There are some Old Testament passages that say, if we’re not willing to turn and confess known sins in our lives our prayers will be detrimentally affected. You may not know it, but the Holy Spirit will bring to mind whatever you are upset about, and when He brings it to mind, we need to confess it and turn from it. Psalm 66:18 says, “If i regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me”. That same truth is found in Proverbs 28:9; Isaiah 59:1-2; and Isaiah 64:7. If you feel like your prayers are not being affected, i think you ought to think about these. Let me say this, prayer just like salvation and assurance is based on faith; not that we get everything we asked for. I think it’s important that when we pray, we believe that God’s going to do the best for us according to His will and His glory

What a privilege prayer is in our Christian lives; what an opportunity, and what a responsibility it truly is. Jesus is our example, the Spirit is our guide, and the Father is eagerly waiting for our petitions. Prayer can change you, it can change your friends, it can change your world. O, what a powerful truth. We have not because we ask not (cf. James 4:2). Paul in Ephesians 6:10-20 goes into the discussion of spiritual warfare. He says the spiritual battle is connected to the Spirit-filled life, and it’s basically a daily life where the life of Jesus is manifested through us. We are as full as we want to be, and he concludes that tremendous aspect of what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. That we wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers. He admonishes us to implement in our lives all the spiritual arsenal we have at our disposal. Now, “With all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints…” – the Spirit-filled life and the spiritual battle is always culminated in prayer. We’re to pray in the Spirit; we’re to be on the alert; we’re to hang in there; with perseverance for all the saints, we’re to pray for one another.

#prayer