From time to time, we all face crises that need urgent prayer. Health crises, family crises, financial crises. Life is hard, and it humbles us. We are frail, and need God’s deliverance. This is part of being human.
Psalms 34:4 says |
I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
So I want to share with you some words of encouragement on the topic of prayer.
In 1 John 5:13-15 the Apostle Jesus loved writes |
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 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.
One of the perks of being a child of God is confidence toward Him. We can have confidence, confidence that He loves us, confidence that He hears us, and confidence that he’ll grant any request that’s aligned with His will.
Now, this doesn’t mean that God is a genie in the lamp. I remember back in 1992, Disney’s Aladdin was released. Remember Robin Williams as the genie? “Phenomenal cosmic power. Itty bitty living space.” The genie lived in a tiny compartment, and summoned by his master to grant wishes on command. God is not a genie. We are not His master. We are His children. He is Our Father.
Remember the Lord’s Prayer? TURN TO Matthew 6:9.
And when you pray… 9 Pray then like this: (let’s say it together):
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
This brings me to my first point:
Petition Your Father. He cares for you.
I think it’s important to note that Jesus began this prayer, “Our Father.” He wanted us to be reminded with EVERY prayer that we are petitioning OUR Father. And what father doesn’t want to bless His children? God may not want to spoil His children, but He does want to bless us.
Our prayers should begin with respect and affection. Our Father: hallowed be your name. YOUR will be done. This means that our requests should always put God’s will ahead of our request. Who can know the mind of the Lord? But whatever you’ve got planned, Lord, Your will be done.
According to Your will: (v11) give us what we need, but not more than we can handle. (v12) Forgive us as we forgive others. (v13) Lead us. Deliver us.
Romans 8:14-17 | 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…
We cry Abba Father! In the modern vernacular: Dad, I need you!
Further down in this passage, it reassures us: 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
It’s not about the words. It’s about the heart being aligned with the will of God. And when our hearts are conditioned to seek Him, His will and His purpose, it’s all going to work out for the good. Every time.
Right after the Lord’s Prayer, in Matthew 7:7, Jesus encourages them:
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
Your Father wants to bless you with good things. He loves you. Do you trust Him? Trust Him to provide. Trust Him to forgive. Trust Him to lead. Trust Him to deliver.
This brings me to my second point:
Discussion
- Jesus begins the prayer “Our Father.” What changes about a request when it starts there?
- “Your will be done” comes before “give us this day.” Why that order?
- Do you trust Him? Which of the four is hardest for you right now: to provide, to forgive, to lead, to deliver?
Watch your motives. Focus on Him.
James 4:1-3 says, ” 1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”
Is your prayer something covetous or contentious? Are you asking to win the lottery or a competition?
Should we place a sports bet and ask God that one team wins over another? No!
If our prayer is to obtain something, something you’d take regardless of God’s response, that prayer will fall on deaf ears. Watch your motives.
Back to the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:19.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Who is the master you serve? Your Father? Or Your desires? If it’s Your Father, you are storing up treasure in heaven. That’s where your heart is.
But if your master is simply to satisfy desire, your motivation is corrupt.
Now, this isn’t to say that God doesn’t care about your needs. He does!
Philippians 4:19 | 19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 4:16 | 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
As a child of God, He knows what you need. He cares for your needs. And you can have confidence that He will help at just the right time.
But an answer delayed can teach us patience and build our defenses against anxiety. And that brings me to my third point.
Discussion
- “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly.” What makes an ask wrong, according to James?
- Something you’d take regardless of God’s response. Is there a prayer of yours that fits that description?
- He supplies every need. What is the difference between a need and a want in the thing you are praying for?
Fear not. First things first.
At the end of the gospel of Matthew, the final words of Jesus were this:
Mat 28:20b | And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Knowing He is with us, always & forever, is reassuring, isn’t it? So fear not.
Psalms 34:17-19 | 17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
Psalms 27:1 | 1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalms 56:3-4 | 3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. 4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?
Psalms 23:4 | 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Fear no evil. He is near. He’s with you. He will deliver you. He will comfort you.
So why does He allow the crisis to begin with? Why can’t life just be smooth sailing and crisis-free? Why all this affliction? Remember, first things first.
Keep your finger in Matthew 6 and TURN TO 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 |
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
The Father wants us to experience His comfort in our afflictions so we can be equipped to comfort others who are suffering affliction. This is our ministry.
Back to Matthew 6:25. We can comfort our brothers and sisters in Christ; and remind them there is no need to fear. No need to be anxious.
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
There is power in prayer. So fear not. But first things first.
God’s will, God’s glory, God’s kingdom, his righteousness: seek these first. Seek these first, and your needs will be met.
James 5:16 says,
“The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
But I prefer the KJV translation on this verse:
“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
God wants our hearts to be pure and our prayers to be fruitful. This is living proof to others that we are His disciples.
John 15:7-8 | 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
But we must abide patiently in Him. I realize it’s not always easy.
Our Father Hears Our Prayers.
So do as Paul suggests in
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 | 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Discussion
- “The Father wants us to experience His comfort in our afflictions so we can be equipped to comfort others.” Where has that already happened to you?
- Seek first the kingdom. In a week of real fear, what does seeking first actually look like on a Tuesday?
- Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances. Which of the three is hardest, and why?
Something to Sit With
To recap:
- Petition Your Father. He cares for you.
- Watch your motives. Focus on Him.
- Fear not. First things first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does God answer every prayer?
God hears every prayer from his children. But answers are aligned with his will, not our wishes.
Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes it is wait. Sometimes it is no. In every case, the answer flows from a Father who knows what is best for his children.
What does it mean to pray “according to his will”?
Praying according to God’s will means aligning our hearts with his purposes before presenting our requests. It starts with “your will be done” and trusts that God’s plan is better than ours, even when the outcome is not what we hoped for.
How do I pray when I don’t know what to say?
Romans 8:26 promises that the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. When words fail, the Spirit translates the cry of the heart. Prayer does not require eloquence. It requires honesty and trust.
Why does God allow suffering if he loves us?
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 explains that God comforts us in affliction so we can comfort others. Suffering is not random. It is often the classroom where God equips his people for ministry. It builds patience, trust, and compassion.
What is the difference between worry and prayer?
Worry carries the burden alone. Prayer hands it to God. Matthew 6:25-34 contrasts anxiety with trust, urging believers to seek first the kingdom and let the Father handle the rest.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway.