June 24, 2011

 It is hard to resist. You know, pushing an elevator button more than once.

We push the button and nothing happens. So we look at it long and hard. It is lit but nothing is happening, that we can see anyway.

So, we push the button again. It must not have ‘heard’ us the first time. Sometimes we get really frustrated and push it over and over very hard. That should make that elevator hurry up!

Yet we know that whether and elevator is fast or slow, once the electronic signal has been sent to retrieve the elevator, the process is in motion. It will come, but must work through its system or the processes that gets it to us.

Even knowing this, we still can’t resist the urge to push that button again and again.

I think that sometimes our prayers are like that.

We pray and ask God for something. Then in a little bit we pray again. Then in a day or so we pray again. And we keep praying.

1 John 5:15 (Amplified Bible)
And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him. CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL CONTEXT

The scripture above says that He listens to us and hears us when we pray. So when we pray again do we think He did not hear us? So then we pray again, just in case… and again…

But I believe that we should pray once and since we positively know that He heard us, then we should be settled with absolute knowledge that we have been granted our request.

Just because we have become a microwave society and expect instant results when a button is pushed, we expect instant results when we pray. It doesn’t mean that God has said no. It doesn’t mean that God has not heard us. I just means that we must have faith and patiently wait for the process that God desires to grant our prayer request.

It takes faith to push that elevator button one time and know that it will come. But sometimes I think we have more faith in the elevator coming than we do in God granting us our prayers.

Hebrews 11:6 (Amplified Bible)
But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].  CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL CONTEXT

The verse above says that without faith it is impossible to please God. What that is saying to me is that we pray, then because we know that He has heard us, we believe that He will give us what we have prayed for. If we truly believe that, then we will not ask for it again.

Ouch! That hurt!

So in the meantime while we are patiently waiting, the faith filled thing to do is – thank Him. Thank Him that we know He has heard us. Thank Him that because we know He heard us, he will send the answer to our prayers.

As you thank Him and praise Him for sending the answer, see yourself or the person you are praying for as if the answer has come.

The kingdom of God is backwards to natural man. They want to see it then they will believe it.

God says, believe it, then you will see it.

So today, when you pray…

Know that God has heard your cry.

Know that He is answering your prayer.

Praise Him for sending the answer.

See your answer.

Rest in Him.

Now, I am not saying stop communicating with God. Far from it. But there are so many more ways to talk to God than to just repeatedly beg for something. I have to tell you that the day I received this insight from the Lord I was the one laying on the couch praying something, then praying it again. Then after a bit saying exactly the same thing out of a lack of knowing what else to say.

Then I heard ‘elevator buttons’. Ok, Lord you have my attention. Then the full revelation came to mind. Honestly, I wasn’t even giving God time to respond to my request before I was saying the exact same thing all over again.

Matthew 6
7 “And when praying, do not use needless repetitions as the Gentiles do, for they expect to be listened to because of their multitude of words. 8 Do not, however, imitate them; for your Father knows what things you need before ever you ask Him. CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL CONTEXT

I recently posted a portion of this blog and received numerous comments where people were almost offended from what I had said. That is why I now feel the need to elaborate more clearly to enhance understanding.

When we are just mindlessly repeating the same ‘request’ to God, that is needless repetition. We should know that once we have made a request to God, He has heard us and then we can rest in that. We do not need to needlessly repeat it. We should however continue to talk to God in praise or any other type communication.

Many times in the past I took the scripture regarding the unjust judge to heart. But looking at that scripture more closely I see that God is saying that He is NOT an unjust judge and He does hear us and responds quickly and we can have comfort and peace knowing that very thing.

 Luke18
1 One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. 2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ 4 The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”6 Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. 7 Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man^a returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?” CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL CONTEXT 

Paul opens almost every letter to the churches in the New Testament, by telling them that he prays, or thanks God, for them frequently. I believe Paul knew their needs and as he made requests for God for their needs, he spent as much time thanking or praising God for them and for meeting their needs.

So when we pray we can have confidence that God has heard our requests, He will answer and we can rest in that. There is no need for repetition from fear that He hasn’t heard or won’t answer. Therefore we should spend much more of our time thanking and praising Him for what He has done, who He is and what He is doing.

 

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