Prayer the fruit
When prayer is at someone’s heart, certain reactions accompany it for it to be productive. For example, faith has to be a stemming reaction for prayer to be effective. Jesus said that if you have faith like a mustard seed, you can say to a mountain move, and it will obey you (Mt 17:20). Prayer is a form of utterance we use to commune with God. In prayer, we can utter to God in our mind or out loud; both are good. God listens to you when you pray silently as he did with Hannah (1Sm1:12-13), or out loud. Prayer is one of the fruits of the believer. Every believer of Christ is required to bear fruits. We begin as believers with the fruit of repentance and then continue with those of good works. The Bible teaches us that there are nine fruits a believer displays once the Spirit of God comes into him and they are; love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Ga5:22-23).
Matthew 21:18-22
18 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.20 And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Jesus was hungry and seeing this fig tree with leaves he came to eat its fruit, but the tree did not have any fruit. The law of nature says that if a fruit tree has leaves it should have fruit. Jesus was expecting to find fruit on this tree. With the same expectation Jesus had of the tree, he cursed it. This was an amazing sight for the disciples, seeing Jesus speak to the tree cursing it, and reacting to the curse instantly. That is what happens when we do not do what God expects us to do, we dry up. Joel speaks about this drying reaction when he says; what the palmworm left, the locust ate, what the locust left the cankerworm ate, and what the cankerworm left the caterpillar to eat (Joel1:3-4). The drying process happens when there is nothing left for a person he has to take what someone else left. When in God’s house there is nothing fresh and the offerings are not provided, then dryness settles in (Joel 1:9). We have to come to the house of God with something new, a new song, a new praise session. Paul tells us that when we gather we need to come ready to share a spiritual song and hymn (Ep5:19).
Matthew 17:20
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
1 Samuel 1:12-13
And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth. 13 Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Joel 1:3-4
Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. 4 That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
Joel 1:9
9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord; the priests, the Lord‘s ministers, mourn.
Ephesians 5:19
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;