How God Answers Prayer
Introduction:
Do all the events that take place in our lives do so by pure chance? Is
everything that happens during our stay on earth predetermined or
foreordained by God? Did God just wind up this world like a clock and then
cease to be active in its affairs? Or do we have a loving, all-powerful God
who is still active in the lives of His children and responsive to their
pleas? The Bible says “No” to the first three questions and “Yes” to the
last.
The word commonly used to describe the means by which God responds to our
prayers is “Providence.” Providence comes from the Latin word which means
foresight, to foresee. Divine Providence would then refer to the foresight
of God by which He determines the needs of His creation and provides for
them in order to accomplish the purpose for which they were created. While
in times past, God used miraculous acts to accomplish His will, He does not
do so anymore. The age of miracles ceased at the close of the apostolic
period. But He is still very active and involved in the lives of men by
working through natural laws within the confines of natural law. {Normal
processes] Miraculous – Providential seen in the life of Elijah. (I
Kings 18:36-38, 41-45)
“And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice,
that Elijah the prophet came near and said, ‘Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your
servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O
Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that
You have turned their hearts back to You again.’ Then the fire of the Lord
fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the
dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.
41-45
Then Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of
abundance of rain.’ So Ahab went up to eat and drink, And Elijah went up
to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face
between his knees, and said to his servant, ‘Go up now, look toward the
sea.’ So he went up and looked, and said, ‘There is nothing.’ And seven
times he said, ‘Go again.’ Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he
said, ‘There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!’
So he said, ‘Go up, say to Ahab, Prepare your chariot, and go down before
the rain stops you.’ Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became
black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away
and went to Jezreel.”
NKJV
Body:
1.
He answers according to His infinite wisdom.
(I
Samuel 16:7) “. . . For the Lord does not see as man sees. . .”
NKJV
We don’t have perfect knowledge and thus sometimes ask for things not for
our ultimate good. Our request might harm us or the Lord’s cause if granted.
2.
He may answer our prayers in a way we never imagined.
We may ask to be more steadfast in our faith and God answers that request by
allowing us to suffer through very difficult times. (James
1:2-3)
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing
that the testing of your faith produces patience.”
NKJV
3.
He may answer with a “No” or substitute something else.
(II
Corinthians 12:7-10)
“And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the
revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to
buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded
with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me,
‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in
weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for
Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
NKJV
God answered “No” because it made Paul stronger.
4.
He may answer using a different time table than we do.
(II
Peter 3:8)
“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is
as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
NKJV
Many of us are very impatient and want an immediate response. God knows
best!
NOTE:
All of the above assumes that we are actually praying. God cannot answer
our prayers if we are not praying! Why is a constant, regular prayer life
so vital to the child of God? What are we missing without it?
Now focus our attention on the book of James. (James
5:16)
“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you
may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails
much.”
NKJV
Prayer changes things! We cannot be indifferent about prayer. God is
telling us that when we pray, the outcome can be different than it would
have been had we not prayed. The statement means nothing if it does not
mean that.
The same book tells us that if we don’t believe this, we will not receive
the benefits of prayer.
(James
1:-6-8)
“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a
wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose
that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man,
unstable in all his ways.”
NKJV
Man, with conflicting feelings, may go back and forth.
Consider this thought: If God automatically gives us all the blessings we
need without us asking for them, what is the use of prayer? It would lose
its effectiveness. If the righteous were automatically blessed and the
unrighteous cursed, what does
Matthew 5:45
mean?
“. . . and sends rain on the just and the unjust.”
NKJV
Example of automobile trip: If left to chance [natural set of random
possibilities], the child of God is no safer than anyone else. We can’t be
sure if an event is God’s providence. Without prayer to God, the Lord’s
will for specific blessing may not even be put into effect in
the lives of His children. Listen to these words. (James
4:2)
“. . . Yet you do not have because you do not ask.”
NKJV
This passage teaches that God did not want them to miss out on these
blessings; It is His will that they have them. Here are a few remarks from
Guy N. Woods:
“From this section we learn that there are not only unanswered prayers,
there are also unasked prayers! There are some things it is entirely proper
for us to have; God wants us to have them; and He freely bestows them upon
those who ask. Some seek to secure to themselves the things they want and
perhaps need by methods which avoid God; and thus often fail to have such –
not because they are forbidden to them, but because they simply do not go to
the right source for them.”
God’s specific will for them, according to His providence, could not even be
put to work in their lives without prayer.
Quote from Dub McClish:
“When we contemplate the
fact that by our prayers, God may actually be moved in a given
direction or to set in motion a series of events, it is an astounding
thought.”
Read
I John 5:14-15. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we
ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He
hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have
asked of Him.”
NKJV
When we pray to Him as we should, His will goes to work. We must ask in
harmony with what the Bible teaches about prayer. Once having gone to the
Father in prayer, the peace of God will keep us from worrying or being
anxious.
(Philippians
4:6-7)
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus.”
NKJV
Knowing and understanding these truths should give us a greater zeal in
praying for the sick, family, spreading the Word, the church, government.
Our Father will indeed give to those who ask. (Matthew
7:7-11)
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it
will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks
finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among
you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks
for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how
to give good gifts to your children how much more will your Father, who is
in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
NKJV
Invitation:
Do you want to have the privilege of prayer? You must be in God’s family
first. Maybe you are in the family, but need prayers of the congregation.
Bobby Stafford April 29, 2018
