Praying with Confidence

My Tender and Loving Savior, as Your child, I know You want me to come to You with my cares, burdens and needs.  When I come to You, it should be with confidence, holding nothing back.  In order to believe my prayers will be answered, I must make You My Lord and accept the reality that You do a better job of running my life than I do.  To receive an answer, my requests must fall within Your will.  How then, do I know what is Your good and perfect will?  I think there are two ways … first, in reading Your Word and meditating on it, I learn Your motives and see Your purposes … and, secondly, by reflecting on how You dealt with circumstances in Your life reveals how You want me to deal with mine.  I feel I must connect with You and understand who You are if I am to be confident in making my requests.  By remaining patient and seeking the help of the Holy Spirit, I begin to understand Your will and pray within it.

I must also understand that in Your name there is not only the power to save but the power to appropriate whatever it is that I am seeking of You.  Before You can ever respond, my heart must totally belong to You.  Keys to answered prayer involve submission and obedience.  In submitting, I am willing to put Your desires before mine.  In it, I subject myself to Your care and guidance.  I also take on the role of a servant rather than seeking to be served.  My obedience is a sign that the thing I want the most is to please You.  In obeying, I show my trust in the fact Your answer (whatever it might be) is meant for my good.  In learning to obey, I avoid the foolish mistakes that rob me of my blessings.  When I confess my faults, I have the confidence to come to You believing that whatever I ask is important enough to You that You will respond.

Your Word tells me that if I delight in You, You will give me the desires of my heart.  As I seek to know You better, You are able to hear my pleas and give me the things that I need.  To delight in You brings with it great joy and satisfaction.  In Your presence, I am able to see You as You are and I can freely open myself up to you.  I am grateful to know that I am accepted by You and worthy of Your love.  Wrapped in Your love, my requests are made possible because of the abounding faith I have in You.  With a heart filled with delight, I can ask in Your name … knowing Your will … and, expect to receive an answer to my prayers.  The more I am able to see You as a vital part of my life, the more fruitful it will become.  As I continue to seek You and remain eager to learn Your ways, I know I will be more confident in approaching You in prayer.  And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray.  AMEN!!

I John 5:14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.