again on prayer

Today I've been camping out in the Psalms. This is a rich book-full of truths, praises, prayers and so much more. Over the past sevearl years, and since moving to Honduras, God has revealed to power of prayer. Not only my own prayer but the prayer of others as they share with me their prayers and the answers God gives. He always gives an answer. There is never such a thing as unanswered prayer, sorry Garth Brooks. God gives answers, not only do we see it in our lives, but it's in scripture:

I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4, ESV)

So, how do we pray? Do we pray and believe that God hears us? Do we talk to Him (which is all prayer is) in the same way we talk to our best friend? He made us. He knows us even better than our best friend. He knows what we are thinking and wouldn't it be nice for Him to hear us tell Him what we are thinking? It's like this: He can hear what we are thinking, and then He can hear us say to ourselves "God doesn't care, He won't listen, He won't answer." And the enemy will continue to feed us that lie because it will keep us from communicating with our Father. So let's start expecting something more:

In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice;
In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch. (Psalm 5:3, NASB---hey that rhymes)


When we pray, let's watch eagerly and expectantly. He will answer. He always answers, and from my experience, there are several different answers: yes, no, not now, not yet, in my timing, not your way but mine, or yes--because your way and my way are the same. So let's have confidence that He will answer:

I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my words. (Psalm 17:6, ESV)

Will he answer overnight? He has. Will He wait several days? Sometimes. Will He wait several months, even if there is pain? Probably. Will He even wait as long as five, ten, fifteen, or fifty years? Yes. But HE WILL ANSWER, we just need to remember paitence, as it is a fruit of the Spirit (see Gal. 5:22).

I waited patiently for the LORD;
he inclined to me and heard my cry. (Psalm 40:1)


We cry out to Him. He hears our cry along with our praise. He answers and He waits. He teaches us patience along the way. We wait, eagerly and expecting an answer.

Praise you Father for you are good, merciful, gracious, and faithful to strengthen us and encourage us through our prayers as you answer them and teach us the reason for your answer.