Good morning prayer warriors!

I want to encourage you about THE POWER OF PRAYER.  We can live with confidence and purpose, knowing how to receive answers to our prayers.  Our answered PRAYERS will draw other people into the Kingdom of God.  I love Acts 4:31 ~ It says,

• And when they had PRAYED, the place where they were assembled together was shaken…

I believe we can get to the place where we can PRAY this way. When we learn the secret of PRAYER, of power, and of praise, God will come forth mightily. When there is an abundance of praise in your heart, your mouth cannot help but speak it. The Scripture declares in Matthew 12:34,

• For out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks.

God will always reward us for having confidence in Him because Hebrews 10:35 says,

• Do not, therefore, fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward.

It is imperative that we always maintain a close relationship with the Lord so that we can experience His results in our lives. If we are not seeing the answers to our PRAYERS, the first thing to do is to check our relationship with God. All we have to do is to draw near to God, and He will draw near to us (James 4:8).

I think one of my favorite Scriptures in the Word of God is from 1 John 5:14-15.  It says,

• Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, 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 the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Did you hear that, family? We can have confidence that when we PRAY according to His will, we will have the petitions that we have asked of Him!!! You may say, “Lisa, I don’t know what His will is, so how can I ask according to His will?” Well, let me ask you a question? “What is another name for the word, ‘testament’? ‘Will’ – that’s right!!! God’s Word IS His will. So another way we can say this is: “If we PRAY according to His Word, He hears us…” That is why it is imperative that we find the precedent in His Word and PRAY His Word.

For example, if you are in need of healing, go to Isaiah 53:4-5 or Proverbs 4:22 and boldly declare it out of your mouth. See, this way, you are coming into agreement with God. 2 Corinthians 13:1 and Matthew 18:16 tells us that:

• “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.”

God is looking for agreement on the earth, and so is our adversary. So, let us be sure we meditate on God’s Word night and day; find the Scriptures that we can bring before our Father, and speak them out of our mouths. Know that healing is always the will of God for you! There are no exceptions ~ no ‘ifs’, ‘ands’, or ‘buts’.

If you need direction about something particular in your life, ask the Lord for wisdom because James 1:5 says,

• If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you.  He will not rebuke you for asking.

You can come before God without fear or reservation because of Jesus.  The Scripture declares in Ephesians 3:12 that we have free access to the Father.  It says,

• In Whom, because of our faith in Him, we dare to have boldness (courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear).

So, come boldly to the Father with your requests, just like Jesus did when He raised Lazarus from the dead.  Hebrews 10:19-23 tells us that we have a blood-bought right to have our PRAYERS answered.  It says,

• Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold fast the confession of our faith without wavering, for He Who promised is faithful.

In closing, I exhort you with this Scripture from James 5:16,

• The effectual fervent PRAYER of a righteous man avails much.

There is POWER IN PRAYER!

I am praying for you today,

Lisa Gordon

Jesus City Church