Praying from the heart is the key to answered prayer

Our confidence in prayer is not based on our ability to speak, but on God's ability to hear and understand and God always knows what we are trying to say, through the Holy Spirit.

Source: Real as the Streets

Jeremiah 29:13 ‘You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart’. If our prayers are not being answered, then we should examine our relationship with the Lord. God isn't moved by our eloquence or the multiplicity of our words, He is moved by a heart that spills the burdens of the day across the altar, exposing every pain to the Power of God, who can. ‘Can what’ you may ask? A God who can do what we have the faith to believe Him for. If we regard iniquity in our heart the Lord will not hear us (Psalm 66:18 - KJV) and anything that adversely affects our relationship with God also affects our prayers. Friendship gives us favour, but intimacy gives us access. In John 15:7 Jesus said; ‘If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you’.

It is through God's Word that we can know, believe and agree in faith with God's will. Without His Word our prayers have no foundation, they are based merely on our opinions, desires and feelings, rather than on the living and enduring Word of God. 1 Peter 1:23 ‘For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God’, however, all the Power of God is at the disposal of true prayer. God wants to use His Power in the World, however for Him to do so, we must understand how to appropriate His words. If we are not experiencing God’s power in our lives, then maybe we should be asking ourselves; ‘how strong is our faith’? Without faith it is impossible to please God, for He who comes to God, must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Hebrews 11:6 ‘And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him’.

When we pray we need to put our heart and soul into it. Paul speaks of labouring in prayer; Colossians 4:12 ‘Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured’. Our confidence in prayer is not based on our ability to speak, but on God's ability to hear and understand and God always knows what we are trying to say, through the Holy Spirit; Romans 8:26 ‘In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans’. In John 17:1-5 Jesus shows us that He had a perfect relationship with His Father; ‘After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began’.

Source: Customoko

We can either learn to pray or we can become good at worrying, however, what we give to God He handles; 1 Peter 5:7 ‘Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you’, what we keep, we handle. Spiritually when everything is going out and nothing is coming in, we will collapse under the weight of it all if we continue to try to handle things ourselves. Maybe this is where you are today?  If so, prayer is the answer, as it restores what life depletes. When we pray, we are saying ‘Lord, I believe You are more than able to deal with this and I trust You to do it’. When we pray that way, our heart is in God's hands, any illness, or surgery you are facing are in God's hands, our children and finances are in God's hands. God is ready to intervene on our behalf, all we need to do is pray from our heart, commit our way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass; Psalm 37:5 ‘Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this’. We must understand that God Himself is speaking in the Word when we pray, because the Word is who He is; John 1:1 ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God’. Therefore, God's Presence becomes a part of our prayers, when we speak His Word in faith. We need to understand the power behind prayer is God's Word, the name of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Colossians 3:15-17 ‘Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him’.

The Heart of Prayer is asking God to intervene in the World to fulfil His eternal purpose for mankind. We should pray to God on the basis of His Word and experience the revelation of 'Who He is', 'What His will is' and 'What He has promised'.  Prayer is an earthly license for heavenly interference.

Be blessed.

Author: Herbert Jean

May God bless and enrich your life

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