Anyone that believes in God undoubtedly knows what it is to pray and not receive answers at times. Sometimes, the answer to prayer is delayed and at other times the prayer request is denied. Hopefully the ratio of answered prayers to unanswered or denied prayers is greater.
However, irrespective of past experiences in the place of prayer, we should always pray in hopes that we will receive answer to prayers.
For hope maketh not ashamed … (Romans 5:5a)
When we’re hopeful, it means we trust in God’s ability and willingness to give us the answer we desire.
In a previous post, I wrote about 5 biblical examples of people who prayed and received answers to their prayers. The purpose of the post was to demonstrate that God answers prayer and to encourage you not to lose hope.
In this post, we will review how to pray and receive answers, by examining some prayer keys. As always, the list is non-exhaustive, but I will talk about two keys in this post and continue from there another time.
Feel free to add your own keys to the list and place comments in the comment section below this post. I would like to hear more about some of the keys that have worked for you. Before examining how to pray and receive answers to prayers, let’s talk about prayer, what it is.
What is Prayer?
Prayer is communing with God. Merriam Webster dictionary defines prayer as a petition addressed to God; an earnest request or wish.
It’s a way of communicating with God and making our requests known to him. The place of prayer is the place of no pretence, where we let ourselves be vulnerable to our maker so that He can help us.
We pray for different things depending on our wants, needs and challenges etc.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was a man of prayer while He was on earth. The new testament is filled with accounts of Him praying Mt 14:23, 26:36, Mk 6:46, Lk 6:12. Jesus prayed, told His disciples to pray, Lk 10:2, 21:36 and He equally taught on the subject of prayer Mt 6:5-13.
Now that He is risen, He lives and continuously intercedes for us.
Hebrews 7:25
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
From the above examples, it is clear that Jesus attached much importance to prayer. And as Christians we are meant to emulate Him. He also gave us keys to praying and receiving answers to our prayers. We will now review some of those keys.
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Praying with Faith and Praying in Jesus Name
As earlier stated, in today’s post, we shall review two keys on how to pray and receive answers. The two keys that shall be considered are; Faith and the name of Jesus.
Praying in Faith
Praying in faith is important in learning how to pray because, faith is a vital key that can unlock the heavens. Thereby giving us the answer to our prayer(s).
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1 KJV)
According to Merriam Webster dictionary, faith is a strong belief or trust in someone or something.
In this case, our strong belief and trust is in God because He is the One we pray to.
It is important to approach God in faith every time we want to pray because God honours and rewards our faith.
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you (Mt 17:20 KJV)
God reckons with faith, no matter how tiny it is, even if it’s as small as a mustard seed in size.
I have looked through the Bible and indeed read it from cover to cover a few times and my finding regarding the subject of faith is consistent. Throughout the Bible, God honored the faith of (wo)men.
In Gen 22:8, God honored Abraham’s faith by providing a lamb for the sacrifice on a mountain in Moriah.
Similarly, God honored Esther’s faith and she was not killed according to the law when she went to see the king without invitation. Est 4:10 – 5:2
The woman with the issue of blood received her healing by faith. Mk 5:26-29
And not forgetting the Centurion who requested for healing by proxy for his servant because he didn’t feel worthy to receive Jesus under his roof. Mt 8:5-10
Indeed there are so many biblical examples of people who received from God by faith that it is impossible to mention them all in a post like this.
When we look at the characters in the previous post about 5 biblical examples of those who prayed and received answers, one thing they had in common was faith.
The Bible has rightly stated that we must believe that God is, and a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Heb 11:6
Therefore, when we raise our voice in prayer to God, we must have faith that He will hear and answer our prayers.
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Praying in Jesus Name John 14:13-14, John 16:23
Another sure way to pray and receive answers is to pray in Jesus name.
Because Jesus himself said;
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. John 14:13-14
And we know that names are important though some names are more important than others.
The mere mention of some names can open doors as if the bearer was present. Have you ever had a sales rep call and say, your boss (mentions bosses name) asked them to call? The natural tendency would be to grant them audience because of the name they mentioned, but you may later discover, they lied.
Name dropping is a common social engineering tactic used by social engineers to get their way with unsuspecting victims. They do this to get something of earthly and no real eternal value, that today is, and tomorrow is no more.
But the name of Jesus is powerful, and able to give us both earthly and heavenly treasures.
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Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; (Philipians 2:9 – 10 KJV)
Not only is the name of Jesus powerful, He has given us permission to use His name to ask God for whatever we need (John 16:23 -24)
Whether it is healing, deliverance, financial breakthrough, promotion, ideas, business breakthrough etc. for yourself or a loved one, you can ask.
John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
Isn’t it wonderful that Jesus has a name above every name, and He freely permits us to use it whenever we pray? He commanded us to ask in His name with assurance that we shall receive.
Storming the Gates of Heaven: Prayer that Claims the Promises of God
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Conclusion
We have looked at how to pray and receive answers using two keys in this post.
Specifically, we have looked at Faith and the name of Jesus as it pertains to prayer and seen how helpful they are.
This is a series topic and in the next post, we will examine the importance of fasting and persistence in prayer.
And thereafter, we will examine how to pray bible promises and praying in line with God’s will among others.
In the meantime, I urge you to continue praying with faith in the name of Jesus.
Are their specific keys to praying and receiving answer to prayer that you want to see featured in subsequent posts? Why don’t you put them in the comments section below.
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Thanks for the insight and encouragement.
In this day and age I feel people underestimate the power of prayer and it really has amazing abilities!
You’re welcome Amy! Appreciate the comment.
I really enjoyed reading your amazing post full of light about prayer and how to receive answers to your prayers by having faith. Thanks for sharing the light!
Thank you Tam! 😊
Thank you for sharing! This was really encouraging!
You’re welcome and I’m glad you were encouraged.
Thank you so much Betty for sharing your amazing post about prayers and how to receive answers to my prayers by having faith,Thank you .
You’re welcome Evelyn. I’m glad you found it helpful. Make sure to share it in social media, so others can benefit as well.
Yes, praying in faith is SO important! Faith in what Christ ALREADY accomplished on the cross!
Thanks Jenn.
I love how you stress the word SO.
In other words we must pray with faith in our hearts.
Very inspiring and well written! Prayers are always heard…we just might not get the answer we are looking for..thank you!
You’re welcome Holly.
Yes, God always hears our prayers but He may have other plans for us.
It can be a real struggle to practise praying in faith especially if you’ve been praying for something and then you don’t get the answer that you desire. I’ve had that struggle and that’s how I know that it is good when we realize sometimes the things we pray for aren’t the things God wants for us. This is a great post thank you for sharing.
Hey Kimberly!
You make a great point, sometimes what we pray for isn’t what God plans for us.
Thanks for stopping by.
Prayer is basic communication with God but I love how there are so many layers and types to it. I agree with praying in faith and in Jesus’ name being the foundation to answered prayer.
Thank you Sandra.
I prayed for 5 years ( I asked Jesus a question )and I never got an answer it took a toll on me mentally and physically , I had to give up .
Hi Cam,
Praying and not receiving an answer can definitely take a toll on someone if the right attitude is not maintained.
What is the right attitude to prayer you may wonder? Well, it is knowing and acknowledging that God is sovereign and He cannot be controlled like a puppet.
It is also accepting that His answer to our question may not come in the expected format we are looking for. God works in mysterious ways, sometimes He answers prayers instantly as in the case of Peter when he called out for help as he was drowning in the sea (Mathew 14:25-31). At other times He is silent like Elisha experienced when the Shunemite woman rushed to him in the field. He could tell she was distraught but Elisha confirmed that God did not reveal the reason to him (2 Kings 4:27). However, when he got to her house and prayed for the woman’s dead son, the same God who didn’t reveal the cause of the woman’s distress to him answered Elisha’s prayer and raised her dead son back to life. What if Elisha had given up at the point when God hid the problem from him? How would he have gotten his miracle?
I will not attempt to suggest possible reasons why your experience was so, as I am not God and I don’t have the full details of the situation or circumstances surrounding your prayer.
My encouragement for you is to look back at the prayers that God did answer and be thankful for those. The devil tries to bring discouragement when we pray and don’t receive answers but let us be like Job who said “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him:” Job 3:15a
The bible said Job was a righteous man who feared God and eschewed evil, yet God permitted the devil to deal with him mercilessly not because God hated Job but because God had confidence in him that he will not deny God.
Can God say that of you and me today? May God help us all.
Reading this helped me a lot. I am also one such person struggling with the concept or truth of answered prayers, not that there are none answered prayers in my life, but the burden that unanswered prayers has on us at times brings doubts and questions. Thanks Betty, you are a blessing to many.
Thank for the insight, some time Go may simply say my grace is saficient like in the case of Paul and the thorn, some time you need to be persistent like Elijah praying for the rain.