The first thing we need to establish is what is so special about God’s promises. “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.”  Psalm 119:160 "That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us."  Hebrews 6:18 “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.”  Titus 1:2 Jesus was talking to God and said, “Thy word is truth.” John 17:1 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”  2Timothy 3:16 Have you grasped the significance of those scriptures? God always tells the truth. The Bible is the truth. You have to believe that before we can proceed or else the entire significance of what I am about to say will be lost. Once the truth of God’s Word is established we can focus on the promises. One of the definitions of promise is, “A legally binding declaration that gives the person to whom it is made a right to expect or to claim the performance or forbearance of a specified act.” This is perfect for our study. Since God cannot lie, we will then declare that everything He says is legally binding and we can expect and claim the performance of what He has said. What this means is that if you are including any of God’s promises in your prayers then you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you are praying in God’s will! If God says it, then it is already true! If it is already true, then it will happen! Are you getting excited? I’ve skimmed through my Bible and have started a partial list of God’s promises. Let’s pick one for an example. “ Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” Is 41:10 God WILL strengthen you when you need strength. God WILL help you when you need help. Believe it. God said it. HE HAS TO DO IT! He can’t go back on his Word! Let’s use another example. Let’s use something Jesus said. “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matt 6:31-33 God WILL make sure we have food and clothes. This particular promise has something for you to do in order to claim it, however. You have to seek the kingdom of God first. Many promises do have something that is necessary for us to do to claim them. However, God doesn’t ask much from us. Most of the time He just wants us to believe in Him, or listen to Him, or just to love Him. His end of the deal is always the greatest one. There is one important thing that we have to do in order to claim any of God’s promises. We have to believe that the promise is true. It’s not easy to believe something we can’t see. That’s where faith enters the picture. We have to believe that God’s Word is true. We then have to claim the promise. Read it out loud. Remind God that He said it. Tell Him that you are claiming it for yourself and your situation. Then you have to believe it. “ But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” James 1:6 Don’t waver. Keep your mind focused on the promise. Don’t allow doubt to creep in. Like I said, this is the hard part. If you didn’t read my article entitled Nothing Wavering you should read it. It has an example of how to stand in faith. There are some truly great promises in the Bible that are available to anyone who claims them. Think about the possibilities in these promises: “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:7 “... He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” John 14:12-14 If you include promises in your prayers you will find that your prayers carry some awesome power! Are you excited about the possibilities that lie in your grasp? You should be. Here's the list of promises I've compiled so far. Print out this list of promises and keep it where you can easily find it. I will be continually seeking for more promises and adding them to this list. Get into the Word and find your own!