What We Should Do if We Want Answered Prayers

I love the "ask and it shall be given you" verse. Lots of people love it, claim it, depend upon it. It's like a shiny gold coin on the sidewalk. We want to grab it and keep it safe, to pull it out when it's most needed.

"Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you " Matthew 7:7

As I read those words today, I realized they were spoken toward the end of the Sermon on the Mount. There's a good bit that comes before the asking and receiving. 

The "part that comes before" is not an accident. Jesus spoke as He did intentionally, so we'd do well to take a closer look, just in case we want to do any asking.

The Sermon on the Mount begins with the Beatitudes, then "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Matt. 5:16

There's also the call to right living with right motives, in "... unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 5:20

Jesus talked about our thought life and the sins we commit in our minds. He addressed how we respond to our enemies and those who are unkind to us, our relationship with our Heavenly Father, our prayer life, fasting, generosity, and worry. 

Just before He talked about asking and finding, He covered the issue of judgmental, critical spirits. "First take the log out of your own eye," He demanded. Matt. 7:5

After all the other issues were addressed, Jesus moved to the topic of answered prayer. It was "after" for a reason. If we want the kind of answered prayers Jesus promised, we have to take to care of those issues covered in the first part of the Sermon on the Mount.

I'm not saying that God refuses to answer the prayers of those with unconfessed sin. If He waited for sinless people to pray, He'd never get to answer any prayers. 

The truth is that our relationship with our Heavenly Father matters. Prayer is a two-way conversation. If we're estranged from our Lord, because of ongoing sin, we can't expect to have a compelling conversation with our Heavenly Father. 

If we want a vibrant intercessory prayer experience, we need to focus first on relationship. 

Seek His face, not just His hand.

Today, let's ask God to do a heart-check and show us anything that needs to  change, then allow Him to heal our "log-eye" disease, clean up our lamp so light can shine, and transform us into the image of Christ.

Let's seek His face, not His hand. When we do, many of those "problems" will fade into insignificance and we will be able to ask for those things He most desires to give.
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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: The Sure-Fire, No-Fail Cure for Whining.
#prayer 

The Special Forces Warriors

These are just some of the Prayer Warriors at the Bruce Community Living facility. 

Monday, I drove to Bruce to talk with the residents about participating in the Untapped Power Grid project. We discussed the words of our Lord to the apostle Paul, "My power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor. 12:9) These precious Prayer Warriors already know the truth of that verse. Although their bodies are weak and many are confined to wheelchairs, God's power is being made perfect in their weakness. 

These brothers and sisters know and understand Scripture in a way most of us have yet to achieve. They've lived through the Great Depression, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam, the turbulent 1960's. They've lived through agonizing loss, terrifying sickness, and heartbreaking frailty. They KNOW God is able, because they've seen Him do the impossible, over and over again.

This group had already considered how they wanted to partner with us before I arrived. They wanted to take one missionary family and pray the biggest prayers they could. 

They'd memorized the words of Jesus, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father." (John 14:12 nasb) 

"If we're going to do the works Jesus did, we need to know what those works were," I said. "What did Jesus do?"

They were quick to reply. Healed the sick. Raised the dead. Gave sight to the blind. Hearing to the deaf. Made the lame walk. They knew what Jesus did, and they had already determined to participate in His mighty work by praying big. 

Those prayer warriors chose a missionary doctor and his family, partly because they wanted to participate in the healing power of our Lord through their prayers. They wanted to write letters to their missionaries to encourage them. Meet them when they come to the States.

One of the ladies in the group is three months away from being 100 years old. She knows how to pray big and she plans to spend her last days, however many she has, doing just that. 

I was in awe of these warriors. They aren't fooling around. This isn't just a substitute for bingo. They're a kind of divine Special Forces unit. This is war, and they intend to wage it. And win.

I hesitated a minute, then gave them my prayer card. "If you're praying big, pray big for me, too." They grinned and nodded. They would.

I gathered my extra prayer cards and prepared to leave. Before I did, I made my way around the room, hugging every one of our warriors. They hugged me back and whispered in my ear, "Thank you." 

It's we who should be thanking them. Some of our warriors have been in the facility for years. They live far from family. Have few visitors. It's the love of God that has sustained them thus far, but I'm praying the body of Christ will choose to sustain them with our love and gratitude, as well, as we go forward together. 

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As a peer-to-peer funded missionary, your support for this prayer ministry (and this blog) is vital in multiple ways, and aids in furthering the Kingdom of God. Please partner with me as God leads through your prayers, your participation as a facilitator, and by giving financially.(I don't get paid a salary or get ministry expenses reimbursed if I don't raise funds.) Thanks for your help!

Here's the link to donate online: Leanna Hollis Account #4841
(You can mail a check to Global Outreach (put account #4841 in the "for" line) to
Global Outreach
P.O. Box 1
Tupelo MS 38802

 #719project  #prayer