When you pray, how are your prayers shaped? By your feelings? By what you’ve heard others pray? The foundation to answered prayer always starts with God’s Word.

Scriptures are the building blocks for effective prayer. Isaiah 55:11 (NIV) encourages us to pray the words that God uses in His promises.

Tips to Answered Prayer

God already stated that His promises are Yes and Amen (2 Corinthians 1:20). So take the time to find the specific Scripture that addresses your specific problem/mountain. Then strengthen your belief in that Scripture by repeatedly and consistently speaking it to yourself. That will build your faith in God’s specific promise. Finally, PRAY that Scripture–return it to Him, as Isaiah instructs us to do, by speaking it in prayer to Him. Mark 11:23-24 encourages us because Jesus said:

“I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.”

I think the key phrase in those verses is “if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.” Jesus was teaching an important prayer principle. He wanted us to understand that when we pray believing that His work is already done, and believing that the thing we desire is already ours, we can stand knowing that it is a done deal. Even if we don’t yet see it manifested, we can have a heart that stands strong in the belief that it’s done and that thanks God for it! It is confident in receiving answered prayer.

Pray the Word

God is not a liar. His answer is always “Yes” to His Word. Trust Him. It’s through Jesus’ finished work on the cross that we choose to believe that He has already done what He said. He IS a promise keeper!

Let your prayers be shaped by God’s words.

What Scripture(s) do you pray and stand on with gratitude about infertility or some other challenge you’re currently facing?