[Meek and Humble]

As we know from the Bible, God promises to answer ALL prayers of the faithful. Nothing is impossible for Him. He promises to be faithful to those who ask:

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (Matthew 7:7)

"Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 18:19)


"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." (Matthew 21:22)


"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)


"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 11:13)


"And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it." (John 14:13-14)



Yes, God promises to answers all prayers, BUT, only to CERTAIN people. There are conditions you must meet in order to have your prayers answered.

First a person must be a child of God. God only hears one prayer from a lost man and that is the prayer of faith when an unsaved person asks for forgiveness and receives Christ as their Savior. God does not answer the prayers of those that reject Him as they Lord and Savior.

• "Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshiper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth" (John 9:31).
  

1. We cannot come to God without belief or faith in God.

During Jesus' ministry they brought to him a child that had a evil spirit. Jesus ask the boy's father, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth" (Mark 9:23).

2. Must come in Jesus's name.

• "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." (John 14:13) The person who does not accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, is not believing, or having saving trust in God's promise of salvation and forgiveness for sin.
  
  

3. We cannot expect the Lord to answer prayer if we have unconfessed sin in our lives.

• "If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear" (Psalms 66:18)
  
  

4. Cannot expect the Lord to answer prayer when we are not living for the Lord.


"One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination" (Proverbs 28:9) These are very strong words and make the point that we do not come to God in disobedience. The prayers of the disobedient are an abomination to God.

5. Cannot expect God to answer prayer if we are not doing His will.

This involves more than just keeping the written commandments of the Lord. It involves doing what God wants us to do in our lives.

• "Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him." (John 9:31)

This involves living a godly life and following God leadership. It is God's expressed will for us to be reading and studying His word as 2 Tim. 2:15-18 days.

• "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some"

God's will for us is to be studying His word and to be doctrinally sound in our beliefs. A church or individual who believes and practices false doctrine is out of God's will and their prayers will not be answered.

6. God does not answer the prayers of those who are not at peace with each other. We need to be a peace with one another to have our prayers answered.

• "Likewise you husbands, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered" (1 Peter 3:7)

Family problems can surely cause our prayers not to be answered. Arguing, bickering, fighting in the home will destroy it. It will rob a home of peace and joy. It will destroy the peace and security of the marriage. I have seen so many families destroyed and children lives messed up because the husband and wife would not get along. Notice I did not say it was because the husband and wife could not get along....the true is they can and it is sinful not too. The wonderful thing is, that in Christ Jesus marriage problems can be overcome....that is if the husband and wife want to.

Do you realize the prayers that fathers and mothers for their children are not answered when they do not dwell in peace and honor one another. The husband might say, "Well, my wife is the problem she is always fighting with me. Or the wife might say, "Its my husband's fault." Well, we do not have to fight back, and rarely is there not blame on both sides. The cure is to turn the matter over to the Lord, confessing first one's sins and then making the commitment to live for the Lord. If one partner does this....it will surely end at least half the problem and will make the way for reconciliation.

7. We need to come boldly.

• "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).
  
  

8. We must be persistent in our prayers.
In the parallel account of the Lord teaching the Model prayer in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus followed it with a parable:

• "And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Luke 11:5-9).

Clearly the Lord is teaching us that we should be persistent in our prayers. There have been things that Christians have prayed for, for years and God in His time answered. It is not that God does not want to answer and that He wants to withhold the answer to our prayers, but God knows the time when it is best. Our persistent shows our faith in God and His promise to answer prayer. I like what Barnes says in his commentary on this passage:

• "This is to be applied to God in no other sense than that he often hears prayers and grants blessings even long after they appear to be unanswered or withheld. He leaves them to persevere for months or years, until they feel entirely their dependence on him, until they see that they can obtain the blessing in no other way, and until they are prepared to receive it. Often they are not prepared to receive it when they ask it at first. They may be proud, or have no just sense of their dependence, or they would not value the blessing, or it may at that time not be best for them to obtain it. But let no one despair. If the thing is for our good, and if it is proper that it should be granted, God will give it. Let us first ask aright; let us see that our minds are in a proper state; let us feel our need of the blessing; let us inquire whether God has promised such a blessing, and then let us persevere until God gives it. (Barnes Commentary of Luke)

So remember, if you prayers are not answered, it is your own fault!

(quoted material from here: http://www.bible-truth.org/msg54.html)

[Felicity]

@Heathen_Basher well said. With God EVERYTHING is possible! #Luke 18:27

[Jeb Stuart Thurmond]

A good lesson in personal responsibility. In large print too....I'm assuming that there's a certain senior citizen who needs to read this? I'll call the Freehold Maximum Security Rtirement Chateaux and have them set this thread to the default homepage on their computer.