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Prayer is our contact and conversation with God, and it's so important that our very lives should be a prayer.

Some people have the idea that you must be kneeling down to talk to God. And certainly that is prayer in one of its best known forms. However, that kind of prayer can be restrictive and if that is the only way you pray, you are missing a lot. That really isn't living a life of prayer.
Confess to one another therefore your faults - your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins; and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored - to a spiritual tone of mind and heart. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available—dynamic in its working.
(James 5:16 AMP)
This scripture indicates that the continued prayer of a righteous person creates tremendous power. And that power is available when we pray scripturally - not necessarily just because we pray, but because we pray according to God's Word.

We don't need to approach God feeling weak and unworthy, saying, "I know You probably won't answer me since I've failed so many times…." No! We are the righteousness of God, and our worthiness does not depend on our own abilities.

The prayer that really prevails before God is the prayer that honors the great redemptive truth of the New Covenant—that we are new creatures. We are righteous, and we have the right to come boldly to the throne of grace in order to obtain mercy and grace in time of need (Heb. 4:16).

Prevailing prayer comes from a sense of righteousness. Prevailing prayer doesn't come from arrogance that is filled with pride but from a calm, sensible acceptance of the fact that we are the righteousness of God. This kind of prayer—earnest prayer by one who knows he is righteous and has a right to be in the presence of God—makes tremendous power available.

This kind of prayer will provide enough power to drive cancer out of your body. It will provide enough power to fill your pocketbook and bank account. It will provide enough power to straighten out your life and give you peace of mind. It will provide enough power to deliver your loved ones from sin.

You will have enough power available to you to supply all your needs. As a born-again believer, you are the righteousness of God and you have a right to come boldly to the throne of God.

Remember, the will of God is the Word of God. So if we are not asking for something that is in God's Word, our prayers are useless. But if we ask in line with God's will, we have His promise that He will answer us.
And this is the confidence - the assurance, the [privilege of] boldness—which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan) He listens to and hears us.
(1 John 5:14 AMP)
There are many, many promises in God's Word, and we have a right to claim them all. Healing is in His Word. Salvation is in His Word. Prosperity is in His Word. A happy marriage is in His Word. Salvation for your loved ones is in His Word.

We can ask all of these things in confidence, knowing that God will listen to us and hear us, because they are promised in His Word.
And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.
(1 John 5:15 AMP)
In other words, we know that if God said it, we've got it! We don't have to beg God for the things He has promised us.

That's why, when you get the light on the Baptism in the Holy Ghost and speaking in other tongues, you can ask for it and know you have a right to receive it right then—because it's in the Word of God. God doesn't want us to be in need, because His Word says, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want" (Ps. 23:1). And again in Philippians 4:19, "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

So we can pray in confidence, and with a sense of righteousness, knowing God will hear and answer our prayers, as long as we are praying in accordance with His Word.

Source: Seven Facts About Prevailing Prayer by John Osteen
Excerpt permission granted by John Osteen Publications

Author Biography

John Osteen
Web site: Lakewood Church
 
The late John Osteen served the Lord Jesus Christ as pastor, evangelist, author, and teacher for sixty years. Ordained as a Southern Baptist, he received the baptism in the Holy Ghost in 1958, an experience which revolutionized his ministry into a worldwide outreach for Jesus Christ.
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