GETTING ANSWERS TO OUR PRAYERS

 

Prayer is the key with which to unlock and open the vast treasuries of God which He had kept in store for his children. The key to that vault of wealth continues to be a mystery and eludes many of his children who continue to wallow in ignorance. Prayer continues to remain the solution the one stop solution for all the myriads of challenges confronting the vast majority of Christians.

Prophet Hosea in Chapter 4 verse 6 has this to say about the children of Israel of Israel is being destroyed because of the lack of knowledge. He went further to explain that their destruction came due to lack of knowledge.

The ignorance of holding to the power of prayer, fully knowing and recognizing the potency of that great weapon is the albatross in the circle of the believers. We’ve got to take into cognizance of the promises of God through prayer the gospel of Matthew 7 verse 7 which gave a good and clear assurance in respect of answers to prayers that when we asked for anything it shall be gotten, when we are in search for anything we will find it and when we seek for audience attention will be given to us.

There is the need to know that every endeavor has conditions attached to it. Nothing comes with success cheaply for prices to be paid are attached to each of them.

God has this to say to King Solomon when he was praying to God and offering Sheep and Oxen that could not be numbered to the Lord in appreciation of the lord’s goodness towards him and his household. The Lord appeared in a thick cloud in the temple that was so great that even the Levites could not withstand this great awesomeness of the almighty. He vividly told King Solomon of what He expected from the people to attract His blessings and mercies upon them. In Second Chronicles chapter & verse 14, He desires four things from them;

i.                    Humility

ii.                  Prayer

iii.                Seeking His face

iv.               Turning from their wicked ways.

While approaching God with the four basic elements above to attract His blessings, the Christians must go all out in using prayer as a weapon to achieve what is needed. Though we walk not by sight but faith (2 Corinthians 5:7) because the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God in pulling down strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4) .

i.                    Firstly, there must be persistency in prayers. In warfare there is no resting place. A man who puts his hands on the plough does not look back; he has an assignment to accomplish. Any other thing will lead to disaster. The devil who is the enemy of our soul never gives up on the mission of denying us of our rights. The widow in Luke 18: 1 – 8 shows her not giving up on getting justice from the unjust judge. Her continuous pestering and knocking on the door of the unjust judge gave her the attention she needed. We could see another issue of Jacob wrestling with the angel at Jabok. He wrestled from the night till dawn. He never allowed the Angel to go until he got his blessings. The persistence made him a casualty yet his victory couldn’t be compared with the injury on his knees. There should be no respite until victory is won.  Paul the great apostle to the gentiles was buffeted in his flesh yet he never gave up on the Lord through his persistency in prayers for healings.

ii.                  There is the need to pray accordance to the will of God. Receiving the answers to our requests must be done in accordance to his will. Many prayers receives no answers because pray amiss. The book of first John 5:14 stated clearly that one of the conditions that give us confidence in getting answers to our prayers is through praying according to His will. Our requests must go in line with His will and purpose for our lives. James in his letter Chapter 4 verse 3 gave the reasons why some prayers are not answered is based on our lusts and selfish desires to satisfy our inordinate ambitions. Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane for the will of God to be done in His life at a critical and painful period. He could have chosen not to go to the cross but he chose to accomplish the purpose of God which is to redeem humanity from the bondage of sins.

iii.                We need to pray with faith to get God’s attention. Faith remains one of the undeniable tools to hold of the promises of God. Faith is the anchor that hooked us to the promises of the almighty. It moves beyond the natural realm to achieve what seems impossible in the natural. In Matthew 21:21 -22 Jesus teaches about the relevance of faith and prayer when it comes to moving mountains in a difficult situation. Jesus teaches that all that is needed is a little faith compared to that of a mustard seed which is the smallest of all seeds. Hebrews 11: 3 we were made to understand that the world were brought into existence by the spoken word of God. It remains mysteries to the carnal man how something came out of nothing. In verse one of the same chapter gave the explanation that faith produces substance from abstract things and also produces evidence and substance.

iv.               The name of Jesus is the only name that has the authority to get answers from God. He said if anything is asked in His name, He will do it. Acts 4:12 made it clear that salvation is only gotten through the name Jesus. Praying in the name of Jesus is the assurance to getting answers to our petitions before God.  The name Jesus is above every other name in heaven, in earth and under the earth (Philippians 2: 9 – 11).

v.                  The believers must pray with Humility. We must come humbly before God to put our petitions before Him. Our humility lift us higher before the Lord ( James 4:10). The story of the Pharisees and the Publicans in who went into the temple to pray vividly tells us the importance of humility in our prayers. The prayers of the humble publican were accepted and also went home justified because he came humbly before showing his unworthiness. The Pharisee went home without justification ( Luke 18: 9 – 14)

Conclusion

  Approaching God in the right attitude brings His mercies upon our lives. Our prayers can achieve much if we come `in humility recognizing that He alone can meet our needs.