James said, “The prayers of a righteous man are powerful
and effective (Availeth much)” (James 5:16). Jesus tells the disciples
that if they have no doubt, “If you believe, you will receive whatever
you ask for in prayer” (Matthew 21:22).
What a great promise. James again says that if we lack wisdom we should
ask God who will give generously “But when he asks, he must believe and not
doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea blown and tossed by the
wind. That man should not think that he will receive anything from God” (James
1:5-7).
So which is it? Does God hear and answer all my prayers. Not
actually. In fact Scripture tells us several times that unbelief and the wrong
motivations of our hearts will cause God to not hear or answer our prayers.
Psalm 66:18 is the most quoted verse on the subject, saying “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the
Lord would not have listened; but the Lord has surely listened and heard my
voice in prayer.” There it is, if we have unconfessed sin in our life
the Lord will not hear us. Perhaps one
on the scariest verses in Isaiah says, “When you spread out your hands in prayer, I
will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourself clean” (Isaiah
1:15). Do you have sins against the
Lord? We all do, but God wants us to
confess and repent of them to Him. Then He
will hear them, but not until we do. Isaiah 59 tells us that “our
offenses are many in your sight.” Don’t turn your back on Him, go to
Him while He may be found, “Do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews
3:8).
“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are
attentive to their prayer; but the face of the Lord is against those who do
evil” (1 Peter 3:12-13). Jesus in Matthew 15 teaches about clean and
unclean, what goes in and out of our hearts and minds. “These people honor me with their
lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain” (Matthew
15:8-9).
“I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans for hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and
come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me
when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you” (Jeremiah 29:11-13). This very reassuring verse, which is often
quoted, gives promise to God’s good plans for our lives. He is telling us to
seek Him with all of our heart, being fully devoted, completely. As Azariah, priest
to Asa the King of Judah said, “If you seek Him, He will be found by you,
but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you” (2 Chronicles 15:2). Keep
Him in your heart first. A little earlier in this Book comes the much lifted up
prayer of Solomon in dedication of the temple saying “I have heard your prayer and
have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. When I shut up
the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or
send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will
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 heal their land. Now my
eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place” (2
Chronicles 7:14-16). Finally I
will quote the Prayer of Jabez, a little known Jewish brother who was more
honorable than his brothers, who cries out to the God of Israel “Oh,
that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and
keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain. And God granted him his
request” (1 Chronicles 4:10). He had humbled his heart and asked for a
territory for God or ministry in this prayer. It is not a prayer for land and
riches except those of God's glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Our prayers are answered when our hearts are clean in motivation
and sin confessed. God is eager to respond to our requests and bless us for the
Kingdom of God. So keep on asking.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts.