Prayer Dart Board

Week 43

How can we be sure that the prayers we offer to God are acceptable to his ears? Is there some way that we can know for sure what to pray for or how to pray? When I pray, I want my prayers to be heard, I want God to answer them, but I want them to be prayers directed by the Holy Spirit and not myself. How can we be assured of this?

I invite God’s Holy Spirit into my time of prayer and ask him to first reveal any sin in my life that I need to repent of. We can’t come to the God of the universe if we have unconfessed sin in our lives. If the Holy Spirit reveals something to you, confess it and ask forgiveness right away. Do whatever you need to do to rectify a situation with someone you may have hurt. The main thing is to get into a right standing with God  before you pray.

I also ask him to speak through me if there is anyone who has needs. Many times he will reveal someone who has a need and I can ask him to meet their needs whatever they are. It may be that I know what the need is, healing, guidance on a decision, direction for their life - but God may have to do a work in them before these prayers can be answered.

Many times we are up against situations in our lives or while praying for others and we are unsure what to pray for. It is those times that the spirit will intercede. Romans 8:26 reads, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” 

I remember a time in my marriage when it looked as though it were over. I can distinctly remember sitting on my bed and crying out to God. I had no words and such a heaviness in my spirit that I could do nothing but moan and sob. I truly believe that the Holy Spirit within me was speaking to God at that very moment and he heard the cry of my heart. My marriage was not healed instantaneously, but over the course of time we worked things out and today we are truly happy together. 

We never know how things work in the spirit realm. Instead of speaking words over your situation, maybe you just need to cry out to God.

Sometimes we ask for things that God may want to give us, but the time just isn’t right for us to have them. We may want a spouse, a different job, new friends or an answer to a decision we have to make. These answers may be small or huge, but when we ask God to provide for our needs, we expect an answer right away. 

His time is not our time, he may know a better way to answer your prayer. I believe that we often expect God to answer us in one way, but he has a more perfect way. 

I am reminded of a previous job. I was not actively seeking a job, but I was feeling discontent in the part-time job I had and knew that financially I should be working full-time. I had asked God to help me find a job, but I never really felt an unction to look for a job. His answer to me was always, “wait.” That is what I did. I never expected him to give me the type of job that I ended up with. His timing was perfect and when the right job opened up, he told me to apply for it.

How many times have you prayed not really expecting an answer? Many of us pray in unbelief. It is like something within us hopes that God hears us and will answer our prayer, but we never really believe that he will give us our hearts desires.

Once again I am reminded of the job that I got. My sister had told me to really think about what I wanted to do and ask God to find me a job that I would dearly love. I half-heartedly did just that. But one day as I was working on a church newsletter for a friend, I remember thinking to myself how great it would be to have a job where I got paid for laying out pages and editing text. I couldn’t see any possibility of that happening and yet God made it happen. He is indeed a good God, a God of such magnificence.

One of the things that we can be sure about when praying in God’s will is that those prayers will be answered. No doubt about it! 

Have you ever felt a strong desire to ask God for something in particular? Something that you never would have thought of yourself? We can look to scripture and see that Jesus always prayed in accordance with his Father’s will. Over and over again he asked for things to bring glory to God. 

We read this in Matthew 6:9-13 as Jesus taught his disciples to pray. He said, “This then is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” 

It’s not about us, it is all about God. When God’s spirit puts a desire in your heart, pray it and continue to pray for it until you have peace that it is answered. Even though you may not see the result right away, God’s spirit will give you peace that what you have asked for will happen.

Are your prayers selfish? Are you asking for things for yourself and not others? I have been so guilty of praying like this especially lately. I think when we have financial needs or health concerns we tend to focus on ourselves. It is the natural thing to do. But as followers of Jesus we are no longer to follow the desires of the flesh. 

When I remember to do it, my selfish thoughts and prayers can be turned into prayers for others. I was having trouble with my sciatic nerve after I had surgery and each morning I woke up with pain. I was so focused on my pain that I forgot to pray for the needs of others. One day I was speaking to an elderly man at church who was suffering from sciatic nerve pain on both sides. I could almost feel his pain as he tried to stand.

God spoke to me through his pain and for the next few months every time I had a twinge of pain I would pray for Bob. It was amazing to me how my own pain dissipated while I was praying for him. 

The hard part is remembering to pray for someone going through what you are going through. It takes conscious effort and a dying to self to really pray unselfishly. I’m working on it, but it’s hard for me to remember to pray that way.

Are our prayers unanswered because we are not asking for the right things? When we are in doubt about how to pray for a specific need, we should always look to scripture and see what it says. 

For healing, look up all the healing scriptures you can find and pray them for the person or yourself. 

One night after working an 11 hour day, I came home from work tired and sick. My body felt like I was getting a flu bug. I knew that I was supposed to meet my grandson at his school for a grandparents breakfast the following morning and feared that I would have to stand him up. When I got up the next morning I began to speak healing to my body - I remembered that the Bible said, “by his wounds you are healed.” I remembered that in Psalm 103:2-3 it said, “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases...” I claimed those words for myself and almost immediately my aches and pains went away. 

Father, You are the one who wants us to come to you and converse with you about everything. When we don’t know exactly how to pray, we know that your Spirit can lead us. When we pray with wrong motives or in a selfish way, we ask that you reveal that to us. We want our prayers to be powerful and effective, we want to pray according to your will and we want to hit the mark every time with our petitions. Help us in Jesus name. Amen