Do You Expect God To Answer Your Prayers?
Wise answers are often provided for those who struggle with unanswered prayers. But there appears to be a significant lack in today’s Reformed Church of confident expectation of God answering prayer.
Is this the case because we fear sounding like the erroneous prosperity gospel teachers? Or, is it because of a subtle doubt that God really does answer prayer? Is it because of a closet legalism of looking to ourselves for the reason why God hears or doesn’t hear our prayers? Is it because of a small view of God in our hearts even though we speak of a big God in our sermons?
How do you feel when you read quotes like these:
“We may expect answers to prayer, and should not be easy without them any more than we should be if we had written a letter to a friend upon important business, and had received no reply.” — Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
“Doubtful prayer is no prayer at all.” — John Calvin (159-1564)
“There is no way that Christians, in a private capacity, can do so much to promote the work of God and advance the kingdom of Christ as by prayer.” — Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
“A poor trembling faith puts my prayer into the hands of my Advocate and then says, ‘He can make something of it.’ My eyes are fastened upon Him at God’s right hand, and thereby faith is elevated, and despair gradually vanishes.” — Oliver Haywood (1630-1702)
“He is either a fool or a madman, he is either very weak or very wicked, that prays and prays, but never looks [for answers to] his prayers; that shoots many an arrow towards heaven, but never cares where his arrows land.” — Thomas Brooks (1608-1680)
“I live in the spirit of prayer; I pray as I walk, when I lie down and when I rise, and the answers are always coming.” — George Muller (1805-1898)
How do you feel when you read holy, inerrant, inspired Scriptures like these:
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” — Mark 11:24
“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” — 1 John 5:14
“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.” — James 5:16
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” — Matthew 7:7
“Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.” — Isaiah 65:4
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” — John 15:7
“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” — John 14:13-14
“And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” — Luke 18:1
We could go on and on with quotes and Scripture texts. One thing is clear: God has more to say about answering prayer than unanswered prayers.
It is not presumption nor prosperity gospel to rise from prayer in great confidence that God will answer. That is the nature of faith. If prayer is unanswered, then we continue to pray. If it continues to be unanswered then we humbly seek the Lord and conform our requests unto His Word. Nevertheless, we never give up nor do we lose hope. After all, we make our prayers on the basis of the all-sufficient Christ. What greater confidence could we have?
It is not wrong but rather it is righteous to rise from prayer with confident expectation that what we ask of Jesus according to His Word is something that will be answered.