Powerful Prayer

Change your focus; praise God for the good work he is doing. Get this right and you will experience powerful prayer. God will hear and answer. 

Power of Prayer

 “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

John 15:7-8

So, what was Jesus promising to us here?  Looking closer, his statement has two parts, a condition and a result. The condition — the if clause — “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you . . .” the result — the then clause — “then ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

We abide in Jesus as we learn God’s desire for our lives…and become obedient to God’s desires.  In most cases, knowing God’s desires or will is not that complicated.  My guess is that as you read these words God is putting ideas in your heart.  Now, think on that a minute.  What does God desire your life to be like?  What priorities would he have you to change? 

Priority One

God designed prayer to give his disciples the joy of bearing fruit, doing good. Jesus said “By this is my Father glorified” — that is, by your asking him for things and his giving them to you. He gets glory as the one who is rich and good enough to answer our prayers. Then, others will see the fruit, our good works, and be drawn to God.  

The connection is tremendously important. He chose and appointed his disciples that they should go and bear fruit. 

God Is Not a Genie

 Prayer is not for gratifying our natural desires.

I hear some of you thinking, but Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day, our daily bread.” And what could be more natural than the desire to eat? It is God’s pleasure to provide us with provision and there are many examples of miracles in the Bible regarding this truth.  God desires to give His children good gifts: protection, success in our work, recovery from sickness, etc.

My point is not that natural desires are wrong. My point is that they should always be subordinate to spiritual desires; fruit-bearing desires; gospel-spreading, God-centered desires; Christ-exalting, God-glorifying desires. Just before Jesus said to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” he said, make it your heart’s desire that God would hallow his name and that the kingdom would come and that the will of God would be done on earth. 

The desires of the heart cease to be merely natural desires when our heart delights above all else in the Lord. If you want powerful prayer, praise God for the fruit.

“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:4

Copyright © 2023 Chuck Locklear

Also, see Be Persistent.