Encouragement

---

Did you ever feel like your prayers never went any further "than the ceiling?" Does it sometimes "feel" like you are just not getting through to God? Everyone has felt that way at one time or another. Even David and he was referred to as "a man after God's own heart." Psalms is full of times like this for David. Here are a few examples:

Psalms 27: 7-9 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When You said "Seek My face," my heart said to You, "Your face, LORD, I will seek." Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me. O God of my salvation.

Psalms 28: 1-2 To You I will cry, O LORD my Rock; Do not be silent to me, lest, if You are silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.

Psalms 39: 12 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; for I am a stranger with You, a sojourner, as my fathers were.

We all have probably had the same "feeling"...but the Word promises us:
I John 5: 14-15 Now 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, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

No prayers are skipped over or ignored. He hears them all and all are answered. What we must remember is the answer is not always yes. Sometimes we think because we didn't get what we wanted, we didn't get an answer. Not true. Sometimes the answer is no or not right now. Answers sometimes come quickly, and at other times, seem to take forever!

God is not the phone company or a business. He has no message that says, "Your call will be taken in the order it was received." He answers your prayers according to His priorities. He has not forgotten, ignored, or thrown away any prayer you have ever prayed.

It is not easy waiting for the answers to things we feel are so needful. When we don't get what we want, we tend to feel personally rejected. You can compare this with your own dealings with your children. They plead for something they want so bad. If we tell them no, (for whatever reason we may have) their first rsponse is that we don't love them. If this is not what is best for them, no amount of pleading will (or should) change our mind. They may not understand at the time. but someday they will.

We need to apply the same understanding to the Lord concerning our answers to prayer. He does know what's best for us. His love for us is always the same whether the answer is "yes," "no," or "wait, I have a better plan."

He does not always give "yes" answers, but He always gives "right" answers. Did you ever have a time when your heart was so disturbed within you that you just couldn't seem to gather up the strength to pray? Have you ever felt you prayed so many times over something in every way and using all the formulas you could come up with, and you had no more ways of wording it? I have. There were times when I was sick of the sound of my own voice and felt, surely God was too! He wasn't, of course, but I sure felt like He should be. I needed to know He heard me.

One day, as I was studying some reference material, I ran across a quotation from a book by James Durham. He was a man known for his insight into the Word of God and his overwhelming commitment to live his life consumed by his relationship with God. It said:

"Few words may be an effectual prayer to Christ; a breathing or a sigh will not be rejected where there is sincerity."

What does this mean? You don't need long "wordy" prayers. It's not the "rightness" of your words that God responds to...but the "realness" of your heart. I was in a particularly tough situation where I had to live with some people for a while. I had four children at the time and it was especially hard on them. There seemed to be continual confrontations between all of us living there. It became so stressful that for two years all I could pray was, "Lord, help them; help me; help us!" That's all I could say! I knew I should pray...I just didn't know what to say anymore!

Believe it or not, God answered that prayer! When all the situations were resolved, I went before the Lord and asked Him, "How could you answer a prayer like that? I couldn't even find the right words." He said, "I heard your heart cry out." Isn't that amazing? What a wonderful God we have. How great is His love toward us and His understanding of us!

When the Word tells us to pray without ceasing, it doesn't mean we must pray every second of our lives. It means to never give up praying, or never give up on prayer. Don't ever decide it's not necessary, or it's not working, or that God doesn't hear you.

Take your situations and needs to the Lord in prayer. Do not make demands...ask. He is faithful. He, who knows your past and sees your future, has a wonderful plan for your life. He doesn't promise you will never go through anything unpleasant. He only promises He will go through it with you. Prayer makes it easier. He is always ready to listen. Just talk to Him. He knows you, understands you, and loves you more than you realize.

May you grow in your knowledge of Him as you spend time with Him in prayer. That's one of the greatest benefits of prayer... Relationship!

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE