How To Pray With Power

If we are in a fight, we want to do something effective and land a power punch, not something that tickles our opponent. That is why fighters learn the proper way to throw a punch. They pay attention to their stance, the position of their hips, and other details that affect their punch’s power. The same goes for our prayers. We want our prayers to be effective when we pray, so not a second that we spend praying is wasted.

Heavenly Father, remind me that what makes my prayers powerful is not how I pray; it is because Christ died for me that I am hidden in Him that You hear my prayers and have power. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

What Makes Our Prayers Powerful?

Knowing what makes our prayers powerful is essential to know how we can pray with power. Our main passage for this comes from (Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16), where it is written that the prayer of the righteous person has power and is effective. The passage also tells us what makes prayer powerful and effective, which is being righteous.

That is where the conflict comes in. If being righteous is required for our prayers to be powerful and effective, then no one would be able to meet that standard, and none of our prayers would have power. That is where Christ and the Gospel come in to solve the problem of sin, which has separated us from God.

God is a holy God. Therefore, sin cannot dwell with Him. Because of that, sinners like us are separated from Him. Because we are separated from God, we are separated from the ultimate and only source of life. That is why, when living in sin, we are all doomed to eternal death. Because we are separated from God, our prayers do not reach Him. It’s not like God does not know about our prayers; He is omniscient, but it doesn’t have any effect because we are separated from Him due to sin. Think of a random stranger who said something to you while walking down the street; the attention you give to that stranger is different than if your child or a loved one was speaking to you. That is why (Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: Isaiah 59:1) says that when we pray apart from Christ, it is not that God’s hand cannot reach us or that His ears cannot hear. It’s simply that we are separated from Him. Our prayers being heard is not even the main problem. Rather, it is our impending eternal death.

However, it is a different matter if you are in Christ. If you are repentant in Christ and believe in His finished work on the cross, where He paid for the penalty of your sins, then you can receive forgiveness and eternal life. Because Christ took the penalty of your sin and paid for it, God sees you as forgiven if you believe what Christ has done. Because of that, you are forgiven and will receive eternal life and are reconciled with the Father, allowing you to receive adoption as His child. In (For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: Ephesians 2:14-16), it is written that Christ has broken down the dividing wall of hostility between God and us, brought peace, and reconciled us with the Father.

The Gospel is crucial for us to understand because it is only through the Gospel that we can have a righteousness not of our own but of Christ. Only then can we pass the requirement of being righteous so that our prayers have power. The credit is not ours since this was only possible through Christ.

How Can We Pray With Power?

Knowing that it is only through Christ that we can be righteous so that our prayers can have power and be effective shows us that being able to pray with power is as simple as being in Christ. If you are in Christ and have repented and believed the Gospel, then you are already righteous; therefore, your prayers have power. It is not about praying loudly or shouting, though at times, we must pray with boldness and fervency. Also, just as we seek to pray with power, we must seek God’s will and pray for it. In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus taught His disciples to pray for God’s will to be done here on earth.

Father in heaven, remind me that my righteousness is not because of what I do but because of what Christ has done and that His perfect and sinless life is my righteousness, giving my prayers their power. Just as I offer powerful prayers, remind me to always pray for Your will and know Your will by reading Your Word. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Just because our prayers have power does not mean they are like a genie’s lamp, where whatever we pray, because it has power, will come true. God answers our prayers according to His infinite wisdom. Regardless of the answers He gives to our prayers, there is one thing of which we can be sure… our heavenly Father only gives good gifts to His children, as written in (If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Matthew 7:11), and He does not deprive us of good things.