How to Pray the Promises of God
Do you pray for the promises that God has made to you? Do you know how to pray the promises effectually? God has made many promises in His Word and expects us to oblige Him to fulfill those promises. When someone makes us a promise, we get excited and have great expectations of seeing that promise come to fruition. But sometimes we need to follow up with that person, remind them that they made a promise to us, and ask them to fulfill it. With God, it’s no different. A lot of Christians don’t seek God for fulfilled promises. Instead, they go through life fending for themselves, trying to make things happen, and only when they face distress in life, do they seek Him for help.
Praying the promises is essential to receiving what God has promised to us. I will explore some of the promises God has made to us. Then, I will discuss why we must pray for God to fulfill those promises. How to pray the promises effectually; and finally, share examples of believers in the Bible who prayed and got their promises fulfilled. Because, as Christians, we could all use a little encouragement to be bold and approach the throne of God and claim all that He has promised. By His grace and mercy, He will fulfill because once He’s made a promise, it stands forever. His Word is everlasting and unchanging and so is He.
What are the Promises of God?
Some promises of God are universal and are for all believers to gain fulfillment of life in Christ while on earth, as well as to lead us to eternal life with Him in glory. His promises also help us navigate life while depending on Him for guidance and protection. Others are made specifically for believers according to His will and purpose for their lives.
“Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”
Acts 2:39
As we see in Acts 2:39, the Apostle Peter is telling the believers they will receive their promise of the Holy Ghost if they repent and get baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. And that the promise is to as many as the Lord calls. So, since this promise is to all of us, we must claim it by first getting baptized, then petitioning Him for the Holy Ghost. When we receive the Holy Ghost, we take on His attributes and our spirit aligns with His. This is a promise that changes us from within; it enables us to refrain from unrighteousness and helps us to become more like Him and leads us to eternal life.
“And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever. Even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him. But, ye know Him, for He dwelleth in you and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you.”
John 14:16-18
Jesus’ own words were spoken to all His children: “I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you.” This is a promise Jesus made directly to each of us. This is a promise that we can pray and claim when we are going through our trials and tribulations in life, and need comforting and assurances that everything will be okay if we trust Christ to work this out for us. This promise also guarantees that Jesus’ Holy Spirit will abide in us forever. So, we can be confident in Him and trust that He’s always with us, even if we can’t feel Him and He seems far away. However, if we call upon Him sincerely, and ask Him to allow us to feel His Holy presence, He will manifest Himself to us.
“He that hath my commandments and keepth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him.”
John 14:21
Likewise, Jesus tells us that if we love Him and keep His commandments, He will also love us, and will manifest himself to us. When Jesus manifests Himself in our lives, it gives us strong confidence to continue trusting in Him. As well, it gives us peace of mind because we know that He’s with us everywhere and is guiding our footsteps.
Finally, we are all well versed in the story of Abraham and Sarah. God promised that Abraham and Sarah would conceive a child. This is a specific promise He made to them and although they waited until their old age to conceive, it proved that God kept His Word. Further, He never told them when they would conceive, just that they would. God never tells us when He will fulfill our needs, just to trust Him and believe that He will. God always knows what He’s doing; His timing is perfect and His ways are everlasting.
“Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed which is Christ.”
Galatians 3:16
Why We Must Pray God’s Promises
When we pray the promises of God, we remind Him of what He said in His Word pertaining to us, and we request Him to fulfill those promises. God’s promises give us the courage and confidence to ask Him for what He has already spoken for us. As well, it encourages us to depend on Him to meet our needs according to His will and purpose for us. He wants to prove His love to us. As we know, a man is only as good as his word; so when God fulfills His promises, He proves His Word AND goodness.
“And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us. And if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.”
1 John 5:14-15
King David Prays His Promises Back to God
The Prophet Nathan appeared to King David, one day, and told Him of the promises that God had for Him.
“And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee; thy throne shall be established.”
2 Samuel 7:16
David in excitement, after hearing those words spoken by the Prophet Nathan, went to the Lord in prayer and prayed those promises back to Him.
” And now, O, Lord God, thou art that God and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant. Therefore, now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue forever before thee. For thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed forever.”
2 Samuel 7:28-29
David acknowledges God has fulfilled His promises to Him.
“Thou has dealth well with thy servant, O Lord, according to thy Word.”
Psalm 119:65
In the case of Abraham and Sarah, and King David, we know that those promises were specific to them, so it makes no sense to pray their promises because they don’t apply to us. But the concept remains the same, God made everyone promises in His Word, so we must search the scriptures for the universal promises and emulate King David’s prayer of praying the promises back to God and thanking Him for them.
King Solomon Prays for God’s Wisdom
In addition, King Solomon, when he first took over from his father, King David, asked the Lord for wisdom to be just and in leading His people. God was pleased with His request and said that because “you didn’t ask for riches, I will grant it to you.” The Lord fulfilled Solomon’s request and gave him a measure of wisdom that He hadn’t given to anyone else before him, nor after him. The Lord wants us to seek His wisdom, this is His will for us. And because Solomon specifically prayed for it, God was so pleased that He gave him more than he could ask for.
How to Pray the Promises of God Effectually
“Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made know unto God.”
Philippians 4:6
As we see, scripture shows us many different types of promises relating to our life’s circumstances and through prayer and supplications, we can activate these promises. To be effective in praying for God’s promises, we must search the scriptures for those specific promises relating to our circumstances; then go to Him in prayer and declare His words back to Him. The same way King David did. Remind Him of what He said in His Word and claim them in Jesus’ name and thank Him in advance. This is how we pray the promises of God effectually.
“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do; that my Father may be glorified in the Son.”
John 14:13
Likewise, it is good for us to give thanks to the Lord while waiting for him to fulfill His promises to us. We cannot treat God as though He’s someone there to just meet our needs. If we run to Him only when we need Him and ignore Him the rest of the time, He will never respond to this type of behaviour toward Him. Would you respond this if your friend treated you this way? I would think not! We must still surrender daily to Him, thanking Him for His grace and mercy, glorifying and honouring Him. And, we must keep our minds focused on Him and meditate on His Word. Case in point, King David took every opportunity to thank God for His goodness, even when he was waiting for answered prayers. David never got distracted by his needs and desires; he placed them into the Lord’s hands and continued serving Him as a faithful servant should.
“At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto Thee because of thy righteous judgments.”
Psalm 119:62
Furthermore, when we pray God’s promises, we need to have faith and believe that He will fulfill them according to His will and plans for us. All God’s promises are yes and amen, His Word is absolute and infallible; therefore His promises are absolute. Once He speaks something into existence it is finished. God cannot lie, once He gives His Word, He cannot go back on it because He’s God. He doesn’t have that human attribute in Him to give His Word, then go back on it. So since He made us promises, they’ll always stand waiting for us to claim them by faith.
“For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him amen, unto the glory of God by us.”
2 Corinthians 1:20
“God is not a man that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent. He hath said, and shall He not do it? Or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?”
Numbers 23:19