My Theology On Prayer...

"He told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not to be discouraged" (Luke 18:1, HCSB).   

We don't need to understand all the intricacies of correct prayer etiquette, format, or go by some template to pray effectively; what we do need is faith in God's will and to walk with Him in fellowship--unconfessed sins block prayer.  The better we apprehend God's will, the more we can accomplish with God.--that's the key.  Some people are too inclined to posture out of religiosity and don't realize that we can pray with ease standing on our heads if we so desire.  But there may happen a crisis that may force us to our knees in humility.

We must realize God sees the heart and our motives in prayer too.  It's much better to have a heart and not be able to articulate it than to be fluent and not have a passion for one's prayer life.  Men seem to not be able to overlook the semblance of prayer and the verbiage, but God is able to translate our feeble utterings into divine words on our behalf.  In other words, it's not so much how we address and approach God, as to how sincere we are and the faith we express.

What I'm saying is that there is no prefabricated M.O. or theology on prayer, in that if you know all the answers, it entitles us to answered prayer.   God isn't going to give us a blank check if we pray in a certain methodology.  We can be right and dead wrong in our hearts; for instance, praying to the Lord means we ought to own Him as our Lord and not be paying lip service. The Pharisees were known for being showoffs with long prayers and praying that others may see--flaunting it in public--they might've prayed correctly. 

But the true prayer warrior prays in his prayer closet or sanctuary where there are no witnesses but God. The measure of prayer is how effectual it is in achieving God's will, not our own felt-needs.  We don't come to God with a wish list as if He were Santa or a genie at our disposal.  The closer we get to God, the more we see prayer as an experience with God, gaining entree into His  throne room and into God's dimension, and then realizing the purpose of prayer is prayer!

James 5:16 says that the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much.  This is so and we ought to not trust so much in our own righteousness in times of need but seek out the aid of the body of Christ.  The best of us aren't too proud to ask for prayer.  There is a direct correlation between results and righteousness.  But note that our righteousness is God's gift to us and not our gift to God.  We don't need a sermon on prayer, a lecture, or to read another book on prayer as much as we need to pray and exercise its muscle in our discipline--we need practice what we do know and not be critical or judgmental of other's or too introspective of ourselves.

There is proper prayer etiquette if one wishes to be nit-picky:  Ephesians 2:18 says to pray to the Father, in the name of the Son, in the power of the Spirit.  But that doesn't mean other prayers aren't heard, for God hears all His children.   Actually, all members of the triune God are and ought to be involved.  Jude 21 says to pray in the Spirit--practicing God's presence is paramount.  I have witnessed many types of prayer from attending many churches in my spiritual journey and pilgrimage and have witnessed prayers being answered that I wouldn't pray or not done according to the template of the Lord's prayer:  Our heavenly Father...

Jesus did say we can ask anything in His name and that is the key, but we must have faith and not be double-minded.  Merely saying the wording "in Jesus' name" is no magic formula or guarantee of being heard (neither it is an excuse for unanswered prayer), for it means we are praying His will and seeking His glory, not ours.  Most unanswered prayer may be due to just not continuing in prayer and giving up, taking a "No" too readily.  But we ought not to ever pray amiss for our own selfish desires and not God's will.   Find your voice, be real, know your genre or even the key that fits your talents:  You cannot sing the blues from the back of a limo.  As an illustration, there's no prefabricated prayer for salvation, God must judge the heart.  

Finally, prayer is a litmus test of our faith and heart, not of our indoctrination; that is, when we feel least like praying, we should pray all the more.    Soli Deo Gloria!