“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! – Matthew 7:7-11 NIV

Prayer is an earthly request for heavenly intervention. There are three answers to prayer: yes, no, or wait. If you haven’t heard yes or no then keep asking. Jesus tells us to persist in pursuing God. People often give up after a few half hearted efforts and conclude that God cannot be found. But knowing God takes faith, focus, and follow through. Jesus assures us that we will be rewarded if we do not give up on our efforts to seek God.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. – 1 John 5:14-15 NIV

The emphasis here is on gods will not our own. How do we know that we are praying according to the will of God? First we begin with the word of God. Pray the Bible with all of his promises and commands. Let it be in your heart and on your tongue. God wants his word to be done so pray for it to be done in your life and in the life of others. If we align our prayers to his will, he will listen and you can be certain that he will give us a definite answer. So you can pray with confidence.

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 NIV

To have Jesus’s words remain in you requires more than merely reading or listening to them. You must internalize them. Another way to describe this is meditating on God’s word in order to grasp what it means and how to apply it into your life. Doing so will align our will to his well when we are praying and asking God for anything.

If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. – Isaiah 1:19-20 NIV

Isaiah was a prophet during the time when the original nation of Israel had been divided into two kingdoms. Israel in the north, and Judah in the south. The northern kingdom had sinned greatly against God and the southern kingdom was heading in the same direction. They perverted justice oppressed the poor, turned from God to idols and looked for help from pagan nations rather than from God. God in his mercy was reaching out to Israel and was urging them to be willing and obedient to listen to him and he promised that they would eat the best of the land. This too is a promise for us that if we are willing and obedient and do what God says that he will bless us with the best of the land.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me. – Jeremiah 32:26-27 NIV

Jeremiah knew that God’s rhetorical question, “is anything too difficult for me?”Was not a multiple-choice question. Why then did God professors omnipotence? Because he was about to tell Jeremiah that after Judah’s punishment was complete, God would do the seemingly impossible. He bring the nation back to its land and the people would enjoy prosperity again and you can see that in Jeremiah 32: 36- 44. When we are praying regardless of how impossible the situation may seem we need to remember that nothing is too difficult for God.

‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ – Jeremiah 33:3 NIV

This is a promise that God gave Jeremiah that when he called on to him that God will answer and show him great things. We can remember this promise as well and pray to God asking that he will show us the great things that will help us every day.

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. – Psalms 37:4 NIV

David calls us to take delight in the Lord and to commit everything we have and everything we do to him. To delight in someone means to express great pleasure and joy in his or her presence. This happens only when we know that person very well. And to commit ourselves to the Lord means in trusting everything to his control and guidance. We should be willing and wait patiently for him to work out what is best for us as we pray.

You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. – James 4:2-3 NIV

James mentions the most common problems in prayer. Not asking, asking for the wrong things, and asking for the wrong reasons. Your prayers will become powerful when you allow God to change your desires so that they perfectly corresponds to his will for you. A Helpful question to ask yourself when praying about something is this: How will God’s program be advance through the answer of my prayer??

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. – Hebrews 11:6 NIV

Do you want to live in a way that pleases God? Then you must operate by faith, even if you must do so alone and go against the excepted norms of society. You must believe with expectation that God responds when you seek to please him. He wants a personal dynamic relationship with you that will transform your life. Those who seek God will find that they are rewarded with his intimate presence.

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. – Mark 11:24 -25 NIV

Spiritual authority comes through prayer and through repenting of sin. Prayer will enable us to access Gods power in our lives but unrepentant sin blocks Gods power.