Mark 11:24

For this reason I am telling you, whatever things your ask for I prayer (in accordance with God’s will), believe (with confident trust) that you have received them, and they will be given to you.

Prayer is the communication of our needs to God. God is our protector and provider for all our needs, and when we pray, we call on God to send those provisions to us. Our faith in God is assured by His word that our prayers will be answered. When we believe we can receive from God and have our prayers answered.  

Ephesians 6:18

With all prayer and petition pray (with specific requests) at all times (on every occasion and in every season) in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition (interceding in prayer) for all God’s people.

Sometimes we don’t know what to pray or how to pray for what we need for ourselves or others. That is why praying in the Spirit opens the door for God to move for us. God knows what we need, and praying in the Spirit clears a path for God to work on our behalf. 

Ephesians 1:18

And (I pray) that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened (flooded with the light of the Holy Spirit), so that you will know and cherish the hope (the divine guarantee, the confident expectation) to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance of the saints.

We can pray to God for understanding, wisdom, and guidance. As we draw nearer to God with our study of the word, we can be enlightened through the scriptures. The Holy Spirit will speak to us and guide us through our spirits. When we pray to have our hearts enlightened, we can gain a stronger relationship with God, and He hears and answers our prayers. 

2 Chronicles 7:14

And My people, who are called by My Name, humble themselves, and pray and seek (crave, require as a necessity) My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear (them) from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land. 

God set a path before us to follow and clearly outlined the way. Man has free will and, due to lack of knowledge or rebellion, may follow another route that leads to sin. Sin then enters and separates us from God, and God cannot gulf the breach unless the sin is confessed and we repent. When we seek the face of God in repentance, we can breach the gulf and get answered prayer.

2 Chronicles 6:21

So Listen to the requests of Your servant and Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from your dwelling place, from heaven, and when You hear, forgive.  Our unforgiveness or unconfessed sins can hinder our prayer. God is blocked from working on our behalf when we let sin stop our prayers. When we quickly confess our sins, we remove any hindrances to answered prayer. We are to judge ourselves and acknowledge when we know we have erred from the word of God

1 John 4:15

And if we know (for a fact, as indeed we do) that He hears and listens to us in whatever we ask, we know (with settled and absolute knowledge) that we have (granted to us) the requests which we have asked from Him.  

Our faith begins when the prayer ends. We pray to God according to His will and the word for our requests. God hears our prayers, and we stand in faith for our answer. We are removing any doubts from our minds and walking in peace that He has heard.  

1 John 5:14

This is the (remarkable degree of) confidence which we (as believers are entitled to) have before Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, (that is consistent with His plan and purpose) He hears us.

Prayer is our connection to God, and God wants us to pray. When we pray, we need to know that what we ask for lines up with the word. Our prayers are not seeking selfish things according to the flesh—however, prayers for healing, wisdom, direction, and financial increase, all according to the word. 

1 Corinthians 11:28-29

But a person must (prayerfully) examine himself (and his relationship to Christ), and only when he has done so should he eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks (without solemn reverence and heartfelt gratitude for the sacrifice of Christ), eats and drinks a judgement on himself if he does not recognize the body (of Christ).

We all need a heart checkup to ensure we are where we should be in our spirit.  We don’t want to take the sacrifice of Jesus lightly because Jesus gave all to save us.  We need to honor the sacrifice, purify our hearts, and remove any hindrances between Jesus and us. It can take a second to change our attitude and get back in the flow of the spirit. 

1 Corinthians 2:12-13

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the (Holy) Spirit who is from God, so that we may know and understand the things freely given to us by God.  We also speak of these things, not in words taught or supplied by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual thoughts with spiritual words (for those being guided by the Holy Spirit).

The Holy Spirit is our guide and teaches and reveals things that we could not know without His help.  The Holy Spirit has a definite purpose of helping us fulfill our call on this earth.  We must stay sensitive to the inner voice and respond quickly to direction.  God is more able to move in our lives the more available we make ourselves to guidance.

1 Corinthians 1:26-27 

Just look at your own calling, believers; not many (of you were considered) wise according to human standards, not many of high and noble birth.  But God has selected (for His purpose) the foolish things of the world to shame the wise (revealing their ignorance), and God has selected (for His purpose) the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong (revealing their frailty).

A prideful person is hard to lead.  That is why God will choose people he knows are humble and willing to follow Him.  God is the all-knowing creator and knows our strengths and weaknesses.  We can rely on His guidance and wisdom and trust His word.