A God Who Answers Prayer

The Lord is good. He is so very very good. Our God, the God of the bible is a God who answers prayer. Although His answers to prayer may take years in some cases, in many other cases, He is answering prayer every single day. Consider:

Luke 11:2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:“‘Father,a hallowed be your name,your kingdom come.b 3Give us each day our daily bread. 4Forgive us our sins,for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.c And lead us not into temptation.d’”

Each day that we receive our daily bread, is a day of answered prayer. Any what does "daily bread" mean? Well, obviously it means the food you put in your mouth each day, but I would also submit to you that it means everything we need to make it through each day.

In recent days, I have asked the Lord for help just to make it through the next 12 hours at times, and everytime He has come through for me. This writer has received exactly what was asked for. This writer knows for a fact that it was his Lord that answered him.

The Lord absolutely does provide for his people...daily. Another example of this?

Exodus 16:4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

6So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, 7and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” 8Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”

One of the things I have learned about the Lord is that His way most of the time is to provide for us at the point of need, not before, not after, right exactly when it is needed. Does that make sense for a God who requires faith of us? Sure does. Does it make sense when we consider we serve a perfect and all powerful God who can provide at the perfect time, every second of every day without fail? Yep, that makes sense too. The hangup is, will we trust Him? That's the part the trips most people up. They ask, but they really don't expect anything to happen. They really don't believe.

The bible is clear that we are to expect results from our prayer. We are to ask with the expectation of receiving what we asked for:

Mark 11:22“Havef faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23“I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours

We are a needy people, we were created that way. Why? So we would ask, seek, and be knocking (Matt 7:7) constantly on our Father's door for provision. We are to be constantly face to face with our Lord, not only in asking, but also in thanking, praising, in requests of all kinds, in love, in fellowship, in admiration and the list goes on. Everything and anything we need can and will be found at the feet of our Lord who can be trusted to deliver for us. We do have a part to play in our provision though. We are to ask and believe that answers are on the way as we pray. The Lord has commanded us to do many things, those are the things we are expected to do. Read your bible, find out what the Lord has commanded us to do, and do it. Will you be perfect? No, but we are all expected to do and to give and to act with all the strength we have been given today to try to be perfect for Him.

Remember the parable of the talents in Matt 25? Each of us will be responsible to give an account for what we have been given. Some have been given little and some have been given much and we will all be accountable for what we have. Let's do our best, each and every day with what the Lord provides to please Him in every way. His commandments are not burdensome, and He is a wonderful, awesome God. He is worthy of our best.

This is all being written to you today to encourage you to pray and not give up. Hold on. Persevere, be tenacious. Give every ounce of effort you have today to be the person you are called to be "in Christ." Only you know what the Lord has called you to. Understand that we are dearly loved children. Keep the faith.

grace and peace