They line the aisles near the checkout counters where we shop for groceries. They make easy gifts when you are running behind and need to pick up something the last minute for a birthday or holiday party. They are a nice surprise when someone hands you one or you get an email with a code to one inside. They are prepaid gift cards.

Gift cards have become the new craze for giving gifts. In our independent, autonomous society, why not let the receiver choose what he or she wants at a retailer? Plus it saves the buyer time on having to go pick something out.

Gift cards are great… kind of. They are great if you use them. But would you believe that approximately one billion dollars worth of gift cards went unused in one year alone? Yes, that’s a “b” for billion. I’m as shocked as you are! A billion dollars worth of gift cards were purchased in one year alone that recipients never redeemed.

Yet I wonder how God must feel knowing that often we claim none of His many promises found in His Word and ignore how easily accessible He has made Himself through the blood of Christ. We ask for nothing. We seek nothing in His Word, or nothing specific.

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Cor. 1:20 NIV). All of the promises of God are yes in Christ. The last I checked there were thousands of these precious promises. Yet how many do you even know? How many do I even know offhand? I think I can answer for most of us: not nearly enough.

While God has given us access to His throne room through prayer and the power of His divine authority as it relates to His promises, we do still have to enter in and get them. No one forced the gift card recipients to cash in their cards. That’s why one billion dollars of those cards went unused. Yet something of much greater worth goes unused when we consider what God is willing to do for His children and what they actually call on Him to do.

When prayer is predicated on what God has already declared He will do, you can be assured of His answers. Yet in order to pray this way we need to study His Word, and become intimate with His utterance so that when we pray, we are praying in line with His will. Scripture states that God has secrets He is willing to share with you and me. We read, “The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He will make them know His covenant” (Ps. 25:14). God wants you to be so close to Him that He can lean over and whisper His secrets in your ear. When He does or when you discover His promises in His Word, you are then able to take Scripture and pray it right back to Him saying, “God, You said in your Word…”

Powerful kingdom prayer involves holding God accountable to what He has already said He would do. God has given us permission in prayer to hold Him to His Word. That means we need to find out what God has said. The foundation of kingdom prayer is knowing what God has already said.

Testimony Time

“I've used the Tony Evans app since it was launched. I listen on the go and while I'm working in the house. Total blessing!” 

“Pastor Tony, you're such a great servant of God and such a great leader. I read your book 15 years ago about the nature of God. It has impacted my life. I thank God for you and praise His name. Your messages always bring edification.”

“Thank you so much! I am so tired of the negativity that is swarming around. We've got a BIG GOD! He can and WILL heal America! God start with me!”   

“Love my time with Pastor Tony Evans every morning on my way to work.”