Successful Prayer

The Lord appeared to King Solomon one night shortly after he had finished and dedicated to great temple at Jerusalem. In this vision, God accepted the temple but warned that drought and famine would still oppress the land of Israel in times to come. Nevertheless, the Lord made the following promise:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
-- 2 Chronicles 7:14

Key elements of successful prayer: 

• Humility, the recognition that we are not in control and our power and capabilities are limited; submissiveness, readiness to accept God's will and follow His direction. 
• Seek God's face, come boldly into His presence, gain His attention, unite with Him. God is omnipresent, He is always near and always aware. Our challenge is to accept that awareness, open our hearts to it, and let Him in. It is not so much about our gaining His attention as letting Him get our attention. 
• Repentance, turning ourselves from wickedness to righteousness, turning our backs on the natural man and our faces toward the Lord, turning our steps onto the covenant path and heading in the right direction. It is showing God that despite our weaknesses and imperfections, we want to follow Him. 
• Pray, the act of calling upon God. If we don't call, He cannot answer. Living a good life, being
  
  humble, and trying to correct our wrongs is not enough if we don't actually pray. It is like the dutiful husband who wants to honor his wife on her birthday. He saves his money to buy her s lovely gift, picks out an appropriate birthday card, and orders her favorite cake. It is all for naught if on her birthday he leaves the gift, card and cake in the trunk of his car and goes bowling with his friends instead of going home to be with his wife. Good intentions are of little value unless we follow through. Prayer is the exercise of our faith. 

The outcomes of proper preparation leading to a faith-filled prayer are 

• God hears us. The truth is, God hears all prayers, but He hearkens and responds most readily to a powerful prayer preceded by diligent preparation. When we show we are ready for God to act in our lives, He is anxious to engage with us. 
• God forgives our sins. He accepts our repentance. God cannot abide sin, and yet He wants us to be near Him. He knows we fall short, so the only way He can connect with us is to accept our repentance and forgive us. When we feel His presence in prayer, we can know He has forgiven us in that moment and for that moment. Forgiveness, like repentance, is not a singular event; it is an ongoing, continuous process. As often as we repent in humble sincerity, God forgives. If we repent continually, God forgives continually. 
• God helps. Whatever we need, according to His wisdom and judgment, He does for us. His help may not be the thing we ask for, but He gives us the best gifts, the best He has, the things that will further His plans for us and that will ultimately bring us happiness, according to His definition of happiness.