Answered Prayer

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, August 25th. Are you praying about something but not sure if you're getting through to God? Today's podcast helps you understand some foundational issues surrounding answered prayer.

The How to Talk with God series continues. In our series on prayer, Matthew chapter 7 verses 7 through 11, some verses that all of us ought to memorize and recognize that it is one of God's many passages to encourage us to pray. Let's look at that passage for a moment. He says we're to ask and it'll be given, seek we'll find, knock and it shall be opened. Now the key to that passage is to be found in the next two verses when he says, Or what man is there of you? If his son ask him brave, will he give him a stone?

Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? And here's what he says. If you and I being evil or being sinners know how and do give good gifts to our children, how much more will our Heavenly Father give good things to those of us who ask him? Now here's what he's saying to us.

Now watch this and I want you to zero in on this. The basis of all of God's answered prayer is not my worth or my deserving. The basis of all of God's answered prayer is that God loves you and me. Not on what we think we're worth, not on whether we think we deserve it or not, not on whether we have kept the following 49 rules or not. That's not the issue. The issue is that God loves you and me and that he wants to answer our prayers, he wants to meet our needs, he wants to even give you what you want. Now listen carefully. There are two schools of thought today.

One of them is that the Christian is to live in poverty, suffer persecution and die in poverty and sacrifice for God. The other extreme is this. All you've got to do is just ask God and boy he's just popping his blessings in just like this. Think right, think right, think right. If you say it, you'll get anything in the world you say. Both of those are extremes and both of them are out of balance.

Here's the balance. God loves his children. God wants to meet all the needs of his children. God wants to give his children the desires of their heart. He says delight thyself in the Lord and he shall give you the desires of your heart.

God does want to do that but we must not get off balance on either side. So that what he's saying in this passage is look, he says I want to encourage you about something. Ask and I'll give it.

Seek and I'll see that you find it. Knock and I'll see that the door is open because you being a child of God, if you love your children, the Heavenly Father loves you so much he wants you to have what you're seeking. He wants you to have what you're knocking for.

He wants you to have what you're asking for as long as the Father knows it will not ruin you but build you up. Let me tell you the truth about God. God isn't up in heaven about to send his sickle in and just chop you down. The thing that God wants us to understand about his attitude about sin in our life is that God loves us so much it breaks his heart to see us destroy ourselves. It isn't that God wants to cut you down, it's that God wants to build you up. He knows that grace builds you, sin chops you down. So we need to get attitude toward God right. God is a God of wonderful, righteous, holy love. He wants us to have all that his will provides, all that our hearts desire as long as what we desire doesn't mess up.

Listen, mess up what he wants to do so beautiful in your life and my life. Sin messes up your life. Sin wrecks, ruins, destroys, so he doesn't want sin in our life. And therefore that's why the judgment is against sin, not against you and me as persons.

He loves us but he hates and despises the sin that wrecks the life that he's provided for you and me. Now I want to give you six words because all of these things must be true in your life if God is going to answer your prayer. Listen, if you're going to pray and you don't expect an answer then why pray? Now some prayer and praise is to thank him and to praise him and to glory in him, but even that he's receiving it. But let's take for example the request that you and I make. If it's for somebody else, an inaccessory prayer, some need we have, some desire of our heart, why pray if you don't believe that God's going to answer your prayer?

In fact, the folks who are not praying are not praying because they don't really believe that God's going to answer their prayer. But he says, asking it shall be given, you seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened. With those things in mind, there's six words.

All of them are right things. So first of all, you must have a right relationship and that relationship must be right with him and it also must be right with those around you. If you recall a passage in Psalm, Psalm 66 verse 18, there's a verse here that oftentimes we quote and I want you to listen very carefully, we quote this verse but we don't really understand what it means.

Now I want to distinguish between two things and I want you to follow me carefully now. Listen, when he says in verse 18, if I regard iniquity in my heart, he will not hear me. Let me tell you what that doesn't mean. First of all, when you become a Christian, you're struggling in the Christian life. You're learning how to walk in the Christian life and you fail and your fault and your sin and some things you're guilty of you're not even aware of. And so we struggle to develop the Christian experience.

All right, if every time you and I did anything wrong or every time we made a mistake, God said, close up the windows, shut the doors and lock all of heaven, no more answered prayer, then none of us would ever get anywhere in life. That's not what this verse means. I want to share what this verse means. He says, if I regard iniquity in my heart, he'll not hear me.

Here's what it means, you have to watch me. If I regard iniquity, that means if I aim at evil, if I aim at evil, if I think about it and I choose to do evil, what happens? The windows are shut, the doors are locked and there's not going to be any answers from God. He says, on one occasion, he'll pour out blessings upon us. He says, if I regard, if my life is aiming at evil, he says, he'll not hear my prayers.

That doesn't mean that every time I stumble in the Christian life, God says no more answers. God understands where we are in our Christian walk. He understands the difficulties we have. He understands what we know and what we don't know. He understands our ignorance and he understands our knowledge and wisdom, how much we're applying, how much we're not applying.

The vertical relationship must be right. So what is he saying? What's the opposite of that? The opposite of that is my aim, my aim is to obey God. If my aim is to obey God, that doesn't mean I'm going to obey him every time. If my aim is to obey him, he's going to answer my prayers. If my aim is to do evil, he's not going to answer my prayers.

You see, you have to be careful to be sure that you're not saying, oh God, I'm aiming at you, when that's not what we're doing at all. So first of all, I must have a right relationship. There's a second thing that's important here, and that is the right method.

How do I go to the Lord in prayer asking for something? And here's the key. The key is to be definite and specific, definite and specific. If you recall, for example, in Philippians chapter 4 verse 6, what he says, he says, Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Now listen, first of all, right relationship.

Secondly, you and I must have the right method. Now what is he saying? He's saying don't win the shop when you pray. God bless the missionaries, God bless the pastor, God bless the church, God bless the nation.

What do you mean by that? We are to pray specifically. If you walked into a restaurant and the waitress came and she said, May I take your order? And you said, fine. Food and drink. And she handed you the menu.

She said, you must make a choice. Food and drink. Food and drink is all I want. She says, sir, we have 100 items on the menu and you have to tell me what you want.

Food and drink is all I want. When you say, Lord, just bless me. Now you say, well, now God knows what I'm thinking, but I want to show you a horrible fallacy. Sometimes when we say God just bless me, we don't have anything in mind.

I mean specifically. You say, yeah, but God can read my mind. But if your mind's blank, what's he reading? You think about it. And I'm not saying that to be funny.

It's the truth. You just think about when you say, Lord, bless me. What do you say? He wants us to be specific because when the blessing comes and we say, here's what I asked for and look what God did. He gets the glory, the praise, the honor. Because, you see, it rains on the just and the unjust and some things God provides us we never asked for. And that's where therefore we ought to ask specifically and definitely if we want God to answer our prayer. And somebody said, well, I don't think you ought to put God in the box.

I want to tell you, friend. He's so big, you can't box him up. There's no way to put God in the box. God wants to do more for us than we want to do for ourselves. You know what we do? We say, oh, I'm not worthy of that. God wouldn't do this.

God wouldn't do that. He wants us to be definite. So I want you to notice what he says in Mark Chapter 11, verse 24. Now listen. What things so ever you need.

That's not what he said. What things so ever you what? Desire. He says, delight thyself also, Lord.

He'll give you the what? The desires of your heart. Our whole life is surrounded by things. The things is not the question.

It's where my heart is. What I desire and my attitude. What things so ever you desire when you pray.

Believe that God has already deposited them to your account and you'll receive them. We must get over the hang up of not asking God for things. The things is not the issue.

It is my attitude. First of all, right relationship. Secondly, right method. And that is asking definite. Third one is right request.

Right relationship, right method, right request. What is the request? First John Chapter five. This is the confidence that we have in him. That if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, we know that we have the petition that we desired of him.

So what is he saying? He says we must ask according to his will. Now let me give you a very brief lesson on how to find the Father's will when you pray. First of all, if you have a strong desire for something, don't go tell God, Now, Lord, I don't really want this.

He knows better than that. Just tell him, Lord, I have a strong desire for this or I think I want this. But, Lord, I'm willing for you to have to watch this. I'm willing for you to bring my attitude and my desires into neutrality so that even though I want that, I really want what you want from me more than I want what I want. So you bring me to neutrality. Now, you may have to pray a little while that you can get to the point that you're neutral. Well, you can honestly say, Lord, I do still want it, but I want your will more than I want what I want. If you will pray and ask him to bring you to the point of neutrality, he will teach you very simply when a thing is his will and when it's not his will. The fourth thing that's important here, and that is the right formula.

What is the formula? All of our life we've been saying and tacking on the end of our prayers in Jesus' name, amen. That is not a magical tag you and I put on the end of our prayers because here's what that means. It means, Lord, I'm asking this because it is in character with what Jesus would ask if Jesus were in my circumstances. It is in keeping with his nature and his character as he lives his life through my life.

You see, all of us who believe us are indwelt by him. And because we're indwelt by him, he desires to live his life through us. So we have mundane requests, pots and pans in the kitchen or clothes to wear or a new set of tires for your automobile or something in your business or some lady that needs a new dress or books for your college, whatever it may be.

All of these are mundane but very, very logical requests. And then there's some things that you just desire in life that God really wants to do for you. He says to ask it in Jesus' name. So what you have to ask is this before you tag that on your prayer.

Is this in keeping with the character of Jesus Christ? By my having this, now watch, don't say, oh, God, I don't deserve this, that has nothing to do with it. It may not be God's will for your life for you to be physically or materially wealthy, but I'll tell you something. Friend, if you are spiritually wealthy, you have the wealth the world cannot touch.

And that is the wealth where our emphasis ought to be on. We should ask the question, is this in keeping with the character and the nature of Jesus Christ who was a happy man? I'll tell you why I know he was happy.

The kids just loved him. The kids loved Jesus because Jesus was a joyful, happy man. You say, but he was going to the cross. Right. But more important than going to the cross, what was he doing?

He was walking absolutely and perfectly in the Father's will. And that's the source of joy and peace and happiness. That's why men in history have died at the stake, being burned to death, singing with joy in their heart. They've been shot down with rifles.

They've been put in prison. They can die happily because what? It isn't their circumstances, it's their relationship with Jesus Christ. We must see that the most important thing in our life is their relationship to him. And if he's living within me, and I come to bring a request and I have to say, Lord, would this be in keeping with the Lord Jesus Christ who is living within my life? And if it's in keeping with his character and his nature, because you see, listen, the name, listen. And this we ask, Father, in Jesus' name. This we're asking because it is in keeping with his character. This we're asking because it is in keeping with his nature.

This we're asking because we believe he would ask us if he were in our position. This we're asking through him to you, Father. Write formula in the name of Jesus Christ, and there's some request that all of us have made that we're not in keeping with the Lord Jesus Christ.

So we chalk those off. The next one is the right attitude. What is the right attitude? We'll turn, if you will, to James chapter 1.

And let me show you something, if I might. James chapter 1, and if you will recall, he says, If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and of breadeth not. And it makes no difference what he's asking. He says, let him ask of God. He says, but let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, for he that wavers is like the waves of the sea, driven by the winds and tops. Now watch this.

Here's what it's like. When you and I make a request from God, we say, Oh, God, I'm not too sure you're going to do that. I'm not worthy. But, Lord, here's what you said in your word. God, I'm not sure. This is what the pastor said.

This is what my friend said. This is what you promised. I don't feel worthy.

You know what that's like? He says a man who does that is an unstable man. I want you to watch what he says. He says a double-minded man is unstable, not only in his prayer life, but in all his ways.

Now, friend, that ought to say something to us. So what is the right attitude? The right attitude is faith. Listen, am I going to wave and go by what somebody else says? Am I going to go by what God says? Am I going to go by my feelings or am I going to go by the witness of the word of God? My attitude must be right. The right attitude is the attitude of faith.

And listen, now watch this. What is the basis of Matthew chapter 7? We read that God loves us. What is one of the tremendous attributes of God? God is faithful. What did God say? God said, I'll answer your prayer.

What's that based on? God said he loved us. Is God faithful?

He's faithful. If my relationship is right and I've got the right attitude and I'm making the right request and if I'm using the right formula on down the line, if all of these, you see what I'm really saying is if my life and my lifestyle is right, God is going to answer the petitions of my heart. You're not going to make mistakes. We're going to ask the wrong thing sometime.

Don't get discouraged. God teaches us by our mistakes how to zero in on the right thing. So my attitude must be right and my attitude must be one of faith. It's trusting, listen, one last thing that must be right.

Right relationship, right method, right request, right formula, right attitude and the last one is the right motive. And if you recall in this very same book of the Bible, in Matthew chapter 5 here, what the Lord says about something that you and I ought to be doing. He says, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify God who is in heaven.

Our motive will always be to glorify the Father. You see, the issue is this. If you prayed and God answered, you have the privilege of saying and all six of these things tie into each other just like knitting it all together.

It all ties together. If I make a definite request because I have a definite need or definite desire and God answers my definite request, I have the privilege of saying, here is what I asked for. Here is what God did.

And somebody can't say, oh, that's just an accident. Here is the second thing I asked for, the third, the fourth, the fifth, the tenth. God is glorified.

You know how he's glorified? By his gifts of goodness and grace and mercy to us, which he gives us, whereby we can say to others, let me tell you what God has done in my life as an answer to my prayer. So if you want your prayers answered, you start off standing on the right relationship and these other five things must fall in their proper place. If your prayers aren't being answered, if you'll check out those six things, you're going to find the reason for unanswered prayer. Listen, it is the plan and the desire and the will and the privilege and the joy of the heart of God to answer your prayers. And it's my prayer today that he'll do just that for you. Thank you for listening to answered prayer. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.