Unlocking the Power of Prayer: Steps to Get Your Prayers Answered
Welcome back, my Fidus Achates!
One of the questions in Christendom that every believer must strive to get an answer to is how to get your prayer answered. In this blog, I present to you five things to do to have your prayer answered.
1. Don’t pray a vague prayer
2. Overcome Unbelief
3. Have a burning desire
4. Your prayer must not contradict any Word of God
5. Seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit
Let’s get started!
Communication with God
Prayer is a legitimate way we communicate with God. The Lord loves us and expects that we communicate with Him more often. Every love relationship is characterised by affectionate communication. We don’t talk to God only when we need something from Him. But we do so because we are in a love relationship with Him. How many couples will be happy if the only time their spouses communicate with them is when they need something from them? The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 that “Pray without ceasing”. This shows the rate at which God wants us to speak to Him.
As much as God expects us to come to Him in prayer and communicate with Him concerning our lives, and has even promised to answer our prayer so long as we how to prayer in the name of Jesus, not all the things we request from Him in prayers are answered. Notwithstanding the fact that Jesus said in Mark 11:24 “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them“. Before we can successfully get our prayer answered, we need to be mindful of the following.
1. Don't pray a vague prayer
God never works by Himself, but only though us. God is the eternal source, but He only works through our requests. He never works anything independently of us that concerns our lives. John Wesley said “It seems God is limited by our prayer life that He can do nothing for humanity unless someone asks Him.” Nevertheless the problems sometimes has to do with many and how we make our request. If you just say “Oh, God bless me, bless me!”. The Bible has over 8,000 promises of blessing, so which of the blessings out of over 8,000 promises do you want? Be very definite. Take out your notebook, write it down, see it clearly. You must see your objective so vividly and graphically that you can really feel it in your emotions. If you do not exercise this law of faith, you can never really get an answer to everything you request.
2. Overcome unbelief
Jesus gave us assurance in Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Also Mathew 21: 22 says “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Whenever we pray to God about anything, it is very vital for us to believe that our prayer is answered. A double-minded person is unstable in all their ways; the Bible says “let not that person think that they shall receive anything of the Lord”.
3. Have a burning desire
If you have a vivid picture, you should have a burning desire for those objectives. Many people just pray casually, “God, answer my prayer,” and before they walk out of the church building, they would have forgotten all the things they prayed about. That kind of attitude will never provoke a response from God. You need to have a burning desire. Proverbs 10:24 reads, “the desire of the righteous shall be granted.” Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself also in the Lord; and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” Mark 11: 24 reads “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” You must have a burning desire for a goal, and you must keep on seeing that goal accomplished.
4. Your prayer must not contradict any Word of God
Before your prayer could be qualified to be answered, it must not contradict any Word of God. It is like a traffic light which all must be green before you may proceed on your way. You must go to the Bible, not with the intention to legitimise your desires, but rather to submit them to the Word of God and ensure that they are in line with the Word of God. Before the green light of the Word can come on, the Spirit of the Word and the letter of the Word must agree. You may think you have found a verse or two that gives you a green light, but if it is contrary to the nature of God, and His general principles, then you are misinterpreting the verse and taking it out of context.
Talking about our prayer not contradicting any Word of God, a legitimate question to ask is whether we need to know every Scripture, from Genesis to Revelations to be able to tell if our request contradicts any verse. Well, not necessarily, this leads to my fifth point, which is seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
5. Seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit has been given to us to serve as as our guide and advocate. He is supposed to teach us all things. Romans 8:26 says “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Again, Jesus said in John 16:14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” Therefore, if we engage the Holy Spirit and have a personal relationship with Him, He will direct us if we are going off with our prayer or if our prayer contradicts any Word of God. We can never have a successful prayer life without the help of the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
It pleases God for us to communicate with Him often. Our relationship with God must be beyond just need-base to love relationship. Before our prayer will be answered, we must not pray vague prayer, we must overcome every unbelief, we need to have a burning desire, our prayer must not contradict the Word of God and lastly, seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Practicing these spiritual truth will ensure that our prayers get the desirable results.
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