Jesus said, “Whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do…” (See John 14:13). Do you know when that becomes valid in a believer’s life? Wen that believer can say the same to Jesus Christ and mean it: “Jesus, whatsoever you ask of me, that will I do.”
All too many believers are perplexed by the fact that there have been many petitions they have presented to God in prayer and quite obviously never got an answer, or the only possible answer to be discerned was that God said, “No!”
Remember how God told Israel long ago through His prophet Zechariah, “Therefore it is come to pass that as He (God) cried (through His prophets), and they (Israel) would not hear, so they cried (to God in prayer), and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts.” (See Zechariah 7:13). Again, I repeat, it is tit-for-tat with God. If we will listen to God, obeying what He tells us to do in His word, He will listen to us. If we turn a deaf ear to God, living life on our own terms, then He will turn a deaf ear to us when we pray, asking for His help or assistance. God is no chump. No one can take advantage of God or “get over” on God.
Long ago God inspired the psalmist to write, “If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me” (See Psalm 66:18). Cover your sin. Keep on keeping on in your rebellion and refusal to obey God in all matters, and God will say, “I am not listening” when you pray.
Peter understood this truth quite well when he wrote: “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” (See I Peter 3:12). If His face is against you, that means His back is turned on you.
Jesus said, “Many are called (to inherit salvation, eternal life), but few are chosen” (See Matthew 22:14), and to those chosen ones He says, “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit (be spiritually productive), and that your fruit should remain (continuously, day in and day out, producing tangible, obvious spiritual growth and productivity), that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it to you” (See John 15:16).
Yes, that is when your prayer life takes wings! That is when you receive marvelous, and often speedy, answers to your prayers. That’s when God becomes really and truly REAL to your mind and in your daily affairs.
Remember, it is impossible for God to lie. But we must not lie to Him. We must not say we have given Him our all when, in truth, we are withholding a great deal, or anything, from Him. He not only sees the baby sparrow when it falls from its nest, He is observing you right now as you finish reading this sentence. God is greater than the wildest human imagination can even begin to fathom or realize. And that God wants you to enjoy His company and fellowship from here to eternity.
Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley