Luke 11: 1
And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

In the first part of our studies, we discussed on how we should pray and we saw from John 16:23 that we are to pray to the Father in the Name of Jesus. We are not to pray to Jesus or to any other person, living or dead. The Name of Jesus gives us access to the Father. We are to come boldly to the Father in that Name to make our petitions and we have Jesus’ word for it, that the Father will give us what we ask for.

In our study today, we will continue our discussion on how to pray.

1 John 5:14-15
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 
And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

The Bible tells us that if we ask any thing according to His will, God hears us. So, if we don’t ask according to His will, He doesn’t hear us. And if He doesn’t hear us, then we won’t have what we desired of Him. Therefore, it is important that we ask according to His will. If our desires are not according to His will, then we have no business praying about them. Praying outside the will of God is a waste of time, because He won’t hear you. It is like talking to a wall. How then can we know the will of God?

John 15:7
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

We can know the will of God from the Word of God, the Bible. Jesus said that “if ye abide in Him”. How do we abide in Christ? We came into Christ when we received Him as our Savior and confessed Him as our Lord. By the Holy Spirt, we were baptized into Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). We became a part of God’s family. We came into a union with Christ (1 Cor. 6:17). If you have received Christ, you are one with Him. You are joined to Him. You are in a vital union with Christ. Hallelujah. But just abiding in Christ alone, isn’t the only thing Jesus said, to get our prayers answered. He said, “…and my words abide in you”. So the Word of God has to dwell in us, for us to ask what we will and have it done for us.

Your request must be in line with the Word of God. You cannot desire for a thing that contradicts God’s instructions and expect an answer. A man came to a pastor and asked him to pray with him, so he could marry another man’s wife. The man himself was married, but he desired another man’s wife and wanted God to give her to him. That prayer can’t be answered. It totally violates God’s Word. The Bible says, “Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s wife” (Exodus 20:17). Obviously, God’s Word wasn’t abiding in him, else he would have known that he was in error.

A woman came to a minister of God, crying, “O the cares of this world! I can’t bear them all. Please pray that God will carry half of them for me. I will be able to bear the other half myself”. She wept sore. You see, crying won’t move God as long as you are in unbelief. It is faith in God’s Word that moves Him. The minister had compassion on her, but told her, “Sister, I can’t pray that prayer. I can’t pray that God will bear half and you bear the other half”. “You are hard”, she told him. “No, sister. I am not hard. The Bible tells us what to do with the cares of life. God didn’t tell us to give Him half, while we bear the remaining. He tells us to cast all our cares upon Him because He cares about us watchfully and affectionately” (1 Peter 5:7). You will think anybody should be glad to hear that, but she went away, saying, “No, I can’t. No, I can’t”. Now, how do you think she can get answers to her prayers? You see, as long as you are going to live in worry, you are not going to get the answer you want. God’s Word must abide in us. We must practice the Word, if we want results. I repeat, we have no business praying for anything the Word of God is against. Don’t bother to pray about it, because He won’t hear you.

Another thing to note is, we must find scriptures that cover our case, then we have a solid foundation for faith. Note this very important point. Prayer doesn’t make faith work. Faith rather makes prayer work. For you to get results in prayer, your prayer must be made in faith. How can we get faith for results in prayer? Through God’s Word. God’s Word gives us faith. Before you pray, go to the Word of God. There is a promise in God’s Word that you can stand upon. Whatever promise that the sole of your feet can tread upon, the Lord will give it to you, just like He told Joshua (Joshua 1:3). Are you sick in your body? The Word of God says that Jesus took your infirmities and bore your sicknesses and by His stripes you have been healed (Matthew 8:17; 1 Peter 2:24). Are you in need of finances for a business or whatever? The bible says, “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19). Find scriptures, not just some isolated scriptures, scriptures that promise you or tell you what God has done concerning that need you have, then meditate on them. Spend some time just thinking about those scriptures, turn them over and over in your mind, mutter them to yourself continually. Why are you to meditate on the Word? The reason is this: The bible teaches us that it is with the heart that man believes (Romans 10:10). Your heart is your spirit. Faith is of the heart. Faith is not a mental thing. Faith is spiritual. You believe with your spirit, not with your mind. So, the Word of God has to get into your spirit, your heart, for faith to come. The way to get God’s Word into your inner man, is by meditation. As you meditate on God’s Word, it gets registered in your heart, and you will know that you know that you know. Praise God.

God’s Word is very fundamental to a successful prayer life. God’s Word is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). God’s Word discerns our motives.

James 4:1-3
From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 
Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 

Line up your desires with God’s Word. Let your motives be right. Some requests are not answered because the motive is wrong, selfish and for personal glorification. “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts”. When we keep our desires right, allowing the Word of God to be the final authority in our lives, Jesus said, we shall ask whatever we will, and it shall be done for us.

Whether our prayers are answered or not, depends more on us than on God. God is ready and willing to give us anything we ask in prayer, yes anything, provided it doesn’t violate His will. How do we know His will? His will is contained in the Bible. If His words abide in us, anything we ask in prayer, we will receive. We have His word for it. And His Words are faithful and true (Rev. 21:5).

Praise God!