2 Chron 7:12-14, Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 
As we have made very evident, we are using material adapted from The Battle Plan for Prayer Bible Study Curriculum, developed by Stephen and Alex Kendrick. This is our springboard of consideration for the details of the church on earth in view of those practical aspects of prayer as the means of our spiritual growth.
Last time, we looked at some of the various hindrances or locks to our prayers. We dealt with those elements in our thoughts and lives which seem to present Heaven as closed to our prayers. Whether through our own sin, or unrepentance, or resentment, or jealousy of others, we prevent ourselves from experiencing the full measure of the heart of God in response to our petitions. 
This morning, we want to look at those elements which we consider the keys that unlock the heavens to our prayers. These will be those aspects which serve to cause us to honor God and to experience the joy of His unhindered response to our prayers of adoration and confession and thanksgiving and supplication. These are very basic elements which we must never take for granted or belittle in any measure. They are the means whereby our mortal beings find the transport of our heart’s desire unto the throne of God in Heaven. 
Lest we fail miserably in our earnestly seeking after the will of God, we need to realize that these are not tricks or gimmicks in a futile effort to make God have to listen to us. These are not shortcuts and easy fixes to the complex situation of man’s relationship with God Almighty only brought into place through our living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. These are simple truths that require our complete surrender to and submission before the Holy and Awesome Lord God Creator of Heaven and earth. 
The initial and primary key to unlock effective prayer is our living relationship with Only Begotten Son of God. We have mentioned this over and over again and it bears continual repetition. When we pray, we must come unto our Heavenly Father through the intercession of His Son, Our Savior, Our Lord, and Our Brother. This is the bedrock truth as proclaimed by Our Lord Jesus, Himself in John 14:6. John 14:6, Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me. 
It is all because of Him and His glorious work that we can lift our prayers to the heavens knowing that they will be heard. He is the means and He is the only reason that we fully have immediate and eternal access to the throne of God. The Apostle Paul highlighted this in his letter to the Ephesian Church, chapter 3, verses 11+12. Eph 3:11+12, This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. 
The fact of true prayer, intimate communication with Our Heavenly Father is that apart from Christ, there is no obligation, in any measure for God to listen to or to respond to anyone’s prayers. It is all on the basis of Jesus, Our Wondrous and Glorious Jesus, that our words of prayer are heard and cherished in the heart of Our Heavenly Father. 
The Writer to the Hebrews spelled this out in detail in Heb 7:23-28, indicating the difference in the manner of the priestly order and duties now instituted in Christ Jesus. Please stand as we read this together.
Heb 7:23-28, And the former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers, because they were prevented by death from continuing, but He, on the other hand, because He abides forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever. Amen. You may be seated.
Having established that Jesus and our relationship with Him is the main key Who opens and maintains our effective prayer, let us now consider a number of other aspects that serve as keys in our continued intimate relationship with God in prayer. The next is the fact that we need to come unto God with persistence and perseverance. We are not dealing with this in terms of being those children who will not relent until they get their own way. We are talking about the fact that we put our whole being - spirit, soul, and mind into our coming continually to the Lord in the knowledge that He is Our Everything.
Our Lord highlighted this for us in Matt 7:7-11, if you would please open to it. Matt 7, verses 7-11, "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened. "Or what man is there among you, when his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone? "Or if he shall ask for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! 
"Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. There is the reality contained in this declaration that we need to not give up. We count on the Lord and we come to Him in every situation, in every detail, in the every depth of our being and seek for Him to do that which is necessary and perfect in the course of answering our prayers. 
This goes back to what we considered in our discussion of how the Lord does answer every prayer. When we pray, we know He will hear. His answer will be yes, no or sometimes His response is to wait. If we must wait that does not mean that we just go about the course of our daily routine and forget about that prayer. 
We seek Him out in prayer. We talk with Him. We call upon Him. We ask Him toshow us the course of what to di as we wait for Him. We continually bring our petition before Him with the excitement and the anticipation that He will answer it fully in the course of His perfect time and in the manner of His excellent will and plan.
King David so encouraged Solomon in this wondrous provision of God’s glorious response to his continued persistence in searching and seeking after the heart and the will of God as recorded in 1 Chron 28:9. 1 Chron 28:9, "As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever. 
    	The Psalmist, in Ps 105, verses 3+4 again highlights this key truth. Ps 105:3+4, Glory in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad. Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually. 
    	We revel in the full promise of God to those who will persistently persevere in their entreaties unto the Lord as is recorded in Prov 8:17. Prov 8:17, "I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me. We will find the answer to our every petition and supplication and entreaty as we diligently seek the Lord.
	He will be found by us as the Prophet Jeremiah so details in Jer 29:13+14. Jer 29:13+14, 'And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 'And I will be found by you,' declares the Lord,' and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the Lord,' and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.' 
	As the Apostle Paul points out in Rom 2:4-8, as a reinforcement of this Jeremiah text, our whole relationship with God is not one of just complacent floating on the currents of our emotional wave patterns. It is necessary that we fully throw ourselves into this life that God has given us and immerse ourselves into the greatest depths of this relationship. 
Rom 2:4-8, Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. 
It is never, ever, a matter of earning anything. It is the key of our whole-hearted desire to know God in His fullness and His glory and adding to His majesty that will infuse our prayers with our whole essence. We will find ourselves seeking after only that which will bring more and more glory to His name, no matter how or when He deems best to answer our prayers. 
The next key to effective prayer that we will touch upon this morning is that when we pray, we must do so with absolute faith in God. The Writer to the Hebrews addresses this for us in Heb 11:6. Heb 11:6, And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. 
We must have faith in God to do as He wills and purposes in full line with His Word and the promises contained therein. We must believe that He is exactly Who He says He is! We must not waver in our complete seeking after Him to reveal His glory and His power and His majesty as we walk in accordance with the heart that seeks only to please and to bless and to honor Him.
Our Lord stated the fact that we are to believe His every word and to abide in the faith that He will save to the uttermost those who believe in Him as Lord and as Savior. It is not enough just to have a knowledge basis in the historical Jesus of Nazareth. We need to know and have faith in Him, that He is the Son of God Who was sent to die on the cross in our stead and that He rose again on the third day and is now both Savior and Lord! 
As He told His disciples, in Mark 16:15-18, just before He ascended into Heaven, we must believe in Him and obey Him. Mark 16:15-18, And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. "And these signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it shall not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." 
     	The Apostle Paul, in Rom 1:17, highlighted the fact that this living faith in Jesus is the very fabric of our new life. Rom 1:17, For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "But the righteous man shall live by faith." 
     	Then in Gal 5:5+6, he stipulated the truth that the living faith of Jesus is our faith and it is that reality which binds us all together in Him. Gal 5:5+6, For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love. 
     	Brother James, in James 1:5+6, denotes the certainty that our every request of God must be anchored in faith in the fact of God’s response without any doubt. James 1:5+6, But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 
    	Our final passage of this morning is 2 Peter 1:1-8, in which the Apostle Peter details how our faith in Jesus works to establish the very essence of our character in the new nature that is ours in Him. It is the substance of our prayerful relationship with the Lord God Almighty. Let us read it together, 2 Peter 1:1-8.
	2 Peter 1:1-8, Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge; and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness; and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
	The three keys that we discussed today – our living relationship with Jesus, our persistent perseverance in seeking Him and His will, and our faith in Christ and believing upon Him as Savor and Lord and as the essence of our lives, are essential for our effective prayers. Next time, Lord willing, we will look at a few more of the keys to prayer contained in and directed by the Word of God. So be it. 
Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Ps 121:7+8. The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever. Amen.