WEEK 31 DEVOTIONAL ON PRAYER

“Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.”  I John 3:21-22

There is more to prayer than the words we speak. The heart with which we pray, and the life we live, determine the effectiveness of our prayers. A right heart, free from condemnation, sets the stage for communion and intimacy with God. The condition of the heart is a primary concern of the person who desires to commune with God. The person who seeks to commune with God is familiar with the prayer of the man who had a heart after God. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24

God, who knows all things, knows the deepest and sincerest intent of the heart. He easily discerns the real from the imaginary and the feelings from the facts. Prayer is not determined by how the heart feels, but how the heart really is. The heart, free from condemnation, is the heart that reaches the throne of God. A clear conscience and a non-condemning heart enable us to enter the throne room of God with confidence. It is confidence that is not based on our ability, but upon His invitation and grace. A heart right with God enables us to enter His presence with confidence that we will receive answers from Him.

Obedience is the indispensable condition for answered prayer.   The most effective asking or praying one can do is done by a life of continual obedience. Keeping His commands is part of praying according to His will, and is a sign of harmony with God. Pleasing God becomes the priority of the person who would become a person of prayer.   It is only as we find out and faithfully do what God wants that we experience the fruit of answered prayer.