Getting your prayers answered

Getting results from our prayers is one of our greatest concerns. Recently a man asked me to pray that he would get a certain position at work. "I really want that position," he announced abruptly. "I am praying that I will get it." We prayed together and several weeks passed before I saw him again. "Did you get the job?" I asked. "I prayed hard for that job," he replied, "but just like I expected, somebody else got it instead."

This man got exactly what he prayed for because what he expected is what he got.

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Too many of us treat prayer as if it were a routine spin of chance. If I am lucky, we think, maybe God will say yes this time. Unfortunately, that kind of halfhearted praying is going on all the time.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:7-11, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"

The Bible promises us that if believers pray properly, we can be confident that God will answer us according to His perfect will for us. Prayer is the most powerful force in our lives. It expresses the need of the human soul and touches the very heart of God Himself. Only as we pray in faith will we begin to see God at work in our lives.

The promises of God are clearly stated in Scripture. The key to obtaining them is faith. Jesus said in Mark 9:23, "All things are possible to him that believeth." That is a promise of unlimited potential. When we pray in faith, we are telling God that we trust His integrity.

Answered prayer is not so much a miracle as it is a fulfillment of God's spiritual laws. He has already promised in 1 John 5:14, that "if we pray according to His will, He will grant our requests." This is a divine principle that always works. If my prayer is in submission to His will, I am going to get my prayer answered.

You may ask, "What if I am asking for something that is not His will?" Remember, if it isn't God's will for your life, you don't want it.

Faith is not the same as desire. Yet some people pray only for the things they desire.

If the answer to our prayers must be in accord with God's will for our lives, then it is imperative that we clearly understand His will in any given situation. Fortunately, God does not leave the knowledge of His will up to guesswork. He has written a book explaining His will in great detail. That book is the Bible. Scripture clearly explains the will of God for the basic issues of life.

The discovery of God's will rests upon our clear understanding of the content and context of Scripture. The whole Word of God is the expression of His will and purpose for our lives. None of us have the right to take any scriptural passage out of context and attempt to interpret it for ourselves without viewing it in relation to the rest of revealed truth.

The Holy Spirit dwells in every believer's mind and heart. He uses the truth of Scripture to instruct, guide, convict and encourage us in our daily walk with God. He leads us intuitively in the way we should go. The will of God will always be consistent with the Word of God.

Charles Spurgeon, the great Baptist pastor in the 19th century, said, "We may not always be able to trace the hand of God, but we can always trust the heart of God."

In other words, never become weary in praying. Don't make the mistake of thinking you are bothering God with your requests. Every time you pray in Jesus' name, you are invoking the power of Heaven on your behalf. Remember, the Bible says in James 4:2, "Ye have not, because ye ask not."

The first prayer an unbeliever needs to pray is the prayer of confession and faith. Sometimes we call it the sinner's prayer: "God, have mercy upon me, a sinner." Through Christ's shed blood on the Cross, He will hear this threshold prayer and wash away your sins. Then new life begins with Him.