EFFECTIVENESS OF PRAYER Contd. (WEEK TWO)

WEEK TWO : CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS STUDIES

REASONS FOR/CAUSES OF UNANSWERED PRAYER:

            Our everyday experience is that not all prayers receive positive response from God due to the following reasons:

(a)       Lack of faith: Faith is a necessary condition for our requests to be granted. Doubtful hearts are unstable and can never receive anything from God.

(b)      Lust: One may lust for power, pleasure, riches and money. Such passions as theses may motivate prayer request. Such prayers offered to satisfy any of the desires will hardly receive a response from God.

(c)       Lack of repentance from personal sin: Sin is one of the greatest obstacles to prayers. There is need for one to repent from one’s wrong doings, confess one’s sins so as to appear less unworthy before God.

(d)      Asking wrongly: St. Paul noted in Romans 8:26 that the spirit comes to our help in our weakness for when we do not know how to pray properly, then the spirit personally makes our petitions for us…, the prayers that the spirit makes for God’s holy people are always in accordance with the mind of God. The request we make of God must be devoid of passions and covetousness, it must be for our wellbeing and salvation of our souls.

(e)       Lack of consistency and impatience: Jesus taught his follower the need to pray always and never to lose hearts, cf. Lk.18:1 ff. Christians are to persevere in making there are to persevere in making their petitions known to God. They should also wait patiently for answers to their prayers.

(f)       Lack of forgiving spirit: One who keeps scores of wrong done to him/her will hardly receive any favors from God. The condition for our petition to be answered is that we begin by forgiving our offenders. Purity of heart and forgiving spirit are recommended to ensure that our prayers are effective before God.

THE CONDITIONS FOR EFFECTIVE PRAYER

            Certain rules are to be obeyed if our prayers will find favor with God. They are:

(a)    FAITH: It is an absolute trust in God and in his power. Christians, while making their petitions knows to God are to pray without doubt.

(b)   RIGHTEOUSNESS: Christians should strive to appear upright before God. This will place your prayers at an acceptable status before God. James, recognizing the frail nature of man, recommends that we should confess our sins to one another, show remorse for sins. The prayer of a righteous person has great effect and power.

(c)    FERVENCY: We are expected to be passionate about our requests, we must pray with concentration, seriousness and sincerity.

(d)   PERSEVERANCE: Praying ceaselessly and with trust is necessary for fruitfulness in our prayer life.

(e)    PATIENCE: Christians must acknowledge that God’s time is the best. While we pray persistently we must also allow God to have his way.

(f)    HUMILITY: Praying is a sign of our dependence on God, lowliness of heart is therefore required for this to be possible. We must pray without self-exaltation, we are to show total surrender and submission to our God in whom we live, move and have our being.

TYPES OF PRAYER

            Praying could take various forms.

(1)   PETITION: This refers to the prayer requests one makes to God for his /her personal needs

(2)   THANKSGIVING: This is an expression of our gratitude to God for his many blessings upon our lives

(3)   INTERCESSION: It involves praying on who cannot pray for themselves or those who needs our assistance in prayer. It shows our concern for others.

(4)   CONFESSION: It’s a means of exposing our sins in humility and with the conviction of not falling back to them. It is a sign of repentance.

(5)   MEDITATION: It involves expressing one’s inner mind, thought and feeling before God.

CLASSROOM EXERCISE

1.      What are other causes of an unanswered Prayer?

2.      How do you create favorable environment for your personal prayer?

3.      Name Three types of prayer.