BY CLIFTON JONES
One of the most inspiring elements in prayer is God’s promise to hear and answer the call of his children. It is to our advantage to impregnate our hearts with the promises of God, so that when we pray with confidence knowing that He hears and will answer. Praying and receiving answers will stimulate you praying above anything else.
A few days ago, I miss-laid my wallet and for two or three days I searched high and low. Finally, I looked up while lying on the bed and ask the Lord to show me where my wallet was. I got up and the Lord said, “shake the covers on the bed.” Notice He said, “shake the covers,” and I shocked them forcefully, and out came my wallet. I told the Lord, “thank you.” To someone this might seem to be a small thing, but to me my wallet is major. And not finding it until I ask Him is of great importance to my confidence. He hears and answers prayer.
Oh yes, two days later I was scheduled to fly out of Meridian, Mississippi to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but my flight was canceled. The flight attendant booked me on a flight out of Jackson at 10:20 a.m. I returned home to get one of the ministers to take me to the airport, and on our way the car had a blow out and we didn’t have a lug wrench to change the tire. After checking with three near by homes with no success, I started talking aloud with the Lord. By the time I finished, a car passed by, stopped, turned around and came back. The driver was a young lady en route to work in a town about half way to the airport. I rode to her destination, she got out and was telling her co-workers my situation, when the supervisor overheard the conversation and took it upon himself to drive me to the airport. We are talking about over 40 miles one way, I might add, at no cost. The flight was to depart at 10:20, we arrived at the airport at 10:03. God
did it. Oh yes! He did it.
I think we ought to magnify every answered prayer to encourage ourselves and others, and at the same time magnify the name of the Lord. This will also help us in those times when we must wait for God’s answer. Sometimes it takes much discipline on our part to wait for God’s answer. There is no question as to Him hearing, for his word declares that
Psalm 4:3b “The Lord will hear when I call unto him.”
It is often disturbing to a child of God’s when they pray and pray without receiving an answer. Remember, it is the Lord who told us to pray, and He would not tell us to do something that He had not provided
an answer for. If you know anything about caring for a baby, you know that no concern person would refrain from seeing about a crying baby. So when one of God’s children cry, they immediately get His attention. Getting God’s attention (His immediate attention) doesn’t mean you will get an instant answer. This is where your faith takes over; all you must know is that He hears and will answer.
Psalms 34:15 “The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.”
The treat of ruin does not say God is not hearing your prayers. It is imperative to know what the word has to say in any given area in order to have faith to receive the promise. We must also remember that the
Lord doesn’t work by our time table, but His. Whatever you pray for and whenever you pray keep fear under control, because it will neutralize your faith and rob you of your answer. Even when we cannot
see any sign of God moving, He’s moving.
Psalms 37:4 “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
When Christ becomes the center of our lives, our hearts will delight to do His will. His desires will become our passion. When we do His will our hearts will never seek things that are off limits or destructible to our welfare. Sometimes in our zeal we offer prayers to God, and when they are not immediately answered we lose heart and give up on God. It is at this point that faith and patience become so valuable. There is no area of our spiritual life so vulnerable to the attack of Satan as our prayer life. He knows that if he can cause us to doubt God or keep us from prayer, he is able to dominate our lives. Our defense for his vicious attack is to trust in the promises of God. The abiding knowledge that God hears and answers prayer serves as the inspiration to keep us seeking Him. With each answer we are made to rest more on His word.
All serious prayers need to become serious Bible students, because the more you know what the word says, the more confidence you will have in the process of asking and receiving.
John 5:14,15 “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions
that we desired of him.”
When we load our spirit with the word of God, we automatically act in faith. In other words, without conscious effort you will respond to faith rather than fear or doubt. God’s word is your foundation upon
which your prayer life is built.
I cannot stress too much the importance of loading your spirit with the word of God, so that you can fertilize your faith and your faith will in turn give life to your prayers. When we fix our all on the promises
of God, we act in the God kind of faith and prayer; the effectual fervent kind of praying.
Here are some of God’s promises to answer prayer that I feel will profit you. It would be good for you if you would commit these promises to memory.
Psalms 4:3 But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.”
Psalms 34:15-17 “The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.”
Isaiah 58:9 “Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;”
Isaiah 65:24 “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
Jeremiah 33:3 “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”
Luke 11:9 “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.”
Psalms 91:14,15 “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in
trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.”
This scripture (Psalms 91:14,15), as well as all the others, provides us with some blessed assurance. Notice the Lord said, “I will deliver him: ” “I Will Set him on high:” “I will answer him” “I will be with him in trouble:” “I will deliver him, and honor him. ” This is proof positive that we will never walk alone. Neither are we ever in trouble alone, but the Lord has promised to be in trouble with us, to answer and to deliver us.
The next time you feel that you are under attack from the enemy, be sure to point out to the devil that you know that you are not alone.
I John 4:4 “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
There is no devil or demon that can defeat you and Jesus standing together. I believe for every need that a child of God faces, there is a promise to lift us above defeat.
Psalms 84:11 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”
The cry of a child of God will always get His attention.
Psalms 18:6 “In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.” Proverbs 15:29 “The LORD is far from the wicked:
but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.”
Micah 7:7 “Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.”
John 15:7 “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto YOU.”
Read these promises.
Memorize them.
Meditate upon them.
Walk in them
THE ABOVE MATERIAL WAS TAKEN FROM PRAYER CLINIC II, 1990, PAGES 45-50. THIS MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHTED AND MAY BE USED FOR STUDY & RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY.
