Have you ever experienced the joy of an answered prayer? Do you know that our Heavenly Father answers every request His beloved children bring to Him? Yet unlike what we may expect, He gives us exactly what He considers right and beneficial.
Let us consider an example. When my little daughter asked me for candy for breakfast because she thought it was very tasty, how do you think I responded to her request? I gave her what was actually good for her. Now my daughter has a daughter of her own who does not even know that candy exists in this world. But when this little person begins asking for something, I listen to her requests very attentively and, whenever possible, give her what she wants from me. It pleases me to see a child’s happiness when her requests are granted.
Do you often ask God to do something for you, give you something, or change something in your life? I think these lessons are read by people who already have a relationship with God and have witnessed many answers to other people’s prayers. God performs miracles that cannot be explained or proven in any way, yet they continually happen. This is God’s gift to His children.
The next brick for our house of happiness is called “I pray.” I believe this wonderful material and distinctive feature of our structure contributes far more to God’s work than we realize.
When I pray, I receive according to my faith what I ask for and so deeply desire.
The path to my Salvation begins with a short prayer of repentance or a desire to know God more closely. It begins with the event that prompts me to address the invisible Lord personally and to start expressing my thoughts, feelings, desires, and questions. And the Lord answers.
It is also important to understand that prayer takes different forms. Prayer may be a request, thanksgiving, praise, glorification, an expression of joy, a conversation with God, asking questions, repentance for sins, a desire to know God more closely, an honest discussion of one’s relationship with Him, or even a silent appeal to the One Who knows everything. Together, all of this forms the complete picture called “my life with God.”
And if we take into account that God is Spirit, that He lives in me, and that I abide in Him, then our relationship is so interwoven with every area of life that I can communicate with Him and be heard everywhere and in every circumstance. Although the Lord does not speak to me in an audible voice, He skillfully places His thoughts within me and reveals His will. In all of this, God respects my freedom and treats me very tenderly. He does not force His principles upon me, but offers them as the best path and the best solution.
Prayer to God brings comfort, encouragement, blessedness, and the joy of knowing that God is involved in my life. The answers I receive bring such joy that sometimes I do not have enough words of thanks to express all my gratitude.
The Christian life begins with the first prayer of faith and never ends as long as those prayers continue to be offered.
The Ruler of Heaven—the Lord Jesus—became Man and showed us how necessary prayer is in the life of every person. He continually prayed for everyone and everything and emerged victorious from every circumstance because of His unbroken connection with the Father.
In Christ’s prayer, the destiny of our world was decided. As He struggled against the powers of darkness in the Garden of Gethsemane, He chose whether or not to drink the mysterious cup of our sins and iniquities. In that prayer He gained the greatest victory, the victory through which we are alive today and have the hope of Eternity.
All Eternity will be filled with prayers of praise, joy, and gratitude to God for the struggle of soul that Jesus endured in that terrible conflict when He chose the path of sacrifice for our sins.
I pray. This is the way a righteous person thinks. In this communion with God, I have a very close relationship with Heaven. I can speak with the Heavenly Father, seek counsel from Jesus, and ask the Holy Spirit to open my understanding of various questions. These relationships are completely real, for through the shed blood of my dear Savior I commune with the living Persons of the Godhead.
This communion in prayer to Heaven brings happiness into my life—eternal happiness. I have a relationship with the Eternal Strongholds of the Universe, and this only strengthens my faith.
From a human perspective, there is so much I would like to have, and much of it is simply beyond my reach in this world. If I consider something impossible, I will not even try or attempt to achieve it. But the prayer of faith knows how to find other ways to solve impossible problems.
For example, a loaded truck has parked in front of the entrance to my home, and the driver has gone to visit my neighbor, leaving me unable to drive out of the garage. I do not have enough physical strength to lift the truck and move it aside, and I would not even try. But why not try? I decide to do it. Believing that all things are possible for me, I walk over, grab the side of the truck, and pull upward, but nothing happens. The neighbors laugh at me, yet I do not give up. My wife does not even try to help me, because she knows that we cannot accomplish this by our own strength. Instead, she goes to the neighbor and asks the truck driver to move aside, believing that her request will be heard. The driver responds to her request and very quickly solves all my problems in a different way.
Faith makes my prayers remarkable and effective, and the power of words is able to accomplish great things. I sometimes show my listeners how simple words produce astonishing actions in people’s lives. I ask them to stand, and everyone stands. I ask everyone to look up, and they all look up. I ask them to sit down, and they sit. I did nothing; I simply asked people to do what I requested without exerting any physical effort. Yet my words produced the specific actions I requested in their lives. We should not underestimate the power of our requests to Heaven. Our prayers move God’s hand, and He is pleased to do what He desires to accomplish when we begin asking Him for it, because He has promised us.
For example, I know that God wants us to love one another and has even given us this commandment. If I begin asking Him for this love, what do you think He will give me? Or if He counsels me to buy something very important from Him, and I come to Him for it in prayer, will He give me what He has prepared for me? Yes. The Bible contains many promises for me. They are mine, and I can always receive what they promise—and I do receive it—because He Who promised is faithful.
Why, then, do I not ask? Perhaps I do not know what has been promised to me. Or perhaps I do not believe that I will be given it. Most likely, however, I do not need it. To be even more precise, I have no interest in it and am indifferent to it. What can such a person expect? He will certainly receive nothing. God does not give holy things to those who have no need of them. God loves us and respects our freedom. He will not force upon us what is repulsive to us.
But I want to love. I desire to be happy in Jesus. I thirst to have all of God’s blessings, and I ask for more. I plead with God Himself to be my God. I believe, I receive answers, I love, and I am happy.
Bible verses for this chapter:
1 Thessalonians 5:17–18, 25; Jeremiah 29:11–13; Matthew 5:44; 6:9–13; 21:13, 22; 26:41; Mark 9:29; 11:24; 13:32–33; Luke 6:12; Hebrews 13:18; James 5:13–18; Psalm 39:12; 42:8; 54:2–3; Proverbs 15:8, 29; 28:9; Romans 12:12; Revelation 8:3–4