The power of prayer

QUESTION: The power of prayer - How do I utilize it?

ANSWER:

The power of prayer relies on the assurance that the God of the Universe is listening to you. Since prayer is a two-way communication between you and God, you will always receive an answer to your prayers! It might be YES, NO, or NOT YET. This may surprise you, but unanswered prayer does not exist. Sometimes, we feel like God has not answered, but the reality is that sometimes we don't like the answer we've received.

How can I say powerful prayers? The Bible gives several principles regarding the power of prayer:

• Bring glory to God.In the Bible, we read a simple yet sincere prayer that brought glory to God. Elijah prayed, "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again." Prayers don't have to be long and elaborated, they just have to come from our hearts and give glory to God.
  
  
• Pray in Jesus' name.The power of prayer relies on the authority we have when we say a prayer. Adding the phrase "in Jesus' name" is not a magic tag line that will secure our prayers or make them more effective. Praying in the name of Jesus simply mean that we desire His will. We can be confident while approaching the Father because we have been cleansed from our sins. Without the blood of Jesus that washes away our sins, there is no chance in coming close to God - He is perfect and holy. Because we have been justified through Christ, we can know that our prayers reach the throne of God. Praying in Jesus' name means to come and speak through His authority and according to His will.
  
  
• God is powerful.Understand that the power is not in the words of your prayer or in the way your prayer is spoken. The power comes from God! He has the power to do far more with your prayer than you can even imagine. Ephesians 3:20-21 says, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

The one and only way to experience the power of prayer is to pray. We can thank God for the prayers He has answered with a YES, but also for the ones that were answered differently than we expected. Each answer has molded our lives and our fellowship with God.