Main Passage of Scripture:

“John 15:4-8 (NIV) Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

Prayer is one of the key weapons used by a Christian to execute God’s will on the earth. God advises us to “Pray without ceasing” in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (KJV). Not only this but His temple/sanctuary is setup to be a House of Prayer (Isaiah 56:7, Matthew 21:13). Therefore, we as believers must be praying continually without ceasing whether we are simply walking on the streets, or even working at our workplaces. Then when we come together in God’s House (House of Prayer), prayer flows naturally and easily from our spirit to the throne room of our Father. This is the standard as outlined by God’s word regarding how a believer must approach prayer. We are even warned to not faint or become tired of this duty: Luke 18:1 (KJV) 1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

One of the reasons men are fainting these days is because their prayers are ‘seeming’ to go unanswered. We are praying, but God are you really listening? Nothing can drain hope like “unanswered prayer”. But let God’s word be true and every man a liar! (Romans 3:4)

Jesus told us that: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” – John 15:7-8 (NIV)

I always like self-examination because it is a great way to grow. My dad always use to say, “if a man cannot examine his yesterday he will always be a failure today”. So, every time I feel my prayers are not bringing forth fruit I return to John 15:7-8 with a reflective eye and ask myself some hard questions:

1.Am I really remaining in Christ? Or is it I am close to God one day and far from him the next. Enoch walked with God (Genesis 5:24), oh what relationship. In the original language a better translation for this is, Enoch kept the distance between God and himself at the absolute minimum. Again, I say, oh what relationship!

2.Am I in God’s Word? Do I eat 3 square meals a day to nourish my body but still didn’t read God’s word to nourish my soul? Am I spiritually starving myself daily? How much am I being a hearer and doer of God’s word?

The key to having effective prayer is reflecting on the above and making sure we do it to the fullest. When we do this God will honour his word in our lives. Meaning we can ask what we want, and it WILL be granted unto us. God wants us to become effective in our prayer, but the ball is in our court!

Your Brother and Servant in the Lord

Dane Miller