To understand what prayer is, it helps to realize what it is not. Prayer is not an emotional release. It is not an escape valve. It is much more than just asking God for a favor. Perhaps most important of all, prayer is not a religious exercise.

You should be praying for results every time you pray. Do not just speak empty words. Jesus said in Matthew 6:7: "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking."

The beauty of your prayer does not get the ear of God. He responds to faith. To explain, let me give you an example from my own experience.

Not long after I became a Christian, I asked a minister to pray for me. I was expecting to hear a long, beautiful prayer - one that would cause people to fall on their knees in repentance before God! What I heard was just the opposite.

He laid his hand on my chest, bowed his head, and said, "Lord, bless him. Meet his every need." He then turned and walked away. I was left standing there thinking, "How could he do that to me? I have big problems. It should have taken at least 20 minutes of hard praying to cover everything."

One major difference separated that minister and me: the degree of faith at work in our lives. He was operating in faith, praying exactly what he meant. I was a baby Christian, looking for a physical manifestation of some kind.

It makes no difference how long you pray or how beautiful your words. Praying in faith is merely having confidence in God's willingness to use His power to answer your prayer.

The man who knows the importance of prayer is very difficult to defeat. He knows that, regardless of what comes, he can pray and God will move in his behalf.

The key to success in prayer is expecting results. Many Christians think, I'll pray and maybe something will happen. They say, "I'm just hoping and praying."

If you are hoping to get results, you will never receive from God. "Hoping to get" is not the same as "believing you receive." The promises of God bring you hope in hopeless situations. However, hope has no substance in itself. "I hope to get healed someday." You hope to receive someday, but someday never comes.

Faith brings hope into reality and gives substance to it. Hebrews 11:1 says: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The object of hope becomes a reality through faith. Hope is always in the future. Faith is always now.

Excerpt permission granted by
Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc.
aka:  Kenneth Copeland Ministries