“Pray for one another” (James 5:16)

Some saints thing since God is in control, it’s OK to just let things happen. This way of thinking is not sanctioned in the Bible. Christ told us to pray and not lose heart. “Shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?  I tell you that He will avenge them speedily” (Luke 18:7-8).

Saints are to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to bring about God’s will on Earth. Yes, saints are to receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save their souls, but once they’re saved, they’re supposed to cooperate with God. “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). That’s why James said, “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:21). If you pray God’s will to be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven, and don’t do what He asks you to do, you’re deceiving yourself.

The secret to having your prayers answered is find out what God wants, and ask for it. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15).

A clean conscience is essential for effective prayer. “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight” (1 John 3:21-22). So, “pray without ceasing,  in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18).