POWER-PACKED PRAYER

When you pray to God for something, what are your expectations? In your prayers are you focused on self or do you pray for others? Do you pray counting on God to handle a situation and no sooner than you say “amen” you begin to worry? When praying for a loved one to be healed and they die instead, does God become a disappointment to you? We all want our prayers to be answered, but when we come before God in prayer we must have a deeper understanding of His will versus ours.

Prayer is our time to communicate with God and appeal to Him concerning our needs and our desires, to exalt Him, to give thanks, and to repent. Our time spent in prayer should reflect the trust we have in Him and deepen our connection to Him. He expects honesty, openness and faith when we come to Him in prayer. Heartfelt prayers are pleasing to God because He knows what is needed before we can even ask (see Matthew 6:8) Talk to God as if He is the only one available for conversation and believe that there is power in the words said to Him. The best way to do that is to use the power of His word and pray it back to Him.

Remember that God is not some genie in a bottle that if we rub the right way we will get what we wish for. He is not a magician that sprinkles magic dust on our situation in order to fix it. He is the all powerful, all knowing, ever present God of creation that can do exceedingly and abundantly beyond anything that we can ask for or imagine. And it is according to His will and not ours.

God in His infinite wisdom will answer our prayers, but not in the manner that we asked. Pray for patience and He provides opportunity to practice being patient. Pray for strength and get the chance to be strong. Pray for wisdom and begin to see situations from a whole new perspective. 

Prayer is an outward expression of our faith in His ability to answer our prayers and when we come before Him, we must acknowledge His power to do so!

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.James 5:16 NIV

Prayer: Lord we call out to you praising you and thanking you for listening to our prayers. Forgive us our sins and lead us in the ways of righteousness so that our prayers can be a sweet and harmonious cry to you. You are an awesome God that is worthy of all our devotion and praise. Please Lord, continue to bless and keep us from falling outside of your will. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

Read Matthew 6:9-13 to learn how to pray effectively.