Missing part of Prayer

Gentle Reader,
Prayer requires action. I want to help you with a simple but
powerful truth that could revolutionize your prayer life. So much of the
time we treat our prayer life like we are rubbing a magical lamp and asking
the genie inside for our wishes to be granted. Even mature Believers often
fall into the trap of treating God like some kind of cosmic concierge who is
there at our beck and call to fulfill our every whim and desire. The truth
that I want to share with you today is that prayer requires action on our
part.

When we pray, we are demonstrating our dependence upon God. We are saying
to God that "we need you," that "without you we can do nothing." Prayer is
also an act of faith. What is the use in praying unless you have faith
there is a God who hears you and faith there is a God who can help you? So
when we pray we not only demonstrate our dependence upon God, but also our
faith in God.

The key moment comes AFTER we have prayed. What do we do then? This is the
critical point where many Believers fail. Prayer requires action on our
part. Too many who pray, fail to follow up their prayers with ACTION! They
pray and seek God for a need in their life, finish praying, and then sit
back waiting for God to meet their need. Is God able? Of course, He is
God! However, never forget that we pray out of faith, and true Biblical
faith requires ACTION!

If you are praying for God to heal your body, pray, but then ACT! Go see
the doctors and specialists that are out there to help you heal. Go
research what your health issue is and find the best people possible to help
bring complete and total healing to your body. God heals in many ways and
by far the most common way God heals is through human instruments called
doctors. So if you need healing, pray, ask God to heal you, and then put
your faith into action and do all you can in seeing your body healed.

If you are praying for God to meet your financial needs, pray, but then ACT!
Seek out successful men and women and get their wise counsel. Sit down and
put a game plan together to help you meet your financial needs and achieve
your financial goals. God can provide for us in many ways, but His most
common form of provision is through our hard work. So if you have financial
needs, pray, ask God to provide for you, then put your faith into action and
do all you can to see that your financial needs are met.

If you are praying for your marriage or for a relationship, pray, but then
ACT! Seek out Godly counsel from your pastor or some other qualified
Christian counselor. Get away with your spouse or the person you are in a
relationship with and spend quality time openly and honestly communicating
with each other. The root cause of every marital and relationship problem I
have seen in over 30 years of ministry stems from a lack of pure, honest,
and open communication. So if you have a problem with your marriage or a
relationship, pray, ask God to bring healing and restoration to your
marriage or relationship, then put your faith into action and do all you can
to have a healthy marriage or relationship.

Never forget that it is God who is the One who will heal you, provide for
you, restore your marriage or relationship, but God uses our faith in
action. Prayer is not a passive exercise but an active one! We are active
participants in God answering our prayers. It requires action on our part.
It is God who is answering our prayers, but our faith requires us to be
involved in that process. Just as James wrote to Believers that "faith
without works is dead," I tell you today that PRAYER WITHOUT ACTION IS
POWERLESS!!!

I love you and care about you so much. Most people are far too passive in
their prayer life. They pray and then sit back waiting for God to answer.
No doubt there are some things we pray about that are completely out of our
control and we must simply trust God to move on those needs. But much of
what we pray about we have the ability to put action to our prayers. It is
still God who is answering our prayers, but He is working through our
actions.

It needs to be stressed again, we are not just praying out of dependence
upon God, but out of FAITH in God. True Biblical faith requires ACTION on
our part. If you really believe something, you will live it. If we truly
believe God will heal us, or provide for our needs, or heal our marriage or
relationship, or whatever the need may be, we will be active participants in
seeing our prayers answered. God honors our faith. God is moved by our
faith. God blesses our faith. We pray in faith, therefore our prayers
require action!!!