What is the vital element of prayer?

What is the Vital Element of Prayer?

Learning to pray follows studying the Bible. Prayer is both the most profound and the simplest of all Christian exercises. A person newly saved can pray. Yet, many of God’s children even on their deathbeds confess that they have not yet mastered the art of prayer.

Answered prayer is one of the basic privileges or rights of a Christian. A Christian is given by God the right of having his prayers heard. If one has been a Christian for three to five years and has not had one prayer answered, his Christian life must be quite questionable. For a child of God not to have his prayers answered is wrong. A Christian’s prayers ought to be answered.

"Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be made full" (John 16:24). He who prays often and has his prayers answered often will be a happy Christian. This is a fundamental experience that every believer must have. One may be careless in other spiritual matters, but in this matter of answered prayer a Christian cannot afford to deceive himself. It is either yes or no. He must seek to have prayers answered.

Ask a new believer if he has prayed today. Ask him if God has heard his prayer, for prayer is not beating the air, nor something done casually. The aim of prayer is its answer. If no answer to the prayer is forthcoming, the prayer is in vain. One must learn to have his prayers answered. Prayer is not just for spiritual devotion; it is also for being heard. If it is solely for devotion, one may pray for hours without expecting any answer. But if prayer is for an answer, then one must pray until the answer comes.

It is therefore imperative for beginners to learn this lesson well so that they may have their prayers answered. It would be a difficult task to correct this foundational lack if one has perhaps been praying three to five years without receiving an answer.