6 Principles of Correct Praying

Did you know that not all prayers are created equal? There are prayers that will bring you closer to God and there are prayers that God honestly does not care, in fact He condemns. We're going to look at two kind of prayers that Jesus condemns and one kind of a prayer that Jesus accepts and invites. The first kind of a prayer that Jesus rejects is the prayer of a heathen And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathens do, for they think that they will be heard because of many of their words. Therefore, do not be like them, for your father knows the things you need of before you ask them. Heathens, as Jesus called them, they think that the length of prayer guarantees results. They think that if you pray for a very long time and use many repetitions that this prayer would get God's attention. Now there's nothing wrong with praying long prayers. Jesus spent all night in prayer. We see other people in the Bible prayed long prayers and we see Jesus repeating His prayer three times. Father, if it's not, you know, if it's possible, may this cup pass me over. And as well as we know that Paul prayed three times asking God to remove the thorn in his flesh. But this is different. The heathens are people who don't operate out of a place of relationship, instead of out of a place of vain repetitions and simply thinking that if they pray a long time that God will be forced to answer. The second prayer that Jesus rejects is the prayer of a hypocrite. And when you pray, you shall not be like hypocrites, for they love standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets that they may be seen by man. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. Matthew chapter 6 and verse 5. Now hypocrites, they love to use prayer as a means to get attention. They're not trying to get God's attention, they're just trying to get attention of other people. And Jesus says, don't be like them. Hypocrites are actually religious people. If the heathens are not religious people, they're simply people not in the covenant with God. Hypocrites are people who are religious and they actually know the rules and they know something about prayer. And these were Pharisees. They prayed with the goal to get as much attention unto themselves as possible. See, the purpose of prayer is so that you connect with God, not so that you can get brownie points with your religious onlookers. The third type of prayer, and this is the right type of prayer, and it's the prayer, I would like to call it the prayer of an heir or the prayer of God's child. But you, when you pray, go into your room and when you have shut your door, pray to your father who is in secret. And your father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Now we see that Jesus gives us this example of what it's like to pray correctly or pray as an heir, pray as a child of God. Few things let's highlight. Number one, the priority of prayer. He says when you pray, that means He expects us to pray. It's not an option for a Christian to pray. It's also not an obligation but it's an opportunity when God invites us into His presence. Then the second principle of the proper way of praying is the place. He says go into your room. You know, we know Jesus prayed in the wilderness. We know great men of God prayed and had altars. Some people went on the mountain but in here Jesus says, hey, make it simple, make it practical. Go into your room, go into your closet, go into your car, meaning find a place. So first is the priority, second one is the place. The third principle of this prayer is the privacy. He says, shut your door. You know, in other words, hey, don't do this to become known. Don't do this to get attention. Don't do this to get people's approval. Pretty much, you know, don't post your prayer. Now there's nothing wrong with sometimes live streaming of prayer or anything but if your motive for that is like the motive of a hypocrite, you will lose the benefits of what prayer is supposed to be. May the fact that you're praying be revealed by God publicly blessing you than you privately bragging and showing off your prayer. So the privacy of prayer. So priority. We also have seen that it's also place, privacy and then He says pray. So that's the fourth thing. Actually pray, meaning use your mouth. Say your prayer. Don't just think your prayer. Address God and I have other videos on what to do in your prayer that you can check it out. The prayer, the Lord's prayer, the Jabez prayer, the prayer of the tabernacle. You can do a spiritual warfare prayer. You can pray through the Lord's redemptive names. So there's different ways you can go through prayer or you can simply just go through thanksgiving, confession, praying for your petitions as well as doing spiritual warfare, forgiveness of others and praying for other people. And then He says this, pray to your Father. So the fifth secret of the right prayer is the person, the Father. Meaning prayer is not about prayer. Prayer is about the Father. So many people get all tripped up about prayer because they actually think about prayer more than they think about the Father. Jesus did not say, you know, when you come into prayer, hey this is what you need to say. Even though He gave us a model but He's saying this is who you're gonna pray to. So prayer is not about the how, it's about the who. Our Father. You are an heir. You are a child. You are His son. You are His daughter. So yes, it's important to make a priority in prayer. Yes, it's important to find a place in prayer. It's important to keep privacy in prayer. It's also important to pray. But something that is the most important and that is actually to remember the person that prayer is all about and it's not about you, it's about Him. And the last secret of this prayer that Jesus expects from us is the promise. He says if you do it the right way, meaning if you do it the way that I just described and I literally just broke down the verse for you, He says He will reward you openly. That means that Jesus will not only bless you while you're praying, He will reward you for praying publicly. And sometimes that happens in the way that He blesses your business, He blesses your relationships, He blesses your ministry, He blesses your finances, your health. The Lord has a way of rewarding people who pray and He does it publicly. That's why He's saying do it privately and I will reward you publicly. But if you're trying to use the prayer to get public attention like hypocrites or if you're doing this long extended prayer because you don't actually have a relationship with the Father as a heathen, He's like you won't get anything. Pray like an heir. Choose the place, make it a priority as well as make it private as well as pray, actually pray. Don't just sit there and you know think or meditate, pray actually. And then He says think about Me when you're praying and I promise to reward you. Even if it's not perfect prayer, I will reward that prayer. Why? Because God loves when His children call on Him. In fact, let's pray right now. Father God, in the name of Jesus by the Holy Spirit we're approaching Your throne. I pray for everyone watching or re-watching that You will help them in their prayer life. I pray that they will embrace the life of an heir, the prayer of an heir. I pray that You will help them to find the right place, that You will help them to make it a priority, that You will help them to keep it private and that You will help them, God, to focus on You. And I pray, Lord, that they will begin to actually pray. Let them experience sweet rewards of Your presence in prayer and sweet blessings of Your reward outside of prayer. In Jesus' name, Amen. Hey, if this video was helpful for you, go ahead and subscribe to this channel for more content like this. And don't forget to hit thumbs up to this video so it can help for other people to reach it. Because of the generous partners we are able to offer all of this content free of charge. And I want to say thank you. If you've never given to this ministry, hey, consider becoming a partner or giving one time. 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