What Is Meant By An Answer To Prayer?

I think first of all, we should consider what is meant by an answer to prayer. Answered prayer is not just getting what you asked for, but He will give you an answer to your prayer if you earnestly seek Him for an answer.

Name it, Claim it?

Satan has successfully accomplished what man cannot by  crossing all denominational barriers by sneaking false doctrines into many churches everywhere that focus on pleasing self and its needs rather than on pleasing God and His needs. This false gospel I am speaking of comes in many forms and is so well disguised that many do not even recognize it. Many well-respected ministers have fallen to its tenets, unaware. It is often called the ‘prosperity gospel’. Basically, it tells us to “name it, claim it and frame it”, “Write Your Own Ticket With God.” It has painted a picture very pleasing to the flesh that God is sitting there just waiting for a chance to give us our selfish desires. But the fact is, we were put on this earth to please Him, not the other way around. Sometimes, He will not give what we ask for some very good reasons.

One reason He may not give us what we specifically ask for is that we shouldn’t be asking for it in the first place and we know it.

Don’t get me wrong, money in itself is not evil. 1 Timothy 6:10, which states, “For the LOVE of money, [not money, but the love of it], is a root of all kinds of evil.” In other words, the excessive love of money. I would like to be rich. Maybe I will someday, but God has not promised we would all be rich in material, earthly treasures. One need only look at the apostles and the prophets in the Bible to verify this to be a false doctrine. If that were such a paramount and true doctrine, as some preach, then surely apostle Paul or one of the prophets would have been rich and preached it. Jesus said John the Baptist was the greatest man born to a woman, yet he wore camel’s hair, lived in the desert and ate locusts and wild honey. Jesus speaking of Himself said, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath nowhere to lay his head”(Matthew 8:20). Are you praying selfishly? If God gave you what you were praying for, would you offer it back to Him for His use? David Wilkerson, when he wrote The Vision, spoke of seeing Satan approaching God’s throne as he did when he claimed he could make Job curse God if God would allow him to take everything from him. Only this time, Satan petitioned God to allow him to surround the saints with material possessions, to give them everything instead of taking away and they would get their eyes off of God and curse Him. God’s word speaks true when it says, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). God wants us to “…lay up for ourselves treasure in heaven where neither moth nor dust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through and steal” (Matthew 6:20). “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth.” (Matthew 6:19). “No man can serve two masters [you must serve one and hate the other] you cannot serve God and mammon [selfish desires, material possessions, money]” (Matthew 6:24). Be honest, examine your motives. Are you willing to please God as Job though his closest friends turned against him and he had nothing but a potsherd to scrape the boils on his flesh, though once a rich man and still saying “though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (Job 13:15). Are you serving God for what He gives? The ones that will be standing, though Satan blows his stormy blast of persecution, will be those who have made up their minds to serve God, no matter what, those  whose eyes are on Christ, those who trust in God as their foundation, their foothold and their anchor. Lord. My prayer is give us a revival in the hearts of Christians everywhere that will serve God just to glorify Him, not just for what He can give, that can say with Job “though He slay Me yet will I trust in Him.” Revive us before it is too late. Revive us before the tribulation comes so we may stand and not fall. Don’t let us be like plants having no roots, as buildings with no firm foundation, that will fall when the storms come. God’s is at the door and many Christians are asleep and those who have not preached the Truth, who have said, “all is well,” are rocking the cradle. The Bible warns that those who preach “gain is godliness” that they are “men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth” and we are warned to “from such withdraw thyself” (I Timothy 6:5). True, God will bless some financially, if He blesses you in this way, enjoy it but you should also should seek Him as to how you may bless others through that which He has given and, in the process seek what the Bible says a true man or woman of God seeks after: “follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses” (I Timothy 6:11-12).

As David Wilkerson so aptly puts it, “If in prosperity, you humble yourself, repent and turn to the Lord with all your heart–then in troubled times you will receive a double portion of strength from God. The Christ who called you in prosperity will hide you in times of judgment.”

Other reasons He may not give what we ask for

There are other reasons He may not give what we ask for. He may not give it to us simply because we are not ready for it yet. When I was first baptized in the Holy Spirit, I sought God to let me be an evangelist, instead He allowed me to teach four-year-olds and then 9-12 year olds and directed me in His word to, “be faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things” (Matthew 25:21,23). God prepares us, nurtures us, tries us in various tasks to find us faithful, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much” (Luke 16:10). He must increase in our lives and we must decrease in our eyes. It is the same with financial/material blessings, “If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon [those things material or anything God trusts to you] who shall give you that which is your own?” (Luke 16:11-12). Trust God. Seek only to glorify Him in all things and He will bless you in due season, in His time and His time is always best (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Desire spiritual things above material things, “For we brought nothing into this world [materially] and it is certain we can carry nothing out” (I Timothy 6:7). There is a song that says it well: “Only one life so soon it will pass, only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Can you take No for an answer?

Another answer He may give to our prayer is “No.” If it is, accept it, don’t question it, trust His wisdom. We don’t explain everything to our children when we tell them no, but we expect them to obey and as they get older, we may explain more things to them. I think some people hear that, “no,” and then proceed to pass it off as the devil and justify it with a hundred made-up doctrines based on scriptures taken out of context. For example: “But He promised to give me the desires of my heart.” But what if your desires are selfish or evil? Do you really think God is going to give to you according to wicked desires? You don’t really believe that, do you?

How Does He Answer?

Be assured, though, He will answer, one way or another. It may not be the answer we wanted to hear, in which case we should repent because our desires and wills are not aligned with His. How does He answer? Sometimes it is by a peaceful feeling in our heart that somehow goes beyond feelings, almost as if His voice is literally speaking to us. Sometimes you may feel compelled to read a certain scripture as you pray or a certain scripture you are reading in the Bible may just “jump out” at you and you will exclaim, “That’s it! That’s my answer!” He may just speak to your heart with the assurance that you will hear the answer soon. In this case, keep your ears open to the preacher and the teacher of the word or the brother or sister in Christ. You will know the answer when you hear it. That doesn’t mean to go seek out teaching that will get you what you want, no matter if it’s God’s will or not. Know, too, that sometimes it takes time to get an answer to our prayer. Abraham was 100 years old when God answered his prayer for a son (Genesis 18). Nehemiah prayed 3 1/2 months before the king granted permission for him to go to his brethren (Nehemiah 1-2). Paul prayed 3 years (Acts 20:31). Daniel prayed 21 days, 3 times a day, before his prayer was answered. But be assured, “…the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).

I have a four part study on prayer if you’re interested, just Click Here.

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