PRAYERS THAT RECEIVED AMAZING ANSWERS FROM GOD
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OUTLINE
1.THE PRAYER OF JABEZ
2.THE PRAYER OF HANNAH
3.THE PRAYER OF HAGAR
4.THE PRAYER OF JACOB
5.THE PRAYER OF HEZEKIAH
6.THE PRAYER OF JEHOSHAPHAT
7.THE PRAYER OF HABAKKUK
THE MESSAGE
PRAYERS THAT RECEIVED AMAZING ANSWERS FROM GOD
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1.THE PRAYER OF JABEZ
Jabez had a life changing experience as a result of his prayer. The first 9 chapters of the book of I Chronicles records a long list of geneology mentioning just the bare details of their names. However in the case of Jabez the scriptures elaborate further and mentions his remarkable experience with God. Jabez stands out among the long list of names. He began his life with sorrow as his mother named him Jabez because she gave birth to him in pain. Jabez faced a stigma in his life as a result. However instead of spending his life blaming his mother for the curse on his life , Jabez decided to seek God for a life changing experience.
Jabez called on the God of Israel and asked for a five fold blessing . He wanted God to bless him and remove all the curses on his life. Secondly he wanted to grow and expand . He did not want to remain stagnant in his life. Thirdly he wanted tha hand of God to be with him . He did not want to labour relying on his own strength alone. He wanted the hand of God to work with him and prosper the work of his hands. Fourthly he wanted divine protection from evil. He realised that he was living in an evil world and sought divine protection for his life. Fifthly he wanted to be delivered from sorrow. He wanted to experience joy and happines in his life. He wanted God to remove needless sorrow and pain from his life.
This prayer was pleasing to God as it was God’s desire that His people should experience all these blessings. Therefore God granted the desire of Jabez and his whole life was transformed.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
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I CHRONICLES 4:9-10
" Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, "I gave birth to him in pain."
Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request. "
2. THE PRAYER OF HANNAH
Hannah had a wonderful answer from God to her prayer which exceeded all her expectations. Hannah had no child because the Lord had shut her womb and Peninah the other wife of her husband was humiliating her on this account. This unbearable agony drove Hannah to seek God with her whole heart. She poured our her heart to God and vowed that if God would grant her a son , she would give her child back to God for His service. God answered the prayer of Hannah and the son born to her grew to be the great prophet Samuel. Hannah had desired only a child but God gave her a great prophet as her child.
The provocation of her rival caused Hannah to pray with intensity and receive an amazing answer from God . The Lord had shut her womb and allowed this trial in her life in order to cause Hannah to seek God with her whole heart and receive an amazing answer to prayer. The answers to intense travailing prayers will always be amazing and the Lord allows trials and tribulations in our lives in order to make us seek Him with such intensity and earnestness and receive great blessings from Him.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
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I SAMUEL 1:1-20
" There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.
Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD.
Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters.
But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the LORD had closed her womb.
And because the LORD had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.
This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat.
Elkanah her husband would say to her, "Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?"
Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the LORD’s temple.
In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD.
And she made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head."
As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth.
Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk
and said to her, "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine."
"Not so, my lord," Hannah replied, "I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the LORD.
Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief."
Eli answered, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him."
She said, "May your servant find favor in your eyes." Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.
Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the LORD and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her.
So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the LORD for him."
3. THE PRAYER OF HAGAR
Hagar prayed for her son and received a great blessing from God. Hagar prayed for her son who was in danger of death and wept before God. God heard her prayer and saved her son’s life and blessed him abundantly.There is great power in a mother’s prayer for her children. Mothers have a divine authority to pray for their children as their children are a heritage from the Lord . Their children are the fruit of their womb which they have received as a reward from the Lord and God will surely respond to the cry of a mother and shower His blessings on the children in response to a mother’s prayer.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
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GENESIS 21 :14-20
" Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.
When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes.
Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she thought, "I cannot watch the boy die." And as she sat there nearby, she began to sob.
God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.
Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation."
Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. "
PSALM 127:4
" Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. "
4. THE PRAYER OF JACOB
Jacob prayed desperately to God to save him and his family from the wrath of his brother Esau. Jacob had cheated his Esau of his birthright as well as his father’s blessing and then fled from his father’s house . After many years Jacob is returning to his homeland and was fearful about his brother . He tried to pacify Esau by sending gifts ahead of him but he learned that Esau was coming with 400 men towards. Jacob was terrified that Esau would destroy his whole family in order to wreck vengeance . In this desperate situation Jacob cried to God with his whole heart and received divine protection for his family from the wrath of his brother .
Jacob humbled himself before God and confessed his unworthiness for all the blessings that he had received from God. He reminded God of all His promises and the covenant that God had made with him and forefathers. He claimed the promises of God and threw himself upon the mercy and the goodness and the faithfulness of God and thus was able to save his family.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
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GENESIS 32:3-12
" Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
He instructed them: "This is what you are to say to my master Esau: ’Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now.
I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, menservants and maidservants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.’ "
When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, "We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him."
In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well.
He thought, "If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape."
Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, ’Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’
I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups.
Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children.
But you have said, ’I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’ "
GENESIS 33:1-11
" Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two maidservants.
He put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear.
He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.
But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.
Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. "Who are these with you?" he asked. Jacob answered, "They are the children God has graciously given your servant."
Then the maidservants and their children approached and bowed down. 7 Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down.
Esau asked, "What do you mean by all these droves I met?" "To find favor in your eyes, my lord," he said.
But Esau said, "I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself."
"No, please!" said Jacob. "If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably.
Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need." And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it. "
5. THE PRAYER OF HEZEKIAH
King Hezekiah was facing a great danger from King Sennacherib who threatened to destroy Judah and boasted of his past victories over other nations. In this grave and dangerous situation Hezekiah cried out to God. He told God that although the enemy had been successful with other nations , they should not be allowed to triumph over Judah as they were the people of the true and living God and every one should be see that He alone is the true God. And God answered his prayer and promised them divine protection . An Angel of the Lord went and destroyed the armies of the enemy. Thus the Lord delivered Hezekiah and his people in answer to the prayer of Hezekiah.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
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II KINGS 19 : 9-19 , 32-37
" Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite king of Egypt , was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word:
"Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ’Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.’
Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?
Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them: the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar?
Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?"
Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.
And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD : "O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
"It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands.
They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men’s hands.
Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God."
" Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: "He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it.
By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the LORD.
I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant."
That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!
So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king. "
6.THE PRAYER OF JEHOSHAPHAT
King Jehoshaphat was facing a vast army coming against his nation. In great fear , Jehoshaphat called all his people to fast and seek the Lord . He cried out to God and reminded the Lord of his promises and His covenant and all the mighty deliverances He had given to their forefathers . He claimed the promises of God who had given them this land for their possession and how they were in danger of losing their inheritance now. He expressed his utter helplessness in facing this battle and threw himself solely on the Lord . The Lord answered the prayer of Jehoshaphat and took complete responsibility of the battle and assured them of victory . As Hezekiah sent worshippers ahead of the army who proclaimed the praises of God , the Lord caused the enemy to fight among themselves and destroy each other . Thus the Lord granted total victory to His people in answer to prayer.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
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II CHRONICLES 20:1-30
" After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat.
Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, "A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Sea. It is already in Hazazon Tamar" (that is, En Gedi).
Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.
The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.
Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the LORD in the front of the new courtyard
and said: "O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.
O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?
They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying,
’If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’
"But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them.
See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance.
O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."
All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD.
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.
He said: "Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: ’Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.
Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel.
You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’ "
Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD.
Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with very loud voice.
Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful."
After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: "Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever."
As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.
The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.
So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it.
On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, where they praised the LORD. This is why it is called the Valley of Beracah to this day.
Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the LORD had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies.
They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the LORD with harps and lutes and trumpets.
The fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard how the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel.
And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side."
7. THE PRAYER OF HABAKKUK
Habakkuk cried out to God in agony because of the iniquity and wickedness and injustice that was prevailing everywhere. He pleaded with God to intervene and bring justice and righteousness in the land . He beseeched the Lord not to remain silent any longer as the situation was becoming intolerable . The Lord responded to the prayer of Habakkuk and promised to do a work that would be absolutely amazing and unbelieveable . The Lord would bring Judgement on the evil doers and restore justice to his people.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
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HABAKKUK 1:1-5
" The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received.
How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save?
Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.
Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. "
