3 Biblical Secrets to Provoking Answers to Your Prayers

 

Tony Nwokolo, Publisher, Success Stories Blog, Author, Consultant, Preacher

, Motivational Speaker

I strongly believe that the God factor cannot be ignored in the pursuit of success, prosperity and Greatness, because without Him we can do nothing sayeth Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is written, in the book of 1 Sam 2: 9c; for by strength shall no man prevail. In the book of Zechariah 4:6 ; its not by power nor by might but by my Spirit says the Lord. In Romans 9:16; its not of he that wills nor of he that runs, but of God that shows mercy. In Deuteronomy 8: 18; but you shall remember the Lord thy God, for it is He that gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.  In view of the foregoing scriptural proofs, we can draw the conclusion that we cannot succeed, achieve nor accomplish anything worthwhile without the mercy, grace, power and aid of God Almighty to attain and accomplish great and worthwhile things.

To this end, i want to share with you Biblical Secrets to Provoking Answers to your Prayers, I am talking about the practical steps i applies daily and it works for me, in fact most of my prayers have been answered by God. The problem with some of us, is that we don't take time to pray to God, and majority don't know how to pray, claim and demand what they need from the Kingdom's store.  If you are a citizen of God's kingdom you have the right to claim and draw whatever you want from the Kingdom's commonwealth.

 Truly, we all need God in order to achieve our dreams and goals. This result-oriented information is culled from my latest book, titled; 10 Commandments of God for Success & Fulfillment. Looking forward to read your testimonies or comment. Shalom!

3 Biblical Secrets to Provoking Answers to Your  Prayers

In order to provoke answers to our prayers, we must know and understand the protocol and procedures to approach the Most High God and get His attention and how to demand from Him, so that your requests shall be granted.

Now, consider the following scripture-based methods of approach, they;

(1).    Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with worship.

 (2).   By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let you requests be made known unto God.

(3).    Pray to God with reference to His Written Word.

1.    Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with worship, be thankful unto him and bless his name - Psalm 100:4.

In other words from the foregoing scripture we understands that for you to approach and get the attention of the Almighty God, you must enter His gates (approach His presence) with thanksgiving; acknowledge His mercy and goodness towards you and yours, and thank Him for what He has already done and for what He is doing in your life and for what He would do. Even if you have lost everything you had, as long as you still have the breathe of life in you, you must appreciate and thank him for keeping you alive, no matter what you are going through or have gone though. You have got to make up your mind that whether in prosperity or in adversity that you must always give thanks to God and praise his holy name. God revealed this secret through prophet Habakkuk in the book of Habakkuk chapter 3 verses 17 - 19.

“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my Salvation. The Lord God is my strength and he will make my feet like the hinds feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.

Friend, the foregoing instruction is the No. 1 secret of provoking Heaven’s attention and answers to your petitions and demands. No matter what happened or will happen, make a resolution that you will always “REJOICE” in the Lord, and that you shall always enter his gates with thanksgiving. After all the book of 1 Thessalonians 5:18, validates this as the truth that in all things we should give thanks, for that is the will of God concerning us in Christ Jesus. The life of Job in the book of Job chapter one would validate the truth that one needs to continually trust God no matter the situation and give thanks to Him no matter whatever that happens, as job did even after losing all his wealth and children he still worshipped and praised God instead of murmuring and at the end the Lord restored in hundred fold everything Job lost to Satan during his trail period. Job 1:20-22; Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped. And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly –KJV. Friends, don’t ever murmur nor complain no matter whatever situation you are passing through, one thing I know that after your test period, there would be testimony period. Our God never fails.

Some myopic folks out there due to ignorance are asking; does God truly answers prayers or helps in time of need or trouble?

However, the faults are theirs, because they are ignorant of the way to approach the Throne of Grace, and how to ask and receive from The King of Kings. They therefore conclude that it’s either God does not exist or He does not answer prayers, they become infuriated with God for not answering nor grant their prayers and demands or for not preventing the disaster or problem that befell them or other people close to them from happening. And in so doing they sacrifice their destiny and blessings on the altar of ungratefulness, impatience and ignorance.

-Don’t sacrifice or forfeit your destiny and blessings on the altar of ungratefulness, impatience and ignorance –Anthony C. Josephat-Nwokolo.

Furthermore, we are admonished by God’s word, that with joy shall we draw water out of the wells of salvation – Isaiah 12: 3. In other words, with joy can you draw divine blessings and answers to your prayers from God Almighty; no one can receive anything from God with an angry spirit or with ungrateful attitude.

2.    By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let you requests be made known unto God - Philippians 4:6

            In view of the foregoing scripture, we are admonished to be neither careful for anything nor to worry about anything. We should not let our hearts be troubled because of any challenge, rather we should be rest assured with confident that our God is able to do all things. Believe that all things will always work together for your good, according to God’s word in the book of Romans 8:28. We should learn how to control the state of our mind and subject it to faith instead of fear whenever we are asking or demanding anything from God, instead of being in a state of fear and doubt. We should rather by prayer and supplication and with thanksgiving let our requests be known unto God. And believe and behave as if your request has been granted. And continue giving thanks to God with faith, as if your request has been granted, even when your request is yet to be granted, and in so doing, you shall provoke divine intervention and answers to your petitions.

           That is the attitude Christ Jesus manifested at the tomb of Lazarus, even before He raised him from death. He began by giving thanks to God. He said Father I thank thee that thou hast heard me – John 11: 41, and then he made his request to God that Lazarus should come back to life and God granted his demand and Lazarus came back to life, after being dead for four days – John 11: 32- 44.   

Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, father I thank thee for thou has heard me. I knew that thou hears me always, but because of the people which stands by I said it, that they may believe that thou has sent me. John 11: 41c - 42

Friends, before you can be qualified to receive answers to your prayers from God, you must approach Him with worship and thanksgiving, appreciate, acknowledge, appease God and then make your request known unto Him. However, you must be born of God (Holy Spirit) and become a member of His family before you can be recognized by Him – John 3: 3, 4:24. The prerequisite is that you must be born again, you must repent of your sins, and become a child of God (born of Holy Spirit) by accepting and believing Christ Jesus as the Lord of your Life – Romans 10:9-10. This is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us - 1 John 5: 14, Isaiah 59:1, 2^nd Chron. 7: 14.

3.    Pray to God with reference to His Written Word.

And this is the confidence we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us – 1 John 5:14

Truly, nothing provokes and attracts God’s attention to grant our petitions and demands, as when we pray according to His will and word as written in the book of the law (the Holy Bible). When you remind God of His promises in His word, it moves him dearly. God’s word tells us that the Heaven and the Earth, shall pass away, but the word of God shall never pass away – Matt. 24:35. It is written that God honours his word above His name. For example when you are praying for prosperity, you need to make reference to God’s word and promises concerning the subject as stated in the bible and stand and capitalize on it.

For instance, when praying for spiritual, financial, physical or material prosperity, you ought to demand for your own prosperity by making reference to the book of 3 John 1:2; which says, Beloved I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper, and be in health, even as thy soul prospers. Or to the book of Job 36: 11, tells us that, If we obey and serve Him, we shall spend our days in prosperity, and our years in pleasures. Or to Psalm 35:27; Let them shout for joy and be glad, who favor my righteous cause; And let them say continually, "Let the Lord be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant."

NKJV.

So, when asking God to prosper you and the works of your hands, always make reference to related bible passages to back up your demand or claim. God’s word tells us, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free –John 8: 32. Even in the world, the attorney who knows and quotes the law before the judge, always wins his case. In the same vein, in the kingdom of God the children knows, refers and quotes the words and laws of the kingdom always have their requests granted.

Truly, God does not give you what you deserve; rather He gives you what you demand. The blind man in the book of Mark 10: 46 deserve to see, but Jesus Christ granted him his demand and not what he deserves.

In the light of this, I implore you to therefore demand your own share of the blessings of God based on the foregoing scriptural passages. Besides, Jesus Christ instructed us to ask God whatever we need in His name and it shall be granted –John 14:14. Based on foregoing will and the words of God, i therefore declare that I shall not be poor for my Lord Jesus Christ became poor for me to be rich, it is my covenant birthright in Christ Jesus in accordance to 2^nd Corinthians 8:9; “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich - KJV.

Folks, these are the keys or call it the principles for asking and receiving from The Most High God. It would interest you to discover the truth that God values his word so much that he cannot fall on the ground without accomplishing his purpose; ‘’As rain and snow comes down from Heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth, making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed to the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out of my mouth, if will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it - Isaiah 55: 10 (NIV)

The above stated scripture is where you shall stand and ask God to fulfill his word and promises concerning your life or situations etc. In the book of John 4: 3 - 10; when Jesus was tempted by the devil after fasting to forty days and forty nights, the power and authority which Jesus used to overcome the devil was His declaration that, It is written Man shall not live bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Even the Devil also refers to the word of God as written in the book of Psalm 91:11-12 to tempt Christ, if you are the son of God, he said, throw yourself down, for it is written; He will command his angels concerning you and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Our Lord Jesus Christ, again answered him, ‘’It is written do not put the Lord your God to test. And finally, Christ told the devil, It is written; worship the Lord your God and serve him only. And then the devil departed from him.

In view of the foregoing, you will understand that the weapon our Lord used to destabilize the plans and temptations of the devil is by referring to what is written. You will also observe that even the devil was quoting and referring to what is written to prove his point, which tells the importance of referring to what is written – Matt 4:4-6.

The word of God is defined as a double edged Sword – Hebrew 4:12, Hammer and Fire –Jeremiah 23:29. Learn to use God’s word to proclaim God’s promises concerning you, as well as to use it as fire, sword and hammer to consume, destroy and break the plans of the devil and its cohorts, and you will always emerge victorious as Christ.

Friends, we are instructed and mandated according to God’s word, that if we shall ask anything according to the will of God that he hears us. Therefore the key to asking and receiving is; to ask according to the will of God, in other words you should not ask amiss to consume it on your lust – see James 4:3.

What You Demand is What You Receive

The fastest way to receiving is by asking. A wise man once said that God don’t give you what you deserve, rather he gives you what you demand, and I concur. Everyone deserves the good things of life, good health, good success, joy and fulfillment etc. But until you demand for it, you might not receive. That is how blind Bartimaeus In the book of Mark 10:46-52 recovered his sight because he demanded for a particular thing and persisted on his definite demand to receive his sight, and he got it. Whenever I study that encounter between Bartimaeus and our Lord Jesus Christ I learns some lessons from it, let me share it with you briefly.

The No. 1 lesson, is that until blind Bartimaeus swallowed his pride and gentleness and shouted violently and aggressively on top of his voice demanding the attention and the assistance of Jesus Christ, and persisted even when the disciples of Christ are ordering him to hold his peace, he rather persisted and kept demanding for help and assistance from Jesus Christ, and at the end of the day he received what he demanded for.

The No. 2 lesson is that he persisted and kept demanding for what he desired, irrespective of the opposition before him and he eventually received more than he asked for.

The No. 3 lesson I learnt from that event is that you must also be definite and specific about whatever you are asking for at any particular time, and also have faith that the person you are asking from is a capable to grant your request. Receiving is a product of asking and favour, and favour is better than labour, favour makes a man or woman to stand out among his or her peers.

About the Author

Anthony C. Nwokolo, is the Managing Partner of Success Strategies Consulting & Solutions. He Leadership, Marketing and Business Growth Expert and Motivational Speaker. A certified Software, Web & Mobile App Designer & Developer, an ICT & E-Business Solutions Provider. He is also a Minister of God at The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Lagos. He worked with MFI & Associates (a consulting firm based in Lagos before establishing Success Strategies Consulting & Solutions in 2008. He has attended various programs and courses on High Performance Leadership, Sales and Management Training Programs oversea. Tony’s goal is to help individuals and organizations discover and maximize their potentials, achieve their dreams and goals, lead in their filed, as well as solve business problems by advising, empowering, inspiring, developing and deploying strategies, solutions, software applications and systems. Tony is an Inspirational Speaker, Bestselling Author, Entrepreneur, Software, Web & Mobile App Developer, Online Marketing Strategist, Writer, Teacher, God’s Minister, Consultant, Publisher, Success Strategist and Leadership Coach. He is a highly sought-after gifted and dynamic, Trainer and Consultant; he speaks to business staff, managers and executives. He is the Author of 10 COMMANDMENTS OF SUCCESS OF FULFILLMENT, Publisher of SUCCESS STORIES Magazine <www.successstoriesng.blogspot.com>, Producer and Presenter of SUCCESS STORIES RADIO & TV Programs, Founder, GOOD DEALS ONLINE STORE <www.gooddeals.com.ng> Developer, LEADERS E-LIBRARY APP., Developer, GREAT QUOTES MOBILE APP., Tony is passionate about identifying and fixing needs, a serial entrepreneur par excellence.

You can reach him via email : chiugo.nwokolo@gmail.com or via telephone: +234-806-829-6897