The continuously emphasized need for prayers have dragged many out of their slumber state to become very prayerful personalities. More often than not, prayers have been stressed as an art whose mastery must be sought by all who intend to make any tangible and substantial impact, command power and authority with God and before men, assume great relevance, and navigate the spirit realm.
No doubt anyone who refuses to pray is simply stubborn and has desired to shut his/her ears so that sound doctrine would not find penetration and acess to his or her heart.
For any one to make any intercourse genuinely with the spirit of God such a one must have attained buoyancy in prayers.
Based on a study I took sometime around April, 2018 I postulated that believers pray. I studied the prayer lives of believers around me both in the school where I am studying and at home in my local Church and other churches I attended. I also observed by virtue of live broadcasts, audio messages, videos and other forms of media, how believers world over engage in prayers. Truly, believers do pray.
From personal prayers to partnership prayers (between two or more persons who reckon themselves as prayer partners) to prayer ministries solely out for prayers to corporate prayers during church service, the average believer is usually a party to prayer functions.
With the involvement and participation in the art of prayers, there is little or no significant impact recorded as regards answers which can be held on to as a resultant effect of prayers.
While so many believers pray, as though they seek to tear down the heavens there is hardly a resultant effect in the form of answered prayers. We pray and do not draw respons from heaven. We gather together, perform all the spiritual gymnastics known to us while in the place of prayer yet we do not attract a response for all our toiling, travailing and pressing.
What then is the problem? Are we not praying enough? Are we not saying the right words or speaking the right tongues? Are there powers holding our prayer points or its answers?
Didn't God say we should call on Him and He would answer us? Why isn't He answering our prayers?
While there are so many reasons as to why our prayers find no answer, this article focuses on one overly neglected reason. I would love to call it the "Overly neglected ingredient for answered prayers".
Whilst we anxiously come to the place of prayer to pour the contents of our heart, we neglect and trample on so many principles, precepts, and rules which govern the art and the place of prayer.
Prayer like every other kingdom function is an art which is guided by laws, rules, ordinances, guidelines, principles, and precepts. Breaking any of the laws, rules, ordinances, guidelines, principles, and precepts which govern the art of prayer would amount to prayers being only a function of our lips and never finding any response.
One of such principles which I'd like to refer to as the overly neglected ingredient for answered prayers is " The Will of God".
The focus of this article is on just this ingredient. Nevertheless there are a host of other principles and ingredients we neglect which facilitates unanswered prayers. This discourse is centered on the Will of God being the Overly neglected ingredient for answered prayers.
As I stated earlier on, believers do pray a lot but then answers are rarely gotten despite prayers being backed up with mountain-removing faith because we have kept God's will aside when performing the art of prayer and have channelled our prayers to our desires alone.
God would never act when His interest and counsel is not in consideration. If we do quick a review of the prayer points we've prayed in past week, we'd notice a trend of prayers directed only to our personal interest. The path and direction our prayers are tilted towards usually bears the themes of "SELF", " ME" and "MYSELF".
A huge fraction of our prayer points have been centered on ourselves and our bid to having all the factors of living working for our good and on this premise the will of God is exempted and neglected.
Hope you know that God is a jealous God and any move that seeks to hinder His influence, desire, will, and jurisdiction would see Him fight such and I've found out that this accounts among other reasons why our prayers go unanswered.
Someone might want to ask, how biblical is this theory that forms your discourse Gospelcaster?
Let me show you;
"And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." — 1 John 5:14-15
John shows us that only in praying in total accordance to the will of God that we can be sure that what we have prayed or asked for would find their worthy answers. If we lift up our voices, crying unto God without knowing God's intentions for that timeframe of prayers, we would be undertaking an unfruitful venture.
James supports this idealogy in James chapter four (4) verse three (3);
"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts"
Our prayers have been centered on our lusts, pleasures, wishes, and desires and on this context and foundation our voices can never be heard on high and God would deny us response.
The more self-centered we are when we pray, the more we get to ask God and receive nothing, the more we call on God and get no response, the more we cry and heavens seems to be deaf. Only on the plain of asking in accordance to God's will that our voices can find penetration and access into the throne room of God so that we can gain response from Him.
But then God's ways are higher than ours and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. How then can we know His will so that we can pray in accordance to it?
First things first you must see prayers not as a monologue where you come and talk alone but as a dialogue when you talk and expect someone to talk back to you.
Imagine you have a friend who doesn't talk to you but is quick to run to you when he/she needs your help. I am sure you would start to avoid the person and restrict performing the person's requests.
It is not a different ball game with God. When all you do is make unending requests to Him channelled at preserving your self thus sidelining God's will and interest, your prayer session would be to God as an uninteresting dialogue and response most likely would be denied you.
Prayer is a dialogue. It is talking to God and having Him talk back to you and not the other way round of presenting a 2,500 word speech in the name of prayers.
The aim and purpose of any dialogue is to attain a mutual plain between the parties involved in the dialogue. Prayer is actually God's invention and system to draw close to men and have the sons of men come close to Him. He invented prayer because He desires fellowship, communion and intimacy and not request tabling.
When your perspective of God is of an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) where you go to only when you need to withdraw help, God would be to you as scarce phenomenon like a lunar eclipse.
See prayer as an engagement. A dialogue targeted at procuring intimacy with a loving God. I am not condemning making requests while praying. In as much as you have needs and prayers is your best medium of communicating these needs to God, it is completely wrong when all you do is to table requests to God anytime and everytime you come to pray.
It is wrong when the only facet about the prayer-answering God that you know is that facet of Him that gives and provides.
Inasmuch as it is necessary to tell God of your needs, it is expedient we do not conform our view of prayers as a platform simply for making requests. Prayer is intended to be a dialogue aimed at attaining a mutual playing ground and there is no way you'd get mutual with a person when every time you talk to the person you give him/her requests and support them with an ultimatum sometimes backing them up with threats.
We see believers say things like "God, if you do not do this for me within the next six (6) months, I will backslide". Imagine! Believers make requests, follow it up with an ultimatum and then issue a threat thinking God is an errand boy who is out to fulfill their every wish and command.
God desires that we know Him and love Him. He wants to bring us to a point where mutuality exists between us and Him. This will of His is one of the intents for and the mechanism on which prayer is driven on. So one of God's will is that we know Him and become intimate with Him.
God would always answer a man who genuinely seeks Him. In Matthew, Jesus tells us the secret to prosperity on all sides;
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." – Matthew 6:33
Seeking intimacy with God guarantees prosperity on all sides. He says He'd add " all" these things to you only when you seek to be intimate with Him.
Prayers is also a platform and a tool which must be used to install God's purposes on the earth.
"Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few;
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest." – Matthew 9:37
"Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you:" – 2 Thessalonians 3:1
"Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:" – Colossians 4:3
In the scriptures above, we see admonishings channeled at praying to instill God's purposes on the earth. If you analyse your prayers for the last six (6) months you'd find out that none have being targeted at instilling God's purposes on the earth. It has being a selfish art.
In Jesus' model of prayer, He shows us an ingredient for prayer which is my "overly neglected ingredient for answered prayers;
"Thy Kingdom come. The will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." – Matthew 6:10
It is God's will that the earth becomes an extension of Heaven such that as His sovereign will finds expression in Heaven the earth joins in like configuration. To achieve this, God would have to make use of your vocal cords via the place of prayer.
Kingdom advancement is God's primary will. He desires that earth joins in the same form and state heaven currently is in. He wants us to crucify our own will and desires on the cross of seeking first His kingdom and righteousness. He wants you to be solely concerned about Him, His presence, the advancement and establishment of His kingdom on the earth and the pursuit of His righteousness.
Prayer should be about kingdom advancement.
At Shiloh 2018, I marvelled at the so many testimonies recorded by people who prayed " Kingdom Advancement" prayers. The advancement of His kingdom is His will and when your prayers are tilted towards this purpose God is propelled to putting other issues in check for your good and favour.
Deciphering God's will may be a daunting task but He presents us with an easy means. God has provided us with an agency of His Spirit which helps us not to pray amiss.
"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the WILL OF GOD." – Romans 8:26-27 {Emphasis Mine}
We may not always be able to pinpoint what exactly is God's will and how to pray accurately in accordance to His will but we have the Holy Spirit to our rescue.
The Holy Spirit has an agency wherein His task is to help us pray accurately. He helps us pray in accordance to the will of God. He is that Spirit which searches and knows the mind of God and Him alone can breath into you the very will of God for that dispensation of time.
Outside the help of the Holy Spirit, prayer like every other kingdom function would be a waste of time. We would perpetually be praying amiss except we submit to the leading and direction of the Spirit of God as He alone is able to decipher what God's will is.
Never rely on the energy of the flesh in the performance of any kingdom function. In order to pray and not neglect this ingredient of praying in accordance to the will of God, you must rely and trust the Holy Spirit to hell you in the place of prayer.
Be overly dependent on Him because Him alone can help you understand God's will and how you should pray.
It is my earnest desire that we get the very basis of praying effectively and drawing response from Heaven by obeying all the principles and precepts which govern the art of prayer and combining in the accurate, fine proportions every ingredient required for praying and getting Heaven's response.
No more unanswered prayers in Jesus name. Amen.
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