The Key to Answered Prayer

By Greg Laurie, Op-ed contributor Thursday, April 24, 2014

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
- John 15:7

How often have you felt that your prayers were hitting a glass ceiling - as though the Lord were saying no? Maybe it is because you were praying outside of His will. Maybe it's because you were praying for something that God didn't want you to have.

We need to remember the promise Jesus spoke of in John 15:7, which says, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you." Another version puts it this way: "But if you live your life in me, and my words live in your hearts, you can ask for whatever you like and it will come true for you" (PH). I really like that version - especially the part that tells us to ask for whatever we like.

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But let's also remember the condition: "If you live your life in me, and my words live in your hearts. . . ." If you are maintaining a living communion with God and His words are at home with you, then your desires are going to change. Your prayers won't necessarily be the same as they were before. As you get in sync with the will of God, you will see that prayer is not getting God to do what you want Him to do, but prayer is getting you to do what God wants you to do.

You will discover the important truth that prayer is not bending God our way - it is bending us His way. And then, you just may see your prayers being answered in the affirmative.