SEVEN STEPS TO ANSWERED PRAYER (PART 1)

SEVEN STEPS TO ANSWERED PRAYER (PART 1). STEP 2: READ SCRIPTURES THAT PROMIES THE ANSWER YOU NEED ! (Joshua 1:8). Please understand, after Moses the servant of the Lord had died. Joshua was anointed to lead the people of Israel into the promised land, and God told Joshua the secret of prosperity: All they had at that time was the Book of the Law. "This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success." The amplified Bible. In order to be successful in our prayer life, God's Word must be foremost, first in our mouth and then in our heart ! As We Feed upon His Word, we build it into our inner consciousness. Then, in time of need, we are prepared. We can use the appropriate scriptures against the devil when he tries to make us doubt God and rob us of what we want. In the wilderness when Satan tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread, Jesus answered with the Word. He said, ". . . It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." Then Satan took Him up on a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world. He told Jesus if he will worship him, he will give all these kingdoms to Him. Again Jesus answered, ". . . It is written, thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and him only shall thy serve." Satan then took Jesus upon a pinnacle of the Temple and said to Him, ". . . Cast thyself down. . . " As to suggest suicide ! Again Jesus answered with the Word, saying, ". . . It is said, thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God" (Luke 4:3-12). Jesus used the same weapon to defeat the devil that all believers have today: The Word of God. All we have two due in the face of temptation and doubt as well as unbelief is to say, "it is written, or what is written." If the Scriptures are firmly implanted in your heart, they will come out of your mouth. We are prepared for any attacks of the devil. In matters of guidance, search the Scriptures to see what God has to say about any situation. His Word plainly shows us His will. If the Scriptures don't promise us what we may be seeking, we don't have any business praying for it. We should not want anything that the Word of God says we shouldn't have. On the other hand, when praying for things that are expressly promised in the Word, we can have complete confidence that God will give us what we need. Years ago I wrote in red ink on the fly leaf of my Bible, "the That Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it !" Many people try to pray beyond their faith. It is the Word of God that gives faith. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17) the reason people do not pray with confidence and faith is because they do not know the Scriptures well enough to know if what they are praying for is God's will. They may hope it is, but they don't know it is. As we read God's Word and learn His will, we can appropriate His promises for our every need.