An associate stated recently that prayers do not work as
they should in his life anymore! I was taken aback and it set me thinking. If
prayers do not work as they used to, it means, at a point in time they were
very effective. It then follows that something must have occurred in that
person’s life to cause prayers not to work the way they should. Talking with
him, he agreed that he carries the Holy Spirit within him. He just doesn’t feel
his prayers are getting to God anymore, he declared, frustrated! Many a time in
our lives, we are like the young man. We have prayed consistently about an
issue but it looks like the heavens are shut to our cries, yet we are Born
Again children of God. Something is not right! I pointed out to him that the
desire of God is to commune with us and answer our requests made to Him. Even
if we do not quickly see the manifestation of the answers to the prayers, we
must have faith that it is done! He was not convinced!
Jesus declared to His
Disciples (you and I inclusive), “If you remain in Me and My words remain in
you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you…You did not choose Me,
but I chose you, I appointed you that you should go out and produce fruit and
that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name,
He will give you” (John 15:7 and 16). My associate replied that he had done all
that, yet no tangible results to show for it. I was perplexed, to say the least!
Then the Holy Spirit whispered in my heart, the Law of Use. Beloved, the Law of
Use is a principle that indicates that the more an association is used, the
stronger it becomes. Equally, the less an association is used the weaker it
becomes! This means for us, when you have something, you don’t use, it becomes
useless or when you use it, it becomes stronger! No creature or created thing on
earth was created to be useless. Everything has its use! No wonder Jesus told
us: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how
can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and
trampled on by men” (Matthew 5:13). This is instructive. A person that loses
what he had been given because he did not exercise it will be trampled on by
darkness!
The Bible went further to tell us: “But solid food is for the mature –
for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil”
(Hebrews 5:14). This means, we need to exercise our senses continually with the
Word of God, as we do we grow in maturity. Our faith and Power in Christ Jesus
must be exercised so it will continue to grow. If we do not exercise it, the
power and the faith we claim to have is useless against the onslaught of the
enemy. When the Disciples noticed how Jesus prayed and the immediacy of the
results they were astounded. Jesus told them, as He tells us as well: “…Have faith
in God. I assure you: If anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown
into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says
will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, all the things you
pray and ask for – believe that you have received them and you will have them”
(Mark 11:22-24).
Beloved, the prayer is not complete if we do not believe we
have received what we asked for. Many times, our minds speak something
different from what our lips are saying. If you do not align your minds to what
you are asking for, you will not receive. Your mouths may be speaking words of
faith but your mind is negating every word. Such a person can never receive
answers to their prayers (James 1:6-7). Beloved, take a step back and assess
your mind, where is it? If it is speaking contrary to what you are speaking
from your mouth as you pray, then there is a problem! No wonder you pray for others, they
get results and you are surprised because you are not getting the same in your life! The difference is they BELIEVED!
The Bible tells us, if we
BELIEVE what we say in prayers, that which we have said will be given to us.
You cannot be praying, at the same time wondering when ‘the other shoe will
drop’! Prayers are not roulette neither is our God a casino master! Let the
meditations of your heart align with the words that come out of your mouth in
prayers; believe them and it will be given to you! This we must continue to
practice daily. It is not only when you have a need, you remember to pray. Pray
always; as you do, your faith is being exercised and built up: “But you, dear friends,
building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit”
(Jude 1:20).
Beloved, it is the desire of God to give you your heart’s desire
according to His will. When we pray, we get answers; it may not be the answer
we may want, but He will answer nonetheless. But, when we are rooted in Him and
pray according to His purpose for us, then it will be exactly and more what we had asked for: “Now
this is the confidence we have before Him: whenever
we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He
hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for”
(1John 5:14-15). God bless you as you re-assess your use of your faith and
power in Christ Jesus. May the Heavens open over you and may the Lord grant
your requests according to His will and for His glory, in Jesus Christ name,
Amen!
Comments
Post a Comment