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“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”
As we move toward Easter, I want to spend some time talking about prayer. Prayer is one of the most important parts of the Christian life, yet it’s also one of the areas where believers often feel the most confusion. Many of us were taught to think of prayer primarily as asking God for things—bringing Him our needs, making requests, and then waiting to see whether He decides to respond.
But when you begin to understand the New Covenant through the lens of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, your perspective on prayer begins to change. When you realize that Christ has already accomplished so much on our behalf, you start asking new questions. If Jesus already finished the work, how should we pray? Should we ask God to do something, or should we declare what He has already done? Should we wait for Him to act, or should we exercise the authority He has given us in Christ?
The deeper we understand the finished work of Jesus, the more we realize that prayer is not about convincing God to act. Prayer is about aligning our hearts with what God has already revealed.
As I said in the message:
“Prayer is not asking a distant God to fulfill a request, and then sitting wondering if He’s going to answer it.”
Prayer begins by persuading our own hearts of what God has already said—what Scripture reveals about His character, what His promises declare, what Jesus accomplished at the cross, and who we are now in Christ. When we become persuaded of those things, we speak and pray from a place of intimate relationship with Him.
Prayer Through the Lens of the Finished Work
Once you begin to frame your faith around the finished work of Christ, you realize that the promises of God are not uncertain possibilities. They are secured realities in Jesus.
2 Peter 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.
Through Christ, God has already provided everything necessary for life and godliness. The Christian life is not about trying to convince God to give us something He is reluctant to give. Instead, it’s about learning to recognize what He has already provided.
The New Testament reinforces this truth again and again.
2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
When we pray, we are not approaching a hesitant God. We are approaching a Father whose promises are already “yes” in Christ.
This realization changes how we approach prayer. It shifts our focus away from uncertainty and toward confidence. If we know God’s character, if we know His Word, and if we understand what Jesus accomplished, then in many situations we already know the will of God.
Most of the things people pray about fall into a few categories: health, provision, wisdom, peace, direction, and blessing for others. Scripture speaks clearly about these areas. God has revealed His heart in these matters. The challenge for us is learning to pray from that revelation rather than from uncertainty.
Prayer Begins With Relationship
When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He did not begin with requests. He began with relationship.
Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
The very first thing Jesus teaches us about prayer is that God is our Father.
That truth alone changes everything.
Too often believers approach prayer as if they are speaking to a distant authority figure whose attitude toward them is uncertain. But Jesus reveals that God is not distant. He is Father. He is near. He is relational.
Prayer begins by acknowledging who He is. Before we ever ask for anything, we remember that we are speaking to the One who loves us and who has already demonstrated His goodness toward us through Christ.
Let God’s Character Inform Your Prayer
One of the most powerful ways to shape our prayer life is to let God’s character inform our expectations.
Throughout Scripture, God reveals Himself through His names—names that reflect His nature and His heart toward His people. He is Jehovah Rapha, the Lord our healer. He is Jehovah Jireh, our provider. He is Jehovah Shalom, our peace.
These names are not temporary titles. They reveal the nature of God.
And God does not change.
When Jesus came to the earth, He revealed the Father perfectly. If we want to understand what God is like, we look at Jesus.
Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Notice what this verse says. Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.
Jesus never made anyone sick. He never harmed anyone. He never inflicted suffering to teach someone a lesson. Everywhere He went, He brought healing, restoration, and freedom.
This is why we must be careful not to build our theology on circumstances. If we look at a situation and say, “Well, this person didn’t get healed, so God must not want to heal,” we are allowing experience to redefine God’s character.
But the only authority we have to determine what God is like is Scripture and the life of Jesus.
And Jesus reveals a God who is good.
Faith Is Persuasion of God’s Faithfulness
The story of Sarah in Hebrews provides a beautiful example of how faith works in relation to God’s promises.
Hebrews 11:11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
God had already spoken His promise. The promise existed long before Sarah saw any physical evidence of it. What changed was not God’s will—it was Sarah’s persuasion.
She judged God faithful.
That phrase is incredibly important. Faith is not about forcing something to happen. Faith is about becoming persuaded of who God is and what He has promised.
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Faith grows as we hear and receive the Word of God. As we allow Scripture to shape our thinking, our hearts become persuaded of God’s faithfulness.
And from that persuasion, prayer flows naturally.
The Role of the Holy Spirit in Prayer
God has not left us to figure these things out on our own. He has given us the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
The Holy Spirit reveals what belongs to us in Christ. He reminds us of God’s promises. He brings wisdom and clarity in specific situations.
Sometimes He may even reveal personal insights or confirmations that help open our hearts to receive what God has already said.
But the foundation always remains the same: Christ and His Word.
The Holy Spirit always leads us back to the finished work of Jesus and the promises of God.
Prayer Requires Moving From Fear to Peace
One of the most important disciplines in prayer is learning to move from anxiety to peace.
Often our minds are filled with competing thoughts when we approach God. Fear begins to speak. Doubt begins to whisper. Circumstances begin to argue against the promises of God.
But Scripture reminds us that fear does not come from God.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Before we speak in prayer, we should take time to become aware of God’s presence, to remember His character, and to rest in the finished work of Christ.
In the message I said it this way:
“Don’t even pray until you’re aware of Him… aware of who He is, aware of what Jesus has done… until you have peace. Then you speak.”
When our hearts settle into that place of peace, prayer begins to flow from faith instead of fear.
Hope That Is Rooted in Christ
Another important distinction we must understand is the difference between worldly hope and biblical hope.
In everyday language, hope often means uncertainty. People say, “I hope things work out,” when they really mean they are unsure.
But Scripture defines hope very differently.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Biblical hope is a confident expectation of good based on the promises of God.
It is not wishful thinking. It is a settled confidence rooted in what Jesus accomplished at the cross and through His resurrection.
Prayer Is Not About Saying the Right Words
Jesus also addressed another misunderstanding about prayer.
Matthew 6:7 And when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Many believers think prayer is about saying the right words in the right order. They feel pressure to pray long prayers or use certain phrases.
But Jesus teaches something different.
Prayer is about heart connection with God.
Sometimes a few simple words spoken in faith carry more power than a long speech that lacks genuine connection.
God Already Knows Your Needs
Perhaps the most freeing truth Jesus taught about prayer is this:
Matthew 6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
God already knows what you need.
Prayer is not informing Him about your situation.
Prayer is not persuading Him to care.
Prayer is about aligning your heart with His heart.
Humanity Still Has Responsibility
From the beginning, God gave humanity authority in the earth.
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion…
God did not design the world so that He would override human responsibility at every moment. Instead, He works through people.
Even Jesus modeled this while He walked the earth. He did not heal every person on the planet or fix every societal problem. He ministered to those who came to Him in faith.
God still works through His people today.
2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us.
Believers are ambassadors of heaven. We represent Christ in the earth. Our prayers are not passive requests—they are part of how God’s will is expressed through His people.
Prayer Is Like Tending a Garden
Prayer often works more like tending a garden than flipping a switch.
Seeds must be planted. They must be watered. They must be given time to grow.
Jesus described the kingdom this way:
Mark 4:26–27 So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
Our role is not to make the seed grow. Our role is to plant it, nurture it, and trust God with the process.
Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Finally, one of the most powerful reasons we pray is because people around us are hurting.
Many people we know are facing sickness, grief, emotional wounds, and overwhelming challenges.
Prayer allows us to carry the heart of God toward them.
Galatians 6:2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Sometimes the most powerful prayer we can pray is simply that someone would experience the peace of God and the love of Christ in the middle of their circumstances.
Prayer as Intimate Partnership With God
When we understand prayer through the lens of the New Covenant, it stops feeling like a religious ritual and starts becoming what it was always meant to be: a relationship.
Prayer is not asking a distant God to fulfill a request and waiting to see what happens.
Prayer is persuading our hearts of who God has already revealed Himself to be, what His Word promises, what Jesus accomplished, and who we are in Him.
From that place of persuasion and peace, we speak.
Jesus Himself said something remarkable about our relationship with Him.
John 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants… but I have called you friends.
We are not merely servants making requests.
We are friends of God.
And from that friendship, prayer becomes a powerful partnership with Him—speaking His heart into the world and bringing His love, peace, and kingdom into the lives of others.
