loolalooh
Well-Known Member
Prayer requests consist of two-three parties:
1. God: He is sovereign over all things. He determines the answer to our prayers and what shape the answer will take. We have the confidence that "if we ask anything according to His will, He will hear us" and grant our request (1 John 5:14-15).
2. The intercessor(s): This is the person (another person or other people) who brings your prayers before God. "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them (Matt. 18:20)." Our intercessor can also be Christ Himself (Romans 8:34).
3. YOU: You have a dual role in prayer requests. Not only must you pray in faith, but you must walk in obedience to the Lord after that prayer. Yes. This latter part is what many forget when it comes to prayer. Some believe it is enough to say a prayer and have others praying for you. Some believe it is enough to pray according to the will of God. No. We must also walk in obedience. If you pray for healing and the Lord tells you to see the best doctor in town, how can your prayer be effective if you disobey His instruction? If you pray for a husband and the Lord asks you to wait for His timing, how can your prayer be effective if you disobey His instruction? After praying, keep your ears open for what the Lord requires you to do in order to pave a way for your prayer requests to be granted. Don't just stop at "Amen". He may ask you to do nothing (e.g., wait). Or He may ask you to do something (e.g., perform certain tasks). Either case requires obedience.
Just a few Scriptural examples of the YOU part:
1. God: He is sovereign over all things. He determines the answer to our prayers and what shape the answer will take. We have the confidence that "if we ask anything according to His will, He will hear us" and grant our request (1 John 5:14-15).
2. The intercessor(s): This is the person (another person or other people) who brings your prayers before God. "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them (Matt. 18:20)." Our intercessor can also be Christ Himself (Romans 8:34).
AND NOW FOR THE BIG ONE ....
3. YOU: You have a dual role in prayer requests. Not only must you pray in faith, but you must walk in obedience to the Lord after that prayer. Yes. This latter part is what many forget when it comes to prayer. Some believe it is enough to say a prayer and have others praying for you. Some believe it is enough to pray according to the will of God. No. We must also walk in obedience. If you pray for healing and the Lord tells you to see the best doctor in town, how can your prayer be effective if you disobey His instruction? If you pray for a husband and the Lord asks you to wait for His timing, how can your prayer be effective if you disobey His instruction? After praying, keep your ears open for what the Lord requires you to do in order to pave a way for your prayer requests to be granted. Don't just stop at "Amen". He may ask you to do nothing (e.g., wait). Or He may ask you to do something (e.g., perform certain tasks). Either case requires obedience.
Just a few Scriptural examples of the YOU part:
- After Hannah prayed to God for a child, the priest Eli told her to "Go in peace". I believe the Lord was speaking through Eli when these words - "Go in peace" - were said. I believe these words were the Lord's instruction to Hannah. And what did Hannah do upon hearing those words? She went in peace. She "began to eat again and was no longer sad". I believe that had she not gone in peace, had she continued to worry and be downhearted, not only would the Lord have been displeased, but she might've affected her health further, thus making it harder to conceive. But because she played her dual role - praying in faith AND obeying the instruction to go in peace (and, thus eating again and no longer being sad) - she allowed the door to be opened for her to bear that child, a son. (1 Samuel 1)
- James tells us that when we pray to God for wisdom, we must be certain that our faith is in God alone. This is an instruction to us. This is an instruction we must obey or we "should not expect to receive anything from the Lord". We have a dual role when it comes to praying for wisdom: faith that God will grant our request (e.g., praying in faith) AND the requirement that we not be "double-minded and unstable" (i.e., obedience to God only and not in part to the world). If our loyalty is divided between God and the world, our prayer for wisdom will not be granted. (James 1:5-8). NOTE: To be double-minded in these verses, means to be divided between God and the world.
