Always Yes and Amen!

I am writing this so I can have notes of what I am learning and so I can be accountable to do what I am seeing in the scriptures.  I am not sharing this to convince anyone, but to show in the scriptures what was written so you can make up your own mind.  

What Is Prayer?

I am very aware of the fact that anything we do out of habit, can very quickly become a formula.  God is the giver of all good things and it can be so easy to look to the things He gives, rather than to Him and who He is.  Prayer should never be reduced to a shopping list of requests - of things we need or want.  

I just recently heard someone say that he asked the Lord to teach him about prayer.  That night he had a dream where he saw himself and the Lord sitting at a table at a street cafe.  They each had a cup of steaming coffee.  There was no conversation, they were just enjoying each other’s company.  Prayer is relationship with God, it is a constant conversation connecting with Him, being close and still enough so you can see Him breathe.

He wants to be the first One we come to.  He says we can come boldly to the Throne of Grace to receive what we need (Heb 4:16).  He also says that He will supply all our needs according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:19)  So run to Him first, but don’t let that define your relationship.  Praying should be moment to moment connection with God sharing the good things, being thankful, and also asking to get your needs met.  There should always be a balance.

Jesus is our perfect example.  When He was walking the earth there are many references to the fact that He went to be alone with the Father (Luke 5:16, Mark 1:35, etc).  The Bible just says that He went to pray, but quite possibly He also went to see and hear the instructions of things to do the following day.  The Bible says in John 5:19 that Jesus only did what He saw the Father do.  Perhaps this is what was happening when He prayed every night.  If Jesus needed to do this daily through relationship and closeness to the Father so He could be productive and fruitful the next day, what makes us think we can do things on our own without first hearing from the Father for ourselves?  Perhaps this is already a big key to why prayers aren’t answered.  

God wants daily communion with man.  He showed this in the Garden of Eden where He came to visit with Adam and Eve, walking with them in the cool of the day.  We can still have this, but it is not up to God, it is our daily choice to make.

I am not going to go into the various types of prayer but will rather share some general insights that excites me and makes me want to spend more time in prayer.

Going to God in prayer will always require faith.  We cannot please God without it (Heb 11:16).  Have you ever wondered why this is, or how it works?  God is a good God.  He wants to bless us.  I am sure His love language has to be loving and giving because HE IS LOVE.  But, without faith on our part, we cannot receive the good things He wants to give us - He cannot give us answers to our prayers.  The reason is that He is a spirit and when He gives us what we ask, He gives it in spirit form.  We need to use the faith He gave us to bring those things into this realm.  So, truth be told, God cannot be good to us if we don’t have faith and use it to receive the blessings.  More on this later when we get to the prayers in the book of Daniel.   

Answered Prayer:

We all have memories of situations where we prayed for things that didn’t seem like they were answered.  I have listened to a number of teachings on this topic and was looking forward to writing this blog to put all the verses and truths together.  

There are many verses in the Bible that speak on the issue of prayer.  One of them is the popular one in Mat 7:7 (KJV): 

7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

This verse makes it clear that if you ask it will be given, if you seek you will find and when you knock the door will be opened.  So when we pray and don’t see the answer we desire, that is often the birthground for modern and untrue doctrines about prayer such as “sometimes God says no, perhaps this time He said wait a while”.  All these phrases are a way to explain why what the Bible says, didn’t come true for them.  I have so far failed to find these phrases in the Bible.  

The other popular way of thinking then is to say that God doesn't always answer everyone’s prayers.  That is interesting if you look at what the very next verse says..

8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

So, what is the truth then?  Is the Word true, or our experience?  If the Bible says that everyone who asks receives, then it must mean everyone.  There is obviously something here we are missing.

Another portion of the Bible on prayer that is often used to say that God isn’t always keen to answer, is the parable about the unjust judge and how he only answered the old woman’s request because he got irritated and didn’t want her to wear him out.  This story can be found in Luke 15:1-8.  

If you and I have to be honest, do we really see God to be like this judge, especially in the light of Rom 8:

31 What then shall we say to [all] this? If God is for us, who [can be] against us? [Who can be our foe, if God is on our side?]  32 He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things?

God already gave us the most precious thing He had - Jesus.  Why would He keep things from us that we need, or even want.  I want to present to you that the story about the unjust judge is in the Bible to show the contrast between our Heavenly Father and this unjust judge.  The conclusion to this story can be found in Luke 18:7-8:

7 And will not [our just] God defend and protect and avenge His elect (His chosen ones), who cry to Him day and night? Will He defer them and delay help on their behalf? 8 I tell you, He will defend and protect and avenge them speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find [persistence in] faith on the earth?

The judge was hard to receive from.  Our Heavenly Father is quite the opposite and even delights in giving us the Kingdom.

Luke 12:32 Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom!

Ps 34: 4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.

Besides that the story of the unjust judge serves to contrast the judge’s unjustness with the goodness of God, it also introduces us to the Court system of Heaven and how we can approach God as our Judge.  As this is not the purpose of this blog, I will not expand on this here.

The Question of God’s Will: 

Another thing that people fall back on when their prayers are not answered is to assume that perhaps it was just not God’s will to answer.  Perhaps He only gives you what you need and not the thing you want.  I have not seen in scripture where God says that He doesn’t give those things we want, but only the things we really need.  He is a generous God.  He wants to bless us, in fact the Bible says in Eph 1:3 that He has already blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus.  God wants to sustain us daily, but He also gives blessings.  The dictionary says that a blessing is “something that provides happiness or does good for a person or thing.”  God wants to meet my needs, but He also wants to give me the things that will make me happy and do me good. John 10:10 clearly shows God's heart on this:

10 ...I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

What is God’s Will?

His Will is in His Word:

The safeguard in prayer is that His will is in His Word.  1 John 5 from verse 14:

14 And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us.  15 And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.

According to this scripture, we can know that if we ask according to His will (His Word), He hears us and answers us.  Prayer based on the Word of God is heard and gets answers.  If that is not so, then this scripture is not true.

The Bible is clear that if you pray with doubt and unbelief, you will not receive an answer (James 1:6). So, knowing that you are praying in accordance with His will makes it easier to pray with expectation and faith - without wavering.

We Can Always Ask for Wisdom:

The Bible reveals God’s general will on matters, but if you want His will on a specific matter that you cannot find directly in the Word, then He said to pray and ask for wisdom.

James 1:5 If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of [b]the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him.

The things Jesus bought for us as part of the atonement when He went to the cross, are ours as a free gift and is always God’s will for everyone.  The word “saved” in Eph 2:8 is the Greek word "sozo" and shows what was included in the atonement. It does not only refer to salvation but also includes healing, preservation and to be rescued.  

Eph 2 - 8 For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;

God's promises are always yes and amen. See 2 Cor 1 from verse 18: 

18 As surely as God is trustworthy and faithful and means what He says, our speech and message to you have not been Yes [that might mean] No. 19 For the Son of God, Christ Jesus (the Messiah), Who has been preached among you by us, by myself, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not Yes and No; but in Him it is [always the divine] Yes. 20 For as many as are the promises of God, they all find their Yes [answer] in Him [Christ]. For this reason we also utter the Amen (so be it) to God through Him [in His Person and by His agency] to the glory of God.

If you want to make sure if something is God’s will, find it in the Word.  It will also always line up with His character.

God will never violate His Word or the will and choice of people.  If He could, He would have forced everyone to choose Him and to get saved.  The fact that He respects our choices and that of others, can have an effect when we pray.  Trying to override someone else's will and forcing them to do something we want - using prayer - is a form of witchcraft that should never be used.  

To answer some prayers, God has to use people.  An example is in the area of finances.  If you pray for financial provision, since God does not have physical currency in Heaven and He doesn't make counterfeit money, He is dependent on those He uses on earth to hear Him and be obedient.  This is sometimes why it seems that our prayers for finances are not answered, or not answered speedily.  God is waiting on the person He is nudging, to act in obedience.

Believe You Receive When You pray:

Even if you have prayed according to His word, the answer may still not manifest instantly.  How do you explain this then?  Why does it seem like some prayers are not answered?  Understanding that there is a spiritual realm and how that influences the answers to our prayers, is vital in receiving.

One of the big things that I misunderstood about getting answers to my own prayers is found in Mark 11:23-24 (KJV):

23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. 

Verse 24 says that you need to believe that you receive when you pray - not when you see the answer manifested.  People, myself included, pray and then open their eyes and when things are still the same, they conclude that God didn’t answer.  This could not be further from the truth.  When you pray you can know that God heard you and that He answered you.  But the answer has not yet manifested.  

Heb 10:23 - Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

God Always Answers Immediately:

I have seen this truth about answered prayer a while ago, but the Lord recently reminded me of it again.  It blesses me and makes me feel like all things are possible, that God is easy to receive from because He wants to be good to us and wants us to get answers to our prayers so He can bless us.  

When we pray and don’t see immediate results, we often conclude that God didn’t answer.  Here are two different incidences from the life of Daniel to show that God answered immediately:

In chapter 9 of the book of Daniel, Daniel wanted wisdom from God about the fact that they thought the prophecy said that Israel should come out of captivity within 70 years.  Yet time has passed and at that time, it has not yet happened.  So Daniel’s prayer starts in verse 4 until 19.  If you read the prayer, it might take you about 3 to 4 minutes depending on your reading speed.  Then from verse 20 we see that the Angel Gabriel came in response and answer to the prayer.  He says in verse 23 that he came with the answer when Daniel began praying.  So God answered this prayer immediately.

20 And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God; 21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. 22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. 23 At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.

Then if we move to the very next chapter, chapter 10 of the book of Daniel, we see a similar situation playing out.  Here again Daniel prayed, but this time it took three weeks for his prayer to be answered.

2 In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. 3 I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. 

So the question to answer is why it took God 3 minutes to answer the first prayer, but 3 weeks to answer the second one.  The answer can be found from verse 12:

12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. 14 Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.

In verse 12 we see that once again God answered his prayer immediately.  From the first day he prayed, his words were heard, and the answer sent.  But there was spiritual opposition that caused the delay to the answer.  The opposition was so fierce that the Angel Michael had to come help Gabriel to get the answer through. 

These verses from the two chapters in Daniel as well as the ones mentioned from Mark 11 and Matt 7 should be understood in the context that there is more here than can be seen and experienced in this natural physical world.  

2 Cor 4:18 - Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting.

We have to believe that there is an unseen spiritual realm which is more real than the one we can detect with our 5 senses.  The spiritual realm is more powerful than the one where we can see and all things that exist are first birthed in the spirit.  Once you get understanding of this you will see that the moment you pray, things start to move in the spirit.  God answers.  He sends the healing, the provision, whatever you need that is written in His Word.  But, because He is a spirit, He answers you in spiritual form.  

Eph 1:3 - May blessing (praise, laudation, and eulogy) be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual (given by the Holy Spirit) blessing in the heavenly realm!

In verse 3 we can see that He HAS ALREADY blessed us with every SPIRITUAL BLESSING in the Heavenly realm.  It has been given, but it is in the spiritual realm, in spiritual form.  It is now up to us to use our faith as a bridge to receive what He has already given so it can manifest here where we can see and enjoy it.

Daniel was an Old Testament man.  He lived before the Holy Spirit was given and so it would not have benefited Daniel to even know that there was demonic opposition.  There was nothing he could do to speed up the process.  But we are New Testament people, and we have the Holy Spirit who is the power and the wisdom of God.  The advantage is that once we pray, if we don’t see the answer manifest, we can take our authority in Christ and start speaking those things into manifestation.  Also, because we have the Holy Spirit, He can give us wisdom to show us what is delaying the answer.  All of this takes it out of the realm of begging God or getting a big prayer team together to petition God and try to force Him to answer.  

God is no respecter of persons (Rom 2:11).  What God did for Daniel, He is willing to do for you.  God is a good God.  All His promises are already yes and amen.  He already gave us Jesus, how would He not with Him freely give us all things.

I am not saying that all prayers are answered with an immediate manifestation.  But I am saying that the delay is not on God’s side.  As I am currently experiencing a delay myself, I find this to be so freeing.  It means I don’t have to keep begging God.  I don’t have to try to figure out what it is going to take to get Him to move on my behalf.  I don't have to try to pry open His hand to get Him to reluctantly release a blessing to me and I certainly don’t have to head to Facebook to round up 200 others to help me beg God.  No, I need to look to myself and see if I am not perhaps walking in unbelief, perhaps there is sin in my life or that of my ancestors or maybe some demonic opposition.  Whatever it is, the Holy Spirit is able to help me find the issue so I can deal with it.  If He prompts me, I can resist the enemy and see the manifestation.

James 4:7 - So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.

So, if you find yourself in a place between “Amen” and “there it is”, stop begging God.  Rather start to use the wisdom and power of God that is already yours and use your faith to see what you prayed for come into the physical realm.

I pray for more revelation on the goodness and character of God as He unfolds more on my prayer relationship with Him.  But until then, rather than to look at what I experience - let God be true.  Just because my life does not yet reflect all the promises I see in the Word, doesn’t make the Word any less true.  The Word is and always will be the standard I want my life to follow.  

Rom 12:2 (AMPC) - Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].

There is much more to say about prayer.  I am therefore not going to finish, but just put it into “Park” until next time…

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