24/03/2024

GOD-GIVEN CONDITIONS OF ANSWERS TO OUR PRAYERS

2 Chronicles 7:12-14; Isaiah 1:3,4,15,16-19

It is an exciting, great and rare privilege to always have our prayers answered. It is only
very few though that always receive such answers. Yet, such a great privilege is possible
and can be yours. God has given some simple conditions to be fulfilled in order to receive
answers to your heart’s requests and desires. When you neglect them, there is failure and
disappointment. But when you are obedient and faithful and you come with faith to the
Lord in prayers, then, He grants you a happy, fruitful life. It is a great privilege to be able
to pray to a mighty, powerful God. Abraham, Samuel, Elijah, Daniel and the Lord Jesus
Christ prayed and received answers to their prayers.

Solomon built a magnificent temple. At the dedication, he acknowledged the fact that no
matter how magnificent a temple might be, if prayers are not being answered in such a
temple, the beauty of the temple is in vain. No matter how exciting a church’s worship is,
if prayers are not being answered there, it is all in vain. Hence he prayed: “Have respect
therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to
hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee: That
thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou
hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which
thy servant prayeth toward this place” (2 Chronicles 6:19,20).

Even though the whole earth belongs to the Lord, there are people chosen by God. In their
midst, He answers prayers. Sometimes, when heaven appears to be shut up against us, it
may not be because Satan is so mighty and powerful, it may be that God, for some obvious
reasons, has done it. Pestilence and hardship that assail our lives sometimes may not be
due to evil activities of an herbalist or an enemy somewhere. They may be from God to
sound alarm to His people going astray: to recover them from the error of their ways. God
hates pride or arrogance. But if we will humble ourselves, pray and seek His face and turn
from our wicked ways, then, He will hear us and heal our lands. The Lord wants to answer
our prayers but first He would want us to check up our attitudes, our regard or otherwise
disregard for His commandments.

1. THE PROMISES OF RECEIVING ANSWERS TO PRAYER

Isaiah 58:9-14; John 15:7; 1 John 3:21,22; 5:14,15; Matthew 21:21,22;
1 Peter 3:7,12
Are there some things on your mind or some requests in your heart you want to present
to God in prayer? The Lord has so many promises of answer to prayers that no matter
what part of the Bible you read, you can be rest-assured that God loves you and wants to
answer your prayers. There is the promise of answered prayer and God’s guidance in every
area of our lives including marriage, career, etc. The precious promises of God shows His
willingness and readiness to answer our prayers and give us the assurance that we will
receive answers when we pray. If we will fulfill the simple conditions of answers to our
prayers, if we will turn away from evil, fault-finding, high-handedness and oppressions,
false accusation, if we abide in the Lord, keep His commandments, if we will treat our
spouses with tenderness, gentleness and love, the Lord will answer our prayers.
The Lord wants to answer our prayers. But we will need to pray in accordance with
His will. The will of God is very broad. It covers every area of our lives - our happiness,
healing, righteousness and fullness of joy. Everything we need and will ever need has been
willed by God. The Lord is willing to fulfill His promises. The promises are so wide and so
broad that there has never been anything like them from any human being.

2. POSSIBLE REASONS FOR UNANSWERED PRAYERS

Isaiah 59:1,2; 58:3,4; Zechariah 7:12,13; Proverbs 28:9; Psalm 66:18;
2 Samuel 12:13-20; Jeremiah 7:8-11,16; 11:9,10,14; 14:7,10,11

God wants to answer our prayers. He never can get tired of answering our prayers.
But our sins, misdeeds and unrighteousness seal up His ears to our cries. They form a
barricade between us and our God so that He will not hear. This should call for self-
examination. Your desires are no match to the great possibilities of prayer if you can take
away gossip, backbiting, murmuring, lying and any other sin as they do hinder the
answers to your prayers. It is a wonderful thing to pray and fast. But if you will reap the
full benefits of fasting and prayer, you will need to eschew bitter quarrels, arguments and
malice. It is not every problem that comes from witches and wizards. It is not every problem
that comes as a result of yokes and curses. It is not every problem that comes from
ancestral spirits. When the children of Israel sinned and were bitten of the serpents, the
serpents were not seen as the handworks of witches and wizards or ancestral spirits but
as coming from the Lord for punishment of their sin. When leprosy came upon Miriam,
she did not attribute it to an herbalist or an evil spirit but saw it as a punishment for her
sin of gossip and backbiting against the man of God, Moses. The solution to our problems
sometimes may not be in breaking of yokes or in going for a deliverance ministrations. The
solution may be in being genuinely sorry for our sins.
Many people have public victory but private failure. Publicly, they are able to
conquer Goliath; privately they are not able to conquer the lusts of the flesh. The Lord is
looking for righteousness in our lives. If the miracle you are seeking from the Lord is very
important to you, if you want to be able to pray and bring down answers from heaven,
then you will need to get rid of sin and become righteous.

3. THE POWER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR ANSWERED PRAYERS

Genesis 18:19; Exodus 33:11,17; 1 Kings 18:36-39; 2 Kings 20:1-6;
James 5:16

Righteousness gives us boldness in prayer. It gives us the power to pray more than we
can ever get from fasting, prayer formula or methods. We cannot force God to do
anything for us by either fasting or by flattery. If we are living in sin, we can deceive men
and women and get what we want by flattery but we cannot by it cause God to forget
holiness. Holiness is the nature of God. We cannot flatter Him to the point that He will
forget that deliberate disobedience to His commandments is going to hinder answer to
our prayers. If you want to reverse negative things in your life, then you need to live
righteously. When you live a righteous life, you do not need someone else to break a
spiritual yoke for you. Righteous living gives authority to your word to remove every
mountain in your life.

Congregational Songs
GHS: 166, 164 & 230