2 Means to Effective Prayer You Can Apply Every Day

Having boldness for entering the Holy of Holies in the blood of Jesus–Heb. 10:19.

As believers in Christ, we might realize that prayer is our lifeline to God, yet, at the same time, find it difficult to pray.

One reason for this frustration might be that we’ve not yet discovered how to apply the two means to effective prayer–the blood and the name of Jesus.

As a result we might feel hindered in our prayer because of our sinfulness or feel that our behavior is not good enough to come to God.

If you’ve ever been hindered in your prayer, you’ll be glad to discover these two means to effective prayer.

 Two means to effective prayer—the blood and the name of Jesus Christ

In speaking of a “means,” dictionary.com defines it as “something that is the medium, method, or instrument used to obtain a result or achieve an end: [like] a means of communication.”

Similarly, our communication, or our fellowship with God in prayer, requires some “means.”

Let’s consider the two means that will enable us to pray effective prayers and result in our contacting and absorbing God.

The precious blood of  Jesus is the first means to effective prayer.

Heb. 10:19 says:

“Having therefore brothers, boldness for entering the Holy of Holies in the blood of Jesus.”

The Holy of Holies is the place where God’s presence dwells.

First, the Holy of Holies is the highest heavens where God’s throne is.

Second, it was the innermost part of the Old Testament tabernacle and temple where the high priest could meet with God.

Third, the Holy of Holies is now the believers’ regenerated human spirit where we can come to fellowship with Jesus and enjoy His presence (2 Tim. 4:22). It’s where Christ, as the life-giving Spirit, dwells in us and where we can come to pray in order to contact Him (Rom. 8:10). (You may want to read my previous post about these two spirits—God’s Spirit with our spirit.)

But how can we come to the Holy of Holies when we are still sinful, disobedient, or rebellious toward God? The answer is the blood of Jesus!

When we come to pray, our conscience might condemn us and Satan might accuse us. Our virtue will never enable us to withstand these attacks.  It will never give us the boldness  to come to God.

When we come to pray, we must learn to apply the blood of Jesus.

How can we do this? First, we need to confess any sins, wrongdoings, or failures that we’re conscious of when we come before Him.

1 John 1:7 and 9 promise the following:

 If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin…If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So when we confess, Jesus cleanses us from every sin.

Toward God everything is clear—forgiven and forgotten. But Satan doesn’t give up. He’ll keep accusing us as long as we’ll listen to him. So we need to take another step and apply the blood of Jesus to defeat the enemy.

Whenever we open to the Lord in prayer it’s very good to begin by applying the Lord’s blood. You may want to pray,

“Lord Jesus, I come boldly to Your throne by Your precious blood. Thank you that Your blood is constantly speaking for my forgiveness and cleansing. It satisfies God, appeases my conscience and shuts the mouth of Satan, the accuser. Under Your blood’s full covering, I open to receive more of You—to absorb all that You are as my supply.”

The name of Jesus is the second means to effective prayer. 

We have seen that in order to pray effective prayers we need the cleansing of the Lord’s blood. That removes the separation of sin and guilt and all the accusations from Satan, the accuser.

But there’s still another issue. We have no standing before God in ourselves. We’re not acceptable to Him. In ourselves we have no means to ask Him for anything.  To meet our need, God has given us a second means—the name of Jesus.

In John 15:16 Jesus said:

“…that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give you.”

What did Jesus mean when He said  to “ask in My name?”  His name implies His Person. So it means that before  God, it is His Son, Jesus who is asking.  It is as if  the Lord is a very rich man who sent us to the bank with a check or money order endorsed by Him. It’s His name that the heavenly bank must honor.

So to pray by means of the Lord’s name is to pray in the Lord’s name. When we pray in the Lord’s name it is to pray in the Lord Himself. In God’s eyes it’s as if the Lord Himself is praying the prayer.

God highly regards His Son’s name, and Satan and his angels tremble at His name.

So now we need to learn to pray in this God exalted name–the name of Jesus (Phil 2:9-11). We can simply pray something like this,

“Father, we come boldly to You in Your Son’s highest name. We don’t pray in ourselves, based on any merit of our own. Father, You  have exalted Your Son to the highest place and given Him the name that is above every name. It’s in His name that we ask…”

If you’ve enjoyed this post and found the blood of Jesus or the name of Jesus as the means to effective prayer, please confirm with a short comment. Then take a moment to check out the other posts on prayer on the Prayer Life  page of this blog.

References and Further Resources:

This post is based on Lesson Seven of Lessons for New Believers by Witness Lee, entitled “Prayer.” You can read it online at ministrybooks.org.

For more appreciation of the effectiveness of the Blood of Jesus, you may also enjoy reading Chapter One of The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee and  a short booklet, The Precious Blood of Christ by Witness Lee, available in Volume One of Bibles for America’s free literature series.

Here are a couple of hymns  to uplift your appreciation for what is covered in this post:

• “The veil is rent and opened is…”  Click to view lyrics.
• “In the mighty name of Jesus”

Photo credit:  Highway into mountains_switzerland by Alexandr Schwarz at Unsplash