2 Keys to Prayers That Deliver Results

“Then said the Lord … I am alert and active, watching over My word to perform it” (Jer. 1:12, AMP). 

Notice God watches over His Word to perform it. This is a key to accurate, effective prayer—to pray God’s Word or to pray in agreement with God’s Word, for His Word is an expression of His will.

Let’s assume you are praying for a person who needs healing.

In 3 John 2, God says in regard to healing and well-being, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers.” According to this verse, it is God’s desire that your physical body be well, just as your soul (your mind, will and emotions) is well.

In 1 Peter 2:24, Peter says of Jesus, “By whose stripes you were healed” (NKJV).

You can tune in to many Christian TV programs any day of the week and hear someone give a testimony of praying for healing for a loved one. They say they believed God for the person’s healing, yet they included in their prayer, “If it be Thy will.” Their loved one died, so they assume that was God’s will.

No! To pray “If it be Thy will” when the will of God is known—that you be healed and whole—is a wishy-washy, wavering prayer. Pray the Word with boldness: “Father, thank You that Johnny is healed by the stripes of Jesus. Refuse to move off of the Word. Also, do the natural things that the doctor recommends.

As my pastor used to say, “We’re not against doctors, hospitals, medicine, vitamins or orange juice!” The motive of doctors and medical professionals is like that of Jesus: They are working to see their patients healthy and whole.

Several years ago, even before I fully understood the value of praying the Word or praying in line with God’s Word, a teenager in another state had been severely injured in a car accident, and he was in a coma. Doctors’ prognosis gave little hope of survival, indicating that if he did live, he would most likely be a vegetable.

I felt led to go to a friend who was a student at a local Bible school at the time to pray in agreement for this young man’s recovery. Unknown to me, she had a friend in Sweden who was in a coma at that same time.

So together we came into agreement with God’s Word from Ephesians 5:14 for this young man and for her friend in Sweden: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” Within a matter of days, both of these people awoke from a comatose state. Then, over a period of time, each fully recovered.

To see success in your prayer life, find an appropriate Scripture for the prayer need, then boldly pray God’s Word or in agreement with God’s Word. 

A former teacher, with B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Northern Iowa, Marilyn L. Price now is a freelance editor and proofer. In a time of fasting and prayer in 1982, the Lord said to her, “You will edit for My champions.” For years she was editor for the late pastor Billy Joe Daugherty, Victory Christian Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma.