Friday, 3 June 2022
HE DELIGHTS IN OUR PRAYERS
And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full (John 16:23-24).
Prayer is our way of bringing the power of the Spirit of God to bear on our world. That’s why He leads us always to pray and effect changes in our world. The prophets prayed; Jesus prayed; the apostles prayed, and they all taught us to pray. There are lots of results we’ll never see except we pray. It’s God’s way of relating with us; He asked us to do it.
Isaiah 45:19 shows us what God thinks when it comes to prayer: “I publicly proclaim bold promises; I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner so that no one can know what I mean. And I didn’t tell Israel to ask me for what I didn’t plan to give! No, for I, Jehovah, speak only truth and righteousness” (TLB). He’ll never ask us to pray for something He didn’t plan to give to us. He tells us to pray because He plans to answer. Some people don’t know this; so they get discouraged when they pray and it seems what they’re praying about hasn’t materialized. Some others pray “religiously,” not expecting to receive answers. If only they knew that the glory of God is in answering our prayers.
He delights in answering our prayers. He loves to see us actualize our hopes and dreams, and then we praise Him for it. Have the audacity of faith to expect answers when you pray, because the Lord derives glory from answering your prayers. It brings to mind the words of Jesus in John 15:8: “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” His joy is for you to have a fruitful, productive and effective walk in righteousness.
PRAYER: Dear Father, I thank you for the privilege and opportunity of prayer. The very thought that you delight in answering my prayers makes prayer more exciting for me. Thank you for giving me the extraordinary Name of Jesus to live by. With it, I live triumphantly and experience supernatural results every day. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY:
1 Peter 3:12; 1 John 5:14-15; John 16:23-24
1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: John 18:1-27 & 1 Chronicles 11-13
2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 & Proverbs 30