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!
