By Zhicheng

Every brother and sister who comes before the Lord Jesus has felt the power of prayer. The Lord Jesus once promised us, “What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them” (Mark 11:24). Owing to the Lord’s promise to us, we received a lot of grace and blessings by praying before Him, such as the healing of sickness, the peace of our family, the frequent rejoicing in our heart, our being able to have love and patience toward others, and so on. No matter what persecution or tribulations came upon us, as long as we prayed to the Lord Jesus, we would then have faith and be willing to endure all hardships. And our church also gradually prospered. All of these things made us feel deeply that the power of prayer is so great! However, in recent years, I usually heard the brothers and sisters say, “Why is it that we pray to the Lord Jesus not effective?” In order to receive the grace and blessings of the Lord again, some believers even fast and pray but it is useless. This has made many of them become cold in faith and the church become desolate. Brothers and sisters pray at home but their prayer is ineffective, so they cannot maintain the Lord’s way and thus usually fall into sin, being unable to free themselves from it. Many believers are troubled by this: Why are we not able to enjoy the work of Holy Spirit or see God’s blessings when we pray to God? And how do we pray to achieve results?

In the past, I also had the same difficulty. Although I had studied the Bible many times, I didn’t find the source of these questions. I could not solve them until I accepted the work of Almighty God in the last days and saw what He says, “When praying, you cannot go over old ground; you must not bring up things that are outdated. You should specially train yourself to speak the current words of the Holy Spirit; only then will you be able to make a connection with God” (“Concerning the Practice of Prayer” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). In these words of Almighty God, I finally found the answer. It turned out that the most crucial thing about praying is to follow God’s present work. Only by practicing praying to God in His present words can we have Him with us. If we still cling to old things and don’t follow the present work of God, that is equivalent to leaving the supply of the living water of life, and then we will never achieve the desired results no matter how we pray to God. Think back to the Age of Law when the Israelites served Jehovah God in the temple. At that time, the temple had the glory of God; by praying to God, the priests and the common people could obtain God’s protection and were all able to strictly follow the law in what they did. But when the Lord Jesus came to do His work, the Israelites still prayed to the name of Jehovah God in the temple, observed the statutes and ordinances, and prayed for Jehovah God to let them break free of sin and find rest. However, no matter how they prayed to God, they could not obtain God’s blessings, and moreover, because of losing God’s presence, they were unable to keep the laws and even made inferior offerings to God on the altar, and the whole temple became a place of trade. From this we can see that when the Lord Jesus came to do His work, the Holy Spirit had already left the temple and began to uphold the work of redemption in the Age of Grace done under the name of the Lord Jesus. So at that time the Lord Jesus’s work and words became the present work of God. As long as people followed the Lord Jesus’s work, called on His name, and confessed sins and repented before Him according to His requirements, they could be forgiven for their sins. And only those who prayed in the Lord’s name could obtain God’s guidance and blessings.

Similarly, why do the religious believers today generally feel that no matter how they pray to the Lord Jesus, they cannot obtain the work of the Holy Spirit? The fundamental reason is that they do not follow the present work and words of God. God has returned to earth and has begun the work of judgment beginning with God’s house. In the last days, Almighty God has expressed millions of words of the truth and opened up to people the mysteries of God’s six-thousand-year management plan. God wishes to guide those who follow Him in the last days to understand His work and His will and requirements for man in the last days through the truth, which just fulfills the Lord Jesus’ words, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:12-13). So, only when we pray upon the foundation of the words spoken by God today can our prayers be effective.

Almighty God says, “If your prayers are to be effective, then they must be based on your reading of God’s words. Only by praying amid God’s words will you be able to receive more enlightenment and illumination. A true prayer is shown by having a heart that yearns for the requirements made by God, and being willing to fulfill these requirements; you will be able to hate all that God hates, upon the basis of which you will have knowledge, and will know and be clear about the truths explained by God. Having the resolution, and faith, and knowledge, and a path by which to practice after praying—only this is truly praying, and only prayer such as this can be effective” (“Concerning the Practice of Prayer” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). After accepting the work of Almighty God in the last days, I saw that Almighty God reveals all the mysteries that we did not understand. Through reading God’s words, I have understood the mysteries of God’s six-thousand-year management plan. I do feel that I am more blessed than the saints in the past ages to be born in the last days and able to accept the personal guidance of God. Every time when I pray to God and think that He will make a group of overcomers out of our generation, I feel especially inspired and have greater faith in Him. After reading Almighty God’s words of judgment and chastisement, I have known that the reason why we live in sin is because we are controlled by our satanic nature. When seeing God’s exposure of our corrupt disposition and seeing the righteous disposition He has expressed, I loathe and hate my satanic disposition even more. Then, through praying to God, I have the determination and resolution to forsake my flesh and abandon Satan, so that I can put the truth into practice and gradually break free of sin. When there are conflicts between me and my brothers and sisters in the church, through reading God’s words, I understand the principles of how to treat others and have the way to practice. And then, through praying to God and interacting with others according to His requirements, I develop a harmonious partnership with brothers and sisters. When living in negativity and weakness, I feel God’s selfless love and expectations for us from His words. I’m deeply moved and hate my resistance to Him. Then, I come before Him and pray to Him that I’m willing to be considerate toward His intentions and actively cooperate with Him. When faced with the CCP government’s persecution and the ridicule of unbelievers, through God’s words we know the meaning of experiencing persecution and tribulation and suffering with Christ. And through praying, our faith and love for God grow, and we have the resolution to break through Satan’s dark influence and are willing to sacrifice everything to stand witness to satisfy God. All brothers and sisters who have accepted the work of God in the last days are able to learn from experience that only through reading the words of Almighty God and praying to God in His present words can we make a connection with Him, obtaining the guidance of the Holy Spirit’s work as well as His enlightenment and illumination, and be enriched and sated in our hearts. It is precisely because of Almighty God’s words that we can know His will. The more we pray to God in accordance with His will, the more enlightened we become, the more we know God and His work, and the more we have ways of practice. In this way, we gradually step onto the life path of changing our disposition and being saved.

Today, the work of Almighty God in the last days is expanding to every nation and place at the speed of lightning. More and more brothers and sisters who truly believe in God and love the truth have accepted the work of Almighty God in the last days. We enjoy the words presently expressed by Almighty God and obtain the Holy Spirit’s work. When reading God’s words, we have God’s enlightenment and illumination and our prayers are effective. Through prayer, our faith, love, and obedience to God continue to grow, and we have more and more knowledge of God. Now, we are all willing to cooperate with God with one heart and mind, seek truth, seek to satisfy Him, and make His will be carried out on earth.