The Master’s agenda is the one that a bondservant (bond slave) should have. The bondservant does not tell the Master what he is going to do; rather, he waits on the Master to tell him what he is going to do. Until he is given instruction, he will wait on the Master before doing anything, or changing anything concerning what he has already been instructed to do. So it is with the believer because he is bought with a price and he is not his own (see Romans 14:8, 1Corinthians 6:20). If you received Jesus Christ as Lord, you are His bondservant and He is your Master. Therefore, the agenda that you should be concerned with is His.
As we enter into prayer, our agenda should be the Father’s agenda given to us through the Holy Spirit. That means before we even begin to pray we should be asking Him who and what He desires us to pray over, and/or what His will is concerning a given issue. One of the reasons that people fail to see their prayers produce the desired fruit is that they are not praying according to the will of the Father. In many instances they pray what they think is best, but they do not see the whole picture. Consequently, what they request misses the mark. Others pray out of a lust and fail to receive because they ask amiss (see James 4:1-4). What people want and what they need often differ. God sees the whole picture and knows what is best.
When Jesus prayed, He always prayed according to the will of the Father. That means He spent time with Him and knew His heart. If we are to be effective in prayer, we need to spend time with the Father and know His heart as well. We cannot just enter into our prayer closet and start firing off aimless prayers. One of the best ways to put a disorderly prayer closet into order is to be, “Swift to hear, and slow to speak” (James 1:19). Of course if the Holy Spirit is already leading you to pray specifically as soon as you enter into your closet, have it. The closer we are to God, the more we will experience Holy Spirit led prayer.
In the presence of the Lord is fullness of peace. If a person is in the state of peace, he will be more able to think, act, speak, and pray clearly. Sometimes situations arise that could cause panic or some other negative emotion that clouds our judgment. That is not exactly the best state to be in to effective prayer. Of course, God’s grace goes a long way under those circumstances, and it is His grace that empowers us to enter into His presence. As we abide in the Lord, we will be more able to know His heart, and He will be more able to guide our prayers. It is easier to hit the target in the bull’s eye if we can see where the target is to begin with. Shooting in the dark is far less effective than shooting in the Light.
When we go into our prayer closets, we should go in with a servant’s heart. We need to humble ourselves before the Lord, and ask Him what His will is before proceeding any further. While we are yet sons and daughters of the Most High, consider this: Jesus humbled Himself before the Father and every one of His prayer requests were answered, “Yes, and Amen” –without exception!
