Plant, Then Water The Seed II

There is more to prayer than just asking God for what we want. In order to be successful in prayer, we must know that prayer is governed by the laws of prayer similar to the way electricity is governed by the laws of electricity. That is because spiritual things are no different than natural things; they too are governed by the laws of God. (Rom. 1:20)

In order to get the results from electricity that we want, we must know the laws that govern electricity and apply them properly. That is not up to God. That is up to us. It is the same thing with prayer. In order to get the results we want from prayer, we must know the laws that govern prayer and apply them properly. And when we do our part, God will do his.

God makes all things available to us, both in the natural and in the spiritual; but then it is up to us to learn how they work and to make them work for us. And if we do, the laws of God will always work if properly applied. That is why they are called laws. For example, if we learn and apply the laws of electricity properly, we will always have a proper flow of electrical power. Likewise, if we learn and apply the laws of prayer properly, we will always have a proper flow of prayer power. Jesus proved this fact because he always had results when he prayed.

However, there has been a mystique about prayer that has kept us from learning prayer’s process. Because of this mystique, many seem to have felt that prayer is up to God and that if he wanted to answer it he would, and if he didn’t, he wouldn’t. But Jesus never taught that... about spiritual or natural things. Think how it would be if we thought that way about electricity or anything else in this world. If we left everything up to God, we would never get the results we want. That is because God has not chosen to do things that way, in the natural or in the spiritual. He provides things for us, then leaves it is up to us to find out how things work and to make them work for us. That is the way prayer is.

So let’s talk about the laws of God for a moment. In my last article, I shared that Jesus taught us how everything in the kingdom of God works. He said that the kingdom of God was like a man who plants a seed, and that seed grows day and night until it comes to maturity and bears fruit. Everything starts from a seed. (Mk. 4: 26-32) And that is how prayer works too. It starts from a seed. And if the seed is nurtured properly, it will always bring prayer results, just the same as good seed in a garden will always produce if it is nurtured properly.

I also shared that Jesus said that spiritual seed is the word of God. And it is when we choose to believe the word of God, that we plant that seed. (Mk. 4:14, Lk. 8:11)

Now since the seed of God's word has the power to produce whatever it says, we need to believe the word of God as it relates to what we are praying for. (Isa. 55:10-11) For example, if we are praying for healing, we can choose to believe the word of God where Isaiah said, "... with his stripes we are healed." (Isa. 53:5) That is very specific to our request and will bring forth healing. However, we can also believe the word of God when it is very general and when it covers all kinds of petitions such as the time when Jesus said, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” We can believe this simple statement in order to get our prayers answered too. (Mt. 21:22) And like I said in my Answer to Anonymous, we don't have to know the word of God verbatim, we just need to know the truth that it expresses.

So, after we choose to believe God’s word, that seed must be watered. And again, it is through the word of God that it is watered, (see my last article on this topic to get a little more detail). Now the primary way that we water our prayer seed, (that is, the seed of God’s word that we choose to believe and want to come to pass), is to read, study, listen to, and meditate on God’s word. We need to “feed” on as much of the word of God as we can… especially as it relates to what we are asking for. What we are doing when we do this is watering our seed and developing our faith in God’s word, and it will then be our faith that will bring to pass what we asked for in prayer. I like to call this part of the process "feeding the seed." It will then grow and produce results. (Mt. 21:22)

In this article, I would like to share with you another vital “tool” that must be used in helping bring forth answers to our prayers. We talked about our faith and now I want to talk about our words; that is, what we SAY about our prayer after we have prayed. Jesus said that whatever we believe in our heart and SAY with our mouth, we will have. (Mk. 11:22-23) If we think about that for a moment, we may realize how amazing that is and how powerful a tool we have in our hands, or should I say in our mouths. It will always be what we believe and what we say that we will eventually end up having. Again, our words, (like God’s) are seeds, and when believed will bring forth what we say. It will take time to come to pass, but it always will. This creative power is ours because we are made in the image of God and we do things just like he does. It was with his faith and his words that God spoke the world into existence, and it will be through our faith and our words that we will create the world that is around us, (and bring forth the answers to our prayers). If you believe it and if you say it, you will have it, no matter what it is. So, saying the right thing will bring to pass those things that you ask for in prayer.

Before I go any further let me share this. It is important to remember that it is God that will bring the increase to our seed… we don’t do that, but like Paul said, it is we who must plant and water the seed. It is God who will make it grow. (1Cor. 3:6)

So, getting back to the words of our mouth and how they relate to what we are praying for; we must realize that we cannot ask for something in prayer, and then SAY that we DON’T have it. If we do that, we WON'T get it. But when we pray, we need to start speaking "by faith" saying that we DO have the answer to our prayer even before it comes to pass, and then we will get it. It will then come to pass. We have believed that we have it and have said that we have it, and like Jesus said, it will now come to pass. I know that this might be a lot to swallow, but that is how the bible teaches that faith works. Actually, that is the kind of faith that God has and uses, and it is the kind of faith that will bring to pass whatever it is we are praying for. (Rom. 4:16-21; 10:9-10)

So, you see, the words we speak are extremely important in the answers to our prayers. The bible says that "death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it will eat the fruit thereof. (Pr. 18:21)

Our words are our faith in action and a vital part of our prayer.

Summing up thus far, we see that Jesus taught that when we pray, we must believe that we have the answers to our prayers and say that we have them before we ever get them. It is then that in time they will come to pass. (Mk. 11:22-24)

Can you see why people can have such problems getting their prayers answered? They really don’t know what it takes to get them answered. And please; don’t just believe me. Look up the scriptures that I’ve based this on. Both Jesus and Paul taught this and did this, and so did Abraham and God the Father!

I’ve shared in this article the basic principle of the power and importance of our words. Being careful about what we say and saying only those good things that we want is a great start and a solid foundation. But like all things, there is more that can be learned and applied. A good farmer always starts with the basics and then builds on them for better and better results. Maybe in the future I will share more with you about this. But for now, there may be enough to think about here.

Submitted by John B. Agati
Author of: “Suffering (God’s Will?)”

More information about this and an upcoming book “Suffering, Unanswered Prayer, (And How to Fix the Whole Thing),” along with a short bio may be found at: www. jbagati.com