Positive PrayersShembull

The way we pray and the words we pray is not the magic formula to getting a response. Not everyone has to pray in their war room, or prayer closet, to heal a home. For example, persistent begging and pleading worked well for one problem (consider the neighbor at the door banging again and again in Luke 11:5-8) while a simple word of gratitude worked for another (consider Jesus feeding five thousand in John 6:11). 

In both of those situations, the people needed the exact same thing. They sought the exact same outcome. They both needed bread. But both of them took a very different approach to getting it. 

And guess what—both got their bread.

To say, teach, instruct, or claim that there is one sure-way to get your prayers answered is naïve. The Bible doesn’t do that, outside of an abiding and pure faith. But the dynamics of that abiding faith will differ in as many ways as our emotions can as well. In fact, the construct and content of our faith will vary based on the situation. The substance of Peter’s faith when he told the lame man to walk outside of the gate called Beautiful was a very different substance than the faith (or lack of faith) he had when he tried to walk on water (Acts 3:6, Matthew 14:29). 

The action he was seeking was the same in both situations—walking. But the faith he brought to his prayer was not the same at all.

Every battle, every problem, every prayer request we have requires individual attention, introspection and revelation. The Christian life is an every-day experience.

Like Peter, our faith is fluid depending on what we are facing. We are not robots. Our desires mold into new shapes as we move forward through our hours and our days. Our hearts, beliefs, limiting beliefs and mindsets are continually evolving. We are never in the exact same space of who we are for more than a moment. We are constantly learning, un-learning, absorbing and shifting within ourselves—within our soul, within our spirit. 

Likewise, our issues are multi-dimensional as well. They are complex and ever-changing. 

Because of this, prayer—and our approach both to it and in it—must be adaptable as well.