“The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up” (James 5:15). Prayer is powerful. When we pray, things will happen and things will be different. God will answer prayer. He promises, “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:14), and “No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). You’ve got these and all of the other promises in the Bible on your side—“exceeding great and precious promises” (2 Peter 1:4)—so when you pray for healing or anything else, bring those promises with you to remind God of His Word. Doing so is a positive declaration of your faith, which pleases Him.

He says, “Prove Me now, and see if I will not pour out such a blessing that there will not be room enough to hold it” (Malachi 3:10). You usually don’t see the blessing—His healing, in this case—the instant you begin praying for it. You have His promises in His Word, but how do you know He’s going to keep them? You’ve got to prove Him. You’ve got to put those promises to the test. You’ve got to challenge God. He even tells us, “Concerning the work of My hands, you command Me” (Isaiah 45:11). So hold Him to His Word. Expect an answer. He has promised it. Put your faith in the Lord, and claim Scriptures. He is bound by His Word, so remind Him of His promises, cling to them, and never doubt for a moment that He is going to answer—and He will. He has to! He wants to! Trust Him!

Jesus says, “Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:24). “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14–15). All we have to do is believe His promises, pray, and expect Him to answer.