Answered Prayer

Beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do.  Andrew Murray

When you pray for something do you pray once and then move on to the next thing?  I have done that many times in my life and have often wondered why my prayer was never answered.  I think part of the problem is I have not repeated the prayer or in other words, I am not persistent enough. If I give God mediocre prayer, most likely I am not going to get what I am praying for.  Sometimes I am praying for the wrong thing. 

I think one of the most difficult things for us to understand is how prayers are answered.  We have a concept about how we think God should answer our prayers and when He doesn’t answer them in the way we think He should, we give up on Him. 

If there was ever someone who prayed earnestly and with all His heart it was Jesus.  When He was about to be crucified, He knew what was in store for Him.  His death would not be easy.  At one point he falls on His face and prayed, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” There is no doubt in my mind that God loved His only Son Jesus, but there was a price that He was willing to pay for you and I to be saved.  Later in this passage, Jesus goes back to God in prayer “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”  

Sometimes we get the answer to our prayer, but the answer isn’t something we recognize as the answer.  Ultimately, God wants what is best for us.  Sometimes what we think is best for us isn’t close to what God knows is best for us.  Have you ever prayed for something fervently and felt like God didn’t answer; then later look back and see where God did answer your prayer. 

One of the most important things to remember about prayer is that we should always pray God’s will be done, not ours.  He knows what is best for us, knows what we need and will often answer in ways we never thought possible. If you are struggling with something in your life, pray without ceasing as it will focus your mind on what is important; it will test your faith and it prepares your heart for God to answer. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, sometimes my prayers are mediocre at best.  Help me to focus on what is important in this life and focus my prayers on the things that really matter.  I need to be more persistent in my prayers and be ready for You to answer.  Remind me that many times You answer my prayers in ways I would never dream of.

      

Scripture: The Prayer in the Garden

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”

He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.

So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”  Matthew 26:36-46