Does God answer everyone and all kinds of prayers? Certainly not and fortunately.
It would indeed have been so much easier to ask for and get everything you want when you want it, but our life would be all the more difficult anyway. Since when does a man know what he needs? Most of the time, we are asking for things that will destroy us or take us away from the presence of God.
It even happens that our requests are to harm others, or that our enemies die. Now, God does not want the death of the sinner. If God were to give everyone what they ask for, I can’t even imagine what the world would be like. Fortunately, we have a wise God who supplies not our wants but rather our needs, according to His perfect will for us.
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What kind of prayer does God answer?
The purpose of this article is not to provide the typical, magical prayer that always works. No, it is not a question either of wanting to codify the action of God or the answer to our prayers.
Rather, it is a matter of discovering in the light of the Word of God the clues to effective prayer. Afterward, God is sovereign and He answers whoever He wants.
To be born again.
The first step and not the least is to be born again. The Bible tells us that God has wonderful things in store for those who are His (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Better, in one of His last prayers for His disciples, at the time of leaving the earth, Jesus could say to His Father (John 17:9):
” I pray not for the world, but for those whom You gave me ”.
God is a good God and He wants to do good for everyone. But His graces are primarily for those who belong to Him. Thus, He could say to the Canaanite (Matthew 15:26): ” It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.“.
Anyone who is not in alliance with God and belongs to the prince of this world of darkness is a little dog. God cannot do good to someone who is in alliance with Satan unless the latter turns away from his evil ways and revokes his alliance with the devil to enter into a new alliance with the Prince of Peace that is Jesus- Christ.
Pray in the name of Jesus Christ.
We must pray in the name of Jesus Christ because we have no right to anything on our own, we have no merit. It is through Him that we have become the Justice of God, heirs of the King of Kings. This is why Ephesians 1: 3 tells us that we are blessed with all kinds of spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Apart from Him and His sacrifice on the cross, we cannot claim anything.
John 14-14 (KJV): “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it”
Approach with confidence and without a doubt.
Whatever we ask God, we must ask it in faith, firmly believing that we will receive it. Jacques teaches us to this effect that the one who doubts does not even imagine that he will receive anything from God.
James 1: 6-8 (KJV): “… For he who doubts is like the wave of the sea, stirred with the wind, and pushed from side to side. Let such a man not imagine that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is an irresolute man and inconstant in his ways”
Matthew 21:22 (KJV): “Whatever you ask with faith through prayer, you will receive”
Pray for the right motivations.
James 4-3 (KJV): “You ask and you do not receive, because you ask badly, to satisfy your passions”
More than the request itself, God is interested in our motives. If men look at appearances, God knows how to read the depths of hearts, to discern our real intentions. When we make prayer requests that will only be answered by our selfish pride and passions, we are not answered. Our motives must be noble and serve to reveal the Glory of God.
Remain in the Word and the Word in us.
If we abide in The Word of truth and it abides abundantly in us, our entire thought system will be affected. Our thoughts, words, actions, desires, and motivations will now naturally adjust to what the Word says. Our intelligence is therefore renewed and we no longer want things for ourselves directly, but almost unconsciously we now only have motives for things above. Thus, the Bible states that when we reach this level of merging with the Word which is Christ, whatever we ask for will be granted to us.
John 15: 7 (KJV): “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you like, and it will be granted to you”
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Pray with humility.
God resists the proud and gives grace only to the humble. Whoever approaches God with pretensions, thinking that he deserves something, will not be granted. The condition to be answered by God is to submit to the Word of God.
James 4: 6 (KJV): “On the contrary, he grants more excellent grace; this is why the Scriptures say: God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble ”
Pray in the Spirit according to God’s priorities.
The only way to pray according to God’s priorities is to be in communion with Him and to let yourself be led by His Spirit in prayer. This is why we must take the time to listen to God and not just talk to Him.
We must be sensitive to the directions that the Holy Spirit gives us in our times of prayer.
Perhaps you have planned to pray for your marriage or your finances, do not stiffen your neck if the Holy Spirit directs you to intercede for evangelism or sanctification instead.
That’s what matters to God right now, and that’s the type of request He’s ready to answer right now. But by obeying, you also have what you had at heart and which you have accepted to relegate to the background. God knows our hearts and the requests that are in them. He doesn’t need words to find out.
But before giving us our daily bread, God asks that we first pray for His reign and His will (Matthew 6: 9-13).
Ephesians 6:18 (KJV): “Make all kinds of prayers and supplications by the Spirit at all times. Watch this with complete perseverance … “
Make your needs known with thanksgiving.
Some accuse God in their prayers. They tend to say audibly or inwardly (either way it’s the same with God), “ Lord, what have I done to deserve all of this? “ Or,” Lord why did You allow such a thing in my life? “ Some even say,” Lord, why do You hate me so much? Why are you so unfair to me? “. This is not the best way to approach prayer, it is even the worst it must be said.
Philippians 4: 6 (KJV): “Do not worry about anything; but in everything, make your needs known to God through prayers and supplications, with thanksgiving ”.
When approaching God when it is time to pray, you must present your needs by giving thanks to God for all that He has done in the past, what He is currently doing, or for infinitely greater things. that He will still accomplish in our lives. We must thank Him in advance for what He answers us for our needs which we still expose to Him today. The heart of thanksgiving rejoices in advance over what the Lord is going to accomplish. This creates an atmosphere conducive to the manifestation of the grace of God.
Remain in peace.
The Lord Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He wants nothing to trouble us and that we all remain at Peace in Him. This is why He asks us to unload our burdens on Him to enjoy His Peace, while He takes care of us. Peace is also revealing of the confidence that we have in God, of the assurance that we have in His help. It is the outward sign of our faith and prepares the ground for an answer.
Conclusion:
Let us remember that the Lord is at the origin, the formulation, and the manifestation of any request that He answers.
