Did you ever hear the country music song, "Thank God for unanswered prayers?" Don't know about you, but I remember pleading with God for a particular action, actually marrying someone long ago, and now I'm extremely glad that prayer was not answered!
Here's a few Sunday Thoughts about God answering our prayers.
What is prayer? It is communication with God either in our thoughts privately or by our prayers with others. We can pray the prayers we've learned by memorization or simply 'talk' to God. God loves our prayers. Jesus said, "Pray always." He taught us the perfect prayer, the "Our Father."
1. God invented 'time' and is beyond time. For God, who lives in Eternity, everything is always 'now.' God knew what we would ask for and when exactly we would ask for it long before we were created.
2. God hears and answers our prayers always. We think if we don't get exactly what we ask for in a short time, God has not answered our prayers. Sometimes, God says, "NO!"
3. Since God always wants what is best for us, He never will grant our wish if it is not best for us.
4. God loves us so much, he would like to give us everything we ask for as soon as we ask for it! Besides not giving us things that would not be good for us, sometimes God delays giving us good things because the time is not right, or because waiting will help us mature in our faith, hope, and love, and even to help us develop the virtue of patience.
5. There are categories of prayers:
*prayers of Worship or Adoration: We praise you, O Wonderful God, We love you!
*prayers of Penitence: Lord, I'm sorry for breaking your law, for having offended you, by sinning.
*prayers of Thanksgiving: Thank you, God, thank you for everything, my life, my everything!
*prayers of Petition: God, please help me ___, please give me _____.
It makes sense to not only ask God for things, but to praise Him, thank Him, and tell Him we're sorry.
6. There are many benefits of praying:
*we will gain peace of soul.
*we will gain patience.
*we will have our anxieties greatly decrease.
*we will appreciate the beauty in the world and ultimately in everyone we know.
*when we ask for things that are good for us and receive them, we will know that God gives abundantly, far more than we could even dream of asking for! We will truly know we are blessed!
*when we pray with others, our holiness will be multiplied.
*when we finally die and come to our final judgment, God will recognize us! ("Hi, I know you, come on in (to heaven!)
7. God wants us to pray with others. Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them."
8. Part of communication with God is not only praying but listening. We need to quiet our soul in silence and try to empty our minds of distractions. If we are wondering about whether or not we should do an action, God will let us know in our thoughts "Go ahead" or "Not right now" in the words we recognize and understand.
9. The more we pray, the more we'll want to pray. At first, it will seem awkward. God will help us. He wants to communicate with us far more than we could ever desire to communicate with Him!
10. We don't have to scratch our brains and start all over to think of prayers. Go buy a prayerbook!
11. We can pray anywhere, any time, but God wants us to pray together, in church or synagogue or temple, regularly. It is critically important to give WITNESS!
In reality, PRAYER is the POWER of the UNIVERSE! Since no person or group of persons has any power compared to God, the one who asks God to intervene in a particular situation, or prays, is actually more powerful than the greatest nation or leader, president or dictator. We read in the Bible how God's chosen people, the Israelites defeated all their enemies as long as they kept God's laws, the 10 commandments. It is naive and foolish to believe that we can expect God to answer our sincere prayers because we believe in the power of God and the power of prayer yet behave against God's laws, in other words, sin greatly.
Dearest Lord, help us expand our knowledge and experience of praying, learn the beauty and steadfastness of connecting with You, Our Creator!
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