Luke 11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

I made an interesting observation in the lives of certain people and wondered why even though they were always praying, there were either little or no results. It beat my imagination because I have heard a lot of times that prayer is the key and it seemed not to be working. I was at the point where I questioned long prayers because these people were very prayerful and I desired to pray like them but the ‘no results‘ aspect weakened me.

In the opening scripture, one of Jesus’ disciples asked that He taught them to pray. Jesus selected his disciples in Luke 5 but this disciple was asking him this question 6 chapters after.  Between chapters 5 and 11, Jesus performed miracles and prayed certain prayers and my question was, Why didn’t they know how to pray by chapter 11? If they asked Him this question earlier, that would be okay because they were just getting to know Him. This showed me that if they could be with Jesus for that long and still not know how to pray, I could be in church for 30 years and be praying wrongly because I don’t know and understand the fundamental principles that govern result-oriented prayers.

If I vividly remember, I can’t recollect a time when I was taught to pray even though I was in church from childhood. We’ll just go to church, and to begin service, the one leading opening prayers would bring topics we pray about and that was it. Many people are just told that if they gave their life to Jesus, He would meet their needs and change their lives. What we define as change is usually outward; I got a new car, a promotion at work and became rich, or built a house. Change within is what Jesus does and it reflects on the outside. As a result of this notion, most of our prayers are based on our problems and needs because we were told that’s what God is there for.

After the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He began by saying, Our Father who art in Heaven. By this statement, Jesus expects us to see prayer more as a relationship than just a request for things. Prayer must be based on a relationship. In other words, relationship precedes request in the place of prayer. Give us our daily bread was way after our Father who art in Heaven. Prayer is communication between Divinity and humanity and we know that communication is the bedrock of any relationship that thrives.

Most people are in church just for what God can give them. However, God desires a relationship, and throughout the Bible, our relationship with God is described in many ways. Jesus calls us friends. We are sons of God when led by the Spirit of God. God will call us servants on the Last Day. When we believe in Him, we are given the right to become children of God. The relationship between Christ and the church is likened to the one a husband and wife have, among others. When you don’t build a relationship with God before asking for things, you are a user or better still a gold digger.

Have you ever had an experience where someone who barely knows you or hardly checks on you begins to call you when they have a need? That’s a fake person who wants to be associated with you because of what you have to offer them. They don’t care how you are faring or what problems you have. They just want to take. We do the same to God. We only know Him when we have problems.

In 2 Peter 1:3, the Bible says, His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  We can only access what we need when we know Him. To know someone, you must have a relationship with them. It is easier for me to trust a person I know very well with my secrets than a total stranger and it’s the same with God. In John 15:7, we see that Jesus said:  If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. Here, answers to prayers are linked to a relationship because He was talking about a vine and we being branches. The branch is connected to the vine and that’s a relationship. So once you are not connected, you can’t receive nutrients from the vine.

Why is a relationship with God vital in achieving result-oriented prayers? It’s because when you know someone, you can easily tell what gives them joy. When we know God better, we can easily know the right prayers that please Him. It takes time to know God and so the earlier we embark on that journey, the better it is. I have seen many people live their lives doing what they want and once they are growing older and hitting an age like 30, they start getting serious with God because they want a husband.

Many people who are atheists today are so because of this. People have assumed a role for God that because He created the universe, He should just act without principles. Most of these atheists were in church and because they were praying for a particular thing and there was no answer, they concluded that God is not real. What they don’t know is that God desires a relationship first. He is not just God because of needs. He wants to be Lord over our lives so that when He blesses us we don’t serve the devil with the material aspect of the blessing.

The second point is Hallowed be thy name. This is closely linked to the first point of having a relationship. The word ‘hallowed‘ is a sign of reverence and honor. You must place value on God before you ask Him for anything.

Your level of honor to God is based on your revelation of who He is.

-The Word in Clarity

So until you get to know Him personally, that honor would be absent. If you don’t honor God, you are only praying to Him for what He has and can give you rather than who He is.

Third. Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. A Kingdom is the rule or reign of an entity. Jesus was saying that we must earnestly desire that God rules in our affairs. He also said in Luke 17:21 that the Kingdom of God is within us. We must be the epitome of God’s rule on earth.  2 Corinthians 5:20 confirms we are Christ’s ambassadors.

Why do we have to pray for God’s will? I have heard people make statements like; What will be will be. If it’s mine it will come to me, If God said it, it would happen. If God’s will would prevail no matter what, why pray for His will to be done? Understand that we are in a battle of two kingdoms and if we don’t enforce God’s will, another kingdom’s will shall be done. Remember that God gave man dominion over the earth, so he can’t intrude until we ask Him to intervene in our affairs. The devil can also do nothing until we give him room.

When we know God through a relationship with Him, our prayers will be in alignment with His will and those prayers would produce results. Our prayers won’t be selfish but selfless. Sometimes, we really want to get out of a certain situation just to prove people wrong and treat those who offended us with contempt. But that is a wrong motive.

Note that all these came before ‘Give us our daily bread’. In Jeremiah 33:3, there is something profound. Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. When we call, God tells us something. Other versions say I will show you. God’s answers to our prayer are not ‘giving’. He shows or tells us what to do to get what we desire. Show me is better than give me. You know that quote that says, Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you’ve fed him for a lifetime? When we have a relationship with God, He shows us what to do rather than just giving us something. If God gives you, you will come back for more but when He shows you, you can always know what to do when that thing runs out. 

1 John 3:22 and receive from him anything we ask because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. When we please God, we have result-oriented prayers. The right prayer is key. This is prayer based on the right knowledge of God. When you don’t know what God desires, you pray outside His will, hence no results. I understood why people pray for years and their lives are nothing to write home about.

• Prayer