Can I Be Confident That God Has Heard My Prayer?

CAN I BE CONFIDENT THAT GOD HAS HEARD MY PRAYER?

1. Christ has promised access.

- Luke 11:9; John 14:14; John 15:7.

- Through what Christ has done for us, we have access to God the Father.

- It’s important that our right to come to the Father is not based on our actions or behavior. If that was the case, we’d constantly be losing that right.

- Rather our right to access was purchased through Christ’s death on the cross.

- This gives us confidence to know that Jesus has opened the door for us through what He did, not what we did.

2. Boldness has been encouraged.

- Ephesians 3:12; Hebrews 4:16; Hebrews 10:19.

- Look up a verse or two.

- It’s not just that we have access, but we have been invited to be bold in our prayers.

- This is not a begrudging right that God has granted, only to be reluctantly answered. God encourages us not only to pray, but to pray boldly.

THEN WHY HAVEN'T I SEEN HIM MOVE?

1. There might be issues with your spiritual maturity.

- James 1:2-4; James 5:16.

- James 1 speaks of delays increasing our faith.

- Waiting and seeing God come through causes us to have more faith and confidence in Him.

- Faith, after all, is the evidence of things not seen.

- Two specifics:

a. Active sin in your life.

- There may be significant sin in your life that’s keeping God from being able to do what He wants to through you.

- Obviously, confession is the first step.

- If we’re unsure if this is the problem, we should start by sincerely seeking God. Ask Him if there are things in your life that need removed.

- God has clear reasons to answer that request, since He wants you out of that sin.

b. Greater maturity to handle answers.

- Sometimes the doors that we want Him to open would ultimately be destructive to us.

- It might be a job with significantly higher pay, but we’re not mature enough to handle the money wisely.

- It might be a romantic relationship, but we’re not mature enough to see that have a solid foundation.

2. There might be issues with others’ hearts.

- Matthew 23:37.

- God will not force people to do things they don’t want to do. He has granted us free will.

- Sometimes God may be ready to move forward on our request, but a full answer requires someone to change their heart. God is simply waiting on that piece to fall into place.

3. There might be issues with timing.

- Matthew 16:20.

- There may be issues with the timing of bringing the answer. Various pieces falling into place require a delay.

- God may be bringing things in a much larger picture than just our lives, which may necessitate the part we want completed to be held off.

- Example: Karen and I at Marshall, not meeting for five years.

4. There might be issues with spiritual warfare.

- Daniel 10:12-14.

- In Daniel there is an interesting story where an angel says that he was delayed in delivering a message because of demonic opposition. There may be times when prayers are not answered as quickly as we’d like because of spiritual warfare in various forms.