If your prayers are going unanswered lately, it may be time to trade in your old prayers for some more accurate ones. God answers only those prayers that are in agreement with His will (1 John 5:14). So check your prayers to be sure what you're praying lines up with His will.
There are three steps to finding out what God wants you to pray.
First, study the Word. God's Word is His will, and you'll never know what His will is without knowing His Word intimately (2 Tim. 2:15).
Second, renew your mind. The study of God's Word will transform you so you can know what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God (Rom. 12:2).
Third, be soft and pliable to God's will for your life. Be ready to replace your desires with God's desires. That may sound difficult, but it's actually easy if you follow God's directions.
Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." The Hebrew word translated delight means "be soft and pliable." So we could say, "Be soft and pliable in the hands of God, and He will give you the desires of your heart."
But if that were all God meant, we would soon be in big trouble. Most of our own desires are not God's desires for us. God isn't saying He'll give us whatever we desire if we are merely soft and pliable. He's saying He will cause our desires to be taken out of our hearts and replaced with His own desires. As we become soft and pliable in His hands, we will exchange our desires for the things He desires.
When what we desire is what God desires for us, we can pray accurately. Let God tell you what to pray, and your prayers will always be answered!
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers