How's your prayer life? Is it vital and effective, or just kind of stagnant? James tell us our prayers should have some power, and be accomplishing much. However, many times we pray and don't seem to get an answer to our prayers. We start to think that God doesn't even hear us, much less act in our behalf. Why do our prayers seem to be ineffective and even useless?

The truth is really more like God hasn't answered our prayer the way we thought He should. He didn't do what we told Him we wanted. He isn't following our plans, our instructions, therefore, we mistakenly think He must not be listening to us. Why is that? Well, James also said:

It could also be that our own hidden, (but not hidden from God's eyes!) unconfessed sin is blocking our communication with God. If that's the case, we need to pray a sincere prayer of confession and repentence before we try to pray for anything else. Is there anything we are trying to cover up, hoping maybe our Heavenly Father will just overlook our "little" hidden sins. Again, James addresses this problem:

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your
hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:8)

Prayer is supposed to be a two-way street, but how often do we make it a one-way conversation? We talk and talk and talk AT God, but far too often, we don't take the time to listen. We just give Him a verbal list of all our concerns, all the things we want Him to accomplish, as if He is a magic genie to do our bidding. We need to make it a point to draw near to our Heavenly Father, and listen carefully with our hearts. It's been said that He gave us two ears and only one mouth, so we should listen twice as much as we speak. Think how different our prayers would be!

Also, far too often our prayers are so vague and generic, they are almost recorded messages, mindless and unthinking. "Lord, please heal the sick, and bless the poor and needy". It's hard to see how such generalized prayers could possibly be very effective. How can we possibly see God's answers if our prayers are so vague. Maybe we need to be more intentional in our prayers, instead of just mouthing platittudes. Maybe we need to listen, because God may want us to see how WE can be a blessing to those who are sick, or how WE can help the poor and needy, After all, Jesus clearly said:

And the King shall answer and say unto
them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch
as ye have done it unto one of the least
of these my brethren, ye have done it
unto me. (Matthew 25:40)

After we've prayed, are we truly looking for how God is answering our prayers? Or is it possible we sometimes miss seeing His answer because it wasn't the answer we were looking for? We often see only one answer, the one we want, of course. But God sees the whole situation, and knows exactly what is needed in every case. We need to learn to set aside what we want to happen, and instead look for what God is actually doing! We must learn to pray as Jesus taught us: "Father, not my will but Thine be done."

And finally, we often forget Who we are talking to. We are speaking to the Lord God Almighty, Jehovah Jireh, Creator and Master of all creation. We are praying to the Great I Am; not the "I might be" or the "I was". Where is our reverence, our awe, at His majesty and splendor? Where is our reverential fear at His power and dominion? Do we pause in our list of wants and needs to worship and honor Him? Do we acknowledge the awesome miracle of being able to come boldly into the presence of His glory and majesty? Do we truly trust in His ability to handle whatever our concerns may be, without our advice on how to proceed?