Once saved, every believer has direct access to the Father. Jesus has promised that He is willing to answer our prayers – for the purpose of being glorified. Things prayed for that are not for this purpose are apt to go unanswered. If you will give God the glory for answers to specific prayer, He will be glad to fulfill it.

Even though this is like being given a blank check, it is a shame how few Christians develop a strong prayer life. As we draw nigh to God in daily and serious prayer, you will find more to pray about, and prayer will become easy and as natural as breathing – and so will getting answers to prayer.

Along with a growing and strong prayer life, you will also be able to enjoy the peace of God and bring forth fruit to God. Knowing that you can call on Him and get answers from the Creator of the universe is worth its weight in gold. Victory will also come much easier.

Other Scriptures mention that if you are serious about getting answers to prayer, then we must also have sin confessed, and be ready to do His will. Thank God that by a simple prayer of confession to Him, He will instantly forgive and cleanse (I John 1:9).

Will you take the time to draw nigh to God – and is it worth it to you to develop a strong prayer life? Will you start today?

David found that his love for the Lord grew because he saw that God, over and over, answered his prayers. When believers get answers to prayer, they want to pray more.

Prayer should be the natural expression of the soul in response to our Lord Who loves us more than we can ever express. Not only do they want to pray more, but they also find more things to pray about. God cares for the big things in our lives, and the things that we often forget to bring to Him because they seem so small. He cares about them all and wants to help you with all things.

The more you pray, you will discover that God will enlarge your heart and help you see more things to pray about. You will begin to see some of the things He sees – and how you can have a part in their solution – through prayer. He wants you to partner with Him in achieving His work in lives and missions through the means of prayer – and sometimes putting feet to your prayers.

II Thessalonians 3:1 “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you.”

During this time of year, many churches will have meetings that are often labeled “revivals.” Although the word “revival” is not used in the Bible, the word “revive” is, and it means to be restored to health or life, be quickened, to restore to life, to grow, and to sustain life.

The very word suggests that there has been a drifting away from those things that make Christians spiritually healthy. The meetings are intended to apply means whereby those attending can be strengthened and brought back to strong spiritual health.

Because the world has a strong pull on believers that can cause them to lose their “first love” for Christ, special meetings are employed to help restore them to a right relationship with God. The desired result is to weaken the world’s grip on believers and bring them back to a close walk with God and a refilling of the Holy Spirit.

As is illustrated in Acts 4, the filling of the Spirit is to glorify God and empower witnesses for the spread of the Gospel. While some like to think the filling of the Spirit is for speaking in tongues, there is no mention of this in Acts 4. They asked for the Spirit’s fullness for boldness to speak and not be ashamed.

Although revival meetings should help believers to be what God wants them to be, they often fall short. Rarely do these meetings actually see a God-given revival. Each believer must seek to draw nigh to God, which requires personal confession of sins, time spent in prayer, surrender to the will of God, and action to start doing His will faithfully.

True revival is something that only God can do, which is why the text verse asks: “Wilt thou not revive us again?” While God must do it, believers are responsible to prepare their hearts so God can revive them. Do you need to start seeking personal revival?

There is a real difference between what the world calls happiness and Biblical joy. Some Christians think they are the same thing.

Happiness is largely based on circumstances. When everything seems to be going right, most people are happy. Their happiness can quickly end when the good circumstances change. This is not at all what the Bible talks about when it speaks about joy.

When your “happiness” depends solely on your circumstances, it will cause you to have a wavering Christian life. It also means that you are looking to the wrong things to make you happy.

Instead, Christian joy is not based on circumstances. Because of this difference, you can have joy much of the time – regardless of what is happening. Paul even talked about having joy while in a Roman prison – which certainly was not a pleasant place to be.

Biblical joy is given by the Holy Spirit – it is one of His fruits. When a believer is in tune with the Spirit (surrendered to do His will), all of the fruit of the Spirit will naturally be present.

Before He left to go back to Heaven, our Lord told us that He wants His people to have the same joy that He enjoys. It is part of His prayer in John 17, verse 13: “And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”

Notice also that the text verse says: “in thy presence is fulness of joy.” It means that by spending more time in the Word and in the prayer closet, you can enjoy more of His joy in your life. And remember that “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10) – which makes it easier to serve our Lord.

Christian, is your prayer closet only collecting dust?