Every day we communicate to make contacts with others, cement relationships, and talk about our wishes, needs, and future plans. Human beings need communication to stay connected. Our relationship with God is no different. Prayer is our way of talking to God, but most people don’t understand just how powerful it is.

Genuine prayer isn’t simply a monologue or a one-way recitation of memorized words, but a two-way conversation. We were created to stay connected to God, and praying regularly makes a supernatural difference in our lives. Prayer shouldn’t be a last resort when we get in trouble, but our first response.

Our heavenly Father dearly loves us, His children. “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:18, NKJV). What father wouldn’t be delighted to regularly hear from his children? This applies even more so with God; even more than our words, our hearts are what matter most to Him.

Believers live in a hostile environment. Prayer is our spiritual lifeline and the way to stay strong when the world threatens to break us. We can go to God, confide in Him about everything—the good, the bad, and the ugly—and have fellowship with Him. This is what the apostle John affirmed. “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).

We don’t have to do everything perfectly to come into God’s presence. Our righteousness doesn’t depend on our own performance, but on Christ’s perfect performance and our faith in it. “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Philippians 3:9). As God’s righteous people, the prayers we offer up to Him are like the aroma of fragrant incense to Him, regardless of any mistakes we make.

The devil will try to tell us that we don’t deserve a personal audience with God and that He won’t hear us when we call, but the enemy is a well-known liar. Our trust in Jesus, not our behavior, makes us righteous in God’s eyes. He’s always listening to us, and He always hears us, no matter what. “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers…” (1 Peter 3:12).

We can be grateful that we don’t have to beg and plead for God to do something for us. The finished works of Jesus made everything we need available to us, whether it’s healing, peace, joy, or abundant provision. All that’s left for us to do is to believe and receive this truth. “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24, NIV). These are gifts from God that we don’t have to earn.

There’s no greater way to strengthen our relationship with God than to spend time with Him in prayer. This unleashes unstoppable forces from heaven. The prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. We must never underestimate what it can accomplish.