 16 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 2: sink washing the dishes can be just as effective as 17 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,960 Speaker 2: the one hour prayer in your prayer closet. The effectiveness 18 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:06,839 Speaker 2: of your prayer does not have to do with rituals, 19 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 2: long limp or big words, as Jesus taught us in 20 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 2: episode three. However, I have learned a few things that 21 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:17,200 Speaker 2: will affect the power and effectiveness of your prayer, which 22 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 2: is what we'll discuss in today's podcast. When I say effectiveness, 23 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 2: I mean is our prayer producing the results God intends. 24 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 2: I need to note this here that this is not 25 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 2: a set of rules to only get what you want. 26 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:40,039 Speaker 2: We've discussed that prayer is not approaching God like a 27 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 2: genie in a bottle. Effective prayer is prayer that results 28 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 2: in God's intention and plan for his glory and our good, 29 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 2: and there are steps we can take to ensure we 30 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 2: experience the effectiveness or power of prayer in our lives. 31 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:59,279 Speaker 2: The first is faith. Prayer and faith go hand in hand. 32 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 2: We really can't pray without faith. We have faith that 33 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 2: there is a God to pray to. We have faith 34 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:07,600 Speaker 2: that not only is there a God, but that He 35 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 2: actually listens to us. But for a really effective prayer 36 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 2: that goes beyond listing off our request to God, we 37 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 2: need to also follow up our prayer with more faith. 38 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 2: If we're going to pray about something and then go 39 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 2: worry about it, we defeat the entire purpose of prayer. 40 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 2: Once we pray about it, we need to let the 41 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,520 Speaker 2: word we go and trust that whatever we prayed about 42 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 2: is safely in God's hands now. But many times we 43 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,600 Speaker 2: pray and cast our cares to God, as we're instructed 44 00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 2: to do in Psalm fifty five, verse twenty two, cast 45 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 2: your cares on the Lord, and he will sustain you. 46 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:43,679 Speaker 2: He will never let the righteous be shaken. So when 47 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:46,360 Speaker 2: we pray, we can cast our cares on God and 48 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 2: receive the freedom of not carrying those burdens. But sometimes, 49 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 2: once we finish praying, we get back up and go 50 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,239 Speaker 2: fishing those burdens right out of God's care and make 51 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:58,920 Speaker 2: them our own again, instead of having the faith to 52 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 2: completely release the matter to God. Part of prayer is 53 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,080 Speaker 2: connecting to God to receive his peace no matter what 54 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:08,519 Speaker 2: we are facing. But if we don't approach prayer with faith, 55 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 2: we will leave our prayer time just as confused and 56 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 2: overwhelmed as when we came to it. If we want 57 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 2: our prayers to be effective what we lay down at 58 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:21,239 Speaker 2: the cross in prayer, we must choose to have faith 59 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 2: to leave there. The next step we can take towards 60 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 2: more effective prayer is obedience. James Chapter five, verse sixteen 61 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:32,520 Speaker 2: tells us the prayer of a righteous person is powerful 62 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 2: and effective. Effective and powerful prayer is not produced from 63 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 2: a disobedient life. Our unwillingness to surrender to God, follow 64 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 2: him and release our will to his impacts our prayer life. 65 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 2: Effective prayer comes from a righteous person. Now this does 66 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 2: not mean you need to be perfect. God knows where not. 67 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 2: But in prayer there should be a heart for God's will, 68 00:03:57,000 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 2: and when there is, this is when we'll see the 69 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 2: power of prayer. Psalm chapter thirty seven, verse four says, 70 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 2: take delight in the Lord, and he will give you 71 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,640 Speaker 2: the desires of your heart. So many people take this 72 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 2: verse out of context and think that God will give 73 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 2: us anything we want. That's an incorrect interpretation of this verse. 74 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 2: We can't ignore the fact that to receive the desires 75 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:22,479 Speaker 2: of our heart, we must first delight in God. When 76 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:25,839 Speaker 2: our hearts are aligned with God and his will, it's 77 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:29,039 Speaker 2: then that we receive the desires because they are God's 78 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:32,359 Speaker 2: desires anyway. And when we find our hearts at odd 79 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,279 Speaker 2: with God's, we can pray about that too, because it 80 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 2: is God's desire to transform our hearts and minds to 81 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 2: be more like Christ. God's standard and his will is 82 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 2: for our good. He's not just making up rules and 83 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,120 Speaker 2: commandments just because He does it to grant us a 84 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 2: path towards life, peace and joy in him. But when 85 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 2: we get off that path, we lose the power that 86 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 2: comes from being safe in His will. The next step 87 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:03,240 Speaker 2: to take toward more effective prayer is focus. Now this 88 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 2: is huge because we have more distractions than ever before, 89 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:11,039 Speaker 2: with any type of entertainment and social connection at the 90 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:14,840 Speaker 2: tip of our fingers. We are constantly tempted to lose focus, 91 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,680 Speaker 2: and this is something we just simply cannot afford to 92 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:20,720 Speaker 2: do during our prayer time. We also have one hundred 93 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 2: things running through our mind at one time. More times 94 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 2: than I'd like to admit, I've been in prayer and 95 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:28,839 Speaker 2: my mind slipped to thoughts about what's going to happen 96 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 2: tomorrow or what I should have said in an earlier 97 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 2: conversation with a friend. Distractions are everywhere, and they are 98 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 2: hindering our beings still enough to hear from God, So 99 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 2: how can we stay focused during our prayer time? I 100 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 2: like to remind myself that all the to do's, obligations 101 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 2: and unfinished conversations will be right there waiting for me 102 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:51,239 Speaker 2: when my prayer time is over. I resist the pressure 103 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,799 Speaker 2: to make something else more important than this time with God. 104 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:57,960 Speaker 2: A lack of focus prevents us from praying, and we 105 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:01,920 Speaker 2: can't have effective prayer if we're too distracted to pray. Now, listen, 106 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:05,720 Speaker 2: I understand staying focused during prayer is a serious and 107 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 2: challenging issue for many sincere believers who do want to 108 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 2: pray but have a difficult time staying focused, which is 109 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 2: why in our next episode, I'll be giving grace filled 110 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 2: tips and encouragement on how to stay focused when you pray. 111 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:22,200 Speaker 2: The next step that we can take to more effective 112 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 2: prayer is to always be praying first. Thessalonians, chapter five, 113 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 2: verse seventeen tells us to pray without ceasing. Now that's 114 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:34,800 Speaker 2: the English Standard version, and the more Living translation says, 115 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:39,359 Speaker 2: never stop praying. We don't have to wait until bedtime 116 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:42,840 Speaker 2: before dinner to pray. We can pray while driving to work, 117 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 2: washing our hair, or walking the dog. One of my 118 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 2: favorite places to pray is at my kitchen sink. When 119 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 2: we don't place limits on when we should pray, it 120 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 2: becomes a natural rhythm in our lifestyle and it becomes 121 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:58,279 Speaker 2: less likely that we'll skip this powerful discipline. This is 122 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,800 Speaker 2: important because we can't experien effective prayer if we are 123 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 2: not praying, prayer closets and war rooms are great. I 124 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:08,240 Speaker 2: have a special place in my house that I've designated 125 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:11,320 Speaker 2: for prayer, but we can't always access those places when 126 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 2: we need to pray. But the beauty of God's omnipresence 127 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 2: is that He is everywhere, so we can pray anywhere. 128 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 2: As I stated before, effective prayer goes beyond only asking 129 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:26,160 Speaker 2: God for what we want. Real change occurs when prayer 130 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 2: is also about focusing on God and what He wants. 131 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 2: So one of the best ways I found to do 132 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 2: this is through worship before I pray. I love playing 133 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 2: worship music and getting my mind in soul ready to 134 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:42,239 Speaker 2: commune with God. Starting prayer with a focus on God 135 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 2: and not myself helps me to accomplish one of the 136 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:48,920 Speaker 2: most important and effective goals of prayer, realizing that God 137 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 2: is bigger than all my problems. Effective prayer is not 138 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 2: dependent on us being perfect and getting it all right. 139 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 2: It simply starts with a heart willing to pray. I 140 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 2: hope today's tips and rich your prayer life greatly and 141 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 2: that you are beyond blessed because of it. We have 142 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:06,960 Speaker 2: so much more to talk about when it comes to prayer, 143 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 2: So I hope that if you were encouraged by today's episode, 144 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 2: you'll be sure to share it with the friend and 145 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:15,840 Speaker 2: subscribe so that you don't miss any future episodes of 146 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:19,160 Speaker 2: the Teach Us to Pray podcast, where we'll continue to 147 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:23,480 Speaker 2: learn how, just like breathing, prayer can become a natural, consistent, 148 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:26,840 Speaker 2: and life giving part of our everyday lives. Until then, 149 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 2: be sure to connect with me Christina Patterson at Belovedwomen 150 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 2: dot org and check out the show notes in today's 151 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:36,800 Speaker 2: episode to download my free five day prayer guide to 152 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 2: help you put into practice the powerful habit of prayer. 153 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:43,320 Speaker 2: Thank you so much for taking time to listen today. 154 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 2: God bless you and I'll talk to you in the 155 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 2: next episode. 156 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 3: Key Just to Pray is a production of Life Audio 157 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:01,600 Speaker 3: and the Salem Web Network. If you enjoyed this episode, 158 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:03,960 Speaker 3: would you take a minute and leave us a review 159 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:05,200 Speaker 3: in your podcast app? 160 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:08,319 Speaker 1: It really does help more people like you find the 161 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:12,439 Speaker 1: podcast To hear more from Christina Patterson. Be sure to 162 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:17,520 Speaker 1: check out her fantastic site, Belovedwomen dot org. A special 163 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:22,200 Speaker 1: thanks to Kelly Gibbons, Stephen Sanders, and Stephen McGarvey for 164 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,680 Speaker 1: their production and editing on this episode. You can find 165 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: more podcasts like this over at life audio dot com.