Prayers (2)
Prayers • Sermon • Submitted
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He hears us
He hears us
21 Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive. (2 Chronicles 6:21)
So, we can ask ourselves, how do we know that God hears our prayers? The easy answer is we don’t. We often come to prayer because we are forced to pray. Either our circumstances or a friends become too much for us to handle without God, and so we pray. Jeremiah disagrees with my statement that God may not be listening, or that we do not know He is listening. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. (Jeremiah 29:12)
So, Ephesians tells us that in all instances we should pray for each other, 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. (Ephesians 6:18)
In a book I just received from a long-time friend called Prayer, by Timothy Keller, I have begun to think in terms of teaching on prayer, and also learning myself to go deeper into prayer. The thought behind Timothy Keller’s book is considering , “Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God” In the book of James we find that the possible reason for prayer is when someone is in trouble. 13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. (James 5:13) Yet, in this last verse we also find that if you are happy you should also sing songs. So, is singing a form of prayer? I believe so. We know that the Psalms written by several individuals, were also prayers, and that the early church sang these Psalms.
So, what is important to remember about prayer is that we must believe that we will get what we pray for. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.(Mark 11:24)
Lets go back now and investigate how we can know that God hears our prayers. Can it be as simple as just believing that He hears us, or is there something else we should hang our hats on? First of all I think it is a mistake to think that every one of our prayers will be answered quickly, and so waiting for an answer can seem like no answer at all. When I was beginning the journey towards answering my call into ministry part of my obedience was offering to learn as I went along. This often meant long hours of prayer. Asking God questions like where do you want me to attend school? With no answer coming to me through prayer and meditation, I began to wonder is there anybody up there?
Muslims are called to pray five times daily, and Jews three times, and yet as Christians we can forget how important in can be to talk to God. During those early times I found it difficult to wait for God to give me an answer. My patience grew thin as I needed confirmation about my thoughts concerning my prayers. It was so important to me that I get it right, or at least in God’s will. But nothing came from above so I moved on. By that I mean I traveled around the State looking for a school I could attend for my Bachelors Degree. Every school I traveled to had the same word for me, you need to start over, it has been too long since you completed your Associates Degree. Needless to say I was devastated, could it really be God’s answer to me that I start over? Then, just weeks before classes were do to start that fall, I received a call from Anderson University, are you coming to school? They agreed to start me out with full credits as a Junior. God answers prayers.