To
introduce this message, we once again turn to Chic Shaver. He states, “to maintain any relationship,
you have to communicate. It’s no different in your relationship with God. And
since you are dealing with the Creator of the universe, it is not too much to
expect that you would some time each day. Whatever the time, and private place,
you can talk to Him and He speaks to you. The writer of the book of Psalms said
it this way: ‘In the morning, O Lord, you will hear my voice; in the morning, I
lay my requests before you and wait in expectation’ Psalm 5:3.” With Shaver’s words in mind
we can turn our attention to the main point of this message. The remainder of
this post will describe prayers that receive answers.
To address this issue, we can look
the Scriptures to learn when God answers prayer. God answers prayer when we
have the right attitude. We may wish to disagree with this statement because of
all the prayers we read in Scripture that seem to be from a disrespectful
heart. We may need to be reminded that asking questions from a place of pain is
not a negative attitude. 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 helps us learn what attitude
is required as we pray. Here Paul states, "Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus for you”.
God
also answers prayer when we pray per his will. In 1 John 5:14 we read, “And this
is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything per his will
he hears us. Do not
get caught up with the words “ask anything” because this will cause you to pray
selfishly and be disappointed with prayer in general. The focus is the will of
God. Opening your heart and mind to the will of God will birth answerable
prayers and unity with God.
If God’s will is the focus of our
prayers, it will lead to avoiding the cherishing of sin. David teaches us that
God answers prayer when we are not cherishing sin in our hearts. Psalm 66:18
reads, “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” If you feel that your prayers are not being answered,
ask God to search your heart for treasured sin. Perhaps this would be a good time
to confess those sins that may be at the front of your mind as you read this.
One sin that is specifically pointed
out as having a negative effect on our prayers is husbands poor treatment of
their wives. In 1 Peter 3:7 we read that God answers prayer for husbands that are
properly caring for their wives. Here Peter writes, “Likewise, husbands,
live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the
weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your
prayers may not be hindered.” Being that this
text was written in a male dominated culture, I would like to believe that the
same could be said for wives in relation to their husbands. Though this may be
true, I do believe that the husband has a particular requirement as the leader
of the home.
Moving from
this specific issue, we conclude this point by stating God answers prayer when we are not being selfish.
James 4:3 brings understanding to this point when James writes, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it
on your passions. This may be one of the most difficult aspects of this message
because selfishness comes natural to all of us. It is usually the at the center
of most of our problems that we are bringing the Lord in prayer. Maybe we
should inspect our own heart prior to or at least at the beginning of our time
of prayer.
Knowing when God answers prayer
naturally leads to a need to understand what the Bible specifically calls for
us to pray. A brief look into the New Testament displays many things that are
meant to be brought before the Lord. Beginning with Jesus, we are called to
pray for the sending of laborers into the harvest. Jesus states, “therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to
send out laborers into his harvest. (Matthew 9:38)" Love is also an important subject of prayer as Paul
calls the Philippians to pray that love would abound with knowledge and discernment (Philippians 1:9). Paul instructs
Timothy to pray for All people and leaders when he states, “First of all, then, I
urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for
all people, 2 for kings and all who
are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and
dignified in every way (1 Timothy 2:1-2). All these and many
more are to be lived out as God answers our prayer for wisdom. We learn this
from James as he reveals, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask
God, who gives generously to all without reproach,
and it will be given him (James 1:5).
To close this message with a
challenge, I invite you to pray as Jesus taught us to pray. The model prayer is
found in Matthew 6:9-13. If we follow this model in all our prayers, we will
grow in our communication with God. This growth will produce a more fruitful
prayer life. Notice the breakdown of the model prayer.
Praise
9
Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Position
10
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is
in heaven.
Provision
11
Give us this day our daily bread,
Pardon
12
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our
debtors.
Protection
13
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil.
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