When you pray, do you really believe the one you are praying to can or will answer your prayers? I do believe the one I pray to, my heavenly Father, is real and has the power and ability to hear and answer my prayers.

Scripture tells us that if we are to have our prayers answered this must be the case. Hebrews 11:6 says, “...anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

A prerequisite for answered prayer is this virtue called faith. In this same verse, we are told that without it we can’t please God. One of the reasons why it displeases him is that if we don’t believe his promises to us, through prayer, then we are calling him a liar.

One important point to remember is that answered prayer doesn’t always mean the answer is “yes.” It could be “no” or “maybe later.”

Some things we hope for are humanly impossible, and that’s why some don’t even bother mentioning them to God. We need to remember that God is not human and can work miracles on our behalf. He is not a Genie or a slave to our requests but has promised to answer any prayer that is according to his will.

1 John 5:14-15 says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him.”

The word says in Mark 9:23, “Everything is possible for one who believes,” and in chapter 10, verse 7 of that same book Jesus says, “all things are possible with God.”

So, what is that prayer that you need God so desperately to answer? Believe in the one who is trustworthy and faithful and you can experience a miracle. Then you will be able to praise God for it.