Principles For Praying Powerful Prayers

One of the most common questions I receive is, “Pastor Mike, what is the proper way to pray?”  People will often witness the miracles, healing, and deliverance in videos on my YouTube channel and social media and want to know the secret for how to pray in a way that results in the miraculous.  

Over the years, I’ve developed a private prayer life which results in a public demonstration of God’s power.  Therefore, it’s not appropriate for me to answer the question “What is the proper way to pray?” by giving you exact words or a script.  There is no power in a script, and it won’t result in intimacy with God and the power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit. In this blog, I don’t want to teach you what to say, I want to teach you how to pray.  

Here are five principles of powerful prayers:

1. Pray from proper relationship.

Romans 3:22 declares that we are righteous in Christ Jesus. In other words, when Jesus freed us from the penalty of our sins, He made us righteous.  Relationship is the conduit for the power of prayer. When I walk through a crowded area and I hear one of my daughters’ voices, I respond differently than I would if it were other children. Just like a mother knows the cry of her baby, as a father, I know the voice of my own children.  When you pray out of relationship, you don’t need to pray the “Woe is me, Lord, I don’t know if you really love me, I don’t know if you really care” type of prayers.  Jesus cared so much that He died for you!   His blood was sufficient so that you can come boldly before the throne of grace. We as believers pray from a place of relationship.  

Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” God has freed you from sin through Jesus.  He proved his love for you on the cross.   Pray with confidence in your relationship as a son or daughter of God.  

2. Pray from proper desire.  

Not every desire that you have is in alignment with God’s will.  Sometimes we pray outside of a godly desire. Matthew 22:37-38 says, “And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.’”

When you start your prayers by saying, “God I love you with all of my might, all of my soul, and all of my mind,“ you are recalibrating and fixing your desire on that love.  You say that you love the Lord more than material possessions, more than achievement, more than feeding your ego, any more than any other thing.  As you do that, you fulfill the first commandment of loving the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, and all of your mind.  You will begin to pray from a proper desire.  God loves you too much to give you something outside of His desire, even if it’s your current desire.  A no from God is for your protection and preservation. When you pray, “God why didn’t you give me that thing, “ if you don’t know Matthew 22:38-39, the most loving thing He could do was not give it to you because He wants your desire to come into alignment with His.  If you want 100% of your prayers to be fulfilled, pray in alignment with God’s desires. 

3. Pray from proper motive.

Webster’s Dictionary defines motive as “something (such as a need or desire) that causes a person to act.”  Each of us has motives, and sometimes we lie to ourselves. We can be self-deceived and sometimes act like our motive is right when it truly isn’t. Sometimes we might want to achieve certain things not to make Christ’s name known, but to make your name known.  Sometimes we don’t want money so that we can give more, it’s so we can get more.  

1 Corinthians 4:5 says, “Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.”  God wants to know that what He sees is in alignment with what’s holy and acceptable before Him.  

Go before God and say, “God, I’m going to keep it 100. I need to be real with you, God. I need to tell you straight up, there’s something in me that wants financial gain and I’m not becoming more generous. God, I have the wrong motive. I don’t want your name to be great, I want my name to be great and I don’t know why.  Search my heart, God.”

4. Pray from proper authority.

Jesus said in Luke 10:19,  “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.”  Let’s examine the language of this scripture closely.   

“Behold” means to open your eyes to it.  You have to be willing to see that Jesus has given you authority.

Next, it says, “I have given you authority.”  Because it has been given, that means you can’t earn it.  You can’t get more authority, you have to receive authority. Jesus has given you the authority you have to access it. 

What do we have authority over?  The authority is “over all the power of the enemy.”  Let’s put this in proper context. Luke 10:19 is referring to when you’re preaching the gospel and telling the world about Jesus.  If people want nothing to hurt them while they’re selfishly building their home but not building the kingdom, that’s not the purpose for which the Lord is giving the authority.  

Sometimes selfishness creeps into Pentecostalism and the Charismatic movement.  We are so quick to say, “No weapon formed against me will prosper.” Guess what, all the apostles died horrible deaths, except for one, so how is Luke 10:19 not applicable to them?  When God’s perfect will and desire are being worked out, sometimes you’re going to be released from prison with angelic intervention, and sometimes God is going to remove you.  There’s a biblical account of the people trying to throw Jesus off a cliff. It wasn’t His time and so he was not able to be killed at that particular time by that group of people. 

You can only have the perfect will of God over your life when you are doing what God called you to do.  You have to pray from a place of authority but understand that Luke 10:19 is connected to doing God’s will and not our own.  Protection and provision are connected to God’s vision.  Pray from a place of authority. 

5. Pray from proper promises.  

The promises of God are irrevocable.  2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.”  We can say amen because it glorifies God for Him to have integrity to what He already said.  When you understand and pray the promises of God, you are entering into a legal exchange.  You say,  “God, you cannot lie.  Your word is law, and whatever you said will happen. So I want to remind you that you promised to renew my youth as the eagles.  You promised that if I obey my mother and father and honor them, I will live a long life.”  

I’ve heard countless stories of people putting the promises of God on repeat, even those with chronic illnesses and degenerative diseases.  They experience regeneration and supernatural healing begins to take place.  When you learn how to pray the promises of God, that’s more powerful than just making up your own words or prayers and petitions.  It’s reminding God God this is what you said, I believe it, and I’m going to continue to pray your promises until I see them.

If you want to transform your prayer life and move from ineffective prayers to prayers that are powerful and effectual, then pray from a proper relationship where you understand your position as a son or daughter of God.  Pray from proper desire that is aligned with the desires of God.  Instead of praying from a selfish motive, pray from a proper motive and don’t be afraid to acknowledge your true motives before the Lord so He can realign them.  Pray from proper authority that’s been delegated to you by Jesus.  And pray from proper promises.  Appropriate the promises of God in your prayers.  If you do these four things, you’ll see your prayers increase in power and see the breakthrough you have been longing for.