Praying Powerful and Effective Prayers

The secret to praying powerful and effective prayers is simply this: hear what God is saying, and let that direct your prayers.

I have prayed for radical healing (and seen it come) for a person facing imminent death, and I have prayed for the release of a person's temporal life in the same situation. What was the difference? Was I lacking faith... did I give up the fight? No! I had discerned both the voice and the peace of God for each moment, and prayed accordingly. Both resulted in God receiving praise and glory.

In a culture that loves to make declarations with great assurance, I have felt an increasing concern that there may be more declaring than hearing. That concern is not because these declarations are too outlandish. Let them be as wild as God himself! Let them be as impossible as the God who makes all things possible! Let your declarations contradict the natural circumstances set before you, but let them not contradict the voice of God in the present hour (Jeremiah 6:14 They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, 'Peace, peace,' But there is no peace).

Listen for the voice of God, and you will pray the power of God. Pray the power of God, and your prayers will be effective.