Does God Answer Prayer?
A common question I hear is, “Does God answer prayer?” Here are the facts: God wants to hear from you, and He wants to know your concerns. God is not a magician. A magician makes things appear as though they are not, a deceiver. You have a God that is a God of truth! God is real, straightforward, and there is no instability in Him. The fear of the Lord, which refers to respect, not submission, is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. – Proverbs 9:10 (NIV) The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. – Proverbs 4:7 (NIV) God Always Keeps His Promises God answers prayers in his timing. That answer may be a Yes!, No! or Wait! It might not be when you want him to answer, and the answers might not be what you want to hear, but He is ALWAYS on time! God knows what’s best for you and always answers your prayers. There are a couple of things that can keep Him from giving you what you ask for: #1. Sin, which is acting outside of the will of God. #2. When you’re asking for something that goes against the will of God. Remember God knows what’s best for you, but because sin separates you from Him you must turn to his Son, Jesus Christ, who paid the price…the ultimate price for your sins. When you do, then the roadblock is removed and God hears all of your prayers! Isn’t that great? Are you ready for a real relationship with Jesus? This relationship with Jesus is the direct prayer line and will bring you to great joy and immeasurable peace. When all else has failed, don’t you think it’s time to give Jesus a try? A real try! God loves you and has a plan for success FOR YOU! The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. – John 10:10 (NIV) But understand this, man is sinful and separated from God. We have all done, said, or thought bad things, which the Bible calls sin. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. – Romans 3:23 (NIV) There Is Good News God sent his son to die for your sins! God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8 (NIV) Christ died for you, but it did not end there. He was buried and raised on the third day. Now, take thought to this next key scripture giving understanding as to why you pray in the name of Jesus. Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. – John 14:6 Salvation can’t be bought, earned or bargained for. We are saved only by God’s grace when we have faith in his Son Jesus Christ. All you have to do is believe you are a sinner, believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins, and ask for forgiveness. Then, turn away from your sins, which is called repentance. Jesus Christ loves you and knows you. What matters to him is the attitude of your heart, your honesty. God answers your prayer through you receiving the gift of salvation. An Important Prayer Try praying this most important prayer and see what happens: I pray in the name of Jesus as I confess I am a sinner. I ask for forgiveness. I believe with my whole heart, mind , and everything within me, that Jesus is your only son. I believe that he died for my sins. I believe you, Oh God, raised him to life again! I want to trust you Jesus as my savior and follow you as Lord of my Life from this moment foward. Lord in the name of Jesus, be shepherd of my life and help me as I learn of you and do your will. It is in your son Jesus’ name I pray…Amen Read What Is Prayer? Part 1… Read What Is Prayer? Part 2…
Prayer – What Is It? Part 2
Prayer is talking to God, your Father, as though he is standing, sitting or laying next to you. It’s simply telling your Father all about it. He wants to know your concerns and he wants you to grow closer to him. Prayer is given to all as a gift from God. Praying is not complicated, it just requires you to be honest with God and with yourself. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! John 15:7 (NLT) Remember what was said in What is Prayer Part 1 about God’s timing…God answers your prayer sometimes no…sometimes yes…and sometimes wait. Pray in the will of God. You do not have to yell when you’re praying because He is very close to you. In fact, God knows your thoughts even before you speak them, yes! Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. 1Chronicles 28:9 (NLT) The LORD is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth. Psalm 145:18 (NLT) Be truthful when you talk to your Father in prayer. Being truthful brings freedom to you in every area of your life. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:32 (NLT) You may ask the question, “What will the truth set me free from?” The truth will indeed set you free from being held captive in your life. Things That Can Hold You Captive Unforgiveness – In all 4 gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) Jesus states how important it is to forgive others to ensure God’s forgiveness. When Jesus cried out from the cross He prayed that God might forgive his attackers. Instead be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32 (NLT) 2. Rebellion – One of the clearest demonstrations in the Bible of rebellion and it’s consequences can be found in 1 Samuel 15. King Saul, chosen by God to lead Israel, got too big for his britches. He thought he knew better than God and disobeyed God’s direct instructions. 3. Strife – This means jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, control, and disorder. An angry person starts fights; a hot-tempered person commits all kinds of sin. Proverbs 29:22 (NLT) 4. Envy – Don’t envy evil people or desire their company. For their hearts plot violence, and their words always stir up trouble. Provers 24:1-2 (NLT) What You Need To Know: The Lord wants you to know: He is Lord of your life. You can trust him with the dearest things in your life. He keeps all of his promises. He will never leave you. If there’s a need in your life He will bear it, but only if you give it to Him in prayer. You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. Mathew 22:37 (NLT) Read What Is Prayer? Part 1…
Prayer – What Is It? Part 1
We all need to know about prayer! God gave the gift of prayer to us so we can stay in touch with him. Many people desire to pray but do not know how. They may even feel like they are unworthy to pray because of certain things they have done in their lives that causes them to feel as though God will not forgive them. Scripture says this about forgiveness: If we confess our sins, he is just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar. 1 John 9-10 Prayer is like talking to your best friend on the phone. It’s very easy to talk to someone when you know they love you. Yes, Jesus loves you even more than you can imagine! The Bible tells us: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 Prayer is the way we communicate with God. It’s a time for you to talk to God as your friend. A time to tell Him what’s in your heart, what you’re thinking, feeling and struggling with. The Bible encourages us in our daily walk with Christ and helps us to experience the power of prayer. We read our Bible and talk to the Lord in that process, with that in mind! We learn how to pray, we learn why we should pray, and also learn God’s purpose for our life. If you desire or would like to experience life change, life growth, and life purpose, then open up the gift of communication. You do not need a cell phone for this call. This is a direct wireless line to have a little talk to our Lord through prayer. Learn more About Prayer Note: This is the first in a series of blogs on Prayer. Read Part 2.
Surprise Me
Surprise – some people love to be surprised and some don’t. I tend to fall in the “I’m not a fan” group. Well, recently I made a choice to be more open to the unexpected. Here’s what happened… One of our church’s key initiatives for 2018 (and in my opinion the most important) is for everyone to Pray Daily for an open door. An open door to share with another person about Jesus. This past Sunday we handed out a card to every person and asked them to write 5 names on it of people they would like to ask God to provide an open door to share about Jesus. On my card, I wrote 3 names and on the last 2 I wrote: “Surprise Me.” What Happened Next So…sometimes God answers our prayers pretty quickly. I was invited to speak on the radio this week about Spiritual wellness. An old college classmate runs the show and allowed me the opportunity to share about Jesus, the church, and spiritual wellness for 30 minutes on air with no censorship! Crazy, right? I was on a panel with three other people and afterward, each one had great questions that opened up a door to share. Please understand, I didn’t break out the bible and thump people on the head! ? I simply shared how walking with Christ was working for me and invited the others to consider how that might work for them. All three work/live in the city of Chicago. I got to share and plant a seed. That’s our job, just share and plant a seed. God provides the opportunity, we just say a few words, and then God does the rest. I like how the writer in 1 Corinthians says it… It’s not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God’s field in which we are working. – 1 Corinthians 3:7-9 (MSG) Trust me on this…if you pray for God to open a door, HE WILL! Don’t be nervous, just share your heart, rely on him, and you get to be a part of people’s lives changing forever! Pretty cool!
A Divine Appointment Part 1
I had an appointment that morning. I don’t like to be late, so I was being very careful to finish up what I was working on so I could leave on time. However, I needed to take some time to pray so I went to the prayer room for some privacy. I lifted up many people and many things and then, right before I was finished, I prayed, “God, I know you don’t need me to do anything for you today, but I want to do whatever you would like me to do. If there is someone I encounter today that needs to experience your love, please bring them to my attention. Lord, I know I get busy and distracted. Will you please make sure that I am aware of the person that needs to see you?” Prayer is powerful my friends. God is powerful and there is nothing he cannot do, and He was getting ready to answer my prayer in a surprising and abrupt way! I left the church on time. I had driven about half a mile when a car came flying up behind me and hit me. My appointment was my first thought, “I am going to be late. I hate to be late.” My second thought as I was pulling off to the side of the road was, “I hope they pull over with me and don’t take off. I better check their plate and remember it.” The third thought, as I got out of my car and saw the person that hit me was, “It’s her!” She was talking about a mile a minute, and while she was talking to me I was talking to Jesus. “This is her! Wow, that was fast! Thank you for hearing me, thank you for introducing us, what do you want me to say to her?” The police took about half an hour to get there and half an hour to do paperwork. I had an hour to invest in this soul who was desperately in need of a relationship with Jesus. She was sharing her story with me as we waited on the side of the road with cars driving by. During that hour, she described a life of incredible pain, unimaginably difficult life circumstances. I could see that she was stuck at the point of her pain. For someone stuck fast in quicksand, this accident could have added more weight and pushed her under, but that morning, Jesus had other plans. Jesus saw me and he saw her and changed both our plans into a divine appointment. Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT) Read A Divine Appointment Part 2