TRUE FAITH BELIEVES THAT GOD HEARS AND ANSWERS PRAYER
True faith believes that God hears and answers prayer. A prime example of one who talked with God in prayer and believed in its value was his Son Jesus. His prayer life was so common and so important to him that his disciples wanted him to teach them how to pray as well. They asked him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). Then he taught them the words of what we know as the Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11:2-4; Matthew 6:9-13).
The book of Hebrews describes Jesus’ life of prayer in this way, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:7-8). Even though Jesus prayed in Getsemani, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39), and even though Jesus was condemned and crucified, his prayer was answered because God raised him from death on the third day. While this may seem to be an example of unanswered prayer; in fact, it was a prayer that the Father answered on Easter morning.
Does prayer change God’s mind? In other words, will the outcome be different if we pray? God sent Jonah to Nineveh with the message of impending doom from God because of her wickedness (Jonah 3:4). When the king heard of this, he threw off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in the dust. He proclaimed a fast and decreed, “Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish” (Jonah 3:8-9). As a result, God did not do what he had threatened (Jonah 3:10).
Those who truly believe recognize their sin and estrangement from God. They also recognize that the holy God has a perfect right to withhold his blessing and mete out eternal punishment. A believer doesn’t try to impress God with his good works, considering how imperfect they are. He doesn’t compare himself with others or consider himself superior to them, as though this superiority has any value in God’s sight. Jesus illustrated this with the Parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14). The Pharisee, an upstanding religious leader, told God about all of his good qualities and works. The tax collector, a collaborator with the detestable Roman occupiers of the land, didn’t even dare to look up, “beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner’” (18:13). Jesus said that the penitent sinner “went home justified before God” (18:14).
The principle behind this way of acting is laid out in Ezekiel 33:11, “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’” (Also, Ezekiel 18:23). Psalm 107 gives examples of people who prayed to God in their distress, and God heard them. The implication is that they confessed their error when they cried to God to rescue them from death. Because God showed his salvation, the psalmist urges, “Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind” (Psalm 107:15).
Does God change his mind because we pray? Yes and no. God’s eternal purpose is to draw his chosen ones to himself and make them to become like Christ (Romans 8:29). To this end he orchestrates all of the events of our lives. Already in eternity he knew and loved us, he predestined us, called us, justified us by faith, and also gave us eternal glory (Romans 8:28-30). In this sense, God never changes his mind.
On the other hand, it appears that according to his promise, he answers prayer. Jesus encourages us to pray believing that what we ask for will be done, even to the point of commanding a mountain to throw itself into the sea (Mark 11:23-24). If anyone received power to perform miracles, it was the Apostle Paul. Yet there came a time that Paul asked God to remove a “thorn in the flesh.” Three times he pleaded with God and each time God did not remove it, but the Lord responded, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). In our imperfect present circumstances, the Apostle Paul wrote, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches out the hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27).
The great chapter describing the heroes of faith, Hebrews 11, tells of those who won great victories and others who lost their lives. Some “through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies” (11:33,34). Others “faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated “(11:.36,37).
I believe that all of them prayed with faith. All of them were delivered, whether in this life or for the better things in God’s eternal future.
Someone who truly believes approaches God with the attitude of a servant. We don’t come to God asking him to serve us and fulfill our desires. How is God going to satisfy the desires of a group of people who come with requests that are in direct conflict with others? Or, requests that are contrary to God’s revealed will? James warns, “You do not have because you do not ask. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (4:3). The psalmist writes, “If I cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (66:18). Proverbs says, “If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable” (28:9). Rather, we align our wills with the will of God. The psalmist writes, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).
Those who truly believe can bring anything to God in prayer. It doesn’t matter if it is great or small. God takes pleasure in our coming to him with a trusting heart. Paul wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6). Jesus said, “Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:31-33). And Peter added, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). True faith trusts that God will work out everything to our good, so that we might be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:28-29).
We have a tendency to judge true faith by the positive results of prayer requests. This is not right. If we ever want to evaluate someone’s faith, it is better to ask, “Is this person obeying God’s revealed will over time?” This is how the book of Hebrews measures faith. In every circumstance let us pray and not give up. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).
