SEVEN STEPS TO ANDWERED PRAYER (PART 1) !

SEVEN STEPS TO ANSWERED PRAYER (PART 1). This two-part series on the subject prayer deals with fundamental aspects of praying that gets results. If the believer will faithfully follow the steps in prayer, he or she can be sure of an answer. STEP 1: DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT FROM GOD. (James 1:6-8). "Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering [no hesitating, no doubting]. For the one who wavers [hesitates, doubts] is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither [here or there] and tossed by the wind. For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything [he asks for] from the Lord. [For being as he is] a man of two minds [hesitating, dubious, irresolute], [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides]." The amplified Bible. The above Scripture shows us the importance of decisiveness. James said if a man wavers --- if he or she cannot make up their minds --- they are "unstable in all their ways" and he or she cannot expect to receive anything from the Lord. Often we are in definite in our praying. When I ask people what they are praying about, they sometimes answer they don't know. Or they are praying for someone who is sick. One person said he was praying just to be praying. Of course, there is one kind of prayer we pray to worship and have fellowship with God, but in this lesson I'm going to deal primarily with praying to get an answer to our prayers. If we are not careful, this general type of praying will carry over when we need to be specific about a certain need. If you went to a grocery store and push your cart up and down the aisles without buying anything, people would think something was wrong with you. If you send a child to buy certain items and he or she buys just those things, they are being definite. The same is true with prayer. It would be better to pray for two or three minutes and know what you are praying about than to pray aimlessly for two or three hours. Decide what you want from God based upon the promise of God's Word that is being more definite than anything I know about it !