Prayer - what a lot of questions.

I think the concept of prayer is amazing! The fact of being about to hear from God and speak to Him is just incredible. So how come it is one of the main things that we as Christians struggle with?

I was taught at Sunday School that God not only heard, but answered all our prayers. This really excited me until I found out that “No!” was one of the answers that He used and seemed to use it quite a lot. Is this the case though, does God answer all our prayers? What does the Bible actually say on this matter? How should we pray? Is there a way of praying that always does get an answer? In fact is there a way of praying that always gets the answer yes?

John 15:7
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

It’s a lot easier to take hold of the second part of this verse than the first. For a starter the it’s a lot easier to understand. So we remember and hold onto ask whatever you wish and you’ll get it. No wonder we get disillusioned when our friends don’t get healed, our family doesn’t come to Christ and we never get that ideal job. We can’t embrace the second part before we understand and live out the first part. I’m no Bible expert but surely this verse is saying that if you remain in me, remain in true fellowship with me, walk with me and in my ways; If you know me and know how I operate; if you are in tune with me and get to know my will by seeking me; and if my words remain in you; if you obey my teachings; if my words are on your lips; if your life becomes an imitation of my life - then, and only then, you can ask what you like and I will give it to you. Now, the onus here is actually on the first part. It’s not become like me and then ask to win the lottery and I’ll give it to you. The idea is that when you have walked with Christ, know His ways, imitate his life and have his word on your lips you cannot ask for anything that is outside of His will. When you live with someone you get to know their desires and if you know them well enough you get to know their will, what they would chose etc. If we walk close enough to god we will know his desire in any given circumstance and that which we don’t know we can always ask!!


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.

Again in this passage the important part is not “whatever we ask -- we know that we have”, but “according to His will”. In true black and white layman terms is this not saying - Find out what God wants to do, ask Him to do it, and guess what? He does it!! Yet we continue to ask God for things without a consideration of what His will might be. Then we get annoyed when he doesn’t do what we want Him to! So we are not told that God answers all our prayers - in fact I can’t find anywhere in the Bible that tells us that! (Ok I’m ready and waiting for you all to come back and tell me where it is - as I said I’m no expert!!) What we are told though is to walk with God, have His words (or His will) on our lips, to seek out what God wants to do, pray that He’ll do that and then sit back and watch as He does it. It’s not easy but it’s not rocket science and it could completely transform the way we pray and the levels of confidence and trust in God that we have.

More to follow…