Tag Archives: god answers prayer

July 22, 2015 · 7:31 AM

Persistent Prayers

I think that prayer is something that most of us wish we did more of. I don’t think it’s really a time issue as much as it is a return on investment issue. Let me explain. In our lives we give time to things that give us a quick return. We’ve grown accustomed to eating out because it takes less time than having to read a recipe, go to the store to get the ingredients, prepare the food, cook the food, prepare the table and serve it. We get a much quicker return on our investment by going to a restaurant and have less work doing so.

When it comes to prayer, we tend to have that same mentality. We expect Hod to give us a quick turn around on our investment of time. When we don’t get a quick answer, we say, “It must not be God’s will,” and we quit praying for it. We also spend very little time speaking to God about the things we need. We send up quick, 9-1-1 prayers in an time crunch situation wanting God to respond in a matter of minutes. I don’t know if that’s a product of our societal conditioning or if it’s just human nature.

What I do know is that Jesus gave a couple of different parables regarding prayer. One such is found in Luke 18:1-11. It starts off by saying, “Jesus told them a story showing that it was necessary for them to pray consistently and never quit. (MSG)” He told us right in the beginning how He expects us to pray. He’s not looking for one off prayers where we are one and done. He wants us to pray about our situations consistently and without quitting. In the parable He gives the example of a widow who wants protection because her rights are being violated.

The judge she goes to help for could care less what God or anyone thinks. He does things his own way. In the story it says that he wouldn’t even give her the time of day. But, because she didn’t quit and was consistent, he answered her request. He said, “I’d better do something and see that she gets justice- otherwise I’m going to end up beaten black and blue by her pounding. (MSG)” He didn’t answer her request because he wanted to, he answered it because he knew she wouldn’t quit.

When is the last time God knew you weren’t going to quit praying about something until you got your answer? Most of the time, we’ve given up before we’ve ever started praying. In fact, prayer is usually our last option instead of our first. If you’ve been praying for an answer and haven’t gotten it yet, keep going to God in prayer. Sometimes He needs to know you won’t quit before He answers. Show Him that you are depending on Him alone to answer your request. Pray consistently and frequently and God will not drag His feet in answering you. 

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April 9, 2015 · 7:37 AM

Mercy And Grace

  

As I’m driving somewhere with my preschool son in the car, most of the time he will say, “Dada, I NEED your phone.” I typically respond back, “You don’t NEED IT. You want it.” I wonder if that’s how God sees us with our prayers sometimes. We often cry out in desperation, “God, I NEED this answer to prayer!” The truth is that many of those NEED prayers are truly want prayers. We WANT it very badly and are desperate to get the answer, but the truth is, a lot of those prayers are not really needs. 

I’ve been reflecting on Hebrews 4:16 quite a bit. It says, “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. (NLT)” I’ve quoted this scripture in many of my prayers, but I haven’t really broke it down until recently. I know that if I approach God’s throne of grace in prayer, He hears me. I often assume that because He hears me, He should answer according to the way I’m praying. That line of thinking has led to a lot of disappointment misdirected at God. 

The verse says that at His throne of grace, we will receive mercy. When I hear that, I think of blind Bartimaeus outside of Jericho. He heard that Jesus was passing by and knew that He healed people. Bartimaeus yelled out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! (NLT)” Jesus called him over, had mercy on him and healed him. When we approach God’s throne of grace, we are often crying out for God to have mercy on our request. Sometimes, He calls us over like Bartimaeus and grants us mercy and other times He gives us grace.

The last part of Hebrews 4:16 says that we will find grace to help us when we need it most. In II Corinthians 12:7-10, Paul talks of a thorn in his flesh that he asked God to remove. Instead of giving him mercy by removing it, God replied to him, “My grace is all you need.” God told him He wasn’t going to answer his request for mercy, but instead He would give him the grace to help him when he needed it most. He does the same for us. He gives us grace that is sufficient when He doesn’t answer our petition for mercy.

I don’t know what makes God choose grace over mercy so often. I wish I did. What I do know is that when He chooses grace, it’s enough. He has promised that whatever I face, He will give me grace that is sufficient to endure. He will be strong when I’m weak. He will carry me when I can’t seem to find the strength to move forward. Each time I approach God’s throne of grace, I know that I will either receive mercy to grant my request or I will receive grace to help me through the situation. Either way, I know that God has heard my plea and is giving me just what I need in order for Him to fulfill His purpose.

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October 21, 2014 · 7:34 AM

Two Sets Of Eyes

One of my favorite stories in the Bible comes from II Kings 6. The Syrians were attacking Israel, but every time they planned an attack, Israel was two steps ahead of them. The King of Syria thought he had a traitor among his staff, but someone told him about Elisha. In verse 12, one of them told him, “The prophet Elisha tells the King of Israel what you say even in the privacy of your own room.” The king decided he wanted to capture Elisha and so he sent a large army to capture him and to bring him back by force.

They must have traveled all night because it was early the next morning when Elisha’s servant woke up and went outside. He ran back inside and exclaimed to Elisha, “We’re doomed! What will we do?” He saw that the entire city where they were staying was surrounded. He couldn’t see any way out of this situation. He forgot what God had done through Elisha in the past and focused on the present situation and he panicked. He saw no way out, but he knew who to go to.

Elisha walked outside, looked at the army calmly and said, “Don’t be afraid. We have more on our side than they have on theirs.” I’m sure his servant rubbed his eyes, looked at the army and started counting by the hundreds. Then he looked at he and Elisha and went, “One. Two. Hmmm.” Elisha patiently prayed, “Lord, open his eyes and let him see.” When the servant looked up after the prayer, he saw the hillside covered with horses and chariots of fire completely surrounding the Syrian army.

What eyes do you see your problems through? God gave the victory to them that day and He wants to give it to you today. It comes down to what eyes you’re looking at your circumstances through. The one set sees yourself surrounded by your problems with no way out. The other set sees that God is bigger than your problems and wants to give you victory. One set says, “I’m doomed.” The other says, “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.” One set forgets what God has done for you. The other knows God has not failed you.

Whatever problems are surrounding you today are no match for God. You may have so many things going wrong that you can’t count them, but you plus God equals a majority. You are not outnumber. You are not alone. You are not doomed. You are a child of the God of Angel Armies and the King of Kings. He will come to your rescue and stand by your side in the toughest of times. May God open your eyes today to see that there are more that are with you than there are against you. Trust in Him today and choose to look at your situation through His eyes.

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August 4, 2014 · 8:06 AM

Unexpected Help

I once heard the story of a town that was about to be flooded. There was a man in that town who prayed that God would save him from the flood. A little while later, the sheriff came and knocked on his door. He told him to evacuate before the flood came. The man replied, “God will save me.” Not long after that, the floods began to rise and water came into his house. He called on God again to save him. By now, he had gotten on his roof because the water was so high. A boat came by and offered to take him to safety, but he replied that God would save him.

The water rose so high that he was standing on the highest gable of his roof to keep from being swept away by the water. He cried out in desperation for God to save him. It wasn’t long before a helicopter flew overhead, saw him and lowered a man down in a basket. The man refused to get in the basket and told them that God would save him. After the helicopter left, the floods swept the man off his roof and he died. When he got to Heaven, he asked God why He didn’t save him. God replied, “I sent the sheriff, a boat and a helicopter. Why didn’t you accept my help?”

We often pass on God’s help because it’s doesn’t come in the packaging we want or expect. We think that God has to act supernaturally in order to truly help us. The fact is that God mainly uses other people to bring about His answers into our lives. He sends people to give us money in our desperation, but our pride won’t let us accept it. He has people offer vehicles, groceries, jobs and other things that we need, but we pass on them because we think God is going to open up the heavens, send a beam of light with harp playing angels to deliver what we need. We miss so many blessings because we refuse the answers God gives through others.

The next time you ask God for help, look around. He may be answering it in a way that you weren’t expecting. He could be using one person to get you to take a step of faith that will open the door for future blessings. I know I’ve seen God be a blessing to my family in desperate times. The answer didn’t always come from where I thought it would. In fact, it has never come from where I thought it would. That doesn’t mean that it wasn’t God. It just means that God has a better plan than I do and I need to accept His help when and how He sends it.

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July 10, 2014 · 7:33 AM

Testimony Time

In our small group, we are reading through “Good to Great in God’s Eyes” by Chip Ingram. Last night we were discussing the chapter “Pray Great Prayers”. As we were talking about keeping a prayer journal, my wife mentioned that because of the digital age, that’s something our kids are missing out on. The vast majority aren’t keeping journals. Because they aren’t, they can’t flip through pages to see where they thought the world was going to come to an end and then it didn’t. They don’t have a record of the ways that God has moved in their life.

In the chapter we discussed, Chip mentioned that he keeps a prayer journal where he writes down things that are too big for him to handle. By writing them down, he is transferring them over to God. He said he also leaves a little space under each one so that when it gets answered, he can put a note in there. When his faith needs a boost, he goes back through that journal to remind himself of the times when he was faced with the impossible and then he reads the notes below it where God answered. It helps him when he faces other impossible situations.

As we discussed that, we began to talk about how we remember years ago when churches would have testimony time. It’s something that’s missing from our modern church. I believe it’s something that is still necessary. Scripture says that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. We need to hear the stories of what God is doing in people’s lives. We need to see His hand at work around us. It reminds us that He’s still listening and that whatever we are facing, isn’t too big for God.

We then went around the room and shared stories of a God answering prayers, big and small. Each person in our group could point to a time when God answered. That built my faith up. God knows your need and He hears your prayers. You don’t have to use your prayers to try to persuade God to move in your favor. You simply need to make your requests known to Him. Call out the promises He has made in His Word. Remind Him of what He’s done for others. Your heartfelt prayers touch the heart of God. Your need is not too big and it’s not too small. He’s not so concerned with everything else in the world that He doesn’t have time for you or your needs.

If you need your faith built today, ask someone what God has done for them. Ask them what prayers He has answered. If He’s answered something, then tell others. They need to hear what He has done for you. Your testimony will help them be an overcomer in their situation. If you don’t know who to tell, then use the comments below to share what God has done for you. People will read it and be blessed. God still moves today. God still answers prayers. Tell Him what you need, He’s listening right now.

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February 5, 2014 · 7:47 AM

The Widow’s Prayer

I’ve always been fascinated with the story of Elijah in I Kings 17. After he prophesied there would be a drought, God said, “Get out of here, and fast. Head east and hide out at Kerith Ravine on the other side of the Jordan River. You can drink fresh water from the brook; I’ve commanded the ravens to feed you.” It wasn’t long though before the brook dried up because of the drought. Then God told him to go to a certain city and live there. He told him that he had instructed a widow woman to feed him.

My question has always been, “Why did God allow the brook to dry up?” After all, he went to the place of God’s provision. Why did he have to leave that place? He was where he was supposed to be. Then I looked at the story from the other side. Think about the widow. She knew she was about to run out of flour and oil. She knew there was nothing more she could do. She knew that when her flour ran out, she and her son would die. Knowing that, I can imagine her calling out to God in desperation for help. I can hear her crying each night wondering when God would answer her prayers.

Then, one day, God speaks to her. He said, “I’m going to send a prophet to you. Prepare him a meal and you will get your answer.” As each day passed, she looked for the prophet. Each day that passed without his arrival the flour and oil went down. Finally she was down to her last bit of flour and oil. Death was around the corner. She had quit looking for the prophet and was looking for sticks to burn in order to prepare her last meal. As she was scouring the ground for firewood, a voice came from behind her, “Please, would you bring me a little water in a jug?” She barely looked up and nodded. As she headed to the well, he called out, “And while you’re at it, would you bring me something to eat?”

I’m sure her eyes lit up and she whipped around. “Could this be the prophet,” she thought. Only one way to find out. “I have a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a bottle; you found me scratching together just enough firewood to make a last meal for my sin and me. After we eat it, we’ll die,” she said. Any stranger would let her eat her last meal, but the prophet would still ask for it. She had to make sure so she could be obedient if it was him. Elijah told her not to worry. He said, “Make a small biscuit for me and bring it back here. Then go and make a meal from what’s left.” The oil and flour didn’t empty until the drought was over.

We rarely know why God moves us from a place of provision or causes the brook of blessings to dry up. In this case, I believe it was to answer the widow’s prayer. God needed Elijah to move so he cut off his source. For the widow, she had to wait until she was down to her last meal. She was then asked to give it up in order to be blessed. Both had to trust God. Both had to be obedient or both would have died. God asked both to give up what they had for the other. What has God asked you to give up? It may be all you have, but it will be the gateway to miracles. Where is God trying to move you to? You may not understand now, but your obedience will lead you to another place of provision. Obedience is always required before the blessing.

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