Luk 11:5-13 “And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
This must be looked at in context. Far from being a comparison, it is actually a contrast. Unlike this so-called “friend” who won’t help you unless you bug him to death; God is a good Father. Ask Him and receive; seek and find; knock and it will be open. Will He give you something bad when you ask Him for good? No. We must understand this. Many times people attribute good to chance, but bad as coming from God. This is the opposite of the truth. Good is from God. He doesn’t give bad when we ask for good.
Three things are very important for us to know about prayer. 1. God’s Promise - God answers prayer! 2. God’s Example - there are many examples of answered prayer in Scripture! 3. God’s Condition - There are Scriptural conditions for answered prayer we must heed in order to be effective!
1. God answers prayer. Jer 33:3 says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not (see also Ps 145:18-19, Jn 14:13-14, 15:16). Joh 16:23-24 says, “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” God wants us to call on Him in Jesus name. He wants us to ask. He wants to show us mighty things. He wants our joy to be full. We need only believe this and act on it. He proves this by Biblical example.
2. Examples of answered prayer. Act 4:29-31 says, “ And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. (see also Act 9:11, 40; 28:8, 1Sam 1:27, 2Kin 6:17-18, 4:32-33). There are so many examples of God answering prayer, I couldn’t possibly list them all here. But this is enough to show God answers when we call Him.
3. Conditions for answered prayer. The Bible lists several conditions we must meet if our prayers are to be answered. These are: 1. We must seek Him with all of our heart (Jer 29:12-13, Heb 11:6). There must be no half-heartedness in our prayer life. 2. We must not doubt (Mk 11:23, Jam 1:5-7). 3. We must believe we have received the answer when we pray - not when we see it (Mk 11:24). 4. We must forgive (Mk 11:25). 5. We must pray according to God’s will. This comes through knowing God’s Word (1Jn 5:14-15, Jn 15:7). 6. We must believe on the name of Jesus Christ, and love the brethren (1Jn 3:22-23).
When we cooperate with God in prayer, we are sure to get our answer. Pray everyday. Have a prayer list. Pray for specific people. Pray for specific things. Lift up God’s Word to Him. He is willing and able to answer all of our prayers prayed in accordance with His word. Do not faint in prayer. Press in and get your answer. God hears and God answers. Believe it and receive, or doubt and do without! Until next time, rejoice in The Lord!
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