“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
John 15:7
Have you ever received a marketing piece of mail from a car dealership with a key attached to it? The purpose is to get you to the dealership to try your key and if it starts the vehicle it’s yours for free.
But if the key doesn’t start the vehicle it’s useless and not worth the postage that it cost to send it. It makes some people frustrated that they didn’t win and for some they see it as a hoax and a way for a dealership to sell you a car.
For some people the example of the key is a lot like prayer. Sometimes it works and when it does great things happen. But when their prayer doesn’t work they feel that praying is useless. They feel that God is not listening and it’s just a waste of time and energy to pray.
I’ve even heard Christians say that praying is useless because God is going to do what He wants to do. What’s the point of praying? Sadly, those people are missing out on the best benefit of being a Christian. Prayer is the most powerful and wonderful tool that we have to use. Prayer is powerful and miraculous when we are connected to Jesus.
Jesus says that when we abide or remain in Him and if His words remain in us we can ask anything and it will happen. That is the secret to prayer. If we want our prayers to be heard and answered by God we need to know him and know Him closely.
The more we know God the more we know the things of God. We won’t be asking for a million dollars to be in our bank account tomorrow morning. We will be more mindful of what others need more than what we want.
We will be more aware of what God is already doing in our life and we will be in His will. We can expect our prayers to be answered because they are according to the Spirit of God. What are you praying for today?
There’s nothing wrong about praying selfishly for the things that glorify God and praise His name. Prayer is effective and powerful when we abide in Him and His words abide in us.
Pray
Lord, I seek you will all of my heart. I want to know you and honor you. Please lay on my heart what I need to pray for.
