For this reason, the most effective life of prayer to which God has called us is not a life of throwing up prayer requests and hoping that one will bring an answer. The prayer of faith that always gets results is the kind we pray because we have drawn close to his heart and heard him talk about what he wants to do. Then we can stand in the place of delegated authority as a co-laborer and declare what he has said over circumstances (Bill Johnson, Strengthen Yourself in the Lord, p. 87; Destiny Image).
I was browsing through an older book by Bill Johnson, looking at the passages I had previously marked, and noticed the above paragraph again. If it is true, most believers are not being very effective in prayer because they have been taught that God doesn’t speak directly to his people anymore but communicates only through his written word. It’s important to know if the above statement is true or not. If it is, we need to get busy hearing God. If it is not, we can continue to toss up to heaven those things that are important to us.
Let’s look at one passage in the book of James as a reference point. “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops” (Ja.5:16-18).
This is a cornerstone verse for powerful and effective prayer. In the days of Elijah, Ahab, an incredibly wicked king, ruled. As a judgment on Ahab and the nation, God had determined to send a severe drought and not one drop of rain or even a cloud appeared over Israel for three and a half years. Three and a half years later, the Lord told Elijah, “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land” (1 Kings 18:1). Elijah did as the Lord instructed and told Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of heavy rain” (1 Kings 18:41).
Elijah’s declaration to Ahab was spoken by faith because when he spoke of the sound of rain there were still no clouds in the sky. The text goes on to say, “So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Mt. Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. ‘Go and look toward the sea,’ he told his servant. And he went up and looked. ‘There is nothing there,’ he said. Seven times Elijah said, ‘Go back.’ The seventh time the servant reported, ‘A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.’… Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. The power of the Lord came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel” (1 Kings 18:41-46).
By the way, the distance from Mt. Carmel to Jezreel is about 25 miles – almost a marathon – but the old prophet outran a chariot trying to get there ahead of a heavy rain. There had not been a drop of rain or dew for 42 months and there was not a cloud in the sky when Elijah began to pray. There was no immediate evidence of answered prayer but he kept praying. Seven times he asked his servant to look for evidence of rain before he saw any. What prompted him to keep praying? He prayed for rain with faith and intensity because he had already heard from the Lord that it was God’s appointed time to break the drought.
There are many things, perhaps most things, that God chooses to do only after his people have prayed for them to happen. Elijah’s prayer was powerful and effective because he was certain his prayer was God’s will. When we hear from the Lord that he wants to do something, then we can have absolute faith for the answer because God has already revealed that it is his will – he wants to do the very thing we are praying for. We can even persevere if there is no immediate manifestation of his will because we have his word.
When he has spoken to us, our prayers send forth his word. Isaiah tells us, “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isa.55:11). When we pray his specific will, we have certainty for the answer.
Jesus was clear that he only did what he saw the Father doing and only said what he heard the Father saying. He prayed what he heard from the Father. He is our model for the spiritual life. When we hear from the Lord, then our prayers are simply releasing the will of God on the earth and our prayers will come to pass as prophecies come to pass because God’s word and will have already established the outcomes. There are certain things in scripture that we can always pray for because we no it is always God’s will – salvations, holiness, wisdom for those in authority, etc. but those are general guidelines. Hearing more specifically what to pray and how to pray for one of those outcomes is still much more effective than just asking for something categorically.
Can we pray for something that God has not spoken about to us? Yes, of course, but we will not have the same assurance of his answer that we will when we have heard from him. Let’s face it; we often assume that our will is his will. When we pray out of that posture, we probably pray for some things that ultimately would not be in our best interest. When God does not answer those prayers, we begin to have less faith that God answers our prayers. We then begin to pray with more “hope” than expectation. If a desire is on our heart, it may well be that God has placed it there, but we may want to ask if that is his will for us before we start praying into that desire.
From time to time, I need to be reminded to ask God what he wants me to be praying for rather than just jumping into my laundry list of requests. Maybe you need that reminder as well. Be blessed today and consider asking the Father what is on his mind before telling him everything that is on yours.
