Men and women of the Bible that had a strong prayer life received amazing answers to their prayers. They had a deep dependency on Almighty God. They had a realization that they couldn’t, but God could. They believed God not only heard their prayers but answered prayers. But, what made them all stand out, was an unwavering, solid, steadfast faith in God. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have had the answers to their prayers.
Hebrews 11:1-3. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
They had conviction which is a firmly held belief that goes beyond simple acceptance. This type of conviction involves a deep certainty, a strong emotional commitment and often drives action. I would like to look at some people who had this type of conviction of faith.
Joshua 10:6-14. Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, saying, “Do not abandon your servants; come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites that live in the hill country have assembled against us.” So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him and all the valiant warriors. The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands; not one of them shall stand before you.” So Joshua came upon them suddenly by marching all night from Gilgal. And the LORD confounded them before Israel, and He slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and pursued them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. As they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, the LORD threw large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword. Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “O sun, stand still at Gibeon, And O moon in the valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies. Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. There was no day like that before it or after it, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.
WOW! What an amazing record! The LORD confounded the enemy, throwing hailstones from heaven, stopping the sun and moon for a day, fighting for the people of Israel. But He told Joshua, not to fear them, for He has given them into his hands. The LORD listened to Joshua’s prayer to Him. What an amazing answer to his prayer.
Joshua didn’t hesitate praying to the LORD, and expected Yahweh to answer his prayers.
Elijah was another great man of faith. Yahweh told Elijah to go to Ahab and tell him that there shall be no dew nor rain these years except by my word. (I Kings 17:1). This is monumental and devastating for the land. Plus, it put Elijah’s life in danger. Ahab wants to find him and the LORD has to hide him. This drought lasted for 3 1/2 years. God hid him by a brook in Cherith, east of Jordan. The ravens fed him bread and meat in the morning and evening, and Elijah drank from the brook. (I Kings 17:2-6).When the water dried up, God had him go to a widow in Zarephath, to continue to hide. When he gets there the woman tells him there is no bread, just a handful of flour and a little oil, which she was going to make cakes for her and her son and then they would die. Elijah tells her not to fear, but make him a cake first and bring it out to him and then make one for yourself and your son.
Then he tells her what the LORD says is that the flour shall not be exhausted, nor the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the face of the earth. Not long after that, her son becomes sick and dies and Elijah raises her son from the dead. Elijah prays to the LORD and asks Him for the life of the child to be revived. The LORD heard his prayer, and the child lived. After this, amazingly the woman tells Elijah that she now knows that Elijah is a man of God and that the Word of the LORD in his mouth is truth. (I Kings 17:9-24).
Three and a half years pass and the LORD has Elijah go back to Ahab and tells him that there is the sound of a roar of a heavy shower. Then in a little while the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy shower. (I Kings 18:41-45).
James 5:17,18. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.
I love that Elijah had a nature like ours. He’s just a man like us. What made Elijah stand out was his conviction of faith that Yahweh heard and answered prayers. The question is: do we have that same conviction of faith?
There have been times in my life that I didn’t receive the answer I prayed for, or got an answer I didn’t expect. If that happens to you, does your faith in Yahweh diminish? Are you so shaken up that you lose your faith?
I want to look at the life of a man that did not receive the answer he was expecting from God, yet he prayed earnestly, and look at his response to the LORD.
David committed a great sin before the LORD. He committed adultery and murder. He took the wife of a valiant man named Uriah and had sexual relations with her and she became pregnant. He tried to get Uriah to lay with his wife, and when that failed he had Uriah killed in battle. The LORD has his prophet Nathan go to David and rebuke him about Uriah and Bathsheba.
2 Samuel 12:9-15. Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun.’” Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. “However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.” So Nathan went to his house.
Now look at David’s prayer and his response to God.
2 Samuel 12:15-20. Then the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s widow bore to David, so that he was very sick. David therefore inquired of God for the child; and David fasted and went and lay all night on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him in order to raise him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat food with them. Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was still alive, we spoke and he did not listen to our voice. How then can we tell him that the child is dead, since he might do himself harm!”But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” So David arose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he came into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he came to his own house, and when he re-quested, they set food before him and he ate.
David’s response, after learning that the child died, even after days of laying on the ground praying to God, he washed and went to the house of the LORD and worshiped Yahweh! Even though his child died, and he didn’t receive the answer he wanted, his first response was to not quit his faith, but rather worship the LORD. His faith and love for the LORD did NOT diminish! Before he even refreshed himself with food, he worshiped the LORD.
When God’s people went into captivity for 70 years because of their iniquity against the LORD, even then, the LORD told the exiles to seek the welfare of the city and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its peace, you will have peace. (Jeremiah 29:7). Then when the 70 years are completed for Babylon, He would fulfill His word
to them and bring them back.
Jeremiah 29:11-14. For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.
Even though they were taken captive, became exiles in a foreign land, God still told them to pray for peace. Also remember, taken into captivity in Babylon as exiles, were Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Through their prayers to the LORD, the mouths of lions were closed, they were not consumed by fire, and they took a stand for Yahweh for all to see. They were NOT doubting the LORD, their faith in Him, regardless of what it cost them. They were convinced that God heard AND answered prayers right there and then.
God’s people, even when they were so far removed from Him, were never so far that He didn’t answer them.
Psalm 107:4-6. They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region; They did not find a way to an inhabited city. They were hungry and thirsty; Their soul fainted within them, Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He delivered them out of their distresses.
It’s the same throughout Psalm 107. Read the whole Psalm. They prayed and received answers. They weren’t like Joshua, Elijah or David, and many others, but they knew who to pray to and who would answer them. God heard their cry and He hears us too!
If anyone had a prayer life with an expectancy of answers it was our Lord Jesus Christ. He always directed us to pray to the Father, and also to expect answers, to not quit and lose heart.
Matthew 7:7-11. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf will give to him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake; will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!
Luke 18:1. Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray, and not to lose heart.
We also are not to be feeble and hesitant in our prayers to Yahweh. We are to be bold in our prayers knowing Yahweh hears us and answers us!
Philippians 4:6. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Pray without ceasing. (I Thessalonians 5:17).
As we age, worldly influences attempt to break down our prayer life. We can’t lose heart as Jesus said. Prayer has no power unless we pray with faith and an expectation of answers. Without that, I call it powerless praying. People are just going through the motions. They just throw up a prayer here or there not realizing who they are praying to.
Also, God’s delays in answering our prayers doesn’t mean denial. The constant worldly and most times, evil influences, cause us to doubt. The devil wants us to be anxious, worried and to doubt if God really hears us when we pray. We sometimes start to think that we are not good enough and, as crazy as it sounds, get envious when someone else gets prayers answered and we don’t. I know I have felt that in my life.
It’s just all wrong thinking, they are all lies. The devil wants us to believe lies about our Father and His love and care for us. (John 8:44). Don’t lose heart! Keep building your faith in God and His Word. His promises are true! His Word is true! We need to keep a vital relationship with God Almighty, our Father. That comes by prayer and reading His Word. Ask the Father for wisdom and understanding in His Word! Keep building your faith. (Romans 10:17). Don’t grow weary and let the world beat you down. Get back up! Keep praying and expecting answers!
Those who know God, His Word, His heart, and have faith in Him, are the most blessed in obtaining answers to prayer. The opposite is true also, that prayer is a rare thing for those who have no strong faith and have no vital relationship with God.
Psalm 66:19,20. But certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer Nor His lovingkindness from me.Psalm 116:1,2. I love the LORD, because He hears My voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.Psalm 91:15. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.Psalm 50:15. Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.Psalm 34:17,18. The righteous cry, and the LORD hears And delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.
God hears our prayers. God considers our prayers. God answers our prayers. God delivers us by prayer!
Hebrews 11:6. And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
In this one verse you see faith and expectation of prayer!
How about you? Do you have faith that God is; and that He answers you? Do you have a vital relationship with your Heavenly Father? Do you have a conviction of faith like Joshua, David, Elijah and our Lord Jesus and so many others that are recorded in His Word? Are you receiving answers to your prayers?
Don’t wait any longer. God loves you and gave His son for you. He withholds nothing that is good for you.
Remember how loved you really are!
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