Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today, let’s increase our confidence that God answers prayer.

Today’s scripture, James 5:17‭-‬18 (ERV), testifies…
Elijah was a person just like us. He prayed that it would not rain. And it did not rain on the land for three and a half years! Then Elijah prayed that it would rain. And the rain came down from the sky, and the land grew crops again.

Consider… Prayers are..

Providential
Requests
Accessing
Yahweh’s
Eternal
Reservoirs

Reservoirs of:

• Love…O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help. – Psalms 86:5 NLT
• Mercy…Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. – Lamentations 3:23 NLT
• Grace…Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. – 2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT
• Peace…Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all. – 2 Thessalonians 3:16 NLT
• Hope…And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. – Romans 5:5 NLT

These handful of reservoirs are mere drops in the oasis of all that God has already prepared for us.

Dr. Tony Evans has said, “Prayer is not simply talking to God. Instead, prayer is asserting earthly permission for heavenly interference. Prayer is earth giving heaven authorization to intervene in the affairs of earth as heaven has previously stated it would.”

This makes me think of Daniel 9:20‭-‬23 (NLT), where Daniel said…
I went on praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people, pleading with the Lord my God for Jerusalem, his holy mountain. As I was praying, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, came swiftly to me at the time of the evening sacrifice. He explained to me, “Daniel, I have come here to give you insight and understanding. The moment you began praying, a command was given. And now I am here to tell you what it was, for you are very precious to God. Listen carefully so that you can understand the meaning of your vision.

Notice Gabriel told Daniel, God answered his prayer the moment he began. That makes me think of a quote I heard recently, “absence of evidence isn’t evidence of absence”. The Holy Spirit is emphasizing, just because we don’t see the answer immediately, doesn’t mean God’s hasn’t answered already. In a word, the Lord is saying, pray and patiently wait to see what God has already decreed.

I also hear Jesus reminding us of our Heavenly Father’s Omniscience. In Matthew 6:7‭-‬8 (ERV), He said…
“And when you pray, don’t be like the people who don’t know God. They say the same things again and again. They think that if they say it enough, their god will hear them. Don’t be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

The Holy Spirit is telling us, that our prayers aren’t breaking news to God, rather they’re faith strengthening confessions, that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think. (Ephesians 3:20)

You see, when we pray, we’re telling God that we believe our faith matters to Him. That’s what King Hezekiah did, when he made a plea for mercy in Isaiah 38:1-3.

Here’s the Lord’s response to Hezekiah’s providential request, asking Yahweh for a life extension…
“Go to Hezekiah and tell him that the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says, ‘I heard your prayer, and I saw your tears. I will add 15 years to your life. – Isaiah 38:5 ERV

Isaiah 38:1-3, has a key lesson, it teaches about confession. Confession expresses our heart to God, not simply apologizes for our sin. Hezekiah actually confessed by reminding God of his devotion to Him and sincere desire to please Him. In other words, Hezekiah said, Lord I tried. When’s the last time you told the Lord that you tried? 😔

Here’s the thing, God already knows we have, or are going to mess up. (Romans 3:23)

But our 1 John 1:9 prayer says, we believe God’s right-making grace is greater than our sin-infested wrong (Romans 3:24)

There are too many things to list, that we can pray about, but the Holy Spirit wants us to know that…
With Jesus as our high priest, we can feel free to come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we receive mercy and kindness to help us when we need it. – Hebrews 4:16 ERV

Jesus, Himself said it this way…
In that day you will not have to ask me about anything. And I assure you, my Father will give you anything you ask him for in my name. – John 16:23 ERV

Rest assured, God answers every prayer. What determines the answer is who it glorifies. If you want yes answers, pray “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done” prayers.

Today, I encourage you to confidently pray, because it opens dialogue with God, and invites Him to answer with what He’s always been wanting to say!

Today’s song is….
Every Prayer

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)