Greg Laurie Daily Devotion - May 7, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Today is the National Day of Prayer. Remember to pray for our nation regularly, but especially today!
The Key to Answered Prayer
“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
How often have you felt that your prayers were hitting a glass ceiling—as though the Lord were saying no?
Maybe it is because you are praying outside of His will. Maybe it is because you were praying for something that God didn’t want you to have.
We need to remember the promise Jesus spoke of in John 15, which says, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” Another translation puts it this way: “If you maintain a living communion with Me and My words are at home with you, you can ask at once for yourself whatever your heart desires, and it is yours.”
I really like that translation—especially the part that tells us to ask at once whatever our hearts desire. But let’s remember the condition: “If you maintain a living communion with Me and My words are at home with you. . . . ”
If you are maintaining a living communion with God, and His words are at home with you, then your desires going to change. Your prayers will not necessarily be the same as they were before.
As you get in sync with the will of God, you’ll see that prayer is not getting God to do what you want Him to do, but that prayer is getting you to do what God wants you to do.
You will discover the important truth that prayer is not bending God our way—it is bending us His way. And then, you just may see your prayers being answered in the affirmative.
Copyright © 2009 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version, copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.
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