I suppose that prayer is one of the most talked about and least practiced things in the Christian life! The reasons why prayers are not answered the way we want them to be is not well understood. After all didn’t Jesus promise ” If you ask Me anything in my name, I will do it”. John 14:14. Sounds pretty unqualified doesn’t it? Let me see if I can briefly clarify a few things:

1. God loves to bless us and has proven His love by giving His Son when we were still His enemies…”He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him give us all things”. Rom. 8:32

2. His wisdom is beyond comprehension and His power is unlimited. He created the universe out of nothing. He is also immutable, meaning He never changes so He is just as able to do miracles today as He was in the distant past. He has no limits.

God is our faithful Father and while He can do anything He will only act in our best interest. He sees our hearts and He sees the end from the beginning. All of His attributes, including love, power, wisdom and immutability are consistent with one another. Always! He is too loving to do anything unkind and too wise to make a mistake! All of the limitations are because of us! He can’t answer our prayers if:

* I don’t treat my wife like I should…1Peter3:7
* I have selfish motives …James 4:3
* If I am doing evil…Micah 3:4

Asking in Jesus name is not some magical incantation. It means that we ask for the same things He would ask for. We are representing Him when we ask in His Name! WOW!

Oh, another thing…His timing is never the same as ours! He is teaching us endurance and causing us to grow in faith through all of the tests and trials He allows because He is growing us up to become more like Him…every day! James 1:2,3.

Pastor Terry