Resounding Yes
"Sometimes God answers yes, and sometimes He answers no."
I have heard this explanation of how God answers prayer ever since I was a little girl in Sunday school.
But then I read what Jesus says, I start to wonder...
"If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and prove to be my disciples." (John 15:7-8)
"Whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give it to you." (John 15:16)
"Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full." (John 16:24)
John reiterates Jesus' teaching in 1 John 5:14-15:
"And this is the confidence we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests we have asked of Him."
It sounds like there is a way to pray in the Spirit, according to the will of God, so that all our prayers are answered with a resounding "yes"!
The secret is found in John 15 as Jesus taught His disciples (us included) to abide in Him. Just like Jesus and the Father were one, Jesus wanted to be one with us, and for us to be one with God. He even prayed for that very thing in John 17.
Christ was so close to the Father that He became one with Him. His heart was aligned with the Father's heart, meaning that their thoughts, emotions, and desires were completely unified. The Holy Spirit created this connection between them, even though Christ was on earth and the Father was in heaven.
The same Spirit that allowed this intimate connection between Christ and the Father is the same Spirit that dwells within us, connecting us to both Christ and the Father. This means that we, too, can become so close to God in personal relationship with Him that our hearts and minds become like His. This oneness with Christ and the Father - called "abiding" or "remaining" in John 15- is like melting our hearts and melding them with the heart of the Maker of the Universe until our thoughts, emotions, passions, desires, words, and works become like His. Maybe this is even what it means to be made in the image of God.
With this kind of loving relationship - this oneness and unity with God - we can ask for anything and He will answer "yes" because the things that are important to us are the things that are important to Him. The matters that are on our hearts are the very same matters on His. We find ourselves asking for things in alignment with God's will because we are asking for the things that He already wants to do something about.
What a new and exciting approach to prayer! We no longer have to worry about asking God for the right things. We don't have to add "but only if it is your will" as a tag line to the end of all our prayers and hope for the best. Instead of coming to God and asking for physical things or worldly concerns, we come to Him and say, "Lord, what is on your heart today? Those are the matters that I want to be on my heart as well. Those are the things I lift up to you in prayer." And you will begin to feel your heart beating in synchronous rhythm with His, and He will always answer, "Yes! Yes, that's what I want, too!"
John 15:8 says that all this is for the glory of God. When we become one with Him and pray in the Spirit according to the will of God about the things that are on His heart, He will answer every prayer, and the world around us will see that we serve a God who is alive, listening, hearing, and answering. John 16:24 adds that this will make our joy full and abundant.
God gains glory; we get joy...when all prayers are answered "yes"...when our abiding hearts become one with His.
I have heard this explanation of how God answers prayer ever since I was a little girl in Sunday school.
But then I read what Jesus says, I start to wonder...
"If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and prove to be my disciples." (John 15:7-8)
"Whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give it to you." (John 15:16)
"Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full." (John 16:24)
John reiterates Jesus' teaching in 1 John 5:14-15:
"And this is the confidence we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests we have asked of Him."
It sounds like there is a way to pray in the Spirit, according to the will of God, so that all our prayers are answered with a resounding "yes"!
The secret is found in John 15 as Jesus taught His disciples (us included) to abide in Him. Just like Jesus and the Father were one, Jesus wanted to be one with us, and for us to be one with God. He even prayed for that very thing in John 17.
Christ was so close to the Father that He became one with Him. His heart was aligned with the Father's heart, meaning that their thoughts, emotions, and desires were completely unified. The Holy Spirit created this connection between them, even though Christ was on earth and the Father was in heaven.
The same Spirit that allowed this intimate connection between Christ and the Father is the same Spirit that dwells within us, connecting us to both Christ and the Father. This means that we, too, can become so close to God in personal relationship with Him that our hearts and minds become like His. This oneness with Christ and the Father - called "abiding" or "remaining" in John 15- is like melting our hearts and melding them with the heart of the Maker of the Universe until our thoughts, emotions, passions, desires, words, and works become like His. Maybe this is even what it means to be made in the image of God.
With this kind of loving relationship - this oneness and unity with God - we can ask for anything and He will answer "yes" because the things that are important to us are the things that are important to Him. The matters that are on our hearts are the very same matters on His. We find ourselves asking for things in alignment with God's will because we are asking for the things that He already wants to do something about.
What a new and exciting approach to prayer! We no longer have to worry about asking God for the right things. We don't have to add "but only if it is your will" as a tag line to the end of all our prayers and hope for the best. Instead of coming to God and asking for physical things or worldly concerns, we come to Him and say, "Lord, what is on your heart today? Those are the matters that I want to be on my heart as well. Those are the things I lift up to you in prayer." And you will begin to feel your heart beating in synchronous rhythm with His, and He will always answer, "Yes! Yes, that's what I want, too!"
John 15:8 says that all this is for the glory of God. When we become one with Him and pray in the Spirit according to the will of God about the things that are on His heart, He will answer every prayer, and the world around us will see that we serve a God who is alive, listening, hearing, and answering. John 16:24 adds that this will make our joy full and abundant.
God gains glory; we get joy...when all prayers are answered "yes"...when our abiding hearts become one with His.
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