Prayer is part and parcel of any religion. People were crying out to their gods long before Abraham encountered Jehovah God. Those prayers were either asking their gods to do something for them or, just as likely, asking the gods not to do something bad to them. Offerings were given to the same gods, for the same reasons.
Is Christian prayer the same? It would be easy to equate Christian prayer to the prayer that adherents of these other religions offer to their gods, and undoubtedly it looks the same on the outside. When Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, he started by giving them some very specific instructions, differentiating their prayer from the way that others prayed.
First, He said that prayer is a private thing between them and God; not something to be done as a public spectacle, showing off one’s faith.
And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Rather who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. – Matthew 6:5-6
It is interesting that Jesus started out by talking about “hypocrites” who pray standing in the synagogue and on street corners. Obviously, that was something that happened that day, which He saw as wrong. This is not to say that all prayer must be in private and that we can’t have corporate prayer, but rather that our purpose shouldn’t be to show off in front of others, impressing them with our prayers.
The second piece of instruction that Jesus gives, before the Lord’s Prayer, is that it isn’t necessary to be repetitious. Apparently, there were those who thought God was hard of hearing or too busy to listen to them. Their solution was to say things over and over again, probably platitudes, which were “keys” to getting God’s attention.
And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathens do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. – Matthew 6:7
In comparison to the image that this invokes, the Lord’s Prayer is a model of brevity. It is only 65 words long in the New King James translation of the Bible. Some people can’t even say “hello” to God in that few words. Yet, the prayer that Jesus taught to His disciples covers a lot of ground, without any wasted words.
Finally, His last instruction to His disciples was that prayer doesn’t have to be all about asking God for things. We still make this mistake today, with most of our prayers being about asking for things, even though Jesus instructed us not to.
Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. – Matthew 6:8
The example that Jesus gave us, is of course, the prayer we know as “the Lord’s Prayer,” found in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 6:9-13). Perhaps it would be better known as “the Disciple’s Prayer” as He gave it to them for their use. We can use that prayer as an outline for our own prayers, as it covers several different areas of prayer needs. Let’s divide the prayer up, so that we can see what each of these areas is:
| Portion of the Prayer | What it is About | |||
| Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. | Worshiping God, recognizing that He is holy. | |||
| Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | Intercession – praying for God’s will to be done, in our lives and in our world. The model given for this, is how things are done in heaven. | |||
| Give us this day our daily bread. | Prayer of supplication – asking God to meet our needs. That’s not the same as asking Him to meet all our wants. | |||
| And forgive us our debts (sins), as we forgive our debtors (those who have sinned against us). | Prayer for forgiveness of sins; as well as forgiving those who have sinned against us. | |||
| And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. | Prayer of protection – Asking God to protect us from temptations and trials, as well as the attacks of the devil. | |||
| For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. | Returning to worship to finish the time of prayer. | |||
| Amen. | Literally means “so be it” – a declaration that we want that which we have prayed to come to pass. |
There’s a lot in those 65 words, covering a lot of ground. Even though it is short, it covers everything that we need to be praying for. As an outline, we can expand on any of those areas, asking for specific things. For example, in the area of intercession, we might know someone who is going through a hard time, has financial difficulties, or is dealing with a health issue. We might also include prayers for our country and our governmental leaders; not partisan prayers, where we are asking God to fulfill one party’s political agenda; but asking God to direct our leaders in government to do things in accordance with His will, giving them wisdom to know that will and how to execute it.
But What About Asking God for Stuff?
Even though Jesus taught His disciples that they really didn’t need to ask God for things, because God already knows what we need, He still included the prayer of supplication in the Lord’s Prayer. This tells us that it is okay to ask God to meet our needs. But sadly, even though this is the shortest part of the Lord’s Prayer, this is the only part that many people pray. They go before God with their laundry list of requests, many of which are not needs, but merely desires.
Many believers understand prayers of supplication as being prayers for whatever they want, as if God were some celestial vending machine in the sky – put in your prayer and God will give you what you’ve asked for. This viewpoint has come from misinterpreting a couple of verses in the Bible.
Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. – Psalm 37:4
Most people only quote the second part of this verse, leaving out the first part. Looking at it that way, there are two possible interpretations that can be made. The first is that God will give you whatever you desire in your heart and the second is that God will plant desires in your heart; but which is right?
We see the truth when we look at the whole verse, as that second part is clearly connected to the first. In other words, we can only expect God to fulfill our desires if we are delighting ourselves in the Lord. If we are truly doing that and not just saying that we are, then the desires we have in our heart are going to be in alignment with God’s will, rather than our own. As such, those prayers are much more likely to be answered by God.
And whatever you ask in My name that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. John 14:13-14
In this verse, the thing that gets people in trouble is their understanding of “ask in My name.” To many, this means ending a prayer with the words, “In the name of Jesus; Amen.” Some actually go so far as to say that those words are what send our prayers to heaven. But that’s not the case. To pray in Jesus’ name, is to pray in accordance with His will, just as a lawyer going into court speaks “in the name” of their client. If we don’t pray in accordance with God’s will, how can we honestly expect Him to give us what we’re asking for?
Praying correctly means praying in accordance with God’s will. As long as we do that, we have reason to believe that God will respond positively. But doing that requires putting Him first in our lives. As Jesus said:
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. – Matthew 6:33
What things? The things we need. The preceding verses talk specifically about food, clothing and drink. Sorry, that’s not the same as a new diamond ring or fancy car. Once again, it’s our needs, not our desires.
What Ways Does God Answer?
It’s easy to imagine God answering us with an audible voice. After all, we’ve all seen Him do that in the movies. But the truth is, God doesn’t work that way. Even with the prophets, God’s voice was something soft, heard more in their hearts, than in their ears. This can be seen in how God spoke to the Prophet Elijah, one of the greatest prophets of all time.
…and after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. 13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle (prayer shawl)2 and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” – 1 Kings 19:12-13
The prophet needed to hear from God, after running from the evil queen Jezebel, who wanted to kill him. Running into the wilderness, he hid in a cave. Three things that could be interpreted as “signs” came, but he didn’t see those as God talking to him. Rather, he waited until he heard the still small voice of the Lord. It was only then that he went forth, out of the cave, to hear what God wanted to say to him.
Granted, this is a bit of a dramatic scene and I doubt any of us will experience something just like it, anytime in our lives. But the prophets tended towards drama, so in the context of what is written, it’s not at all surprising. God did speak to the prophet and in one way or another, God will speak to us too.
That’s not to say that we should expect an audible voice. Most of the time God speaks to our heart. Sometimes, rather than saying anything verbally to us at all, He answers us through circumstances. If we are asking God to give us favor in a particular job interview and we don’t get that job, it can fairly be said that God answered; in that case, the answer was “No.”
So, what sorts of answers can we expect to receive from God? There are basically three of them and all three can come as a word or can come through circumstances. They are:
- Yes
- No
- Wait
God will most often answer yes, when what we are asking is in alignment with His will. He will answer no, when we are asking something that is contrary to His will. The tricky one is “wait.” That most often comes when we are asking for something that God wants to give us, but it is not the right timing. It could very well be that we are not ready, spiritually speaking, to receive that yes answer. In that case, God will make us wait, while He continues to work on us, preparing to receive that blessing.
God knows us even better than we know ourselves and will never give anything to us that can cause us harm in any way. I’m not talking about physical harm here and I’m certainly not talking about emotional harm; what I’m talking about is spiritual harm. We can’t expect God to give us something that will boost our pride, for example, when pride is one of the things He wants to remove from our lives. So, that fancy car you might be praying for could very well end up in a “no” or “wait” answer, if it would do nothing more than boost your pride.
What Hinders Our Prayers?
Since our prayer needs to be in agreement with God’s will; there are a number of things the Bible mentions, which can hinder those prayers. A lot of people wonder why they don’t get an answer from God when they pray, but never take the time to examine their own lives, looking to see if they are doing things in accordance with God’s will and putting themselves in the place to receive their answer.
There are at least seven things mentioned in scripture, which will hinder our prayers. There may be more; but these are the ones that I have found:
But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. – Isaiah 59:2
Sin, specifically living a life of continuous, ongoing sin, separates us from God to the point where He turns His face from us and doesn’t hear what we pray. The only prayer that He will hear at that point, is the prayer of repentance.
This doesn’t just apply to unbelievers; it can apply to believers as well. Someone who has accepted the Lord, but is living in adultery, isn’t going to receive answers to their prayers, because they are living in iniquity. On the other hand, if they repent (not just say they are sorry) and turn from their sin, God will hear their prayers.
One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. – Proverbs 28:9
This is very closely related to the first hindrance I mentioned. It expands on that, in that there are things that God tells us to do, where our disobedience wouldn’t be as much iniquity or even sin, but are more closely related to our not doing things that God has told us to do. Failure to have concern for the souls of unbelievers, or neglecting our prayer life can fall into this category.
Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard. – Proverbs 21:13
God does not bless us so that we can consume all the blessings upon ourselves. He desires to use those of us who believe in Him as a channel to bless others. Historically, that’s one of the ways that the Body of Crist has used to win others to the Lord. When we meet people’s needs, they are naturally curious as to why we are reaching out to help them.
This doesn’t just apply to material or financial blessings. Amongst the gifts of the Spirit, mentioned in 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, is “gifts of healings” (1 Corinthians 12:9). Yet many believers keep this gift in the church and don’t pray for people outside the church. How can we say that we are heeding the needs of the poor, if one of those needs is healing and we are embarrassed to pray for them?
Husbands, likewise, dwell with them (your own wife)2 with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. – 1 Peter 3:7
Men who mistreat their wives can’t expect their prayers will be answered by the Lord. This verse goes beyond what we normally think of as “abuse,” including the idea of not treating her as a co-heir or equal in receiving the grace of God. We are to honor our wives, realizing that they are a gift from God, given to us. He has placed His own daughter in our hands and we should treat her as if she is a princess, the daughter of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. – Mark 11:25 (see also 6:14-15)
The work of the cross was about forgiveness, allowing us to be in the right relationship with God. We need that relationship for many reasons, chief amongst them being that we can commune with God. God cannot have sin in his presence, because He is holy. So, when we have sin in our lives, we literally cut off communication with God. Since unforgiveness is sin, that blocks our prayers, keeping God from hearing us and answering our prayers.
You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. – James 4:3
I’ve already dealt with this earlier, but it bears repeating. When we have our priorities out of order, seeking self, rather than seeking God, we don’t receive what we’re praying for. Chances are, if that’s the way we are living our lives, we’re not asking in prayer according to God’s will. Worse, we might actually be asking for something that goes against His will.
God desires to bless us, but He knows better than we do what will truly be a blessing and what can end up causing us problems. When we ask amiss, outside of His will, He not only is not obligated to answer that prayer; but is actually obligated by His love for us to deny us that prayer in order to protect us.
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. – James 1:6
There are many verses in the New Testament that talk about faith; way too many to talk about here. Suffice it to say that we must ask in faith, believing that God will hear us and answer our prayer, in order to receive an answer from Him. Our faith can’t force Him to answer “Yes,” but He will answer.
Sadly, there has been teaching in the Body of Christ which has taken the doctrine of faith to an extreme, where it was no longer in line with the full teaching of the Bible. These teachers have taught believers to have faith in their faith, rather than God. If they had enough faith, they could twist God’s arm, forcing Him to do what they wanted.
This application of “faith” has been mostly about receiving material blessings from God. Yet material blessings are not God’s focus or priority in our lives. That’s not to say that God will not bless us materially or financially; He can and He will; but in my experience, His material blessings are more of a reward for obedience, than anything else. I have never personally received a material blessing from God by twisting His arm with my faith, but I have received many blessings by obeying Him and doing what He directed me to do.
God’s answers to our prayer will always follow along with His will. If we want to know that and through that to understand what prayers He will answer, then we need to study His Word, seeking His will. Then we can pray in a way that will ensure that our prayers are answered and that the answer will be “Yes.”