Lesson Three: The Dimensions to Follow - The Three Conditions of Effective Prayer

While building, one is limited by certain dimensions to follow. For example, in building a house, one sets first of all the floor area - the width and breadth, in meters or feet. Then one considers the height – the number of levels or floors.

Similarly, the prayer life has dimensions that the Scriptures have already set forth for us. While words like 'whatever', 'all things', 'anything', and the like are frequently used in the Bible to describe the scope of requests one can pray for, they are not without qualifications. There are at least three major conditions explicitly stated in the New Testament that qualify prayers to be effective, or ones that God would answer positively. They are found in John 14:13,14, I John 5:14,15, and Matthew 21:22. These three conditions will be presented and discussed in this lesson. Because each of these conditions involves a substantial amount of teaching material, this lesson has been divided into three parts. They are as follows: Praying in Jesus’ Name, Praying According to God’s Will, and Praying in Faith.

If the first two conditions can be likened to the two dimensions of the floor area, the third condition can be likened to the measurement of the height. There is no limit to the height of our prayer life, because Jesus said, “It shall be done to you according to your faith.” Your prayer life can go as high as your faith goes. Of course, our faith grows in direct proportion to our knowledge of God.

Statement of Principle 3: Effective prayers are offered in Jesus’ name, according to God’s will, and in faith.