There’s something I’ve observed about many believers, and it concerns me.
It goes like this: You go to church. You are told to pray to God for anything. Because you understand the power of prayer, you pray as instructed, but nothing happens. Questions start to pile up in your mind, yet you never get answers to them. Eventually, you end up living a defeated life despite being prayerful.
I am here to share a simple lesson with you that will change that narrative forever. Never again will you throw punches in the air, as 1 Corinthians 9:26 says.
I was in the same predicament for years, but the Lord had mercy on me and taught me the lesson I am about to share. Since I learned it, my prayers have become sharper than a double-edged sword. They deliver results faster than how Elijah outran Ahab’s chariot.
The good thing is that this lesson is easy to learn and implement, and you can start seeing results immediately, even if you just got born again!
The mountain that wouldn’t give
Before I share the lesson, let me tell you a short story so you can understand its true power.
I once found myself in a sticky situation. I was staying in a friend’s house, but I desired to have my own place. Being a believer, I decided to pray to God for a house.
This is how I prayed: “Lord, I need a house. Please provide one for me.”
After making that prayer in understanding, I would pray in tongues, expecting God to show me a vision, a dream, or some form of guidance that would help me get my own place. I was met with silence.
Following Jesus’ teaching in the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1), I continued praying the same prayer for three months.
After those three months, I became frustrated because nothing was happening. At the same time, anger began to build within me. I couldn’t understand why God couldn’t do something as simple as giving me a place of my own.
But deep down, I knew there was something I was missing, though I couldn’t tell what it was.
So I altered my prayer from “Lord, I need a house” to “Lord, teach me how to get a house.”
After making the prayer, I would follow it up with praying in tongues. This went on for weeks, but again, there was total silence from God.
God’s silence puzzled me and annoyed me at the same time. Why can’t the God who spoke all creation into being give me a simple answer? I asked myself. Either I have a hearing problem, or God has a speaking problem, I concluded.
But because I knew God cannot have a problem, I definitely knew the issue had to be on my end. The question was how do I figure it out? That became my main challenge in the days that followed.
Little did I know, I was on the brink of uncovering a secret that would propel my prayer life to a whole new level.
Taking a leap of faith
One evening, I casually got a YouTube video recommendation of someone showcasing rental houses. Since I was interested in renting, I clicked to watch.
Shortly after, I scrolled down to read the comments. Most people were saying things like, “Beautiful apartment, I’ll move there.”
Then a question popped into my mind. “Augustine, with all your dedication to God, why can’t you move into that apartment?”
Suddenly, I became angry. People in the world were speaking so confidently about moving into a new house, yet I, being so prayerful, was begging God for the same thing.
“So be it. I will move into that house by all means!” I said to myself.
The following day, I went to see the houses and booked one of the rooms. Then I came back and told God: “I have booked a room that I want to rent. Provide the money for it.”
A week later, I received some money. It wasn’t enough to pay for the room, so I topped it up with a loan and moved in.
When I got into the new house, I prayed to God: “Lord, thank You for enabling me to get this place. But I now have a debt I need to pay.”
Before the month ended, God provided enough money for me to clear that debt and pay rent for the following month.
And that is when I learned the important prayer lesson I’m about to share.
The principle that unlocks victory
You see, God desires us to show faith in Him, according to Hebrews 11:6. He wants us to act, trusting that He will sustain us.
When I was busy praying for a house, I wasn’t taking any steps. To God, my prayer had become an excuse rather than a request.
Let me explain:
A soldier has no control over how fierce a battle becomes. He only has control over how fiercely he fights. If he asks for assistance because the battle is intense, his commanding officer will send help. But if he refuses to go to battle at all, he will be thrown out of the army.
In my case, going out to book a room was the battle I was unwilling to face. All I did was sit in my friend’s house and beg God to make the battle easier.
But when I finally embraced the risk and stepped into the battle, the Lord gave me a scripture, Psalms 1:3: ‘That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.’
He explained to me that my decision to move triggered the principle of prosperity highlighted in that scripture. Because I had already fulfilled the conditions in verses 1 and 2 (walking in righteousness and delighting in God’s law), all I needed to do was engage in a venture, and He would ensure it prospers.
But God was never going to choose that project for me.
This completely transformed my prayer life.
Therefore, anytime you pray and experience prolonged silence, start doing what you can to move closer to your goal. Your step of faith will move God, and He will show up to make sure you are not put to shame.
God bless you.