Prayer gets answered, right?

We’re supposed to pray. It’s part of what Christians do that makes us Christian.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6)

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1st Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (Romans 12:12)

God answers prayer, right? A couple of weeks ago we talked about how St. Augustine’s mom prayed so long and so hard that it turned her whole family’s life around. The bible also assures us that we’re not just talking to ourselves. Prayer gets answered.

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. (James 5:13-18)

At that time Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, "Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon." And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD heeded the voice of a man, for the LORD fought for Israel. (Joshua 10:12-14)

Sometimes it seems like our prayers are not as effective as these we see in James and Joshua. Why is it the bible says things like Matthew 7:7 and Matthew 18:19 and Matthew 16:19 when we don’t always seem to get what we want?

The following are several ways that Luis Palau says he has seen God answer prayer. Check out the whole article here. There are some good stories at this website of how God has answered prayers in each of the following ways:

• "No, I love you too much."
• ”Yes, but you’ll have to wait.”
• "Yes, but quite different from how you thought I would answer."
• "Yes, and here's more!"
• "Yes, I thought you'd never ask."

When we were discussing these, a couple of great biblical stories about prayer came up. First, compare Jeremiah 42:7 and Jeremiah 21:3 and you can see that sometimes prayer is answered right away and sometimes you have to persist in prayer for a while. Another great example is the parable of the unrighteous judge and the persistent widow.

One final hint:

We talk to God when we pray.

God talks back to us when we read the bible.

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More good websites on this topic:

• http://www.everystudent.com/wires/prayers.html
• http://www.mountainretreatorg.net/faq/does_god_answer_prayers.shtml