Righteous Prayer

I was pondering the question and took my search to the Bible and put my trust in the Holy Spirit to show me the way. Here is what I was able to come up with...

My question is why? Why is the prayer of the righteous effective while God does not listen to the prayer of the unrighteous.?

James 5v16b : ”The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective”

John 9v31: “We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he does listen to anyone who worships him and does his will.”

I was pondering the question and took my search to the Bible and put my trust in the Holy Spirit to show me the way. Here is what I was able to come up with…

The very basics of prayer works like this. When we speak in prayer God hears and then replies. At. Least that’s what we hope for. That is what I was taught from Sunday school. Does God hear and answer all prayer? He is the Supreme omnipotent God and knows everything all the time. So to be fair one must say that God knows and therefore hears all things including ALL prayers.

Perhaps I should be asking. Does the Lord answer everyone’s prayers? The short answer is NO. So please bear with me on this journey of discovery.

Since my childhood, I can remember being taught that God is love. I was also taught that He loves mankind unconditionally. If God’s love is unconditional then of course He must answer all prayers. Some preachers will go as far as making the topic light by saying that God answers all prayers even if His answer is NO.

When I took the time to search the Bible to find proof of God’s unconditional love I was initially shocked to see that the Bible does NOT say that God loves unconditionally. It DOES say that He has greater love than anyone. This love was proven when Jesus chose to obey the Fathers and gave himself to be crucified.

To clarify we can say that although God does not love unconditionally but that He loves us more than anyone else is able. After all, He loved us while we were still sinners, and before we accepted His love offering on the cross. When we take the time to renew our mind as the Apostille Paul suggests in Romans 12v2 it will become abundantly clear to us that God’s love is not unconditional. Here is the reason why….

John 14v21:” 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

There is a secret. He will show himself to those who love Him. The truth is that God hears all prayers across the world all the time, because He is all-knowing. But in the case of sinners or let us call them people that have not embraced Gods offer of salvation the Bible is clear. God hears but does not pay attention to those prayers.

This leaves us with that burning question: “How do I get God to listen to my prayers?”

For a start we need to be people who believe in Jesus and that He is our salvation from the things in this world that would push us to sin against God’s throne. Then of course we need to spend time in prayer. But then its also important to remember that God takes prayer fairly seriously. This is why we are taught that we should seek Him with an earnest attitude.

Earnest prayers also have a valuable sense of sincerity in my understanding so going to God with a sincere desire and committed intention will get us on the right track.

Hebrews 11v6: “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.“

Is that not after all where our relationship with God begins and comes to life? I can hear some people say what then happens to John 14v14: “If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

Getting our prayers heard is just the beginning. Getting them answered is something else. Doctrine that is based only on John 14v14 is often taken out of context. People have picked the verse out and separated it from what was said just before. Jesus was busy teaching about obedience to God’s will by copying His actions. We still need to ask for the right reasons. That is why Jesus makes it clear that we need to ask the things we do IN HIS NAME.

In a parallel to this principle in God’s Kingdom, one can say that Psalm 37v4 can be applied along the same lines. It says that those who rejoice in the Lord will be given the desires of their hart. Who in his right mind will think that God will give you a business in pornography or as a drug dealer just because you ask for it in His name? The way I see it is that Jesus reserves the right to screen our requests to the Father and only grant us what is in His plan and purpose for us.

James 4v3: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions”

The ideal way to consider a request that we make before God is subject to His will. You may want to say that it is nearly impossible to know God’s will at all times. Perhaps this is where some good news is in order. I believe that knowing God’s will is not impossible because Romans 12v2 makes mention that the will of God can be seen in categories. Paul speaks of the GOOD, PLEASING, AND PERFECT WILL OF GOD. We must of course also study the word of God so that we can know the things He considers acceptable and the things He will not approve of.

Let’s take a moment to recap. Most answered prayer should ideally have these things in common.

• The one who asks should believe in Jesus as the Son of God.
• One should ask with the right hearts attitude.
• One should as things that God will likely say yes to.

Let me close off with this thought. By saying that God is limited by these rules and guidelines will be foolish and placing Him in a box in our minds. The Lord is the creator of all things. One can not limit His hand by pinning down a few words on a blog. These are guidelines for those who needed some clarity on the topic and perhaps this post will empower us to examine how and what we ask for when we are in prayer.

It is vitally important to remember that we are created to be Gods servants and not that He serves us. He does meet our needs and even then, It is clear that our priorities should be in the right place.

Matthew 6v33: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

The very fact that we need to ask means that we are aware that we are dependent on His will and discretion over our lives as His children.