"You can get anything - anything you ask for in
prayer - if you believe."
(Matthew 21:22 TLB)
Christ emphatically taught His followers that they could have anything they ask for in prayer if they believed it would happen. While it sounds pretty incredible, we know it's true because it's in the Bible. However, when we look closely, there are a few things we need to consider about prayer. First of all, when you pray, are you really praying in faith? Prayer means to have ongoing communication with your Heavenly Father; the Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. You can only talk intimately with God and make your request with confidence, if you know Him and have a relationship with Him. For example, most of us wouldn't think of asking for something (of any true significance) from a stranger or even approach a friend, only when we have a serious need. That's why it's important to have a relationship with the giver of all gifts and get to know Him personally... seeking His face and not only His hand.
Second, if you are really in prayer, who are you talking to? When you ask for something, whom do you ask? The Bible does not record that we are to pray to angels; nor are we ever instructed to ask the saints to answer our prayers. Instead, we are to go to God Himself with our requests. The only way we can do that is through Jesus Christ, who has already made way for us. That is why we always end our prayers, "In Jesus' Name". In John 15:16, Jesus says no matter what you ask from the Father using His name, God will give it to you. We pray to God the Father, with the Holy Spirit helping us to express what's in our hearts, and by ending our prayers in Jesus' name this gives us the signature needed to seal our prayers and access our requests.
Third and most important, Christ was talking to His followers. Are you a follower of Christ? He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:16). When we pray to the one true God, Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts and reveals Him to us. When you are a follower of someone, you become like that person. You begin to have the same mannerisms, views, and desires. You have the same ways of expressing yourself. Eventually, you start to think alike and even look alike. We sometimes see this happen with married couples, and that's why you want to choose your partner prayerfully and carefully! God has called us to soar with eagles, so why would anyone want to hang around with turkeys in the barnyard. He wants us to think like He thinks and speak like He speaks, and these are the things that will begin to happen as we continue to pray.
Prayer is a mighty instrument, not for getting man's will done in Heaven, but for getting God's will done on earth. Just think what a difference you could make in so many ways, with so many lives, if you were to pray passionately for your dream and believe your vision could become a reality. Dream big, and in all your dreaming, know that God is bigger than anything you could ever begin to imagine, just take it to Him in prayer. "Now glory be to God, who by His mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of-infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes." (Ephesians 3:20 TLB)
