If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples – John 15:7-8.

Every Christian should have the time they spend with God in prayer, and feasting on His Word so that they build their relationship with God as well as planting the Word of God in their heart and spirit.

God wants us to receive answers to our prayers, and He tells us in His Word how to receive answers to prayer. If Jesus had simply said. “If you abide in Me, you shall what you will, and it shall be done unto,” every Christian would have a fruitful prayer life, but He said, ‘IF YE ABIDE IN ME, AND MY WORDS ABIDE IN YOU, YE SHALL ASK WHAT YE WILL, AND IT SHALL BE DONE UNTO YOU”. In order for our prayers to be effective, God’s Word has to abide in us and in our hearts. Most blessings come with and “if”. Oftentimes Scripture is taken out of context. If you just look at part of John 15:7, If ye abide in me, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you, Scripture has been taken out of context. When we pray for our will it will not be done to us because the majority of the time we’re praying selfish prayers, and prayers that are not in the will of God.

A successful prayer life must be built upon the Word of God. That’s why we need to give the Word first place in our lives. Prayer is important, but don’t ever put prayer first. Put the Word first, and prayer second. God’s Word is God’s will, and God’s Word is speaking to us today just as did in the Biblical days. God does not change neither does His Word. We can be confident and assured that when we pray according to God’s Word, God hears and answers us. Whether or not our prayers are heard and answered by God depends more on us, the one who’s doing the praying than it does on God. Why” Because God has given us His Word, God has done His part by telling us His will and by telling us how to pray. Now it up to us to act upon His Word.

Jesus has given us His name to ask in prayer, we can approach God in the Name of Jesus with confidence and receive answers to our prayers. One might say ” I don’t know the will of God”, If you are abiding in Jesus and His Word is abiding in you, you know what the will of the Lord is because God’s Word is His will. If God has promised you something in His Word or His Word says something belongs to you in Christ, then that is God’s will. God is not going to promise you something in His Word then withhold it from you.

If we know the Word of God and understands what it says, we can know the will of God in every situation of life. We can have confidence towards God and be bold in our praying. If you don’t know what the the Word has to say about a particular subject, you need to get in God’s Word, the Bible, and find out specifically what God’s Word has to say about the situation. If we don’t know His Word, we can’t pray His Word. Meditating on God’s Word produces boldness and calm assurance in our hearts, because when we meditate on the Word, we’re planting the Word of God inside our hearts, when we plant God’s Word in our hearts, we’re letting His Word abide in us. Writing Scriptures down will assist us in memorizing Scripture, not only will it give us answers to our prayer, but it will also be used in fighting spiritual battles. When Satan came to Jesus, Jesus quoted Scripture, Satan bows to the Word of God.

Knowing Scripture is good, but if we don’t forgive someone our prayers will not be answered (And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive you your trespasses – Mark 11:25-26. Anything we’re holding against someone will cause our prayers to be not answered as well as not having sins we’ve committed forgiven. Jesus commands us to forgive others no matter how they may have wronged us. Obedience to God’s Word is the key to having an effective prayer life.

Some may say “Since God already knows what I have need of, why do I still have to ask Him to supply my needs, why doesn’t He just supply my needs without me having to ask?” Because the Word of God instruct us to ask our Father for what we have need of, it’s a simple instructions, but many find it hard to follow. We always need to pray, but with what’s going on in the world, we need to pray like never before. The pandemic that hit the world is nothing to be compared to what’s coming prior to the Tribulation Period, and we pray to God that every professing Christian will be ready and prepared for the coming of our Lord and Saviour to meet Him in the air.

Praying is not hard, it’s taking the time to reverence who you’re talking to. Confess to Him any unconfessed sins. Praise Him for His goodness and mercy. Praise Him for His provision and protection. Praise Him for giving His Son for your sins and the world. Praise Him for salvation. Praise Him for your family. Praise Him for the good, the bad and the ugly. Speak the Scriptures pertaining to your prayer, pray the prayer and believe God for answered prayers!