Let me reiterate: Does God answer every prayer? If He does, that’s great but if He doesn’t, which ones does He answer and which ones doesn’t He answer? These are good questions and ones that many people have asked.
First of all, let’s define what prayer is. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, prayer is a reverential petition made to a deity. So, in light of that definition, one would have to know which deity is being prayed to. In our case, as Christians, it would be Almighty God, Creator of the Heavens and earth. As you know, there are many people praying to idols and false gods. That’s not us.
So how do we know if and when God answers our prayers? To begin, He doesn’t answer every prayer that’s prayed, even by Christians. Why? Because, as you know, everything with God is a faith issue and a heart issue. If we’re not in faith when we pray, those prayers never make it to the Throne Room.
Next, we have to look at what He has already said in His Word to find the answer to this question.
1 John 5:14-15 (KJV)
14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
This makes it quite simple: for God to answer your prayers, you have to pray in faith according to His Word, His will. Then it’s a given that He will hear and answer. God doesn’t answer prayers of unbelief. That would violate His Word and it would mean that He has gone back on His Word and the whole universe would implode.
John 1:3 (KJV) 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Hebrews 1:3a (KJV) 3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power,
My observation has been that many Christians are pleading and begging God to do something about their problem. This will not get the desired results because faith is the way to please God and get answers. [Hebrews 11:6]
Remember, faith is a law of God and it works exactly as He set it up to work. Our problem is that we’ve made up our own rules and then wonder why our prayers go unanswered. [Romans 3:27]
And then there’s the God-part/man-part. God has already done His part but we have to do our part. Too many times people pray for God to do their part and He won’t do that. Let me give you an example.
Many times people pray for God to get the devil off their back when He has told us to resist the devil and he will flee from us! [James 4:7; I Peter 5:8-9]
Then we have Mark 11:23-24 where God tells us to speak to the problem and command it to leave. Then we have to believe we receive the answer before we even see it. Wow! How many actually do that? I wonder! But the really cool thing is that it works when you do it! Oh that God’s people would actually believe Him and do what He says so that they could live a life worth living on planet earth!
So you see, dear brothers and sisters, God wants to answer our prayers. We just need to do it His way and be so glad we did!
Let’s do it God’s way – Pamela
Pamela Moyle Ministries 