"Finding The Right Pattern?"

Where's the Prayer Department?

Prayer can be absolutely exhilarating and also the most frustrating experience in your life. When we get an answer to our prayer, it cannot be compared to any other feeling. I'll walk around for days sometimes wanting to tell everyone about the way that my creator reached down into my life and performed a miracle. That's when I realize that my God truly does love me enough to care about my desires.

But there are times when my prayer doesn't get answered the way that I had expected and it is disappointing. It can even get to the point sometimes that I begin to wonder if God even knows I exist. begin to think maybe I've been cut off from His blessings because of something that I did wrong. Sometimes I get especially anxious when I have prayed for something that is without a doubt a good thing; like someones physical healing, a job, or healing in a relationship. It's hard to understand why God didn't answer it when and how I wanted it.

"'I'll see others getting their prayers answered and think, "Why not me?"

If there is a sin in your life that you feel has caused your prayer to go unheard, confess it to God and repent of it. Repent means to turn away from the way you were headed. So turn away from the thing you were doing before and choose a better path. Though we repent, we can never be totally sin free in this world. When we call to our God in prayer, Jesus is our mediator. He is the spotless one who takes our requests to the Father knowing that God will not deny Him.

Have you ever thought about times when you prayed and got exactly what you wanted? Then you tried to pray that way again to get the same results. We often create a pattern to follow to get answered prayer. I know I have done this before because it was exciting when God miraculously answered my prayer for what seemed impossible before. I wanted to go out there and do the same thing again for everyone else that could use it too! It was as though I was trying to use the magic pattern to cause a miracle. Wouldn't it be awesome if you could just go over to Walmart and pick up a pattern in the prayer department for the type of prayer request that you needed? All you had to do was open it up, repeat the prayer and you get instantly, whatever you prayed for within minutes! Wow! Wouldn't that be a good business to buy stock in?

Many people sell books across our nation offering this very thing! Cookie cutter prayers to offer up to our Lord and people expect the exact same answer that the next guy received. Isn't it true that there are allot of popular speakers out there that will tell you exactly what they did and lead you to believe that you can become rich and be blessed if you do it too? The thing that people need to remember is that we have a God that loves us and will only do what is best for us, when we pray for something.

God is not a vending machine that just drops down whatever we choose! You just punch in number 12C and God instantly drops the keys to a new Cadillac right into your hands! The Word of God doesn't teach this. I do believe in praying for things we desire, but those desires are to be in line with God and His superior will for my life!

This brings me to the importance of how we ought to pray. I believe it is important to look at the way that Jesus prayed and learn from His example. Jesus spoke directly to God and it was recorded in the Word of God. Wouldn't His prayer be an example to us, since He knows our God better than any man, woman, boy or girl that has ever been on this earth? Let's look at John 10:27-30,


27. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

28. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

29. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

30. I and my Father are one.

So let's see how Jesus did pray to His Father in Heaven! In obedience, He brought His desires in line with the will of His Father.

When we reach a point where we are willing to do or accept God's will instead of our own, we have reached a critical point in our prayer life that will cause us to grow spiritually like never before!

Jesus says in verses thirty-seven and thirty-eight of the sixth chapter of John,

"All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me, I will in no wise cast out (Jesus will Accept whoever comes to Him). For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. "

It is hard for us to accept God's will sometimes when we pray for something we really want! We get so emotionally involved that we feel as though we cannot give in and accept the answer that God has for us if it isn't in line with out desires! This would apply to relationships with other men, women, boys and girls. Are you willing to accept God's will, even if it means waiting longer than you had planned to wait for the companion that God has chosen for you? To ignore this and move into a relationship on your own may seem good to you at the time.

The thing is that God is trustworthy and we must have faith that His love is pure. God has our best interest at heart and He always does what is most beneficial for us, no matter how it may appear at the time.

We must call out in surrender to His will, even if we don't understand, as the father did in verse twenty-four of the ninth chapter of Mark,

24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. "

He had lived wth this conditon for years and wasn't sure if Jesus would help him. This was the last resort. He didn't say it angrily after getting frustrated with the condition of his child. He wasn't being sarcastic and talking to God with an attitude! Let's get it into the proper setting when we look at this father asking Jesus for help here.

It says that this father was crying and he pretty much shouted out in desperation with tears pouring down his face, "Lord, I believe". It was at this point that the father of this boy had turned his son over to the one who loves and heals. The father had put his son into the hands of our Lord and let go of the things that he saw and felt allowing Jesus do His work. Yes, to do His will in the life of the man's son!

He didn't fully understand, as we see in the same breath that he said, "help my unbelief in you to grow." I updated the language a bit but that is the message and it is a critical one for us to repeat as we pray.

Jesus says in the sixth chapter of Matthew in verse ten, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. '

Jesus was teaching the disciples to pray and we know this as the "Lord's Prayer"! Let's strive to reach that turning point in our prayer life when we can say this prayer and truly say with our Lord, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven!" Amen!

Philipians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which STRENGTHENS me!