“The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available (dynamic in its working).” (James 5:16 AMP)
Prayer is communicating with God, talking to Him and listening to Him. Prayer brings us into God’s presence. He wants to have unbroken fellowship with us. That’s why He tells us in His Word to pray continually. We can pray on the go, but we must get quiet and spend quality time in His presence to hear His voice. We need to set apart a specific time daily to spend alone with God. Fellowship with Him brings us into a love relationship with our heavenly Father. Prayer will keep us close to God. We draw near to Him through prayer. He promised that He will draw near to us when we draw near to Him. We can live in an attitude of prayer, constantly being in communion and fellowship with our heavenly Father every hour of the day.
The number one rule in praying to get results is to pray in line with God’s Word. God’s Word is His will for our lives. The Word of God contains the answer to every problem that could confront us. We find the answer to our problem, then take it to God in prayer. When we pray according to His will, He hears us and answers our prayers. When we believe God’s Word and pray in line with His Word, we can expect our prayers to be answered.
The next step to praying effectively is to pray in faith. Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24 NIV) We have to believe we receive when we pray. God said in His Word that He has given to every believer the measure of faith. We must develop that faith by spending time in the Word of God. The key to success in prayer is expecting results. We must believe that His power went to work the moment we prayed in faith. Praying in faith is merely having confidence in God’s willingness to use His power to answer our prayers. Once we have prayed in faith, we must stand our ground until the manifestation comes. Stand firm on the Word and believe God for results. Hold fast to your confession of faith. Our confession life should line up with our prayer life.
We should always pray to the Father in Jesus’ name. Jesus said that His Father would grant whatever we ask when we ask in His name. When we pray in Jesus’ name, we immediately get God’s attention. Jesus is the name that is above every name. When we pray in Jesus’ name, according to the Word in faith, God will quickly respond to us.
Unforgiveness is a huge hindrance to having our prayers answered. Jesus said if we do not forgive men their sins, our Father will not forgive our sins. Jesus said, “When you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” (Mark 2:25 AMP) When we have been hurt, we should run to God. We should ask Him to make things right as we forgive and remain in His love. Ask Him for comfort and healing. We must walk in love and forgiveness to have our prayers answered.
We should close all our prayer times with thanksgiving. If we truly believe that we received when we prayed, then we will start thanking God. We should thank Him continually while we are waiting for the manifestation of the answers to our prayers. We should thank God for what we don’t see yet because we believe it is already done.
Continue in fellowship with God. He created us to fellowship with Him. The more we fellowship with God, the more we know that He is for us. He wants to use His power on our behalf.
Prayer is a necessity. We will never get to the place where we don’t need God. We are desperate for Him whether we know it or not. To know Him more and more intimately should be our greatest desire.
Prayer is the doorway into the mightiest release of power that is known to man. Stay connected to God through prayer and obedience so that He can bring His will to pass in your life.
Pray this:
“Heavenly Father, thank You for giving me the confidence that what You have promised, You will do. Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for the faith You have given me. Help me to believe I receive when I pray and to hold fast to my confession of faith until You bring it to pass.
“In Jesus Name, Amen.”
Pat Gray