How God Answers Prayer
God answers prayer
 “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask
anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he
hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests
that we have asked of him.” (1 John 5:14-15)
 “…The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
(James 5:17b)
 “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open
to their prayer…” (1 Peter 3:12a)
How God answers prayer
 God does not answer prayer miraculously (1 Corinthians 13:9-10)
 God answers prayer providentially
Providence means “to foresee” or to have “forethought” (ISBE)
Literally means foresight, but is generally used to denote God's
preserving and governing all things by means of second causes (Easton)
While miraculous acts of God can be described as providential, the
concept of providence is generally used to describe His care through
natural means (Mark Copeland)
How God answers prayer
 Two providential possibilities
God providentially provides the gospel to man through man
God provided Cornelius the gospel through Peter (Acts 10:21-22)
He provides the world the gospel through us (Mark 16:15-16)
God providentially provides health (James 5:17)
God made man in the beginning with a health system
God can act on a natural system without breaking its law
How God answers prayer
 We must be careful when considering providence
Some things happen by chance (Ecclesiastes 9:11)
Satan is behind troubles (1 Peter 5:8-9)
 God is the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17)
Let us be thankful in all things (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
God’s answers to prayer
 God may grant our requests
Psalm 118:5
Psalm 138:3
 God may grant our requests according to his time
God’s time is not man’s time (Ecclesiastes 3:11; 2 Peter 3:8)
Let us be patient and persistent in prayer
God’s answers to prayer
 God may grant our request in an unexpected way
In his wisdom, he may give us something better than we ask
He may give us our desire through means unusual to us
We may pray to grow in our hope
We may grow in our hope through tribulation (Romans 5:3-4)
 God may deny our requests
Christ in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:39, 42, 44)
Paul regarding his thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-8)
Our response to God’s answers
 Let’s have Christ’s response
“Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39)
“Your will be done” (Matthew 26:42)
 Whatever the answer, let’s remember:
Prayer is a very powerful tool (James 5:17)
God’s grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9)
God will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5)