To ask for the wrong kind of stuff is a sure way to get your prayer unanswered. As the Bible says “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss…(James 4:2). Knowing what to ask for is just about important as knowing how to ask for it. The cure for the error of asking amiss is found in Jesus’ words: “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7). We can ask aright and receive from the Lord to the degree that we abide in Him and His words abide in us. Therefore, anyone given to prayer should also be given to studying and practising the Word of God (see Acts 6:4).” The two go hand in hand. For the Word of God is the will of God, and if you have the knowledge of His will (word), you will cease asking for the wrong stuff in prayer. You will know what to ask for, and you shall receive and your joy shall be made whole.
It is merely not enough to know what to ask for. “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:6-7). A lack of faith will not only prevent you from receiving from the Lord but is actually counted as sin before God: “for whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). Imagine sinning before God while praying to Him. That may seem unthinkable but that’s exactly what lack of faith makes you do in prayer. Faith is not a confidence in our own “ability to believe” to get God to do something. It is confidence based on the knowledge of what God has said. Faith in the Word of God is faith in God Himself. That kind of faith will get the job done. Even so, if your faith is going to get the job done, then you must of need be a person who walks in love. For faith works by love (Galatians 5:6).
Finally, if you get into a habit of dishonouring your wife, you end up serving as your own blockade to your prayers. For the Bible is very clear on this one thing: “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered (1 Peter 3:7)”. Therefore, save yourself the hustle. Do yourself a favour and walk in love with your wife, for the Lord does not take it lightly when you mistreat the woman you’ve covenanted with before the Lord.
Kwadwo Omari
© 2015