Keys to Prayer

Succeeding in prayer is difficult, but it becomes a bit easier once we understand the keys to success.

The first key is measuring accurately. Success in prayer requires that our effort is according to truth. Probably the single biggest reason we fail in prayer is because we simply have the wrong idea about what prayer is, what faith is, what doubt is, etc..

One part of measuring that is a bit different than those listed above is correctly measuring value. Prayer often requires that we place appropriately high value on the results in prayer. The rich young ruler asked what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. When Jesus told him, he went away sorrowful because he valued the things he had more highly than the results - and the results were eternal life! (Mark 10:17-30) Far too often we fail in prayer because we mistakenly value something we must give up over the result we are seeking.

The most important key in prayer is sowing and reaping. Essentially prayer is sowing God's word and reaping the results his word produces. But, as Jesus told us, certain things happen when God's word is sown; Satan comes immediately to take the word away, and the cares and pleasures of this life enter in to choke the word to keep it from producing. Successful prayer involves overcoming those things that work to make the word unfruitful. This includes removing from our own hearts those things that choke the word.