People often get nervous or anxious when it comes to prayer, but praying doesn’t have to be scary at all! God wants to hear from you, and He also wants to answer your prayers when they are in accordance with His will. People have misconceptions about prayer, but often, that is used as an excuse to not pray, even though prayer is one of the most important things a Christian can do! When we pray, we are in direct contact with The Creator, so take it seriously! Without further delay, here are some essential things to know about prayer!
God Delights in Our Prayers
Many people are nervous about praying because they think God doesn’t want to hear from them. They feel that way because they believe they aren’t good enough to pray to God, that they messed up, or simply that their prayers are too small for God. Proverbs 15:8 says, “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But the prayer of the upright is His delight.” God delights in our prayers; we are His children, so why wouldn’t He want to hear from us? God enjoys talking to and with us, so don’t be shy when you are about to pray but be bold because you know He is happy to hear from you. God wants to listen to the big and small prayers, the confessions or conversational prayers, the “how are You doing God?” prayers. God wants to hear each of them because He loves you and delights in you and your prayers! So, stop being afraid to talk to your Father; He is there listening and delights to do so!
Be Sincere and Bold
I previously mentioned that some people feel that God doesn’t want to hear from them because they messed up or have done wrong, but God still will listen to those prayers. Yes, Proverbs 15:8 says He delights in the prayers of the upright, but that doesn’t exclude sinners entirely. So, does God hear the prayer of a sinner? Yes, He does! If God didn’t listen to the prayers of a sinner, then we all would be in trouble because we all have been sinners before. So, He delights in those prayers, too, if they come from a sincere heart seeking God. Psalms 145:18 says, “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.” God is near to those who call upon Him in need, want to talk to Him, and have a pure heart in prayer. So, don’t think you’re too messed up to talk to God; He is near you when you pray and call for Him. God’s mission for this world before Jesus returns is for humanity to be saved, so why would He ignore the prayer of an unbeliever asking for help? He wouldn’t! He delights in those prayers just as much as He does in the upright’s because He sees a heart putting aside pride and admitting they need God. So, as long as you pray with a heart of truth toward God, He is there no matter what.
“Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 4:16 NKJV
Additionally, in Matthew 6:5-8, Jesus tells the disciples, “when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. They love to pray to stand in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets so that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.” God doesn’t want us to pray for show; He wants us to pray sincerely. The Pharisees and the Sadducees loved to pray to be viewed as righteous, but in their hearts, they weren’t. So, God pays no mind to those kinds of prayers because they are not sincere but rather full of pride, and God hates pride. Be mindful when you pray. Do you pray so you can say, ‘I’m a good Christian,’ or do you pray so you can have a genuine conversation with God? It matters where your reason to pray comes from because it makes all the difference whether He hears you or not.
Furthermore, Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Before this verse, verse 15 explains how we have a mediator (Jesus) who can sympathize with our weaknesses as He was tempted at all points yet without sin. Meaning Jesus understands you, and when you pray, He will give you the strength and guidance you need to overcome your temptations. Jesus knows exactly what we need because He understands us, so you don’t have to be nervous to ask; He knew what you needed before you asked! So, with that in mind, we are to come boldly to the throne to obtain grace because we know that God is willing to give it to us. God will help us with our needs, so don’t be shy! Stop thinking that God doesn’t want to help, that God doesn’t understand, that He doesn’t hear you; those are all lies from the enemy to stop you from praying. The enemy doesn’t want you to pray because he knows when you pray, things will shift! He knows that God is answering your prayer, and he knows that God is more than willing to provide you with everything you need to be an overcomer, so of course, he is going to try and discourage you. But you go to the prayer answering God, the God who loves you, the God who cares and understands. So, come boldly to the throne simply because you know who God is, and He will come through for you!
God Hears Us
Some people don’t feel confident when praying because they don’t think God hears them or that their prayers aren’t going to be answered. Based on the previous sections, we should know now that God is delighted when we pray, He hears us if we pray with a sincere heart, and we are to come boldly to the throne because He understands what we need to succeed and is more than willing to give it to us. So, by now, you should be more confident that God hears your prayers and is ready to answer them!
1 John 5:14 says, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” So, God hears you if you are praying in His will. But what is God’s will? God’s will is anything that aligns with the Bible. For example, if you are praying for healing, you are praying in His will because there are tons of verses on healing in the Bible. However, if you are praying for someone to get sick because you’re mad at them, no verses back that up. God won’t hear prayers like that, but He will listen to prayers backed up by His word. So, praying for someone to be saved, healing, financial stability, love (in the boundaries God set), peace, etc., are all found in the Bible, and God will hear those prayers. If you’re unsure if you’re praying in His will, just see if you can find scriptures to support your prayers, which should give you the answer.
Proverbs 15:29 says, “The Lord is far from the wicked, But He hears the prayer of the righteous.” So, if you are a Christian, for real, not for fake, God hears your prayers. When I say for real, I mean not living in sin but living for God through and through. That’s the only way you’ll be considered righteous if you’re living a Holy-Spirit-led life. So, previously I did say that God hears the prayers of a sinner, which still stands true. However, the prayers of the lukewarm or phony Christian are not heard. Why? Because they lack sincerity, how can God answer your prayers if you refuse to live for Him? You claim Him, but you’re still living in sin, then pray and think that’s going to fix everything and go back to doing your dirt after you say amen. It’s hypocrisy, as Jesus mentioned in Matthew. It’s prideful to come to God asking for something but refuse to do what He asks of you. This is not directed towards sinners who pray to God, seeking His help. This is directed towards people who claim Christ but aren’t truly living for Christ. If God blesses you with answered prayers, that’s a sign that you don’t need to change your ways. You can still lie, steal, cheat, commit sexual sin, and still be blessed, but that’s not how it works. So, if you feel God doesn’t hear you, maybe check your lifestyle. Are you truly living for God? Or at least putting in a genuine effort to live for God? These are things to consider, is your prayer life just so you can feel better about all the other dirt you do? At least I pray, right? It’s not enough to pray; Jesus called us to be righteous as He is righteous, so act like it!
Your Prayers Are Answered
The greatest thing about prayer is that our prayers are answered! When you pray to God, you are not praying in vain, because you are praying to a prayer answering God! 1 John 5:15 says, “if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” With the sections above, you should know that God hears your prayers or how to get God to hear your prayers. With that knowledge, based on scripture, your prayers are answered! That is why we can be confident when we pray because God is giving us the petitions we asked of Him. That’s why praying is exciting for me because I know it is coming to pass once I pray! And that is the confidence you need when you pray; without it, you’ll see nothing come to pass.
Mark 11:22-24 says, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” The key to having your prayers answered is believing they will be. Seems simple enough, right? Yes, but people complicate it because they doubt God, speak unbelief, or just, in general, say the wrong things. The first part of this verse is “have faith in God,” so before you even pray, examine your faith and ask yourself, “do I believe God can do what I’m about to ask for?” If not, then there is no use in praying because God doesn’t answer prayers that don’t have faith attached to them. God does answer prayer, but you must pray with faith and believe you will have what you said! Stop doubting and just have faith!
You can have faith because Jesus said in John 14:13-14, “whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” God answering your prayers is really an exchange. You get blessed, and Jesus gets glorified. Through your answered prayer, people around you will see that God is real, which could bring them to Christ. That’s why God answers prayers in the first place, yes, to bless you, but to bring Him glory, so people can be saved. Some will only come via signs and wonders, and He does those signs and wonders through you! Have you ever wondered why the devil tries to get you not to pray? Because he knows that when God answers that prayer, it will give Him glory, bring people into the kingdom, and make him look weak. The devil wants to appear strong and mighty, but in actuality, he is a nobody, and when you begin to pray more, you’ll realize that more. The devil has no authority over you in the spirit, and when you pray, you enter the spiritual realm where you have dominion because of Christ. So, don’t take prayer lightly because God is in the prayer-answering business; it is a powerful tool.
I hope you learned a few things about prayer in this post! God delights in hearing you pray and wants to hear from you! God hears you! He is listening, so all you have to do is speak sincerely, and He will be there! So, be bold in your prayers and know that He will answer them! Prayer is a great and powerful tool God gave us, so use it! I know prayer has done me good and has shown me just how good God is and how much He loves me. Your life can be transformed by prayer, so use that weapon and break some things in the spirit! I hope this helped, and God bless!
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