Answered Prayers

The God of the bible is the only true and living God, but he is not the only one who can answer your prayers. For many years I have spoken with persons who claimed gifts from God - gifts which turned out to ruin their lives or cause them great pain. We must remember that there is a mastermind of evil in the world - his name is satan and it is his entire purpose for being to cause you pain and either convince you that you need to spend eternity in torment with him, or if you have already accepted Christ and are free from the possibility of eternal separation from God, that you should forfeit your eternal inheritance (gifts - not salvation) by living a life filled with sin.

Satan, though he is not God, can also answer your prayers. In the 4th chapter of Matthew's gospel, (Vv. 8-10) satan confronted Jesus with desire and the offer of answered prayer. We read that;

"The devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."

Jesus' reply?

"Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"

Notice that Jesus did not say, "satan you are such an idiot - you can't give me those things!" because satan can and he does. But when he gives you a gift - it is always deadly.

I am reminded of Mr. Walid Shoebat who as a young Palestinian terrorist, traveled into Jerusalem with a huge loaf of bread - ostensibly as a "gift" for visitors to the church of the nativity. This gift contained a large bomb and Mr. Shoebat had been trained his entire life to use it to kill jews and himself in exchange for glory. By God's mercy and grace, Mr. Shoebat flinched - he saw children at the site he intended to bomb and could not carry out his evil plan.
(you can read Walid's story at www.shoebat.com)

I have asked for many things in my life which have harmed me and my family. I asked for riches and when I had them, they nearly destroyed all that was important to me. Not long ago a young woman shared with me her joy at having a brand new car. "It must be a gift from God" she beamed, because: "we prayed about it and after 3 dealers turned me down, this one financed me!".
This young woman made about $25,000 per year, placed her children in daycare (even though she is married and her husband earns a good living) and now had a $600 a month car payment not including insurance - for 6 years. Folks, that is not a gift from God, it was a lie of the devil and she now realizes this every time she has to send her children to daycare so that she can work full-time to support her new $600 per month payment.

Composer Nicolo Paganini asked for something that was given him by the devil - he asked to be the greatest composer in the world. As a young man, he floundered in his art and played the violin poorly. Yet, one day he entered a court-sponsored contest and won. Paganini went on to begin composing pieces for the court of Napoleon's sister. He wrote music that only he could play - he was born with extreme flexibility in his wrist and fingers, giving him an unequaled reach on the violin. Paganini was capable of playing three octaves across four strings in a hand span, an impossible feat even by today's standards.

He sought fame - and achieved it, as well as riches and lust; his home was filled with beautiful young women waiting to spend time with the great composer. He fathered one child by a singer who toured with him, yet whom he never married.

How did Nicolo Paganini go from inept musician to world-class composer in such a short time? His friends claimed he made a deal with the devil. His life seems to back this up. In his portraiture, he looks evil. While playing, his eyes would roll back in his head - exposing the whites of his eyes. Despite earning millions, he would scrounge through the streets of France searching for coins. He once had to pawn his violin, having lost a fortune in gambling.

He died at age 58 of cancer in Nice, France.

How do we know it is God who is answering our prayer?

The Bible tells us over and over again that God wants to be the one who answers your prayers - the God of the bible wants only our good. There is a catch however. The catch is, He cannot and will not violate His will or His holiness. What do I mean by this? If you are asking God for something, then thee are certain rules which you must follow. In America today, the devil has tricked the church into believing that one can ask God for anything no matter what. This is not true. God Himself tells us that in order for Him to answer our prayers, we must worship Him, and worship Him in a manner which He will accept. (John 4:24). If a person has never accepted Christ's sacrifice on the cross in payment for her sin, then she can ask God for everything under the sun and He will not give it to her. Therefore, if she gets it - it didn't come from God as an answered prayer. It may have come from God by virtue of His universal goodness, (for example, it rains in Iran even though their country is a Muslim theocracy) but this person cannot claim unique favor from God.

So, before one may ask anything of God, one must be a Christian. A real one.

Now, having become a Christian, does God give us everything we ask? Of course not. I know people who ask for amphetamines or Marijuana or crack. God is not in the business of giving His children bad things. (Matthew 7:11) tells us that God wants to give us good things. If this is true, why do people spend so much time asking for things which they seemingly never receive?

Because we ask the wrong way and for the wrong reasons. (James 4:1-5) tells us all about this.

By the way, James 4 defines the source of all human conflict. Anyway, in James we are reminded that "you ask and do not have". What gives? Why not? Because, "You ask and you do not receive, because you ask for the wrong reasons". What are those reasons?

"that you may spend it on your pleasures." (v.3b)

God does want to reward you and give you good things, but He isn't interested in rewarding you for your pleasures. The word used here for "pleasures" is the Greek word "Hedone" which would be better translated as "lust". God isn't going to give you things to fulfill your lusts - lusts are bad for you!

Psalm 37:4 tells us, "delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart".
If you want answered prayers, then you better delight yourself in the Lord.

Proverbs 10:22 tells us, "It is the blessing of the Lord that makes men rich AND HE ADDS NO SORROW TO IT." (Emphasis mine).

So here's the formula:

If one asks of God, one must:

A. Be a child of God. The only prayer God will hear from non-children is "help, me I need to be saved".

B. Be delighted in God and seeking His purpose.

C. Ask for a reason other than you really want it (lust).

D. Praise Him when you receive it.

E. If it ever comes with sorrow - it ain't from God.

Example:

1. A man asks for riches and starts earning as much as $100,000 per month. But he can't sleep because he is afraid he will be audited or someone will sue him or one of his vendors will rip him off because his product is not collateralized. Is this a reward from God? No, because it fails test #E - it has lots of sorrow. It also failed test #B and C, because even though this man talked about how great God was and gave lots of money to the church, he wasn't helping anyone HIMSELF.

2. A woman asks for a new car, because the preacher at her church told her that if she wanted it badly enough and could emotionally claim it (see it in her mind), then God would have to give it to her. Is this a reward from God? No, because it fails B and C and will at some point fail E.

3. A Christian woman knows of a divorcee who has to find work to support herself. She hasn't worked in many years and has no money. The woman gives her an old car that she has so the divorcee can drive to find work. Some time later, someone gives the Christian woman a car. Is this a reward from God? You bet. It passes every test.

I think you get the idea. God wants to answer your prayers. Just be sure when you get what you asked for that it really came from Him.