God Does Answer Prayer . . .

• If I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus. I must come to God in the name of the One whom He has ordained; the One who has paid for my sin; the One who is my advocate: the Lord Jesus Christ (John 16:23). Although every saved person has the privilege to call God his Father, he has that right only because of the work of his Savior.
• If I pray according to His will. God is sovereign: to think that I can have anything I want is presumption. I must ask according to that which the will of Christ teaches. If I find no specific instruction in the Bible, then I must condition my prayer with "if it is Thy will" (1 John 5: 14, James 4: 15).
• If I am abiding in Christ. God desires that His Son be pre-eminent. If I want something from God, I must be enjoying fellowship with Christ. I must realize my dependence on the Lord (John 15:7).
• If I have a clear conscience before God. If I am doing those things that please God and have a clear conscience before Him, His Word tells me that I will receive that for which I ask (1 John 3:22).
• If I believe that God will answer. God wants me to trust Him. If I ask Him for something and do not believe He will answer, then He has not promised to. God expects me to ask for those things that I can believe He will provide (Matt. 21:22).
• If I ask with persistence. Asking God for something is serious business. If I ask Him, it must be because I believe my request is important and because I believe that the only way it can be fulfilled is for God to do it (Luke 11:5-10).
• If I ask with right motives. If my prayers are for selfish ambitions or for my pride, I have no right to expect God to answer. He is not a dispensary for self-gratification (Jas. 4: 3).

If I am to have complete confidence that the all-wise God will answer my earnest prayer, the Bible teaches me that all of the above requirements are to be fulfilled.

God in His grace may answer our request even though we fail in some of the above points, but we cannot have full assurance that our prayers will be answered unless we purpose in our hearts to meet these conditions.

"continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving" (Col. 4:2)

-J. Lyman