Source of Hope: Answered Prayer

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about prayer recently. I have been examining what I pray and what kind of answers I get. I find that when I pray for the things that are on God’s heart, the things that are His will, I get satisfying answers. So, I’m trying to pray more for those things and less for the lists of things I want and think I need.

1 John 5:14, 15 give me some insight into praying for God’s will. In The Message these verses say,

“And how bold and free we then become in his presence, freely asking according to his will, sure that he’s listening. And if we’re confident that he’s listening, we know that what we’ve asked for is as good as ours.”

We can have confidence that He is listening when we are praying according to His will. I like knowing God is listening. I think He’s listening even when I’m praying nonsense, but I can have confidence He’s listening when I’m asking for the stuff that is the stuff He wants for my life. The question is, “What is His will?” I find those answers in the Scriptures and I don’t even want to pretend to know what His entire will is for my life or for the life of my family and friends. But there are some things I do know.

It is God’s will for each of us to know Him and trust Him with our lives. So I pray that I would continue to grow in my knowledge of Him and be able to trust Him more. I pray the same thing for my husband, my children, my friends, my acquaintances, and even for my enemies (of which there may not be any). I pray it for everyone I come into contact with. I pray that each would respond to God by believing in His Son, Jesus Christ, and coming into a trusting relationship with Him. That is why John wrote His letter quoted above. He tells us that in verse 13 which says,

“My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God’s Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion.”

That’s His will for us. To know that we have eternal life. I pray that reality into everyone’s life.

There are other things that are His will for us. And when I pray for those things I get answered prayer. It’s a guarantee – even when I don’t see the answers immediately. So I keep praying for His will to happen in my life and in the lives of those around me. I find a lot of hope in knowing that answered prayer, when I pray according to His will, is a guaranteed occurrence.