As a child of God we are the recipient of many blessings simply because we are part of the family of God. These blessings such as having our sins forgiven and the promise of eternal life are ours because of our relationship with Jesus. Other blessings such as the joy of the Lord and great peace come to those Christians who are walking in the will of God. However, there are other blessings such as seeing our loved ones come to Christ that are often dependent on the great vehicle of prayer.
Pastor Charles Stanley shared how prayer is the great link between God’s power and our needs and desires when he said: “[Prayer] is the link between God’s inexhaustible resources and people’s needs…God is the source of power, but we are the instrument He uses to link the two together.”1
Throughout Scripture we see numerous examples of God intervening in the affairs of man to meet needs as a result of believing prayer. We know that God has infinite resources at His disposal to meet our needs but without persistent believing prayer we often fail to tap into these resources, with the result that needs fail to be met.
How prayer specifically works will always remain somewhat of a mystery but throughout the Bible God challenges us to put Him to the test and believe that He will answer. One of my favorite verses, that I have trusted in with regards to prayer is (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.”
I challenge you, as well as myself, to not try to figure out how prayer works but to just trust God that He will answer our prayers when we are seeking to have needs met.
In closing, there are a few things to remember when we pray. One, we must pray according to His will. Two, God’s timetable is not our timetable and His delay in answering our prayers must be respected. Three, God reserves the right to answer our prayers in a way that may not be what we expect. Four, persistent and continual prayer is often needed to obtain the answer to our prayers. And five, if you really want to see God answer your prayers, then make God being glorified through the answer, the highest priority of your prayer!
1 150 QUOTES BY CHARLES STANLEY [PAGE – 7] | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)