Prayer is the communion of two hearts – the heart of God and the heart of man. It’s intimacy with God. It’s that understanding of prayer that makes it such an adventure. Prayer isn’t just some religious ritual whereby men and women are obligated to repeat their petitions to God. It’s much more than a religious habit or duty. Prayer is coming into the presence of the One who created the universe – the One who is absolute purity. It’s sharing our hearts with Him and allowing Him to share His heart with us.

When we comprehend that prayer is the communion of two hearts, That enables us to know how to pray with power and certainty that our prayers will be answered. Consider this, and you’ll understand how to pray with incredible power. There are two hearts involved in prayer – the heart of God and the heart of man. The heart of God is holy, perfect and absolutely pure. Its capacity is indescribable. Then there’s the heart of man. The Bible describes it as sinful, deceitful, and exceedingly wicked. It’s small and limited in its knowledge and scope.

Out of these two hearts – the sinful heart of man and the great and wonderful heart of God – to which should we give the most attention when we pray? Of course, it’s the heart of God. The next question becomes, “Then, what is on the heart of God?” If we know the answer to that question, then we can begin praying about those things. When we pray about the things that are on God’s heart, we can be assured that God will answer our prayers.

The Bible says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: 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 what we asked of Him” (1 John 5:14, 15 NIV). When we pray according to the things that are on God’s heart, we can be assured that He hears us. Thus, powerful praying is praying about the things that are on God’s heart.

So, what is on God’s heart? It’s no secret. His heart isn’t fickle. It hasn’t changed. The world is on His heart. Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NIV). The world! The world! The world is on God’s heart!

Powerful praying takes place when we begin to pray for the world – when we begin to pray for “His kingdom to come and His will to be done” in this world as it is in heaven. It’s praying for men and women to come to Christ. It’s praying for the salvation of those who’ve never met Christ. It’s praying for Christ to establish His rule in the hearts of men and women.

Too many people have become discouraged in their prayer lives because their entire attention has been given to praying about the things on their hearts. God is definitely interested in the things on our hearts. However, we are limited in the scope of our understanding of those things, and often our hearts will deceive us about those things. But when we pray about the things on God’s heart, we can pray with great confidence and certainty. He will hear and He will answer. Powerful praying is praying the heart of God.