Prayers That Get Delivered

By Lois Evans

“He who searchers the heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”— Romans 8:27

There’s something you need to know about prayer that will cancel out many of the prayers you offer to God every day. Many prayers hit the ceiling because they are not from the heart. The only prayers the Holy Spirit delivers to the Father are heart prayers, not just word prayers.

I’m not saying our prayers have to be complicated or sophisticated to move the heart of God. But if we are just repeating words we learned or mouthing words without engaging our spirit, there’s no heart in that. And if there is nothing in the heart when we pray, the Holy Spirit has nothing to deliver to the Father, because the Father searches the heart.

Since this is true, we know that God will respond even to a confused, inarticulate prayer when it comes from the heart. Sometimes we are in such need that all we can do is call out like Peter did when he began to sink in the water, “Save me, Lord!”

That was not much of a prayer but it definitely came from Peter’s heart! And the Lord reached out and rescued Peter.

As true with so many things in the Christian life, prayer has a direct application to marriage. Most married people can tell when their spouse is merely mouthing words instead of communicating from the heart. So if you want to deepen and enrich your marriage even as you deepen your prayer life, learn to speak from your heart.

You may say, “But that’s going to cut away at our conversation. “ That’s okay at least at the beginning. Remember, it’s the heart that counts.