God's promise and conditions to answer prayer- 1

I. THE LORD HAS MOST ASSUREDLY PROMISED TO ANSWER PRAYER.

Following are twelve passages of Scripture in which the Lord tells us that He wants us to pray to Him and that He wants to answer our prayers:

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (Matthew 7:7)

"Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 18:19)

"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." (Matthew 21:22)

"Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." (Mark 11:24)

"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 11:13)

"And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it." (John 14:13-14)

"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." (John 16:23)

"For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him." (Romans 10:12)

"For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." (Ephesians 2:18)

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)

"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. . (Hebrews 10:19)

"And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." (1 John 5:14-15)

These passages from God's word tell us there can be no question that God wants us to pray and that He promises to answer our prayers.

However, does this mean that God will answer our every prayer and that He is at our beckon and call to answer our requests? I think a lot of people have that idea and never consider that God has placed very specific restrictions or limits on how He answers us. If you preach one without the other you will mislead people. Lots of people wonder why their prayers are not answered and they think God does not hear them. Some even wonder if God is real. The problem with unanswered prayer does not lie with God but with us. Let's look at what God has to say about this.

II. GOD ALSO INSTRUCTS US THERE ARE CONDITIONS ON HIM ANSWERING OUR PRAYERS.
A. God's promise is not a blanket promise to give us our every whim because He will not honor or reward unfaithfulness.

B. There are prohibitions or conditions on having our prayers answered.

First a person must be a child of God. God only hears one prayer from a lost man and that is the prayer of faith when an unsaved person asks for forgiveness and receives Christ as their Savior. God does not answer the prayers of those that reject Him as they Lord and Savior.

"Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshiper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth" (John 9:31).
1. We cannot come to God without belief or faith in God.

During Jesus' ministry they brought to him a child that had a evil spirit. Jesus ask the boy's father, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth" (Mark 9:23).

In Hebrews 11, which is called the Bible's Hall of Faith, the Lord says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11:6).

We must come to the Lord with unwavering faith in Him.

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord" (James 1:5-7)

2. Must come in Jesus's name.
"And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." (John 14:13) The person who does not accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, is not believing, or having saving trust in God's promise of salvation and forgiveness for sin.

This does not mean that using the name of Jesus gives us some magical power. Jesus in Matthew 6:9, instructs us to address our prayers to God the Father. Therefore it is not the saying of the name of Jesus or addressing our prayer to Him that is the point here, but praying as a believer in Jesus Christ. It means that we come to God redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, not in our own name or in our own power or strength, but come in faith in the spirit of dependence on Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

3. We cannot expect the Lord to answer prayer if we have unconfessed sin in our lives.
"If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear" (Psalms 66:18)

"But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear." (Isaiah 59:2)