We can know from Scripture that God hears and answers our prayers, but the answers may not be what we expect.
5 Promises From Scripture
First John 5:14 “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”
[1]The Apostle John wasn’t trying to just encourage our faith. He had confidence in God, including a confidence that whatever we pray for in God’s will is a prayer that God will hear and answer (although in His own way). Can you imagine us having God’s ear?
Psalm 66:19 “But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.”
The psalmist also knew that God listened to his prayer, and even “attended to the voice of [his] prayer.” It’s one thing to have your prayers heard, but to have them “attended to” means that it’s being or has already been taken care of.
John 9:31 “We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.”
Every person before faith must realize that our “iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear” (Isaiah 59:2), but how many of us have cried out to God to save us while we were yet sinners (Rom 5:8)? All of us!
First Peter 3:12 “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
[2]There isn’t a better way to end your day then with prayer and time in the Word.
Not only are our prayers being heard, God’s ears are open to them. God will hear them and answer them because His ears and eyes are open to our cries. Oh, what a privilege this is.
First John 5:15 “And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”
The Apostle John gives us one last Bible verse regarding our prayers being heard. Once more, he doesn’t have to depend on feelings; he knows that God “hears us in whatever we ask,” and knows “that we have the requests that we have asked of him,” even before we receive them. That’s faith! His confidence is not in his faith but in the Object of His faith, Jesus Christ.
Confidence
We can have confidence that God will hear our prayers since He can also read our thoughts and the intents of our hearts (Heb 4:13), so it’s not a matter of whether He will hear us or not, it’s a matter of trusting that He is listening and whether we’ll accept His answer, which could be much different than we expected. Whatever the case is, we know “he hears the prayer of the righteous” (Prov 15:29).
Finding God’s Will
[3]Most often, it is we who are changed when we come to God in prayer.
When you find God’s will, you will find just what you need to pray for. In other words, since we know that it’s God’s will that others be saved, we can pray for lost sinners we know. We know that God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4), so we are praying according to God’s will when we pray for lost sinners (Matt 6:10). Of course, that doesn’t mean everyone who we pray for will be saved, but God desires that we be His faithful witness to those who are lost. Praying according to God’s will can unleash God’s power.
Praying in Faith
Talk about the power of prayer! James writes that “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16b), and that power is unleashed by God in response to our faith in His ability to answer it. This is not a “name it and claim it” faith where we ourselves command things to be done because we pray to God, but this is a prayer that trusts God with the answer, even if it’s different from what we prayed for. Notice that the prayers must be from a “righteous person,” but thankfully, whoever believes in Christ has His own righteousness (2Cor 5:21). If we’ve trusted in Christ and have faith in God, believe while you pray that God will answer it, but in His infinitely better way.
Seeking His Glory
Why would Jesus ask us to pray in His name? It is so that His name would be glorified. The Father is always seeking to glorify Jesus Christ’s name, so when we pray in Jesus’ name, the answer brings glory to Christ. However, we must be abiding in Christ because, since our Lord said, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). Of course, it must be according to the will of God and must be a prayer prayed in faith, but if we seek to glorify Jesus’ name by the answer, then whatever may come, His name will be glorified because it was in His name that we prayed in.
[4]This author stands on the authority of the Bible as God’s Holy Word.
God Knows Better
I don’t have to remind you that God is omniscient, which means, He’s all-knowing. Nothing has ever occurred to God…ever, so when God answers our prayer in a way that isn’t pleasing to us or may be nearly the opposite of what we asked for, keep in mind that God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not like our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8), meaning His answer is superior to what we asked for. That is, His ways are far, far better than ours. Sometimes we don’t know what’s really good for us and we pray for the wrong thing.
Something Better
When Jesus was telling His disciples about praying for our needs, He said, “which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone” (Matt 7:9), or “Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent” (Matt 7:10)? Jesus point is, “If you then, who are 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” (Matt 7:11)! What answer God gives you might not be what you hoped for, but what answer God gives you is always infinitely best for you than you even realize (Rom 8:28). That’s because He will “give good things to those who ask him” (Matt 7:11)!
Something New
[5]When one of our church members had to go into an assisted-living center because of a broken hip, I went to visit her. I walked in, thinking to myself, “I really want to start a local ministry for the church, somewhere here in town.” So I walked in to the assisted-living center and visited our church member, but then, I got to know the staff, then some of the other residents, but also some of the resident’s family. I got involved in a nursing home ministry on my own…accidentally…and what God brought to me was even better than what I was praying for. I was praying for God to open a door that I had already walked through!
Summary
Imagine a young child coming up to their parent and asking to play with some scissors…and I mean, adult scissors with a sharp, pointy end. Of course the child doesn’t always know what’s best for them, so the parent hands the child a pair of scissors that are shorter, and have round ends, like the ones they use in elementary schools. At first, the child didn’t like the answer “No,” but the child got something much better and safer, even if it wasn’t what they wanted. That means they were better off with God’s answer than what they wanted. God always knows what best for us.
Conclusion
I pray you have put your trust in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If that has not happened yet, my friend, you are in real danger of hell fire. And I mean, in immediate danger. You’re one breath, one heartbeat…one accident away from eternity when it will be too late to repent. Today is the best day to believe (2 Cor 6:2) since tomorrow is no guarantee. If Jesus Christ came today, here is your fate (Matt 7:21-23). This is why I plead with you as you read this, repent today…and I mean right now. Put your trust in Jesus Christ. If you do not, you will face God’s judgment after death guaranteed (Heb 9:27) or at Jesus Christ’s appearance (Rev 20:12-15), which could happen at any moment.
Here is some related reading for you: 8 Prayers for Everyday Life [6]
Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), Crossway Bibles. (2007). ESV: Study Bible: English standard version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.