“…While He prayed, the heaven was opened.” (Luke 3:21)
 
Among the different ways that prayer can be defined is talking and listening to God. Prayer is an intimate fellowship with God. What prayer requires is faith and to be in right relationship with God. Without faith or right relationship with God, prayer could be like attempting to wash a dirty cloth in dirty water. God will not answer when the relationship is not right; neither would He be pleased when there is no faith. The right relationship starts with asking for forgiveness. Among the different types of prayer are: Interceding, thanking God, praising God, and confessing before God. Above all, if there is anything that will certainly open the windows of heaven, it is prayer. Luke 3:21, “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.” Jesus, in His entire earthly ministry, was showing us how to walk the walk. When Jesus came to be baptized, He took His time to pray, and heaven opened. This is a clear demonstration that prayer is key for opening up the doors of heaven. It is also clear through the Bible that prayer opens heaven not only at the point of baptism but also at every juncture of life. When heaven opened in response to Jesus’ prayer, different things happened. Luke 3:22, “And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, ’You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.’” Prayer is a heaven-opener. The prayer by Jesus is a testimony to the fact that when a prayer finds the door to heaven, the Holy Spirit, which represents the presence of God, will come down and descend on the one praying. With the Holy Spirit descending, the voice of God will then sound in the direction of the one praying. With the heavens opened, the voice of God will speak direction if the one praying has the ear to hear the voice of God. We need the grace of God to hear His voice when it sounds in our direction. Again, with the heavens opened, Jesus heard the voice from heaven saying to Him, “You are my beloved Son: in You I am well pleased.” Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” The voice that sounded as a result of prayer also pointed out that prayer rooted in faith is what pleases God. For without faith God is not pleased. God is a prayer answering God if His children will take the time to call unto Him in prayer as Jesus demonstrated. How is your prayer life? At times prayer requires simplicity; other times, persistency, intensity and fervency. However, prayers always need to be effective and consistent. Prayer is like a battleground a place of violent confrontation against the spiritual wickedness. Jesus said in Matthew 11:12, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” Prayer can be the violent weapon in the hand of any believer that wants to take the kingdom of heaven by force. Prayer is the delivery room for every believer that wants to receive undeniable proof of God’s hand. In these days of spiritual wickedness, for every acclaimed believer, there is no substitute for prayer. God is very much in the business of answering prayer just as He was in the beginning. He promised in Isaiah 58:9,  “Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am …’”God is caring; He will not look away from His children when they cry unto Him. Exodus 3:7-8, “And the LORD said: ‘I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them…” God heard their cry and He moved for their deliverance. Can you think of any situation where you have been in bondage as the Israelites under the Egyptians? It is time to cry unto the Lord for your own deliverance. David said in Psalm 109:4, “…But I give myself to prayer.” The disciples stated in Acts 6:2, “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” As a believer, how is your prayer life? A prayer-less believer is like a vehicle driving in the dark without the headlights turned on. It will only take a moment before disaster happens. A church that prays will prevail while a prayer less church will remain in vain.
 
“A church that prays will prevail while a prayer less church will remain in vain.”
“And the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up.” (James 5:15)