Prayer that Pleases the Father's Heart

During my prayer time today, I sensed the Lord saying that He desires my heart, my spirit, my emotions, my love, and feelings when I pray, even more than the words that come from my mouth.  This is the most important aspect of prayer, not the words we utter! It is possible to honor Him with your lips and yet your heart is far from Him.

Jesus taught us, "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words." (Mat 6:7)

When Jesus prayed, He expressed deep emotion to the Father.  "In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety." (Heb 5:7).  His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane was a classic example.  As He prayed, His soul was deeply moved within Him and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground (Lk 22:44).

Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.  That's what should take precedence in prayer, along with your faith and trust in Him.  He wants your heart to be passionately in love with Him, and belong to Him completely.

The apostle Paul said, "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing."  (1Co 13:1-3)

I hope this is an encouragement to you, as it was to me, to pray in such a way that pleases the Father's heart.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.