Confidence in Prayer

I've been walking with the Lord for forty-three years now, but how and when prayers get answered, or don't, is still very much a mystery to me.

Jesus makes such bold statements about prayer:

"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)

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." (John 15:7-8)

"Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." (John 16:24)

“Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them." (Mark 11:23)

I love those passages. But I have to approach them with humility, because I know I don't completely understand them. Prayer isn't a formula. And God isn't a magic genie waiting to fulfill my three wishes.

At the heart of it, prayer is a conversation with God, which reminds me that I should listen way more than I speak. I should enjoy His presence before presenting my requests. I should regularly express my gratitude for all He's already done.

Because He primarily speaks to us through the Bible, spending generous amounts of time in His word each day is essential. It's not a "have to", it's a "get to".

Someone asked me this week why I read the Bible. I read it because I was created to experience an intimate friendship with God. As I read His word, I get to know Him better, I learn to trust Him more and I become more like Him. And all of this produces fruit in His Kingdom, which shows that I'm a disciple and glorifies the Father.

Let me see if I can connect the dots here as it relates to His word, prayer and having confidence He'll answer.

In John 15:7-8, Jesus explains that if we remain in Him and His words remain in us, we can ask Him for something and He'll do it. This idea sounds very much like Romans 12:1-2...

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:1-2)

Jesus says to remain in Him. Paul says to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. Both mean we need to stay connected to Jesus.

Then Jesus says His words need to remain in us. Paul says we're transformed by the renewing of our minds. How are our minds renewed? By the words of Jesus remaining in us.

What's the result? We see it at the end of Romans 12:2. We gain the wisdom to discern ("test and approve") what God's will is, His good, pleasing and perfect will. Without spending time with the Lord every day, I really won't know what's on His heart, what He's up to, what He's trying to teach me. And so I will have very little confidence that what I'm praying for will be answered.

But when we learn to better know His will and pray according to it, the apostle John writes in 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."

If you want more confidence that the Lord is going to hear and answer your prayers, it starts with spending time in His word. As you get to know Him better, you begin to think more like He does. Your prayers are then shaped by His heart.

And as you make your requests, you will have more confidence that what you're praying for is His will and that He will answer.

The wild card in all of this?

His timing.

We think we're ready for the answer right now, but we rarely are. In the waiting, He's not only preparing the answer, but preparing us for the answer.