I find myself OFTEN needing a refreshing word concerning prayer and I owe this post to the teaching of pastor Jon Courson on the subject. When it comes to prayer, I am more aware of my weaknesses than strengths. I believe this awareness is where God needs me to be, so I find rest and in Him and great dependance on Him in this reality.
Never-the-less, why is it we wrestle with prayer? Perhaps it’s because we seek answers and a move of God to act on our behalf in a certain way, but then discouragement sets in when we don’t receive the answers for which we ask. We question, not usually as a cynic, but as one truly desiring an explanation to why this is so.
“There is a secret to receiving an answer to every single prayer we ever pray,” Jon Courson said. I found myself intrigued by what he may say next, knowing there is no magic formula. That is not how God operates; this much I know. Jon Courson went on to explain the simplistic need to pray according to God’s will. “When we do this,” he said, “we can expect an answer every time.”
Ohhhhh… yeeeeees. I’m humbled once again and encouraged to pray through my weaknesses. THIS is the place where our prayer life EXPLODES – praying everything according to God’s will because it is at this place that we surrender what we think should happen, and accept His better way and perfect time. Jesus will forever be our example. He asked of God the Father before His crucifixion to remove this cup. But then He concluded, “Not MY will, but YOURS be done.” The will of the Father, as it concerned Jesus’ request, was the salvation of the world. The cup could not pass from Jesus, because God had a greater purpose in store: my salvation and yours. Sometimes the cup will not pass from our lives either. But we can rest assured that God’s will can be TRUSTED, it is GOOD, and should be at the heart of every prayer we breathe, every request we make. When it is, we can be certain there will be a sudden and POWERFUL transformation in our prayer lives. Yes, every prayer WILL be answered.
A.W. Tozer said, “The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.”
