If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
John 15:7, NKJV
Prayer is a conversation. We speak to God in prayer then listen attentively as He speaks to us through His Word.
Do you think the promise that Jesus gave His disciples was like handing them a Divine Genie in a bottle? And that if they would just rub the bottle with enough faith, the Genie would pop out and grant them their “wishes”? As ludicrous as that is, it actually is the way some people view prayer. And when the Genie doesn’t pop out of the bottle, they become offended with God and resent Him for not being at their beck and call.
One major prerequisite to receiving answers to prayer is that our requests line up with God’s will. How will we know what God’s will is? By abiding consistently in His Word. Instead of basing our prayers on “I hope so,” our prayers are based on “God says so.” And if we are saturating ourselves in His Word, then His desires will be ours.
