God Answers Prayer (March 11th, 2012 - Page 2)
“Ask and ye shall receive…”
Put these two prayer lessons to work in your situation. And learn to pray.
King David, as you know, appears to have lost his throne. His own son has run up the flag of stubborn obstinance; meaning he has great needs that David has yet to see.
And David, out of his home and away from the palace simply prays this prayer. II Samuel 15:31 “And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”
Does the LORD listen to or answer your prayers when we one, you have messed up?
Two, you have not moved ahead in faith?
Three, you are on the run?
Or four, you are asking Him to do something that will benefit us while it negatively affects someone else?
King David had taken someone else’s wife as his own. He had taken more than one woman for a wife. He had a son who assaulted one of his daughters. Another of his sons had taken that man’s life. He had refused to speak to his son for three years. And his throne has now been usurped by that same son.
Should the LORD answer your prayers in times like these?
Well, the answer is simple. God does His will both in the armies of heaven as well as in the troubles of earth.
And when it comes to prayer, keep this in mind. God sovereignly works out His will upon us. And He alone knows the end from the beginning. And He’s calls us to pray.
The main reason I asked these four questions to you is this. Many of us think and believe that the reason God should or would answer our prayer is because we deserve to have Him do so. Here’s what we do see in God’s Word.
Folks, sin and the devil are against us. But God is not. Actually, God is for us. All that Jesus came to do was because sin weighed so heavily upon you. The devil does not want you to know and love and serve God.
Jesus came into this world to remove any sort of condemnation because of sin.
Romans 8:1 says this. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
John 3:17 says this. John 3:17 “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
Jesus came here to defeat and to destroy sin and Satan. He did not arrive on planet earth so that we would be condemned. He came here to remove the effects of sin from you and me.
So, when we consider the place that prayer plays in this world, keep in mind that God is for us and not against us. Romans 8:31 “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? (32) He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”
You see, the death of Jesus on Calvary grants us an entirely new position before God. All He did at the Cross was for our benefit. Now that we are saved, all that He does is even more for our benefit. (32) He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”
Folks, the LORD is for us. He’s for you. Here’s Romans 5. Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Here’s how He is right now towards us. Jeremiah 32:41 “Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.” That’s what He says about the Jews. Do you know what kind of people made up the nation of Israel?
Folks, answers to prayer are rooted, not in you and yours, but in God Himself. It’s out of His love for you that He deals with you – every time.
Hebrews four says this. Hebrew 4:13 “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
(14) Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
(15) For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
(16) Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
Why even come to the LORD? Here’s why. It’s because we find in Him grace and help in time of need.
So, knowing what you do about King David, here’s what we see. We see a humble man praying that God will so direct the heart and mind of his son Absalom that he makes a wise decision. David asked the LORD, like the LORD taught with the man who needed bread for his family and like the widow who needed justice for God to intervene on his behalf.
So, first and foremost, when we pray, trust the LORD that He will supply your need. Believe His eternal love is you-ward.
And all of this while he was out of the palace, out of Jerusalem, out and away from the place where God had placed him.
First, trust Him. Believe His eternal love is you-ward.
Second, pray when you are in need.
Third, God has already promised to answer you. Here’s one more word from Jesus on this matter. Matthew 7:9 “Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? (10) Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
(11) 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?”
An ordinary man, an ordinary father gives this child bread if he asks for it. He doesn’t supply him with a stone. If he asks for a fish, he doesn’t give him a serpent. Does he?
Well, according to Jesus, your Heavenly Father gives good things to the askers, you and me.
Can you see what really is behind the answers to prayer? It’s the fatherly heart of God. Here is Jesus comparing the eternal God to an earthly dad. Behind the answer is the heart of a father, the best Father; the best Father ever.
Put these two prayer lessons to work in your situation. And learn to pray.
King David, as you know, appears to have lost his throne. His own son has run up the flag of stubborn obstinance; meaning he has great needs that David has yet to see.
And David, out of his home and away from the palace simply prays this prayer. II Samuel 15:31 “And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”
Does the LORD listen to or answer your prayers when we one, you have messed up?
Two, you have not moved ahead in faith?
Three, you are on the run?
Or four, you are asking Him to do something that will benefit us while it negatively affects someone else?
King David had taken someone else’s wife as his own. He had taken more than one woman for a wife. He had a son who assaulted one of his daughters. Another of his sons had taken that man’s life. He had refused to speak to his son for three years. And his throne has now been usurped by that same son.
Should the LORD answer your prayers in times like these?
Well, the answer is simple. God does His will both in the armies of heaven as well as in the troubles of earth.
And when it comes to prayer, keep this in mind. God sovereignly works out His will upon us. And He alone knows the end from the beginning. And He’s calls us to pray.
The main reason I asked these four questions to you is this. Many of us think and believe that the reason God should or would answer our prayer is because we deserve to have Him do so. Here’s what we do see in God’s Word.
Folks, sin and the devil are against us. But God is not. Actually, God is for us. All that Jesus came to do was because sin weighed so heavily upon you. The devil does not want you to know and love and serve God.
Jesus came into this world to remove any sort of condemnation because of sin.
Romans 8:1 says this. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
John 3:17 says this. John 3:17 “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
Jesus came here to defeat and to destroy sin and Satan. He did not arrive on planet earth so that we would be condemned. He came here to remove the effects of sin from you and me.
So, when we consider the place that prayer plays in this world, keep in mind that God is for us and not against us. Romans 8:31 “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? (32) He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”
You see, the death of Jesus on Calvary grants us an entirely new position before God. All He did at the Cross was for our benefit. Now that we are saved, all that He does is even more for our benefit. (32) He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”
Folks, the LORD is for us. He’s for you. Here’s Romans 5. Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Here’s how He is right now towards us. Jeremiah 32:41 “Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.” That’s what He says about the Jews. Do you know what kind of people made up the nation of Israel?
Folks, answers to prayer are rooted, not in you and yours, but in God Himself. It’s out of His love for you that He deals with you – every time.
Hebrews four says this. Hebrew 4:13 “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
(14) Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
(15) For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
(16) Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
Why even come to the LORD? Here’s why. It’s because we find in Him grace and help in time of need.
So, knowing what you do about King David, here’s what we see. We see a humble man praying that God will so direct the heart and mind of his son Absalom that he makes a wise decision. David asked the LORD, like the LORD taught with the man who needed bread for his family and like the widow who needed justice for God to intervene on his behalf.
So, first and foremost, when we pray, trust the LORD that He will supply your need. Believe His eternal love is you-ward.
And all of this while he was out of the palace, out of Jerusalem, out and away from the place where God had placed him.
First, trust Him. Believe His eternal love is you-ward.
Second, pray when you are in need.
Third, God has already promised to answer you. Here’s one more word from Jesus on this matter. Matthew 7:9 “Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? (10) Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
(11) 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?”
An ordinary man, an ordinary father gives this child bread if he asks for it. He doesn’t supply him with a stone. If he asks for a fish, he doesn’t give him a serpent. Does he?
Well, according to Jesus, your Heavenly Father gives good things to the askers, you and me.
Can you see what really is behind the answers to prayer? It’s the fatherly heart of God. Here is Jesus comparing the eternal God to an earthly dad. Behind the answer is the heart of a father, the best Father; the best Father ever.