Teaching using The Battle Plan for Prayer by Stephen Kendrick & Alex Kendrick. Chapters 7.
What are God’s Answers to Prayer?
God always answers prayers. But he may not give the answer we would choose. Jesus said that if we ask we will receive. We ask through our prayers.
For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and
to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:8.
God is not Santa Claus who gives good gifts just because it is Christmas. God answers us in a way that is for our future good and his glory.
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—
how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32.
If you examine your past prayers over time you will probably realize that most of the prayers were answered yes. Maybe not exactly the way we expected but still yes when reviewed through spiritual learning. God answers prayer in five different ways.
The first answer is Yes, immediately. Sometimes God’s will and timing are exactly in step with what we are asking. God is able to answer these requests quickly. Sometimes he even begins preparing the answer long before we pray.
Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. Isaiah 65:24
In Genesis 24 Abraham’s servant was traveling among Abraham’s kinfolk and searching for a bride for his master’s son, Isaac. He prayed that God would grant him success and give him a sign pointing to the chosen girl. Before he finished praying God answered his prayer.
Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. Genesis 24:15.
God sent Rebekah to the well before the servant began to pray. Or perhaps God directed the servant to that well to pray. God knew Rebekah was on her way. God is preparing answers to prayer you have not prayed. He is preparing people and circumstances that will arrive in your life at exactly the right time. God is not limited by time. He already knows what you will be praying in the future. He knows what is needed to answer that pray. An immediate yes is always a blessing.
The second answer to a pray is yes, but in time. This is a delayed answer not a denial, but an answer you must wait to happen. God knows when it is the right time. He knows the timing that shows his glory and allows our preparation to be completed.
Zechariah was a temple priest who prayed many times for a child. But in his later years his wife was still barren. One day God gave Zachariah a stunning answer to his prayers.
But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard.
Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. Luke 1:13.
The third type of answer is yes, so you will learn from it. Sometimes God gives us something we really don’t need or want. We pray without understanding and God decides this will be a lesson for us.
The children of Israel wanted a king like other nations. God told them the earthly king would tax them, conscript their sons, and make then slaves. But the people insisted they wanted a king to rule over them. God gave them what they ask.
But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. The Lord answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.” 1 Samuel 8:19-22
As difficult as it may be, we do better when we trust God to give us what we need in his time and according to his will. There are days when we will thank God for saying no and praise him for understanding better than we do.
The fourth type of answer is No, because your heart is not right. Sometimes we ask for things for the wrong reason. We ask to satisfy our desires rather than to glorify God. God sees that our heart is not ready and says no.
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives,
that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:3.
“Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me,
since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord. Proverbs 1:28-29.
The fifth type of answer is No, I’ve got a better plan. Sometimes we cannot see the greater picture and we ask for something small that we can understand. God has a bigger more in-depth plan that what we are thinking.
When Lazarus died, Martha told Jesus that if only Jesus had been there Lazarus would not have died. Jesus purposely delay in going to visit Lazarus. He told his disciples that Lazarus was dead.
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said,
“Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me,
but I said this for the benefit of the
people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice,
“Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands
and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
John 11:41-44.
Jesus said no to healing Lazarus, but he had a much greater plan. Jesus chose to show God’s glory by raising Lazarus from the dead! This was something no one thought to pray. It is good for us to ask for more than we think is possible. God may choose to surprise us.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
according to his power that is at work within us, Ephesians 3:20.
We all know there are people who are not healed. The job may never be ours. The person we thought we would marry ends up with someone else. Even though our prayers are not always answered the way we want, we can still trust God to have our best interest at heart. God will always walk with us through any hardship and work for our well-being. Keep praying and trusting God.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who
have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28.
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