God Wants To Answer Your Prayers
May 29, 2007
Most Christians kind of have the idea that God is the primary obstacle to answered prayer. We think that if we could just figure out how to convince God to let loose of the answer we would receive the help we need. So we cry, or threaten or promise or attempt to bargain in the hope that we will somehow hit on the right strategy for getting God to move on our behalf.
But the Bible teaches something completely different about prayer. The Bible teaches that God wants to answer our prayers. It is His desire to give us what we ask for in prayer. Here's one of my favorite scriptures:
Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Ask and it shall be given you. Shall be given you… Shall be given… Shall be given you. This is Jesus talking and he doesn't say, "might be given you" or "it's probable that it will be given you," or even "if you've pleased God it will be given you" or "if God's in a good mood it will be given you." He says ask and it shall be given you. He doesn't leave himself an out. If I was his lawyer I would have advised him to add some small print here, maybe a footnote or a loophole of some kind, but he doesn't do that. In fact if he were to do that it would be impossible for us to get our prayers answered. He has to provide certainty. He can't equivocate. Any ambiguity on his part will be grounds for doubting on our part. And when we doubt we can be certain of not receiving from God.
So Jesus is making clear to us that, for His part, God will give us what we ask for, when we ask. He repeats it again for emphasis in the next verse:
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