Ways of prayer -

CONDITIONS OF PREVAILING PRAYER

1. Contrite humility before god and forsaking of sin --

II Chronicles 7:14. ["If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (2Chronicles 7:14).]

2. Seeking God with the whole heart --

Jeremiah 29:12, 13. ["12 Then shall ye call upon Me, and ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:12, 13).]

3. Faith in God --

Mark 11:23, 24. ["23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:23, 24).]

4. Obedience --

I John 3:22. ["And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight" (1John 3:22).]


5. Dependence on the Holy Spirit --

Romans 8:26. ["Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit Itself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:26).]

6. Importunity --

Mark 7:24-30; Luke 11:5-10. ["24 And from thence He arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but He could not be hid.

25 For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of Him, and came and fell at His feet:

26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought Him that He would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.

27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.

28 And she answered and said unto Him, Yes, LORD: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.

29 And He said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.

30 And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed" (Mark 7:24-30)].

                    (Luke 11:5-10)"5 And He said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend,
                     and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.

8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

10 For every one that ask receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened" (Luke 11:5-10).]

7. Must ask in accordance with God's will -- I John 5:14. ["And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He hears us" (1John 5:14).]

8. In Christ's name -- John 14:13, 14, and many other passages. ["13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 If ye shall ask any thing in My name, I will do it" (John 14:13, 14).]

9. Must be willing to make amends for wrongs to others --

Matthew 5:23, 24. ["23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that thy brother has something against thee;

24 Leave there your gift before the altar, and go your way; then first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offeryour gift" (Matthew 5:23, 24).]

CAUSES OF FAILURE IN PRAYER

1. Sin in the heart and life -- Psalm 66:18; Isaiah 59:1, 2. ["If I regard iniquity in my heart, the LORD will not hear me" (Psalm 66:18).

"1 Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear" (Isaiah 59:1, 2).]

2. Persistent refusal to obey God --

Proverbs 1:24-28; Zechariah 7:11, 13. ["24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded;

25 But ye have set at nought all My counsel, and would none of My reproof:

26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

27 When your fear comes as desolation, and your destruction comes as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish comes upon you.

28 Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek Me early, but they shall not find Me" (Proverbs 1:24-28).

"11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

13 Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of Hosts" (Zechariah 7:11, 13).]

3. Formalism and hypocrisy --

Isaiah 1:2-15. ["2 Hear, O Heavens, and give ear, O Earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me.

3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider.

4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

9 Except the LORD of Hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

10 Hear the Word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the Law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

12 When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread My courts?

13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth: they are a trouble unto Me; I am weary to bear them.

15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood" (Isaiah 1:2-15).]

4. Unwillingness to forgive others --

Mark 11:25, 26. ["25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in Heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in Heaven forgive your trespasses" (Mark 11:25, 26).]

5. Wrong motives --

James 4:2, 3. ["2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

3  Ask, and receive not, because you ask wrongly,  this may consumed  upon your lusts" (James 4:2, 3).]

6. Despising God's law --

Amos 2:4. "Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the Law of the LORD, and have not kept His Commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked" (Amos 2:4).]

7. Lack of love and mercy --

Proverbs 21:13. ["Whoso stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard" (Proverbs 21:13).]