Good Morning.

Prayer is one of God's greatest gifts to us, wouldn't you agree? I have found that not only is there much to learn about it, people WANT to learn about it, and talk about it--especially when God answers prayer--the Divine intersecting our paths. It is unbelievably exciting to know that the God of the Universe both hears and answers our prayers! Yesterday we discussed some of the reasons people don't pray, and about the nature of prayer. James' next thought: "And even when you do ask, you don't get it because your whole motive is wrong--you want only what will give you pleasure." (James 4.3) Does that mean God is a killjoy and does not want us to have any pleasures? Of course not, though there are some people that avoid Christianity because they are certain they would just have to give up too much. James is referring back to the behavior of the young Jewish Christians in the first couple verses in chapter 4--where he corrected them for their jealousies and coveting of position and possessions that only caused fighting among them. Asking God for these same things was wrong because their desired motives for these outward gains was wrong.

So, let us explore then what kind of prayers God answers. Jabez is a little-known figure in the Bible who prayed, "Oh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" So God granted him what he requested. Certainly, Jabez' requests were in the Father's will--blessing for himself, (a novel concept for me until I read The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson a couple years ago; before that, I had not prayed that God would bless ME!), he prayed that God would expand his influence for the kingdom (that he would influence others to follow God), that God would help him stay away from evil so that he would not hurt other people. Jabez' prayer can be found in 1 Chronicles 4.10.

This caused me to look further into why God answered his prayer--1 John 5.14-15: This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of Him. The key to answered prayer: asking according to God's will.

John 15.7: If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. Key to answered prayer: abiding in Him--staying close to Him and His Word. You have begun to 'abide' if you spend time digesting Scripture and praying daily. The greater your exposure, intake and understanding of God's Word, the more you will learn of God--His character, behavior, values, plans for you, etc. and most of all, you will learn of His unending, unconditional love for you. Then you will want to draw closer to Him. . . to abide in Him. Further, as you abide in His Word, you learn about the overall will of God. Then, your prayer requests will line up with the will of God. Thus, as John said in 1 John 5 (above), we can ask God in confidence because we know He hears us.

There is another key to answered prayer that we might just as soon overlook, but it is critical for effective prayer and a healthy Christian experience. The psalmist says it simply, If I regard sin in in my heart, the Lord will not hear. (Psalm 66.18) In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus had taught the disciples to say, "Forgive us our trespasses..." In order to be in right relationship with God, we must seek forgiveness for the wrongs/sins we commit. I see this more clearly when I relate it to daily life. By way of example, if I have just yelled at my friend in anger, maybe even throwing in a degrading remark or two, and then turn around in the next hour and say, "Hey, do you want to go shopping tomorrow?" She is likely to say, 'wait a second here--a little while ago, you said. . . and now you want me to go shopping with you?!" You see, there would be unfinished business between us--I had hurt her, offended her--and I needed to take care of that before moving on. Hurt feelings have to be addressed in order to keep the relationship whole. I just don't think my Lord is too different than that. . . if I have hurt Him and have 'unresolved business' then start praying as though there is nothing in the way . . . well, at the very least, I believe there would be some 'interference in the line'. 'you hear me talkin? Key to answered prayer: Unresolved sin must be taken care of.

Some powerful verses that kind of sum these things up: Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him. Wow! 1 John 3.20-21 It is a lot of work to live life feeling condemned (guilty), so I love these two promises: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1.9 And then, how amazing is this assurance? As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our sins from us. Psalm 103.12.

So, be free, my dear friends,

and pray with abandon in that freedom,

Christine