Timmy wants a new video game for his birthday. Before he asks his parents for it, he cleans his room, completes his homework and takes out the trash without being asked.
Johnny wants the same video game. His chores haven’t been completed for a week and whenever his mom asks for his help, he pretends he can’t hear her. After all, he has his ear phones plugged in and the music turned up loud.
Whose parents are more likely to grant this request?
As parents, we want to provide the best for our children. God is no different. Last week, I relayed a list of clean up behaviors – things that hinder our prayers.
God answers prayer. Jesus promised it would be this way when:
- We ask in his name – John 14:14
- We abide in him – John 15:7
- We please him – 1 John 3:22
Furthermore, Jesus wants our lives to be full of joy. All of us think we’re happier when things go our way. Jesus says: “Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24).
God hears us. “And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him” (1 John 5:15).
Did you notice the wording in that verse? We “know” God will give us what we ask for. That sort of confidence comes from our faith in His promises. This faith grows stronger each time we experience a clear answer to our prayer.
Keep track of your prayers. Write the date you pray for something and then go back and mark the date God answered your prayer. The more specifically you pray, the more obvious the answers will be.
Sometimes we know we’ve met the conditions for successful petitioning of our Heavenly Father and still there is no answer. How can we reconcile this fact with these blatant promises from Christ to give us what “we desired of him” (1 John 5:15)?
Next week: Unanswered Prayer
St. Helens Baptist Church 