Answered Prayer

The heart of a Christian longs to pray according to God’s will. The intercessor desires to know how to pray so that those lifted to the Lord by the spirit receive what they truly need. Scripture promises that when we call, God will answer, but we do not always receive what we ask for. What are God’s qualifications for answered prayer as we pray for our hearts' desires for ourselves and others? We know that He hears those who belong to Him, but what is needful for the Lord to grant them? Wouldn’t you like to know what it is that must be present for our prayers to be answered affirmatively?

“Again, I tell you truly that if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:19-20 BSB

The Bible gives us clear directives on what not to do when we are praying. It is not to be a show to impress others, to appear holy and religious, to be seen in the doing of it. We pray to the Father of all in secret, in our intimate and holy relationship with Him:

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6: 5-6 BSB

We do not need to use many words to be heard by the Father. He already knows what we need and invites us to come to Him to talk about it.

“And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” Matthew 6:7 BSB

Jesus taught His disciples to pray to the Father in His name. Praying in the name of Jesus is more than adding “in Jesus’ Name” at the end of a prayer. It is praying in the very nature of the Lord. His nature is love. For answered prayer, pray in His nature. We can remind ourselves of all the qualities of His nature in 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Bright and Morning Star, the Lamb of God sacrificed for the sins of the world. How do we pray in this most holy and powerful Nature?

Praying in Jesus' name means coming to God the Father with Christ's authority, relying on His righteousness, and asking for things that line up with His will. It is not a casual ending, a routine phrase that magically seals the request. It is a declaration that we are looking to Jesus in faith about Who He is. It is directed by Jesus in many of His teachings. Meditate on these:

"And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." John 14:13–14 NIV

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you." John 15:16 NIV

"Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." John 16:23–24 NIV

"Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:20 NIV

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:17 NIV

Jesus and the Father are One. Jesus gave us access to the Father. When we follow Jesus’ directive on how to pray, we pray to Father God, trusting that, because of Jesus, He hears us. We have been on a long, long path back to the intimate relationship with Father God that was lost in the Garden. Jesus said He came to save that which was lost. All of humanity was lost, along with the intimate personal relationship with the Father. Destroyed by sin, the way back into the Garden was forbidden, protected by the flaming swords of the angels.

"Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:20 NIV

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:17 NIV

We give thanks to Father God when we come to Him in prayer. We thank Him for giving us His Son, Jesus, to live within us. We give thanks in trust that He is able to handle everything! We give thanks as an expression of trust that He Who doeth all things well can do so in every matter we bring to Him. We give thanks in honor of our heavenly Father Who knows all about us and loves us the same. We give thanks that the Lord Jesus Christ is ever interceding on our behalf.

How Father God longs for intimacy with those who belong to Him. The laws He gave to the Israelites were meant to preserve their relationship with God. He wanted the best for them; He longed to protect, heal, and bless them. In the Old Testament, we often see His great Father’s heart grieving over His wayward children, just as earthly parents grieve over their children who have lost their way. He is a God of heart relationship.

We know the law cannot be fulfilled by sinful human flesh. It took the sinless flesh of the Son to fulfill the law and open access to the Father again. How He delights in His children, urging us to come to Him with all our needs, promising to hear and respond. As we walk and talk with Him, becoming more and more intimate with Him, we are learning to have His heart in the matter. This then is the foundation for receiving a YES answer to what we ask of Him.

We must become more and more like Him, which is exactly what He accomplishes within us as we walk and talk with Him. We learn His thoughts and ways on any matter. As He writes His laws and statutes upon our hearts, we are growing up into His likeness and image. We have the holy spirit to provide discernment as we are guided into all truth.

Righteousness. Being right in all things as only Jesus Christ has been on this earth, is an important part of praying in His nature. Coming before God with a clean heart, cleansed of sin, and honoring God.

“And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” James 5:15-16 ESV

Faith and belief. We come with our faith, even that faith that is tiny, like a mustard seed. We ask in faith as well as confess unbelief to Him when present.

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 NIV

“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Mark 11:24 KJV

“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6 NIV

“And answering, Jesus is saying to them, ‘If you have faith of God, verily, I am saying to you that whosoever may be saying to this mountain, 'Be picked up and cast into the sea,' and may not be doubting in his heart, but should be believing that what he is speaking is occurring, it shall be his, whatsoever he may be saying.

Therefore I am saying to you, all, whatever you are praying and requesting, be believing that you obtained, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:22-24 CLV

According to His will. ‍We learn His will as we read His words, learn from godly men and women about our Lord, and walk in His ways. As with people, when we spend time with God, seeking with sincere hearts to understand Him, waiting upon His guidance and direction, we come to know His will in many matters. We learn of His justice and mercy as we walk and talk and enter into God’s presence.‍ We have every reason to be confident that He hears us, as we are His beloved children.

“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.” 1 John 5:14-15 NIV

Generosity to the needy. When praying for our own needs, we must be aware of others’ needs and give willingly, even generously, to those who are struggling to meet their own needs. We are to give freely with a willing heart. In this way, our own work and undertakings are blessed. We are to give in secret, not in front of people, to impress them. If we do, that’s our reward. Wouldn’t you rather please God?

“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.

Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin.

You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’” Deuteronomy 15:7–11 ESV

Confession and repentance. We are to come to the Lord with a clean heart, confessing and repenting of any sin, any missing the mark. This is a requirement to know we have been heard.

“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened…” Psalm 66:18 NIV

“Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.” Isaiah 59: 1-2 NIV

Right motives. God always looks at the heart. Not only does He know our deepest desires, He is also able to cleanse us, writing His law upon our hearts, giving us a new heart as the mind of Christ flourishes within us. Christians are to hear the needs of others and take them to the Lord in sincerity and truth.

“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” James 4:1-3 NIV

“Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.” Proverbs 21:13 NIV

Obedience. We learn to live obediently, knowing there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. We are living, moving, and having our being, our lives, in Him. We are to spend our days remaining in His presence.

“This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.

And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”‍ ‍ 1 John 3:19-24 NIV

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” John 15:7 NIV

Perseverance. This requires trust that Father God has good things to give to those who ask. There is no time limit to persevering in prayer. Many saints have prayed for years for a loved one, persisted in asking the Lord to act in the lives of others for their good. The spirit within causes us to know when that prayer is heard and granted. Then we give thanks for the answers we are assured have been heard and granted.

“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:13-16 NIV

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” Luke 18:1 NIV

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Colossians 4:2 NIV

The Lord’s Prayer. Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer. It is a pattern, not a rulebook. Prayer is a conversation with God.

“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ Matthew 6:9-13 NIV

Amen.