How to increase your prayer life

“If you want God to honour your prayers, you’ve got to honour His Word in your prayers.”

“I will bow down towards your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.” Psalm 138:2 (NIV)

1) Praise and Worship Him
Psalm 100:4 says to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. In an earlier post, 4 things that test your faith, I talked about how thanking God plays a big part in increasing your faith. This verse is primarily the first thing  we should do before we pray. Why? “Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel,” (Psalm 22:3) and “This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise” (Isaiah 43:21).  If the King decrees it, we should do it!

2) Approach the throne
How glorious and wonderful it is to have an audience with the King of kings and Lord of Lords! Psalm 27:4:

One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD,
And to inquire in His temple.

Hebrews 4:16:
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

3) Pray His will
Since according to Jeremiah 29:11 God has plans for us, especially those that won’t harm us but give us a future and a hope, it’s only fair to find out what His will is in every part of our lives.

David asked God one day and the Lord said thou shall not go up (2 sam 5:18-19)  the philistines came again and spread themselves in the valley of Ephraim and David enquired again of the Lord (2 sam 5:22-25) he was constantly enquiring of the Lord

(Isaiah 48:17). What is His will?

Do not repay evil for evil: Romans 12. Do that by doing this: Philippians 4:8

Believe in Jesus: John 6:40
Praise His glory: Ephesians 1:5-12. Why not follow the angels’ example? Isaiah 6:3
Live in His grace: Ephesians 5:1-20.
Be obedient: Ephesians 6:5-8
Give graciously: 2 Corinthians 8:1-7. You should also see my post about this, 7 reasons why it’s more blessed to give than to receive 
Never stop praying: 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18
Pray for others: Romans 15:30-33
Be tough but patient: Hebrews 10:35-39
Be part of the family of God: Mark 3:35
Get others saved: Matt 18:11-14
Abstain from immorality: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
Be wise: Ephesians 5:15-17 and take note of this James 3:14-18

Courtesy of Kurt Welton.

This gives you a general outline of His will. How do you pray this? You simply live this. There is a way to pray His will:

1) Like David did ask Him if what you desire is in line with His plans. From there be led by Him through His peace (Philippians 4:7)

2) Look to His Word and also pray it. Need finances? In prayer, perform James 1:5 together with Deuteronomy 8:18 then do (practically) Ecclesiastes 11:1-2. There are a lots of Scriptures on finances! I’ll put a post about that. Mending broken relationships? Pray James 5:16 and after that Matthew 18:19-20.

Everything is really all in His Word! Please move on to part 2 because both parts are connected.