CHARLO, New Brunswick, July 26, 2023 – For us born-again believers, prayer is second nature. Paul says to pray without ceasing, and that’s what we do.

“We pray; therefore, we are.”

But how we pray in large part affects the efficacy of our prayers. Jesus advised us to go into our closet when we want to talk to God. That could mean physically going into a small solitary space, or it could mean closeting ourselves wherever we happen to be. You don’t have to be alone to closet yourself; you just put yourself into the God-zone and away you pray!

PRO TIP: It’s best to pray silently. God hears those prayers better than spoken ones.

• We should keep in mind, too, that Jesus advised us to settle our differences before we pray. This could mean actually making peace with someone we’ve aggravated, but it more often means choosing to forgive someone. If we go before God with a grudge-hardened heart – however justified we think that grudge may be – our prayers won’t be as effective. In fact, God might choose not even to hear our prayers until we make our peace in our heart, which always involves choosing to forgive.
• It also goes without saying that if we have unrepentant sin on our soul, we should repent before going to God in prayer. An unrepentant soul is a hardened soul. Like a hard heart, a hard soul can act as a barrier between us and God. We need to keep our soul as soft and supple as our heart, which means always choosing to forgive and always being ready to repent if God indicates we need to.

When I’m in the God-zone with a softened heart and soul, my favourite prayer style is sniper prayer. I learned how to sniper pray from my grandmother. Sniper prayer is just like it sounds – the target (prayer recipient) has no idea you’re praying for them. They don’t see you, and they don’t see the prayers coming. That’s because you don’t tell them you’re praying for them; you don’t tell anyone you’re praying for them: You just do it out of nowhere and when they least expect it. Sniper prayer is most appropriate for people who hate you or hate God. They don’t want to know you’re praying for them, anyway, so it all works out.

Sniper prayer is the prayer style that Jesus recommended when he told us to go into our closets and pray secretly. Only God needs to know the content of our prayers or even that we’re praying, which is why it’s best to pray silently. If we pray aloud, in almost every case (with few exceptions) the devil will know what we’re up to, and then he’ll start trying to figure out a way to thwart us. When we pray silently and without telling anyone but God and Jesus, the devil will never know what we’re up to. Our prayers will be hidden from him. That’s how we stay one step ahead of the evil.

Sniper prayers by born-again believers (a.k.a. saints) in right standing with God are the most effective prayers in all creation. Scripture says that the holy angels take those prayers together with incense and send them directly to God’s throne. And since prayer is the most powerful force in the universe, no weapon on Earth is stronger than sniper prayer, as it’s engendered by God and powered by his Holy Spirit.

So the next time you pray, get into the God-zone, soften your heart and soul, and take silent aim….