Did you know. that as a believer in Jesus, you can design your life through prayer?
If you're like me, there may be a situation that you have prayed about for a very long time without seeing complete results. You may be asking yourself,
"Does prayer work?"
"Why does God answer other people's prayers and not mine?"
"Why isn't He answering my prayer, even though what I am praying for is good?"
To answer these questions, let's take a look at an Old Covenant prophet, Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a prophet to Israel during their exile in Babylon. The Israelites had lost everything--their homes, land, and temple. And during that time, the Lord gave Ezekiel a vision. And in the vision, the Lord set Ezekiel in the midst of a valley full of bones. Very dry bones.
And He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? So I answered, O Lord God, You know. (Ezekiel 37:3)
In the vision, the Lord had taken him to a valley, which is a low place. And it was filled with dry bones. Not just a few. We are told in verse 11 that the bones represented the house of Israel who had lost all hope and all ability to help (or even pray for) themselves. They were cut off.
And this is how the Lord told Ezekiel to pray:
Prophesy to these bones, and say to them. O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord to these bones: Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. Ezekiel 37:5-6
Do you see what God told the prophet to do? He said "Prophesy to the bones". That's right. Speak to them. Talk directly to the bones and tell them what they are going to do and how they are going to look.
Notice what He did not say. He did not say:
Pray to Me, and I'll take care of everything for you
Cry and tell Me how bad the situation is; and if I feel sorry enough for you, I'll fix it.
Describe in detail how bad the situation is, so I'll know
If you've done any or all three of the above, don't feel bad. I have too. Longer than I care to admit.
And God is very patient and compassionate with me, and us. However, I believe He wants us to learn a better way to pray. Remember how Jesus spoke to the storm and told it to be still? And how He spoke to the fig tree and told it to die? And then He told the disciples that they should speak to mountains and tell them to go into the sea. That's how Jesus prayed!
So am I trying to say that we are not waiting for God to do something, but He's waiting on us?
Yes, that's exactly what I am saying! He is waiting for us to speak to our situation and believe with our hearts, and do not doubt, but believe that we already have what we've asked for. (Mark 11:23-24)
And just as important, God not only told Ezekiel to speak to the bones. He also told him what he should say to them. He told him to speak words that build up, put together, and bring life. Since God is a God who heals, builds, blesses, and gives life to everything He touches; then we know that we are authorized to speak life to situations that look and feel bleak and hopeless. We become the mouth of God on the earth.
Son of man (or daughter) prophesy!
So how can we apply this to the situations we've been praying for? For one, we need to ask ourselves:
Am I prophesying life over the situation?
Do my words build up, put pieces together, and breathe new life into the situation?
Am I telling my body how it should look and feel according to the words that build up and not tear down?
Am I telling my bank account how it should look and act?
Am I prophesying abundant life over my family, marriage and children?
Am I prophesying the good that I want to see?
We get so used to blurting out what we see when looking at our "hopeless" situations.. We often describe in great detail how bad it is, not realizing we are only reinforcing the enemy's marred design.
The thief doesn't not come except to steal, kill and destroy, but I (Jesus) have come that they may have life and life more abundantly. John 10:10
If we speak words that build up and bring abundant life, then we can know for sure that we are speaking for and representing our Master on earth! And that, my friend, is an effective prayer.
Scripture reference
Ezekiel 37:1-14
John 10:10
Mark 11:23-24