Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7 NKJV

It is very easy to fall into a repetitive prayer routine without truly considering its effectiveness. I want to reflect on three key aspects of prayer that we should all pay attention to:

1. Breaking through in the place of prayer
2. Prayer for personal spiritual progress
3. Intercessory prayers

Aside from the regular elements of prayer that we all know—such as praise, worship, and repentance—I submit to you that a prayer life that lacks these three components is not truly effective.

Let’s begin with the first: breaking through in the place of prayer.
How do you, personally, breakthrough in prayer each day? What is your process?

From my observation, it takes anywhere from 20, 30, or even 40 minutes of prayer to truly break through every morning. This means that prayer requests offered before the breakthrough are often from the outer courts—and, as a result, ineffective.

Jesus repeatedly asked His disciples, “Could you not pray with Me for one hour?” As you begin your morning prayers, it is important to start with worship, meditative prayer, a devotional, a scripture, and praying in tongues—until you sense a spiritual shift. That moment of transition is your spiritual warm-up.

Effectual and effective prayer only begins after that transition—not before.

I will comment on the other aspects of an effective prayer life in the next reflections.