Prayer was established by God as a means of dialogue between Himself and His covenant people. Our Lord Jesus Christ engaged in prayer in His lifetime and also taught His disciples how to pray (Matthew 14:23, Matthew 6:94 3). As His disciples today, we pray with the assurance of His promise in Matthew 21:22, which says: “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
The fact that our Lord engaged in all night prayer shows how significant prayer is Luke 6:12). In Matthew 17:21, He revealed to us that some challenges in life may not be overcome without fervent prayers and fasting. God’s attitude and response to prayer differs based on the identity of the person praying. 1st Peter 3:12 says:
”For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the lord is against them that do evil.”
Based on this verse of Scripture, only those who are in right standing with God should expect answers to their prayers. If you have not received the gift of righteousness which comes from being born again, I implore you to give your life to Jesus today. I pray that every request you make to God as from today shall be answered by fire in Jesus’ name.

Despite the obvious power of prayer and the various examples of answered prayer in the Bible, certain circumstances threaten our very existence and shake the foundations of our faith, causing us to render defeatist prayers to God. A defeatist prayer is the kind of prayer made with an expectation of imminent failure, assumption of hopelessness and a resignation to fate. Defeatist prayers carry a belief that God cannot intervene in the situation at hand. May you never doubt the ability of God to save you in the time of trouble in Jesus’ name. In Job 2:9, Job’s case got so bad that he was given a defeatist option of cursing God and choosing death. Similarly, after great exploits for God, followed by victories and celebrations, Elijah’s life was threatened by a wicked queen called Jezebel. He became so distressed that he prayed this defeatist prayer in 1 Kings 1:4:
”...It is enough; now, 0 LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.”
In like manner, after the Lord departed from Samson, he lost everything, including his eyesight, and he began to grind corn for his enemies in captivity. This situation forced him to pray a defeatist prayer in Judges 16:30, saying ‘Let me die with my enemies." Irrespective of what you are passing through, l encourage you to never render a defeatist prayer to God. Although it might not be easy, remember that your faith is toughened when it passes through fire. Therefore, have faith in God and hold on to Him. Please don't ever give up on God!
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.