THEISM
God
Answers Prayer
God cares about humanity. He
cared enough that He made mankind in his own image. He gave them a place to
live and provided food for their sustenance. He delegated authority to them to rule
over the earth. When Adam and Eve were estranged from God because of their sin,
He initiated a gradually unfolding plan of redemption for humanity. On many
occasions, God injected himself into human history to call people to Himself. During
a span covering thousands of years He injected Himself into the lives of
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, John the Baptist, and many others.
God’s activity included bringing his people out of Egyptian slavery, giving
them a special covenant at Mt. Sinai, guiding their conquest of Canaan, and
directing their lives through priests, judges, kings and prophets. God sent His
only begotten Son to die on the cross as an atonement for the sins of humanity.
Through the apostles, He fully revealed His plan of redemption, and then gave
His written word to humanity. A God who has done all this surely cares enough
for His people to answer their prayers. The Psalmist said, “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his
ears are open to their cry. The righteous cry, and the Lord hears, and delivers
them out of all their troubles” (Psalms 34:15, 17).
That God does indeed answer
prayer is demonstrated many times in Scripture. Moses pleaded with God to spare
the Israelites after they had rejected God by sacrificing to a molden calf.
Moses reminded God of His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Then, “the
LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people” (Exodus
32:14). Hannah prayed to God for a son. When the son was born, she said, “the
LORD has granted me my petition which I asked of Him” (1 Samuel 1:27). Samuel
cried to God that the Israelites might be delivered from the Philistines, “and
the LORD answered him” by confusing the Philistines with thunder which enabled
the Israelites to drive them back (1 Samuel 7:9-11). When Solomon became king,
he asked God for “an understanding heart” to enable him to render righteous
judgment over the people. God then told Solomon that he would not only give him
“a wise and understanding heart,” but also riches and honor” (1 Kings 3:5-14).
After Solomon had erected a temple and prayed to God, “the LORD said to him, “I
have heard your prayer and your supplication . . . and have chosen this place for Myself as a
house of sacrifice” (1 Kings 9:3; 2 Chronicles 7:12). At Mt. Carmel, Elijah
prayed to God “that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that
You have turned their hearts back to You again.” God answered Elijah’s prayer
by sending down fire to consume Elijah’s sacrifical offering (1 Kings 18:36-38).
When King Hezekiah was beseiged at Jerusalem by the Assyrians, Hezekiah prayed
to God to be saved from their enemy, “that all the kingdoms of the earth may
know that You are the LORD God” (2 Kings 19:19). Through the prophet Isaiah,
God answered, “concerning the king of Assyria: 'He shall not come into this
city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor build a
siege mound against it” (2 Kings 19:32). On another occasion, when Isaiah told
King Hezekiah to set his house in order because he would die, Hezekiah prayed
to the LORD. Then the LORD told Isaiah to tell Hezekiah, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears;
surely I will heal you” (2 Kings 20:1-5; see also Isaiah 38:5). Zacharias was told by an angel, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias,
for your prayer is heard; and
your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son” (Luke
1:13). Cornelius told the Apostle Peter
that a man in bright clothing had stood before him “and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and
your alms are remembered in the sight of God’” (Acts 10:31).
Scripture
indicates that people should pray with the expectation that God will answer
their prayers. Jesus told a parable “that men always ought to pray and not to
lose heart” (Luke 18:1-8). James wrote, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him
pray” (James 5:13). The Apostle Peter told Simon to “Repent therefore of this
your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be
forgiven you” (Acts 8:22-24). The Apostle Paul wrote that God is “able to do
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20). The
Apostle John wrote, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if
we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1 John 5:14).
God
wants his people to call on him in prayer. He told Solomon, “If my people, who
are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and
turn from their wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive
their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). When the kingdom of Judah
was in destitute condition, God spoke through Jeremiah saying, “Call to Me, and
I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things.” (Jeremiah 33:1, 3). Jesus
taught his disciples to pray (Matthew 6:5-13; Luke 11:1-13).
Whether
or not God answers a prayer favorably may depend upon the character quality of
the one praying. A blind man observed that “God does not hear sinners, but if
anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him” (John 9:31). In
the parable of the Pharisee and the publican, Jesus taught that an humble
sinner who sought God’s mercy went home justified, whereas the prayer of a
person who trusted in himself was rejected (Luke 18:9-14). James wrote that one
who asks God for wisdom should “ask in faith, with no doubting.” Let not him
who doubts “suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a
double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:5-8). Paul desired that “men
pray everywhere, lifting up holy
hands, without wrath and doubting” (1 Timothy 2:8). James wrote, “you do not
have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss,
that you may spend it on your
pleasures” (James 4:2-3). Whoever would have his prayer answered by God cannot
not be at enmity with God, but must be a friend of God (James 4:4). The Apostle
John wrote, “And whatever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his
commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight” (1 John 3:22).
Jesus warned his disciples not to be like hyprocrites when they pray. That is,
do not pray to be seen by others. Pray in secret, “and your Father who sees in
secret will reward you openly.” (Matthew 6:5-8). Jesus taught his disciples to
pray that God’s “will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10; Luke
11:2; 22:42).
Through
prayer, righteous people have the power of God at their disposal. “The
effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16). “Elijah
was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not
rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And
he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit”
(James 5:17-18). Christians ought therefore to “pray for one another” (James
5:16), to “pray for those who spitefully use you”
(Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:28) and to “pray the Lord of the harvest to send
out laborers into His harvest” (Luke 10:2). “Watch and pray,
lest you enter into temptation” (Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:38; Luke 22:40).
Paul exhorted “that supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and
all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all
godliness and reverence” (1 Timothy 2:1-2). Therefore, “pray without ceasing”
(1 Thessalonians 5:17).
___________________________________________________________________________
Copyright ©, November, 2006,
by Robert L. Waggoner. Permission is granted to copy and distribute this
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