How do I know if I'm praying correctly?

Dear God's people, please read this article and be blessed by your answered prayers.

Prayer is a conversation between a child of God and his loving heavenly Father. It is a Christian's highest privilege. However, there is some misunderstanding about prayer among the people. "I prayed, but nothing happened," people frequently say. "What is the point of all this praying?" Let us consider what it means to pray according to God's will and receive what we have requested.

Prayer in Its Context

First, we'll look at the context of prayer. According to the Bible, God does not hear the prayers of unbelievers, whether they are Jews, Muslims, Hindus, or Christians in name only. According to Hebrews 11:6, whoever comes to God "must believe he exists and that he rewards those who seek him earnestly." "He" is God, who is holy and, most importantly, not a god of human creation.

The God of the Bible hears the prayers of those who believe in him and obey him. "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened," the psalmist wrote (Psalm 66:18). After the Lord Jesus healed the blind man in John 9, he made this profound statement about prayer. First, he stated negatively, "We know that God does not listen to sinners" (John 9:31). Then he said positively, "He listens to the godly man..." God does not hear sinners' prayers, but he does hear the prayers of godly people. The healed man then went on to explain what distinguishes the man whose prayer God hears: he is the one "who does God's will."

Not only does God not hear the prayers of unbelievers, but he also does not hear the prayers of unrepentant sinners, whose hearts condemn them, as we read in 1 John 3. "Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, "Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you,

Prayer with Confidence

When we pray to God, we must have confidence that he accepts both our persons and our prayers.

"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life," says 1 John 5:13.

If we have eternal life, we have become God's children. That is the first thing we need to know because if we do not have that understanding, we cannot come to God in confidence. Because God is our heavenly Father, we are free to approach him in the same way that an earthly child approaches an earthly father. We can say this with assurance because, as God's children, we love him and he loves us. God is overjoyed to have us in his presence. In other words, as God's children, we have access to his ear at all times. What an amazing thought! Our prayers are heard by God. Some people are confused at this time. They will say, "I prayed for all of these things but received none of them." This leads to the following point, which is the condition for prayer.

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us," 1 John 5:14 says.

Conditions for Prayer

This is where people become confused about prayer. Prayer must be in accordance with God's will in order to be effective. In other words, God will not hear any prayer that goes against his revealed will. For example, when the prophet Nathan told David, "Your son is going to die" (2 Samuel 12:14), David fasted and prayed for seven days. Nonetheless, nothing happened, and the child died. God did not hear David's prayer because it went against God's will, which had already been revealed through Nathan.

How many people believe that prayer is about convincing God to do our will or convincing God to change his mind? That, however, is not what prayer is. Prayer is a request to God to carry out his will, which we have accepted. In other words, when we make God's will our will, it will be carried out because it is his will, and his will is always carried out. We can avoid much confusion and start praying correctly if we understand this truth.

"Thy will be done," we say to our heavenly Father in prayer. "Not my will, but thine be done," we say to God in prayer. True prayer promotes the glory of God.

Aligning Our Will with the Will of God

People learn submission to God's will through prayer when they are young in their Christian lives. Young believers or those who are new to the Christian faith do not always know how to pray according to God's will because this is something that people learn over time and as their knowledge of God's word grows. Young Christians may pray a variety of prayers, which God will review and edit, canceling some and modifying others, saying "Yes" to some and "No" to others. Such young believers may become perplexed and wonder, "Why didn't God do everything we asked of him?" These people must realize at this point that true prayer is an exercise in learning to submit to God's will.

So, through prayer, we learn to discern and submit to God's will. This is especially true when he refuses to grant us specific requests. Why doesn't God grant us our every wish? Because some of the things we ask for are opposite to his will. However, if we do not understand this principle, we will become depressed and confused, murmuring and turning our backs on God because he did not do what we desired. I pray that we will grow in God so that, instead of murmuring, we will learn to embrace God's will and say, "Thank you, God, for not granting m

e what I asked for. I now understand that it was not your will, and thus it was not good for me."

Suppose you do not have any money. You'd have to pray then. Assuming you don't have access to transportation. Then you'd have to look for God. Some people have everything and are counting the ways in which they can sin with the gifts God has given them. So, if you pray for more money and God does not give it to you, it is possible that God knows the extra money will be harmful to you. Assume you pray for a new car and he responds, "No, you drive the old one." When we see things in this light, we will understand why God does not always grant us our wishes. He only gives what he has ordained.

As a result, the condition for effective prayer is that there be no conflict between God's will and ours. We must learn to say, "To me, living is Christ, dying is gain." We must deny ourselves, bear our cross, and follow him. "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me," we must truly say. We must realize that the will of God alone is good, pleasing, and perfect, so that when our will conflicts with his will and he refuses to grant our petition, we can say, "Thank you, God, for not giving me what I asked for because what I requested was not your will. It was neither good, perfect, nor pleasing."

We did only the will of our flesh and minds prior to conversion, as Paul writes in Ephesians 2:3. We had nothing to do with God's will. But now, as God's children, we are to understand and carry out God's will, as stated in Ephesians 5:

When we examine the prayer Jesus taught us to pray, we see only one request for temporal things: "Give us this day our daily bread." Every other request concerns spiritual matters, such as "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," and so on.

Now we can see how ineffective our prayers are. We are so concerned with our health, well-being, asthma, clothing, and everything else that we become perplexed when we do not receive what we prayed for. Assume you prayed for a better job and were instead fired. You should seek God's guidance and discover what his plans are for you. "O God, may your purpose and plan in this world succeed," pray.

What kind of requests should we make in prayer? "Lord, teach me to pray," for example. "Lord, I don't love; please give me love. "Lord, I don't love your word; give me love for your word," we could pray. "O God, I lack wisdom; give me wisdom," we could pray, or "Lord, I am afraid; give me courage."

When we pray in accordance with God's will, certain requests, particularly spiritual ones, are immediately granted. The Holy Spirit gives us conviction and certainty within, and if we are genuine Christians, we know that God heard our prayers. I recall praying for an important task once. We knelt and prayed about an important matter. Then I stood up and said, "It has been heard; it has been completed." This is the kind of faith that comes from the Holy Spirit.

We have this faith, and then we see our requests granted, whether in this life or after we die. God grants the requests we make in God's will. After praying according to God's will, we can live in anticipation. It's similar to when we order something and then wait for the package to arrive. We look for it every day, and it finally arrives. we pray according to God's will, he hears our prayer, we wait for its arrival, and it arrives. May God grant us the ability to pray in this manner every day of our lives. Amen.