Preparing Your Heart for Prayer

Do we really need to prepare our hearts before we pray?

Anyone who desires to visit the president of a nation or head of state of a country must first prepare himself before an audience is granted. His passport must be valid. His background will be checked by police and the CIA Department, and he himself will be checked in other detailed ways for clearance. After the first part of preparation has been completed, arriving at the designated palace or place he will be met by Security Secret Police. He must present matching ID and documents to prove who he is and confirm the purpose of his visit. He will walk through detector machines and finally be led into the presence of the person he made plans to visit. His clearance, approval, purpose, agenda and ID are absolutely first because they are not only proof of who he is but will assure him that the purpose of his visit will be heard!

Just as protocol and customs dealing with diplomatic formality demand preparation before meeting important heads of state, there must also be a time of preparation for believers before approaching God for effective prayer. Some people may be tempted to think this doesn't apply to them because they found a way to hurry their prayer and be finished for the day. We cannot come barging in with "I'm in a hurry today....I have a few minutes before I begin my day...." mentality. God has a plan to meet you, too. Do you have time for Him to share His heart? Did He talk with you today? Psalm 24:3 asks, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His Holy place?" Then the Psalmist gives the answer: He that hath: (1) clean hands, (2) a pure heart (....a prepared heart), (3) who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity (4) nor sworn deceitfully (or claim to have something he does not have.) This is an eye opener to the reason why some believers receive answers to prayer and others do not.

David gives us some clear insights concerning the necessity for personal preparation before entering God's presence:

1. "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and (enter) into His courts with praise. " (Psalm 100:4)
a. Thanksgiving is acknowledging with gratefulness the many ways God has blessed and cared for you.
b. Praise is worshipping Him for Who He is: The Mighty God of our universe Who is in control of His World, and you! This scripture implies that we need to meditate on the Lord so that thanksgiving and praise arise naturally from our heart. God draws near when He hears words of praise and thanksgiving. They tell Him that He still holds first priority in our lives!

2. Humble yourself.
a. "I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." (Isaiah 57:15.)
b. Do you feel a need to be revived before you can pray from your heart?
c. Humbling yourself is an important step in being revived as you prepare for prayer. Sometimes pride tells us we don't need to take time for this because we know how to pray just enough to keep in touch with the Lord. Do we?

3. Repent.
a. "Who hath blessed us with ALL spiritual blessings." (Ephesians 1:3. )
b. Many Christians today confess they do not have the spiritual blessings believers should have, even though they pray often. The reason is usually due to sin or they learned how to ignore the prompting of the Holy Spirit they once felt in their life. Dr. David Yonggi Cho, Senior Pastor of the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Korea tells his people often if they are sick, repent! If they have financial problems, repent! If there are relationship problems in the marriage, with family, with children or in their business world, repent! Why? Because somewhere a door of disobedience to the Word of God was opened that permitted the enemy to draw near and the enemy enclosed them on all sides with his darkness. We sin in "specific" ways over specific issues; therefore, we must confess and repent for each "specific" sin.

If you missed God's will or did not understand it clearly, ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you again. He will speak as often as you need Him to speak, but when He knows that you know and understand God's will and what you should do, He will not speak again but He will wait for you to obey before your relationship will be fully restored!

As soon as one recognizes the blessing of the Lord is absent, he should repent quickly! Confess the sin, ask for forgiveness, turn away from that sin and turn back to God.
c. We cannot negotiate with the Lord. Our way to restoration is to confess, repent, be cleansed and be restored.

4. Recall former answers to prayer.
a. "I remember the days of old........" (Psalm 143:5.) When in trouble, David recalled how God intervened and miraculously helped him before. It encouraged him and strengthened his faith. It will do the same for you!
b. Recall the lessons you learned from the last time you repented. Recall the purpose of His disciplines. Recall the blessings you received, His intervention, healing, direction, warnings, protection and wisdom for difficult situations. Recalling again His dealings and blessings in your life will become like nourishment to increase your faith.

5. Make your Requests Known to God.
a. "He will fulfill the desire of them that fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them." (Psalm 145:19. ) "Call upon Me in the day of trouble and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not."
b. God is faithful and full of compassion to forgive, heal, bless and answer prayer so ask with confidence now.

Take note again of the four steps needed before you can effectively present your needs to God!If you have followed these, you will perceive the unseen "channel" between you and the Lord has reopened. Now when you pray, you will have the assurance that your worship, thanksgiving, praise and petitions will go straight through to the throne room. Don't skip any one of the steps. Each is important in prepartion for an unhindered entrance into the presence of your Lord: the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! He delights in meeting everyone who has prepared his heart according to His Word!

Little by little you will be able to follow these steps more quickly, yet thoroughly, and experience consistent results in your prayer life. I still follow them everyday. And, yes, I repent everyday to be sure I will always have an unhindered audience with Him!