There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. —ROMANS 8:1–2
BELIEVING IS THE first step, and confession seals the believing. Believing and confessing are spiritual laws that create a supernatural result for the believer and the confessor. Just as there are natural laws of gravity, aerodynamics, and life and death, there are also laws of the Spirit (Rom. 8:2), including spiritual guidelines for prayer.
1. You must ask.
Christ taught that you must ask: “Ask, and it will be given to you” (Luke 11:9). Asking involves saying something; you cannot ask with your mouth closed. While there are different forms of prayer, all prayer involves asking or petitioning God.
Many of the people healed in Christ’s ministry became so desperate for Christ’s healing touch that they literally cried out with loud voices to gain His attention (Matt. 20:30; Mark 1:23; 9:24).
There is a spiritual principle throughout the Bible that God does nothing to meet a need for a believer on the earth until He is first asked. God spared Lot because Abraham petitioned God on Lot’s behalf (Gen. 18). God spared Israel from complete destruction because Moses interceded (Exod. 32). King Hezekiah was given a death sentence. However, when he asked for God to extend his days, the Almighty added fifteen more years to his life (Isa. 38:5). When Peter was in prison with plans for his execution to take place following the Passover, the church did not cease from praying, and God released an angel of the Lord to free Peter (Acts 12). The first law of prayer is this: praying means to ask, or to form words from your heart and speak them as a petition and request before God.
2. You must ask in faith.
One of the nine fruit of the Spirit is the fruit of faith (Gal. 5:22, KJV). This type of faith should mature with a person’s spiritual growth. There is also a gift of faith, listed as one of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:7–10). This gift is a supernatural impartation of faith that is often combined with the gifts of healing and the working of miracles.
Christ said that if we have faith “as a mustard seed,” we can ask for a mountain to be moved, and it will be not only removed but also cast into the sea (Matt. 17:20; Mark 11:23). The mountain figuratively alludes to the difficulty or problem that has become a mountain in your life. Each person has a “measure.”
When you pray, you must ask, but you must ask in faith. When exercising faith, you maintain a sense of expectation. After praying, your faith begins to tell you God has heard your prayers, and He is working on your situation. Expectation helps maintain confidence in God’s willingness and ability to move on your behalf.
3. You must ask in faith, nothing wavering.
The New Testament writer James spoke of asking God for wisdom:
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. —JAMES 1:6–8
If you believe today, then believe tomorrow, and continue to believe in the days ahead. This is “holding fast your confession.” In fact, the word believe does not indicate just a one-time moment of faith. Believing is a continual act, not a one-time event!
4. You must be in full agreement with another.
Again, I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. —MATTHEW 18:19–20
A prayer of agreement only requires two people. In the Torah, God required two or three witnesses to establish a crime (Deut. 17:6). By the agreement of two or three witnesses, every word is established, or settled (Deut. 19:15).
Prayer agreement must be more than agreeing with the mind or with words; it must be an agreement deep within your spirit—an assurance and unity that cannot be broken by outward circumstances that may appear to be working contrary to your prayers.
5. You must ask the Father in Jesus’s name.
Under the new covenant, we approach God through the name of Jesus Christ, because Christ initiated a new covenant through His death and resurrection:
Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. —JOHN 14:13–14
You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. —JOHN 15:16
And in that day, you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. —JOHN 16:23–24
When we use the name of Jesus in prayer, we give Christ the authority to present our petition at God’s throne of decision. In return, the Father releases answers back to earth through angelic messengers, the movement and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and by speaking through individuals who are willing to hearken to God’s voice and assist you in areas of your life.
In John 16:24, Christ gives the ultimate reason for the Father in heaven to hear and answer your petition: “that your joy may be full.”
6. You must hold fast your confession.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. —HEBREWS 10:23
If in twelve months you change your confession to one of unbelief, in the eternal realm it is possible that the Lord heard your prayer and then heard your words of unbelief within the same time! He heard, “Thank You for answering” … “I don’t know what You are doing” … “Are You doing anything about what I am praying?” The unbelief of your words will always cancel out the answer and blessing to your intercessions. Because God exists in the past, present, and future, time for God does not have the significance that it does for us in the earth realm. We must be consistent in believing and be steadfast in our verbal agreement with what we have prayed.
7. You must agree in line with the will of God.
There are three types of wills on the earth. There is the will of God, the will of Satan, and the will of man. The will of God is revealed in the Word of God. The ultimate will of God is that none perish but that all come to God through repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). The will of Satan is “to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10) and to prevent a person from turning to God though repentance. The will of man includes the mental and spiritual ability to choose between eternal life and eternal punishment, to follow or reject the truth, and to choose between good and evil. God never forces His will upon an individual, but He provides each person the option of accepting Him by submitting his or her will to God by believing, or rejecting Him by choosing to not believe.
He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. —JOHN 3:36
Satan does not play by the same rules and will use temptation, trials, and other circumstances as mental and spiritual pressures build to cause a person to make wrong choices.
Our prayers must be in agreement with the will of the Heavenly Father:
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. —1 JOHN 5:14–15
When we begin understanding these basic laws of the Spirit concerning prayer, we can all pray with more faith, confidence, and expectation.
Christ taught: Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. —MARK 11:24
Conclusion
The spiritual principles and laws of prayer listed above are keys to receiving answers to prayer. However, if you pray without the anticipation that the answer is coming, you may lose the joy of expectation, which is the breeding ground for the answer you are waiting for!
The above notes were taken from the book: "Opening the Gates of Heaven" Written by Perry Stone