17. Seven Keys to Answered Prayer
One of the first things we learn about prayer is that – just like salvation itself – we cannot "earn" God's favor or in some way make him obliged to grant us our requests. But God does make it clear that if we meet certain conditions, we can expect him to consider the petitions we make on behalf of ourselves and others.
The Scriptures show seven specific conditions that we must keep in mind. We will look at these "keys" to answered prayer individually. 1. Understanding God's Will The very first condition that needs to be met for answered prayer is, of course, that what we ask must comply with God's will. This is clear in the words of the apostle John:
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: 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 what we asked of him (1 John 5:14-15). But we must not presume that God's will in a specific situation never changes. God may choose to grant a request one day and not grant the same request another day. Once we understand that God answers prayers according to his knowledge of every aspect of the situation, based on what is ultimately best for us and for others, we realize that even an answer that seems to be a "no" may be a "yes" in disguise! This is implied in something Jesus himself said in the scripture we read last chapter:
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:11). Notice that Jesus did not just say "you give your children gifts, how much more will your Father in heaven give you gifts." He stressed that we "know how to give good gifts" to our children – in other words we know how to give them gifts that will not harm them, gifts that will be good for them. That is his point in stressing how much more God will give us good gifts. When what we ask for would not be a good gift for us, God usually will not grant such a request, or he may adjust what he gives to make it something that will be good for us.
If you have ever prayed for something, then – because of new information or whatever – realized that what you asked for is not what you needed or wanted, you probably learned the value of praying for what God wants rather than what we want. This has happened to many of us, and as a result we gradually come to realize that asking "Your will be done" is ultimately in our best interests!
2. An Ongoing Relationship with God God's word makes it clear that those who have no relationship with him have no guarantee that their prayers will be answered. It may be useless to ignore God throughout our lives, then only look to him when we are in trouble or desperately in need of help. Naturally, this is a matter in God's hands to decide in individual circumstances, according to his mercy:
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).
But once our relationship is established with God, it must be maintained for our prayers to be answered. This is a principle confirmed for us in the New Testament specifically regarding our relationship with Jesus, who said: "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you" (John 15:7). It is only as we remain in our relationship with God – not just drift in and out of it as we see needs in our lives – that he will take our requests seriously. 3. Obedience Obedience is also a primary prerequisite for answered prayer. This does not mean that we earn God's help through our good deeds or that we must be perfect to ask his help, but the Scriptures make it plain that God does not usually honor the prayers of those who are not trying to obey him. An attitude of disobedience can very effectively cut us off from answered prayer. Notice God's words through the prophet Isaiah in this regard:
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood! Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong (Isaiah 1:15-16). The psalmist confirmed this in his own experience:
If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer (Psalm 66:17–19). We find the same principle expounded repeatedly in the New Testament. The apostle John tells us: "We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him" (John 9:31 ESV). The apostle Peter confirms this:
They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil (1 Peter 3:11-12). That is why in his epistle, James stresses: "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective" (James 5:16b, emphasis added); and John, in his first epistle, makes the matter crystal clear: "… whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him" (1 John 3:22). Peter, James, and John all agree that obedience is a key aspect of answered prayer. 4. Right Motivation Naturally, our motivation in asking God's help or in asking for some gift also plays a large part in how God views our request. Even if we are living obedient lives with an ongoing relationship with God, yet we ask with a motivation that is selfish or wrong in some other way, it is unlikely that our requests will be heard. The apostle James summarizes this situation perfectly in his epistle when he tells people who do this:
You desire but do not have … You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures (James 4:2-3). This does not mean that we cannot ask God for good things for which we long, as we have already seen, but that our motives must be right in asking for them. Do we ask for a blessing that, if granted, would make life more difficult for someone else? Do we ask for help when we selfishly do not want to assist those we could help? Our reason for wanting things should always be considered before making petitions to God, but if we have considered our own motivation properly, we can ask in confidence.
5. Ask in Jesus' Name The Gospel of John records a great promise that Jesus made:
In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete (John 16:23-24). This promise is almost universally applied by believing Christians, but we must always remember that it is not some kind of magical formula that we have been given. Many people see it as some kind of guarantee that whatever they pray for will be granted as long as they end their prayer "in Jesus' name." When such prayers are not answered, it is easy to become disappointed or disillusioned.
But this is not what praying in Jesus' name means. To pray in the name of Jesus is to pray by his authority, to pray as his representative – just as a police officer might arrest a criminal "in the name of the law." Prayers offered in Jesus' name are prayers offered by his followers as his earthly representatives – so to pray in Jesus' name is ultimately not just to use his name, but to pray as Jesus would, to ask the kind of things he would ask.
If our prayers are not the type of prayers Jesus would offer, they will not be answered just because we use his name in them. That is why asking according to God's will, as well as our relationship with God, our obedience, right motivation, and other factors must also be present – and when they are we can know that we are truly praying in Jesus' name.
6. Pray in Faith In one of his most famous teachings about prayer, Jesus talked to his disciples about how the prayer of faith could accomplish great things – such as symbolically "casting a mountain into the sea." He concluded his lesson by saying: "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer" (Matthew 21:18-22). The apostle James gave a specific example of this kind of believing prayer:
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind (James 1:5-6). Although the immediate context of what James wrote is about asking for wisdom, the principle clearly applies to asking in faith for anything. James makes the point that, just as waves rear up and then crash down again, our faith must not be based on our feelings – which unavoidably rise and fall – but on our belief which firmly underlies our conviction that God can and will provide what we ask according to his will. As long as we remember the answer will be according to God's will, we need never waver in our trust. Our faith need never waver, because God's faithfulness never does.
7. Pray Persistently God promises to answer our prayers if we fulfill the conditions he requires, but he does not promise when he will provide the answers. We must learn that God answers not only how he knows best, but also when he knows best. Because of this we should never be discouraged if our prayers do not seem to be answered immediately. The goal is to continue to pray as long as the problem or need exists – trusting that God hears our prayers and will answer when he knows the time is right.
Jesus told several parables showing that we should always be persistent in prayer because we do not receive an answer at once. He told the parable of the man whose friend came late at night asking for bread and who kept knocking on his door until he finally answered (Luke 11:8-10). Jesus also told of an unjust judge who finally gave in to the pleading of a helpless widow seeking justice (Luke 18:2-8). These parables clearly show us that if persistent asking pays off with uncaring humans, it is certainly something that we should do in our relationship with the One who is ultimately just and compassionate. Luke tells us specifically, in fact, that Jesus gave such parables that we "should always pray and not give up" (Luke 18:1). Using the Keys
These seven "keys" to answered prayer may seem like a lot to keep in mind if we are only now learning them, but applying them all becomes second nature as we grow in our Christian lives; and the more we apply these principles, the more we see our prayers answered. In our next chapter we will see examples of exactly this – a case study of the prayers of a faithful servant of God being answered not tens or hundreds, but thousands of times!