Saint John Chrysostom (349–407) wrote, ‘Prayer… is the root, the fountain, the mother of a thousand blessings… The potency of prayer has subdued the strength of fire, it has bridled the rage of lions… extinguished wars, appeased the elements, expelled demons, burst the chains of death, expanded the gates of heaven, assuaged diseases… rescued cities from destruction… and arrested the progress of the thunderbolt.’
Our God answers when we call upon Him in prayer. The way He answers, and when he answers we may not know, but his willingness to answer us when we call on him is never in doubt. Isaiah 65:24 declares, “I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!”
Furthermore, Isaiah 30:18-21, reveals God’s eagerness to answer our petitions, “Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; You shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; When He hears it, He will answer you. And though the Lord gives you The bread of adversity and the water of affliction, Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, But your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.”
God is willing and determined to hear your prayer before you were willing to ask. He decreed it from eternity. In fact, He was willing before you even had a will or existed. Furthermore, He was not only willing before you asked, but He is the cause why you are willing. You must not think that your prayers move God to be willing; His will is the same forever, not subject to the least motion or alteration. Prayers are a sign rather than a cause that God is willing. He stirs up our hearts to pray.
David was a man who knew danger and God delivered him at different times when he called upon Him (Psalm 40:1-3; 2 Samuel 5:17-25; 1 Sam.30:6-8). God answered Elijah at Mount Carmel when he prayed for fire to come down. God demonstrated that, unlike Baal, He answers the prayers of His servants (1 Kings 18:36-38). God answered Hannah when she prayed for a male child (1 Sam. 1:26-28). God answered Samuel when he prayed for the children of Israel (1 Sam. 7:5-10). God answered Jacob at Bethel while he journeyed to the house of Laban (Gen.28:16-22). God answered Jabez who was born in pain and delivered him from pain and sorrow (1 Chro. 4:10). God answered Paul and Silas when they were in prison (Acts 16). God answered the disciples when they prayed for Peter while he was imprisoned (Acts 12).
If God answered all these people, then He will answer you; no matter what you may be going through, call on Him.
1 John 5:13-15 says, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”
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