Devotionals
WHAT KIND OF PRAYERS DOES GOD ANSWER?
by Sis. Lee Alcaide
Scriptural Reference: John 14:12-15

When Jesus said “ask anything in My name and I will do it” in v 13 ,was this a promise to answered prayer, that we can ask whatever we want as long as we pray in His name?. Is this what Jesus meant in this passage?

Christians have never understood the promise that Jesus gave his followers in this passage. .It is vital that we understand the context of Jesus promise to answered prayer

WHAT KIND OF PRAYERS DOES GOD ANSWER?

There are 4 conditions when He gave this promise :

1) ON THE BASIS OF FAITH (V 12A- “anyone who has faith in me”)

A. Prayers which God answers are prayers of those who believe that God is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

How much faith does it take to move the hand of God?
The Bible said that by the earnest, diligent, seeking of God is the greatest expression of faith. If you really do have faith, you will diligently seek God.
So the question is – Do we really diligently pray to God?
If you do not have faith, you will diligently not seek God.
Lets look at Hebrews 11:16, “but without faith it is impossible to seek him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”. We know by this verse that it does take faith to move the hand of God.

B. Asking demands action
1.God is not a divine vending machine, that you just ask even w/o acting on it
2. Prayer without action is as useless as action without prayer.
“Pray as if everything depends on God, then work as if everything depends on you.” (Martin Luther)

2) FOR THE PURPOSE OF WORKS ( v 12a – “will do what I have been doing”)

Take note that the promise of answered prayer is connected to the

A. Doing of His works

Jesus intended that the church would continue the ministry that He began while on earth when He said.. “he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also. He will do even greater things than these…”.

How do we know if the church have chosen not to grow?
It can be determined in a variety of ways.

a) By the programs they offer – their programs only cater to believers & not to the unchurch.

b) By the amount of time and energy they invest in evangelism.

CHALLENGE: Let’s evaluate , as a church , is our prayers more focused on praying for doing God’s work or more on praying our personal prayer request?

B. Asking for God’s will
We are challenged in our prayer life not to pray for our will, but to pray that God’s will be done in our lives and in our world.

Evaluate your prayer, is your prayer more focused on knowing God’s will and working with Him than it is on telling your needs & doing your will ?

3) PRAYING IN THE NAME OF JESUS (v 13-“I will do whatever you ask in My name)

What does it mean to pray in Jesus’ name?
It is not simply adding the phrase” in Jesus’ name” to the end of the prayer . The name of Jesus is not some kind of magical formula that we can say like “Abracadabra,” and, presto, we will be answered .
To better understand what Jesus meant by this, take note the promise to answered prayer is again repeated in
John 15:7 – “if you remain in Me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish & it will be given you” -
What happens when we have an intimate walk with God., when we go to Him in prayer, God conforms our will to His will so that our will yields completely to His as we allow His will to prevail.

Prayer does not change God, it changes us!

Prayer is not the twisting of God’s arms in order to make Him do what we want Him to do for us but rather

Prayer is finding God’s divine will, coming into agreement with it, and declaring that his will be done in that situation.

4) TO THE GLORY OF GOD (v 13b- “that the Son may bring glory to the Father”)

Whatever we ask must have as its purpose that the Father may be glorified. In the Son.
Our prayers should not be for selfish gain but for the glory of God.

Our prayer will be answered if the ultimate aim of our prayer is to glorify the Father. If there is no prospect of God’s glory being obtained through our prayer, that prayer will not be answered.

CLOSING: CHALLENGE: :
Let’s begin to intercede consistently and specifically for the power and presence of God in our home, at our job, inour church.

Related article: What kind of Prayer does God answer?