Last year I heard a guest speaker talk about prayer.  He said we shouldn’t expect our prayers to be answered and even gave examples of, if we’re sick don’t expect to be healed or if you have a child that has left the faith don’t expect them to be saved.  After that statement, I zoned out completely so I don’t clearly remember what the point was.  All I kept thinking was, “What is this guy talking about?  You can’t in one breath say that prayer is powerful but then say that your most desperate prayers won’t be answered!”

We are to be filled with hope yet teachings like this take that hope away.  This is a prime example of why we can’t solely rely on a single individual for our spiritual growth but dig deep into God’s Word on our own every single day.  This is essential because all of us are on a journey of building our faith and getting to know Jesus better.

Don’t let someone else’s stumbling block in their faith become your stumbling block!

In this post, I’m going to be going in-depth about what God says about our prayer requests and having an effective prayer life because…

Hosea 4:6
My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.

Let’s start at the beginning.

I want to be clear.  We cannot expect our prayers to be answered if they are not in alignment with God’s will.  I find many Christians, myself included at one time, struggle with knowing what God’s will is.  Praise the Lord He doesn’t hide His will from us!  It’s all there in the Bible just waiting for us to discover it.  Below are 2 verses that address our motives when it comes to our prayers:

1 John 5:13-15
I write this to you who believe in the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.  And we can be confident that he will listen to us whenever we ask Him for anything in line with His will.  And if we know He is listening when we make our requests. We can be sure that He will give us what we ask for.

James 4:2-3
And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it.  And even when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong – you want only what will give you pleasure.

So how can we confidently pray in God’s will?

We do this by researching in the Bible what God says about that particular topic.  I love using my concordance to help me find verses but with the internet, it’s just as easy.  Since at the beginning of this post 2 topics were presented (healing and a child that has left the faith) let me use those as examples.

Is Healing in God’s Will?

Let’s say you’re dealing with a sickness or someone you love does…is praying for healing in God’s will?  Can we have total confidence that God will answer our prayers regarding healing?

Here are just 5 verses about healing:

Isaiah 53:5
He (Jesus) was whipped, and we were healed.

Psalm 103:3
He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.

James 5:14-15
Are any among you sick?  They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.  And their prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make them well.

Mark 16: 17-18
These signs will accompany those who believe:  They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak new languages.  They will be able to handle snakes with safety and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them.  They will place their hands on the sick and they will recover.

John 14:12
The truth is, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.
(one of the things Jesus did was heal the sick)

The answer is absolutely YES!

Is Praying for Salvation in God’s Will?

We all have people in our lives that we love and that are not yet saved.  Can we have confident joy that our prayers for salvation for loved ones will be answered?

2 Peter 3:9
This Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think.  No, he is being patient for your sake.  He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent.

Specifically concerning children:

Psalm 103:18
His salvation extends to the children’s children of those who are faithful to his covenant, of those who obey his commandments!

Psalm 112:1-2
Praise the LORD!  Happy are those who fear the Lord.  Yes, happy are those who delight in doing what he commands.  Their children will be successful everywhere; an entire generation of godly people will be blessed.

The answer is YES!

Praying is a two-fold process – 1) you have to be praying in God’s will and 2) you have to have the faith to believe that God is going to answer your prayer.  This is critical!  You cannot be praying for healing, salvation or anything else in God’s will if you have no faith that He will answer it.

Mark 11:22-25
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Have faith in God.  I assure you that you can say to this mountain, “May God lift you up and throw you into the sea, and your command will be obeyed.  All that’s required is that you really believe and do not doubt in your heart.  Listen to me!  You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it.  But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins too.”

Matthew 21:21-22
Then Jesus told them, “I assure you, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more.  You can even say to this mountain, “May God lift you up and throw you into the sea, and it will happen. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

James 1:5-8
If you need wisdom- if you want to know what God wants you to do – ask Him, and He will gladly tell you.  He will not resent your asking.  But when you ask Him, be sure that you really expect Him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.  People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  They can’t make up their minds.  They waver back and forth in everything they do.

So what is the stumbling block to prayer in God’s will?  It’s doubt.

Do You Want to Know the Secret to Having an Amazing Prayer Life?

It’s standing on God’s Word.  This is how you get rid of the doubt and unbelief that God will answer your prayers.

Here are just 3 reasons why standing on God’s Word is paramount to having a faith and thereby a prayer life that moves mountains!

1) Effective Prayer

God tells us in Numbers 23:19 and in Proverbs 30:5 that He does not lie, He does not change His mind and that every word in the Bible proves true.  Those are some powerful words to stand on!

When I look in my prayer closet, I don’t just have prayers but also Scripture.  These help me stay focused on what I’m praying for because they tell me who God is and what His promises are.  So when I’m praying for, let’s say, salvation for loved ones I repeat those Scriptures because they growth my faith and give me expectant joy that God is going on honour those requests.  They keep my faith strong when prayers are taking a while to be answered and when things don’t seem to be changing.

2) Combating Satan

We are in a spiritual war and there are no non-combatants.  Whether you like to admit it or not Satan and his demons are real and they are out to steal, kill and destroy you (John 10:10).

Jesus shows us how to combat Satan when Satan tempted him in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights (Matthew 4:1-11).  Every time Satan came at Jesus; Jesus responded back with Scripture.  We need to do the same.  When we are being spiritually attacked we too need to have Scriptures ready to fight back with.

For example, when I’m having some ungodly thoughts I say this verse over and over till it goes away:

Philippians 4:8
Fix your thoughts on what is true, honorable and right.  Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable.  Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

3) Maturity

Standing on God’s Word helps us grow in our faith and maturity in Jesus Christ.  As we mature we become more confident in God’s will, His promises to us and in His Word in general.

Hebrews 5:12-14
You have been Christians a long time now, and you ought to be teaching others.  Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things a beginner must learn about the Scriptures.  You are like babies who drink only milk and cannot eat solid food.  And a person who is living on milk isn’t very far along in the Christian life and doesn’t know much about doing what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who have trained themselves to recognize the difference between right and wrong and then do what is right.

Now that we know the importance of praying in God’s will and standing on His Word let me give you some other verses specifically related to our prayers to help you to pray in confidence and kick the doubt to the curb!

John 15:7-8
But if you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted!  My true disciples produce much fruit.  This brings great glory to my Father.

Luke 17:6
Even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed,” The Lord answered, “You could say to this mulberry tree, “May God uproot you and throw you into the sea, and it would obey you!”

Matthew 18:19-20
I also tell you this: if two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you.  For where two or three gather together because they are mine, I am there among them.

James 5:16
The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results.

The Instances When You Don’t Know God’s Will

Although I have found the times few there may be times when you don’t know God’s will and for those times we need to pray for God’s will in our lives and not our own.  This could be anything from where you’re next job should be, what house to buy or what direction God wants your life to go.  For those instances, we’re not going to find a concrete answer in the Bible like you should buy the house on Anderson Street with the red brick.  During those times we stand on other verses keeping in mind that what we might think we need might be different than what God knows we need and this is why we continue to pray for God’s will to be done.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek His will in all you do and He will direct your paths.

Psalm 31:14-15
But I am trusting you, O LORD, saying, "You are my God!"  My future is in your hands.

I hope this post has boosted your confidence in the power of prayer and has given you new encouragement to keep on praying.

Your Sister in Christ,

Angela