Are your prayers getting answered?
Ever had someone
say to you “I will pray for you”?
Often it is someone who is showing concern for an events in your life which need a Divine intervention. It’s a very nice gesture. It’s pretty universal that we believe God is there and we can pray to Him when we need Him. Are you sure that your prayers are getting through?
Praying to God indicates a relationship exists with Him. We wouldn’t conceive of talking to those who we do not know, especially about personal matters, so having that relationship is critical. And as in life, all relationships that work need to be two way. Have you ever considered it’s both talking and listening? We talk in our prayers, and we listen by opening Gods Word to know what He has to say to us.
And with any relationship, we need to work on it. There needs to be a balance, and the more we pray the more we need to listen. But at one time, just like you, I didn’t know anything about what God was saying to me, because I was ignorant about His Word, and I left Gods message in the hands of human mediators. That’s was a serious mistake.
God didn’t make this complicated. He says in the Bible that He “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” 2 Tim 2:4. That is good news, and the question is what is the truth? That very question was posed by Pilate to Jesus John 18:38 and Jesus had made it clear stating “My Word is Truth” in John 17:17
Getting to Know God is all about getting to know Jesus. And this is so important because our prayers need a mediator, a go between, because we have a problem approaching a Holy God, as we are sinners. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Tim 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”.
What does this all mean? In the absence of a relationship with Jesus, your prayer is not reaching its intended target. That’s quite shocking isn’t it? So I need to know how I can make sure I have a relationship with Jesus as Jesus has specified I must. I need to meet His terms and conditions.
What are Jesus’ terms and conditions? Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter” Matt 7:21. So I need to do the will of God. Clearly, if I am not living a life in harmony with God’s will, then my prayers are in trouble. Then I really need to know what God’s will is for me, and I need to be doing it. Christianity is an active living Faith, you cannot be passive. The people Jesus is referring to in Matt 7:21 above clearly know who Jesus is, sufficient to call Him Lord Lord, but verse 23 of the same chapter states “I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from ME, you who practice lawlessness.” These are Jesus own words, stating that those who practice a “christianity” separate and apart from the Bible, are going to be lost.
If you are reading this, you clearly Love people enough so that you pray for them and you understand the power of God to change lives, and save souls. God has reached out, sending the prophets of old, sending His Son Jesus, sending out the Apostles, and delivering to all of us, access to His Word, which is able to save us from our sins. God is on a search and rescue mission, and its time you reached out for the lifebuoy. Do you know what that Lifebuoy is? It is His Kingdom, the church, the one you read about in the New testament. It’s not to be confused with our present world, full of denominations, something Jesus never intended or established.
Jesus paid a price for His Kingdom, the Church. He bought it with His own blood, Acts 20:17. And the scripture teaches us that “Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Saviour of the body” Eph 5:23. It’s a church belonging to Jesus, not to man. Its doctrine is from Jesus, its free from mans control, and salvation is found only in this church.
Jesus is the mediator for the prayers of those who are in His kingdom. Outside of His Kingdom, there is no salvation and no answer to prayers.
You cannot come to God in prayer on your terms. You have to build the relationship on His. And that means listening to His Son. Jesus says in John 8:24 “Therefore I say to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins”. Is BELIEF absolutely essential? YES. But not Belief alone.
Jesus said in Luke 13:3 “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will likewise perish.” Is REPENTANCE absolutely essential? YES. But not Repentance alone.
Jesus said in Matt 10:32-33 “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him…” Is CONFESSING Jesus absolutely essential? YES. But not Confession alone.
Jesus said in Mark 16:16, “He who has believed and has been baptised shall be saved; but He who has disbelieved shall be condemned.” Is BAPTISM absolutely essential? YES. But not Baptism alone.
Belief – Repentance – Confession – Baptism. And on completion of your Baptism as a believing repenting confessing candidate, we fulfil the terms laid down by Jesus himself, secured through the cross. Then we have the promise from God which says in 1 Pt 3:12 “For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, And His ears attend to their prayer,”.
Now, having fulfilled His terms, we are at peace with God, forgiven of our sins, and our prayers go up to God, Jesus being our mediator. For all your loved ones, your family, your friends, your neighbours and acquaintances, you have real power in your hands to bring before the God of heaven, requests and petitions on behalf of all men, and as God revealed in scripture, James 5:16 “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much”.
Take the next step, and lets do a study of the Bible. Allow us to share the joy of the Gospel with you and equip you to read and understand what the will of the Lord is, as God reveals in Eph 5:17 “So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”
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