The following attitudes should be developed as conditions upon which God will hear and answer our prayers. The more we pray with these attitudes, the more effective our prayers will be.

1. Acceptance

Let us pray in acceptance that God knows better than we do what our needs are (Mtt 6:8, Rom 8:26, 2Co 12:7-10).

2. Faith

The blessing of prayer has been clearly revealed to us in the scriptures. Let us trust what they say, and pray without doubting (Jas 1:5-7).

3. Persistance

In Mtt 7:7-8 the Greek carries the idea of "keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking". Jesus said we should always pray and not give up (Lke 18:1-8, 1Th 5:17, Act 16:23-25).

4. Right Motives

"You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures" (Jas 4:1-3). They were not wrong to ask, but their asking was wrongly motivated. Example of wrong motives, James and John (Mrk 10:35-37). Example of right motives, young Solomon (1Kg 3:3-15).

5. Harmony with God's Will

If we pray anything according to God's will he hears us and grants that prayer (1Jn 5:14).

• When the Bible clearly reveals God's will, we have confidence in the answer. For example when we genuinely repent of sin and ask forgiveness, we know our sin is forgiven (1Jn 1:8-9, Act 8:18-24, Isa 1:15-20, Psa 51:1-17).
• When God's will in the matter is unrevealed, then we pray in the attitude, "If it be possible... nevertheless not my will but Your will be done" (Mtt 26:39).