Praying The Right Way by Pst Chris Oyakhilome [Summary]

Main Summary: Praying The Right Way by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome is a book that efficiently strives to correct the common prayer errors made by believers of the New Testament. It also offers in-depth insight into how we should pray to enjoy consistent answers to our prayers.

Lessons You’ll Learn from this Post

1. What prayer is for
2. The Right approach to prayer
3. What prayer can do
4. Jesus’s ministry of prayer
5. Praying through or in the name
6. Asking to receive or declaring to establish
7. Why we don’t pray the “Lord’s prayer” in the New Testament

Everyone prays, but the subject of prayer isn’t about who does it and who doesn’t; rather for me, it’s about getting results from praying the right way.

What Prayer is Really for

For the New Testament believer who has freely received grace to access God through faith in Christ, prayer is not about religious communication. Rather its is mainly about fellowship.

Prayer is not to get God to do anything he hasn’t already done before. It is about recovering the access man lost through Adam in Eden. It is more about a relationship than a lifetime of trying to fix problems.

It goes beyond just talking to God. In prayer, you make contact with the divine essence in you. Which strengthens your relationship with God. The word is where you see who you are, in prayer you encounter the presence of God; that rubs off on you to become what you’ve seen in the word.

Also Read The Art of Intercession by Kenneth Hagin [Summary]

The Right Approach to Prayer

There is a right mindset to approach prayer, which is important to receiving answers. The thought or mindset that we desire better things above what God desires for us is wrong.

God wants to hear and answer your prayers; if he had planned it any other way. He won’t have required you to pray. If there’s any good in us, then its source is from God.

God is good, you can’t be more good than He is. You can’t desire good things better than He does for you. The truth is, He is more willing to provide than you are willing to receive.

However, to come to a place where you receive consistent answers to prayers, you must pray according to God’s word–revealed concerning prayer in the New Testament.

God is so great, that He relates with everyone personally. He can hear us all if we pray at the same time. He doesn’t stop listening to you because someone else is praying. He is as concerned about you as he is about anyone else; even if your needs are similar. The real issue is about praying the right way.

What We Can Achieve Through Prayer

We can change anything revealed to us through prayer. God has given us–his children–the privilege to change what He reveals Deu 29:29. There are four reasons why you may not be able to do this:

i. You don’t know it’s going to happen
ii. You want it to happen
iii. You don’t know what to do to change it
iv. You know what to do and refuse to do it.

When God doesn’t want any human influence on any subject, He doesn’t reveal it. Praying the right way is, therefore, the only way to cause or effect a change in any situation.

One reason you must learn to pray the right way is that there are different kinds of prayer. For example, the prayer of confession will not produce answers for you in all situations. You must learn the kind of prayer that is relevant for each desire or need per time.

You can change the course of your life, no matter how bad it has been with praying the right way. This also covers anything you desire. Such as in your home, Job, marriage, finances, family, and your health.

Moreso, you can change the lives of others as well, including your environment, cities, nations, and the world at large. Learning to pray effectively, combined with your heart on any form of prayer is all you need.

Jesus’s Ministry of Prayer

The Book of Hebrew describes Jesus as our great high priest and advocate. But his prayer ministry doesn’t include praying to the Father for us. If this was so, you should probably not be where you are now.

He is the mediator between God and men, not God and the church 1Tim 2:5, Heb 7:25. He mediates between God and the lost not the church. Jesus had expressly told us that a time will come–which was after his resurrection–that we will have access to the Father personally.

We now have access to the Father, so Jesus isn’t responsible to pray for us. He already gave us his name.

Praying Through the Name or Praying in the Name

Everyone who has come under the Lordship of Christ has become one with Christ. His sacrifice on the cross through his blood created a way for us all to access the Father through Him.

Now that we have access to the Father, it is wrong to pray to the Father through Jesus. Praying through Jesus is praying through a medium to God. While praying in the name of Jesus is exercising the power of attorney given to us by Christ to act in his sted.

Remember Jesus said, “as the Father sent me, so send I you.” When we pray in the name of Jesus, it is as though Jesus himself is speaking: Therefore, as everything responds to him, so they respond to us.

New Testament believers don’t ask Jesus for anything, we can of course love on him, worship and praise him. On the other hand, when we have demands to make or desires we want to be fulfilled, we must approach the Father in the name of Jesus.

Asking To Receive & Declaring To Establish

In the scriptures, most times some people confuse Jesus’s statement to ask him in his name, in John 14:13-18 with praying to Jesus.

This kind of prayer is making a declaration or demand in the name of Jesus.

While in John 16:23-24

This refers to making a request or asking of the Father in the name of Jesus.

There is a difference between when you need to establish a thing and when you have to be given a thing. If it has to be given, you must ask the Father. If it, however, has already been given, you don’t ask the Father for it anymore. All you need is to appropriate what has been given in the name of Jesus, and he’ll–Jesus–will back you up.

In making declarations, you are standing in Christ’s sted, as Master over all things. As his ambassadors, we wield his authority to establish what we have already received. An example of this is your bold declaration of faith over your health because it has already been given.

Also Read Knowing God Through Fasting by Elmer Towns [Summary]

Why We Don’t Pray The “Lord’s Prayer” In The New Testament

The Lord’s prayer is not a New Testament way of praying, because of the victory the death and resurrection of Christ brought unto mankind. Below are five reasons as listed and well defined by the author.

i. It was Originally given as a pattern

When the disciples of Christ asked to be taught how Jesus himself prayed, what he gave them wasn’t a list of prayer points. Matthew 6:9 “After this manner, therefore, pray ye…”

What it says is after this manner. It was a pattern or a template and not a prayer list. Jesus practiced and prayed for long hours, so what did he pray for so long?

ii. The Kingdom Jesus spoke about coming, is here NOW

As at the time Jesus taught his disciples to pray thy kingdom come, the kingdom of God was still at hand. Nevertheless, after his death and resurrection, he fulfilled the cost of eternal justice to bring the kingdom here. Restoring the Kingdom man lost in Eden

So the kingdom of God is here. Colossians 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son… We can no longer pray thy Kingdom come, the kingdom is already here. It is within you.

iii. Our Daily bread has been given back

According to our author, when man fell, Satan took man’s authority to govern over the earth. This led to seeking God for their daily bread. However, Jesus took back man’s authority from the devil and gave it back to us.

We now have the authority to rule and have dominion over the earth and the devil. What this means is that you can now bless the earth and command it to bring forth its increase. We are now in the Kingdom, all things are ours now.

iv. Our debts are already forgiven

In the New Testament, we are not forgiven because we forgive others. Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Instead, we are forgiven because it is part of the new covenant God has with man.

God’s forgiveness is not pre-conditional. We are not blessed either because we bless others–it is our inheritance. Likewise, we don’t forgive others because we want God’s forgiveness; we forgive others because it’s in our new nature to forgive. Our Father forgives and so we do too–like Father, like children.

v. We are already delivered

Asking deliverance from the devil, portrays we are still subject to him. We have been delivered and translated into Christ’s kingdom of Light. We have been given authority over the devil and his evil works. We are no longer at his mercy.

You now have the authority to bind and cast the devil out of your life, business, career, marriage, and family. The disciples prayed “deliver us from evil” at that time because the devil had power over them. But for us not anymore. Jesus got and has given us the victory. Glory to God!

In all, this book shows how to pray the right way for consistency in receiving answers to our prayers. God wants you to have great and good things in life. You don’t desire to be blessed more than he does. But you must consciously learn to pray effectively according to his will and more so in line with the New Testament.

Also Read The Price of Spiritual Power by Robert Liardon [Summary]

In conclusion, reading this book, opened me up to some new levels of insights. One of those is praying in the name and not through the name, as I may sometimes get into mixing things up. I also saw the approach I should have towards prayer and the difference between asking to receive and declaring to establish. Setting me up for a boost in my answered prayers.

Finally, here’s my question for you.

Have you had a 70% result in your prayer life? If not what aspect of this review do you think you must work on?

I will love to hear from you, please leave your answer and comments in the comment box below.

This book is available on various online book stores, and bookshop outlets near you. Please get it and READ it for your growth in the knowledge of God.

If this book summary was a source of inspiration to you, do well to SUBSCRIBE to my blog, so you don’t miss more inspirational book summaries coming next.

Also, do well to share this with your friends and loved ones. I know you were blessed by this and they will too.