GREAT BUSINESSES DO business in order to profit—to get results. Christians must make a business of prayer. Actually, prayer is the greatest business there is. It’s God’s business. And I believe we should pray for results.

Many people pray, but the results don’t prove that their prayers were of any value. If people do not get results from their praying, then they are failing in their prayer life. If we pray, and results have not followed, we should immediately seek to find out why we have not received our answer.

Christianity is a living, supernatural relationship with a living, supernatural God Who hears and answers prayers. If the supernatural isn’t happening in our midst, and if adverse circumstances aren’t changed by the power of God through our prayers, it shows that we simply have the form of godliness without the power (2 Tim. 3:5).

Everything God has provided for us is offered to us through His Word and through our union with Him. And if we do not have the things in our lives He has freely offered, it may be that we have not made our prayer connection.

We know that God does hear prayer that is based on the Name of Jesus. Many souls have been saved in answer to prayer. We have seen people’s finances helped in answer to prayer. Demons have been cast out by using the mighty Name of Jesus. We’ve seen the miraculous power of God manifested again and again on our behalf because of that wonderful Name.

Thank God, He is still in the business of saving, healing, and setting people free. Yet many times people who pray and seek God go right on praying with no results. If we are not praying for and expecting results, then there is no need to pray.

If we’re not receiving answers to prayer, something is wrong somewhere. Is God untrue? No, He is not untrue! Is the day of praying or the day of miracles over? No! Then we must go to the principles of God’s Word and find out where the prayer failure is. We need to find the hindrance in our prayer life, because Jesus is faithful to make His Word good in our lives.

Jesus has become the surety of a new and better covenant than the Old Covenant because the new is established upon better promises. Hebrews 7:22 tells us, “By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.” That means the very throne on which Jesus sits is the authority to back up His Word. Jesus must keep His Word; He cannot go back on it. Yes, He hears and answers prayer!

MIRACULOUS RESULTS THROUGH PRAYER IN JESUS’ NAME

I once read a testimony by I.J. Jamison who was formerly a Presbyterian minister. He had been giving some lectures in a western state when a forest fire broke out in the area. The fire was burning out of control and destroying property.

Rev. Jamison was in the barber shop one morning getting a shave when a man came in with a telegram. The man with the telegram didn’t know what to do with it. The telegram said, “Pray for rain.” The fire had gotten so out of hand that there was no telling what would happen if it didn’t rain.

Someone said, “Well, there is a preacher in that chair. Maybe you could give the telegram to him.”

About that time, the barber raised the chair, took the towel off Jamison’s face, and asked him if he would pray for rain. Rev. Jamison said, “We don’t believe in that sort of thing.”

Someone in the barber shop spoke up and said, “There is a little tent meeting going on at the edge of town, and they believe in praying for anything.”

Rev. Jamison volunteered to take the telegram to the tent meeting. When he got there the next morning, he saw about 20 people. He didn’t know which one was the preacher, but he picked out the one he thought might be and tapped him on the shoulder.

The man looked up and Rev. Jamison said to him, “Here is a prayer request that someone asked me to bring to you.” The man took it and read it.

Rev. Jamison said the man got up and began to holler for everyone to stop praying. He read the prayer request and asked how many believed God would hear. They all lifted their hands.

Rev. Jamison said all 20 of them began to pray fervently. Finally the man said to them, “How many of you believe God heard you?” They all raised their hands.

He said, “Then, let’s lift both hands and praise God for the answer.”

The preacher turned, handed the telegram back to Rev. Jamison, and said, “Here, send a telegram back and tell them it will be raining by 10 tonight.”

Rev. Jamison went back to the barber shop and told them what the man had said. The men laughed about it because they had all read the weather report and no rain was in sight for days.

Jamison and his wife were in bed by 9 that evening. His wife had washed some laundry and left it hanging on the line. When he saw the clothes in the moonlight, he remembered what the preacher had said about the rain. He began laughing and told his wife what had happened that day. She said, “I read the evening paper, and it’s not going to rain.” They both laughed and fell off to sleep.

After a while, Rev. Jamison was awakened by what sounded like thunder. Before he could get out of bed, it began to rain torrents. He said he got up and turned on the light and it was exactly 10 p.m.

Jamison said, “Then I couldn’t go to sleep. I thought, ‘Did God hear those people? Do they know something I don’t know?’ ”

Not long after, Jamison began visiting a little Pentecostal church in his home state. After witnessing more miracles as a result of prayer, he said, “If people can pray like that, I’m a candidate.” And thank God, he was gloriously filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking with other tongues.

We ought to pray for results! Jesus Christ is the same today, yesterday, and forever (Heb. 13:8). And our Heavenly Father never changes (Mal. 3:6). We have access to the Father in the Name of Jesus just as those people did! Our prayers to the Father in Jesus’ Name can be just as effective as those believers’ prayers were. So when you pray, pray for results!