Wishing Or Praying In Confidence?

So often believers gets into what I’ll term ‘wish-a-prayer’, where in their prayer they’re wishing for a particular outcome. You can’t wish something into being, especially through the avenue of prayer. Many believers may use this mix of wishing and prayer. When prayer isn’t based on the promises of God (in the Word), then it’s just plain wishing. And wishing doesn’t change anything. In fact, when used with what most think is prayer, it causes frustration on the part of the person praying. The focus is on their wishing. You’ve heard the phrase many have used I’m sure – I’m just a hoping and praying. That’s the same as saying they’re hoping and wishing.

If you’ve become frustrated in your prayer life, if you’ve failed to see ‘answers’ to your prayers, you can do several things to check where you are and make sure you’re praying from faith and from the promises of God, not solely from your wishful thinking. Understand we’re all learning and growing in this area, so we’re encouraging you.

Clint Byars says that prayer is standing on a promise from God, persuading your heart that it is God’s will, and confessing [that promise] unto manifestation.

This is one reason we stress the importance of letting the Word work mightily in your life, in your heart. You believe from your heart, not just your mind. You can acknowledge the truth of the Word for a particular area or need, but until you convince your heart it IS true, you won’t be able to see the reality of that truth. Clint further explains that prayers aren’t wishes. They’re proclamations of the finished work of Jesus in that particular area. When you know what the Word says about healing, you’ll be able to feed on Jesus’s finished work for your healing, and soon you’ll have a strong heart belief for seeing its manifestation in your life. The same is true for any other promise God has made through what Jesus accomplished for you.

God isn’t trying to keep things from you. He isn’t making you jump through hoops to fulfill some ‘law’ in order to see the fulfillment of His promises. His promises are yes and amen. Here’s what 2 Corinthians 1:20 NLT says, “For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.” We can continue to ‘jump through hoops’ when we base our prayers on wishing and not on the concrete promises God has given.

What is it that you’ve been praying about? Has it been based on the promises of the Word fulfilled through Jesus, or has it been based more on what you’re wishing and hoping to come true?

Again, God isn’t holding anything back from you. He’s given all you need to live a wonderful, godly life through Jesus. It’s a matter of taping into His promises, establishing your heart in His truth, and standing on His Word, confessing it as your foundation. As Clint says, pray and confess because the promise is true—not to make it true.

It’s a process of growth. The more you follow this way, the more you’ll see the reality of God’s life working out in your life. And the more you’ll know (that you know that you know) that God’s so for you, not against you, and loves you so much.

Establish yourself in His promises, and pray from a believing heart. You’ll see His answers come forth.