The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven (part 3): ' answered prayers'
If you have not read the first and second parts of this teaching series, I strongly advise that you do so in order to better understand this post.
Years ago, I used to pray like a beggar. I would repeat my words, blubber words like a broken record and even cry some tears to sound convincing to God. I was convinced that if I would pray with a dash of emotion, God would hear me quickly and respond to my prayers. During that period, in most cases, my prayers would not get answered and the devil used to have a field day in my life…
As I grew more mature in the affairs of the Kingdom, I discovered keys to access the righteous desires of my life without acting as a beggar and without being a self-centered indulgent person.
Before I discuss important keys to access the object of your prayers, I need to lay down certain important views that Jesus had on prayer.
In Matthew 6:7-8, Jesus said:
‘And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.’
When a person is babbling in prayer, it is as if he/she is implying that God did not hear him/her the first time they uttered the prayer.
Furthermore, babbling many words during prayer indicates a lack of Faith in God. In other words, it indicates that a ‘babbler’ does not believe that God can hear him/her.
Please note that there is a difference between worship,prayer and praise.
Worship refers to the expression of profound reverence we give to God. Praise refers to the expression of admiration to God and the recounting of what He has achieved.
Praise and worship can be repeated indefinitely, as the passage of Revelation 4:6-8 shows.
However, Jesus told us to simplify prayer without uttering many unnecessary words. Since He has said that, the question that most people ask is the following: ‘why are my prayers not answered?’
God is not a wicked person who wishes to make things difficult for us. By learning and abiding by His teachings, we can actually find out that prayer is easy.
Doing the will of God
In 1 John 3:22, the Bible says: ‘ Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.’
‘Doing the will of God’ makes it possible to receive what we ask from God. I understood this principle late in my Christian life. Instead of investing hours in babbling prayers, rather seek to do God’s will. I discovered that in many cases, the answer to my prayers could be found in just doing the will of God. The more I was doing the will of God, the less prayer requests I would have. Even more interestingly, I have discovered that in doing the will of God, I could find answers to prayers that would have existed if I had not done the will of God.
In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus gives us a model or a template of how we should pray. The model goes as follow:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
Notice that in the above prayer, the execution of God’s will is part of the prayer and is mentioned before the ‘bread request’. In other words, as much as we can rightfully make prayer requests for anything, we should always ask and seek that God’s will be done.
Delighting in the Lord
In Psalm 37:4, the Bible says: 'Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.'
The word ‘delight’ refers to taking great pleasure in something or someone.
Taking delight in God would mean taking great pleasure in Him and in everything that He likes while hating what He hates.
We take delight in the Lord by investing our time in:
Worshiping,adoring and praising God
Meditating on His Word
By living in a way that pleases Him
A person who delights in God can not have impure or unrighteous desires. As we delight in the Lord, God will give us the desires of our hearts.
It is very easy to see prayers answered when you delight in the Lord. Consequently, prayers for personal needs then become very short or non-existent because God will answer to our prayers before we even utter them.
Treating your wife well
In 1 Peter 3:7
‘Husbands, in the same way, be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.’
This one is for married men.
There are many things that can be used to hinder the prayers of a married man. The good treatment of a man towards his wife represents a repellent against anything that would hinder his prayers.
According to 1Peter 3:7, the treatment towards our wives consist in providing safety (being considerate), respect (while recognising that they do not have the same physical strength as ours) and in sharing with them the inheritance that God gave us.
There are many demonic devices that Satan can use to hinder the prayers of a married man. However, by applying 1 Peter 3:7, those demonic devices can be repelled.
The above mentioned keys can assist in seeing our prayer answered.
Should we apply those principles, this will happen:
We will have shorter prayer requests for ourselves. However, we will have more time to pray for others and issues beyond our own needs.
We will have more time to praise and worship and meditate on His Word.
At times, many of our righteous desires will be realised without even praying for them (ref. Psalm 37:4).
Let us delight in the Lord.
Years ago, I used to pray like a beggar. I would repeat my words, blubber words like a broken record and even cry some tears to sound convincing to God. I was convinced that if I would pray with a dash of emotion, God would hear me quickly and respond to my prayers. During that period, in most cases, my prayers would not get answered and the devil used to have a field day in my life…
As I grew more mature in the affairs of the Kingdom, I discovered keys to access the righteous desires of my life without acting as a beggar and without being a self-centered indulgent person.
Before I discuss important keys to access the object of your prayers, I need to lay down certain important views that Jesus had on prayer.
In Matthew 6:7-8, Jesus said:
‘And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.’
When a person is babbling in prayer, it is as if he/she is implying that God did not hear him/her the first time they uttered the prayer.
Furthermore, babbling many words during prayer indicates a lack of Faith in God. In other words, it indicates that a ‘babbler’ does not believe that God can hear him/her.
Please note that there is a difference between worship,prayer and praise.
Worship refers to the expression of profound reverence we give to God. Praise refers to the expression of admiration to God and the recounting of what He has achieved.
Praise and worship can be repeated indefinitely, as the passage of Revelation 4:6-8 shows.
However, Jesus told us to simplify prayer without uttering many unnecessary words. Since He has said that, the question that most people ask is the following: ‘why are my prayers not answered?’
God is not a wicked person who wishes to make things difficult for us. By learning and abiding by His teachings, we can actually find out that prayer is easy.
The keys for answered prayers
Doing the will of God
In 1 John 3:22, the Bible says: ‘ Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.’
‘Doing the will of God’ makes it possible to receive what we ask from God. I understood this principle late in my Christian life. Instead of investing hours in babbling prayers, rather seek to do God’s will. I discovered that in many cases, the answer to my prayers could be found in just doing the will of God. The more I was doing the will of God, the less prayer requests I would have. Even more interestingly, I have discovered that in doing the will of God, I could find answers to prayers that would have existed if I had not done the will of God.
In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus gives us a model or a template of how we should pray. The model goes as follow:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
Notice that in the above prayer, the execution of God’s will is part of the prayer and is mentioned before the ‘bread request’. In other words, as much as we can rightfully make prayer requests for anything, we should always ask and seek that God’s will be done.
Delighting in the Lord
In Psalm 37:4, the Bible says: 'Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.'
The word ‘delight’ refers to taking great pleasure in something or someone.
Taking delight in God would mean taking great pleasure in Him and in everything that He likes while hating what He hates.
We take delight in the Lord by investing our time in:
Worshiping,adoring and praising God
Meditating on His Word
By living in a way that pleases Him
A person who delights in God can not have impure or unrighteous desires. As we delight in the Lord, God will give us the desires of our hearts.
It is very easy to see prayers answered when you delight in the Lord. Consequently, prayers for personal needs then become very short or non-existent because God will answer to our prayers before we even utter them.
Treating your wife well
In 1 Peter 3:7
‘Husbands, in the same way, be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.’
This one is for married men.
There are many things that can be used to hinder the prayers of a married man. The good treatment of a man towards his wife represents a repellent against anything that would hinder his prayers.
According to 1Peter 3:7, the treatment towards our wives consist in providing safety (being considerate), respect (while recognising that they do not have the same physical strength as ours) and in sharing with them the inheritance that God gave us.
There are many demonic devices that Satan can use to hinder the prayers of a married man. However, by applying 1 Peter 3:7, those demonic devices can be repelled.
The above mentioned keys can assist in seeing our prayer answered.
Should we apply those principles, this will happen:
We will have shorter prayer requests for ourselves. However, we will have more time to pray for others and issues beyond our own needs.
We will have more time to praise and worship and meditate on His Word.
At times, many of our righteous desires will be realised without even praying for them (ref. Psalm 37:4).
Let us delight in the Lord.