Written by: John Sernaque
Dear Reader,
Books / Pr - Prayer (2002) / Chapter 3—God Hears Prayer
Believe That God Hears Your Prayers—The people of God must move understandingly. They should not be satisfied until every known sin is confessed; then it is their privilege and duty to believe that Jesus accepts them. They must not wait for others to press through the darkness and obtain the victory for them to enjoy. Such enjoyment will last only till the meeting closes. But God must be served from principle instead of from feeling. Morning and night obtain the victory for yourselves in your own family. Let not your daily labor keep you from this. Take time to pray, and as you pray, believe that God hears you. Have faith mixed with your prayers. You may not at all times feel the immediate answer; but then it is that faith is tried. You are proved to see whether you will trust in God, whether you have living, abiding faith. “Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.” Walk the narrow plank of faith. Trust all on the promises of the Lord. Trust God in darkness. That is the time to have faith. But you often let feeling govern you. You look for worthiness in yourselves when you do not feel comforted by the Spirit of God, and despair because you cannot find it. You do not trust enough in Jesus, precious Jesus. You do not make His worthiness to be all, all. The very best you can do will not merit the favor of God. It is Jesus’ worthiness that will save you, His blood that will cleanse you. But you have efforts to make. You must do what you can on your part. Be zealous and repent, then believe.—(Testimonies for the Church 1:167.) {Pr 38.1}
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1. We are to walk by faith and not by sight. We are to believe in things before they happen. Jesus said He tells us of these things before they come to pass, so when they come to pass, we may believe. Our faith proves our trust in God. When we pray, we need to believe God hears and will answer our prayers. We may not receive an immediate answer, but this is when our faith is tried. When you do not “feel” like praying is the time when you need to pray the most. God expects us to do our part, and He will do His.
Our Father in heaven,
We come to You in faith, trusting and believing that You will hear and answer our prayers. We confess and repent of all our sins, as we know that if we come to You holding onto known sins, You will not hear our prayers. We are sinners by nature, and are weak human beings. We pray that You help us overcome our sins and gain the victory Jesus won for our salvation. We cannot do anything by our own strength. We call on in our times of weakness Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Dear Lord, please cleanse us from all unrighteousness and wash us clean in the blood of Christ. Take the filthy rags off us and clothe us in Your white robe of righteousness. Please help each of us, as everyone has to work out his or her own salvation with fear and trembling. Teach us Your principles so none rely on their own feelings, instead let all trust and believe in God, to
have the faith of Christ Jesus. Grant us living, abiding faith. We thank You for all Your wonderful promises that we may believe, as Your promises are sure. We thank You for giving us this privilege to commune with You and lift up our petitions to the foot of Your throne. We pray that none will neglect their prayer life, the lifeline between earth and heaven. Let none allow the busyness of their life get in the way of coming into Your presence through prayer. When we do not receive an immediate answer, grant us patience and peace, to wait on Your grace and mercy. You have told us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and we will be saved, our house and we. Now this is a promise to live by. Bless us and keep us, in the name of Christ Jesus, we pray. Amen.
