Stop Begging God!

So far, we've covered how to:
Receive by faith
Speak by faith
Act by faith
But, there's more! If we're to "live by faith", then everything in our lives must come through faith. This includes our prayers.

Do you believe that God answers our prayers? Have you ever prayed and not received the answer? If so, you're not alone. Millions of Christians around the world have pleaded with God for something, and have been disappointed by not getting answer. How do we explain this? Does God want to answer us, or are there times when He decides not to pay attention to what we pray?

In an attempt to explain why good Christians pray so often and nothing happens, the church has come up with a completely unbiblical doctrine: "Sometimes God says 'yes', sometimes He says 'no', and sometimes He'll tell you to wait." Someone please, show me where this is in the Bible! Because when I look, this is what I see:

Proverbs 15:8 "The LORD detest the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases Him."
Proverbs 15:29 "The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous."
Matthew 21:22 "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
John 14:13 "And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son."
1 John 3:21-22 "Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive anything we ask, because we keep His commands and do what pleases Him."

No, God always hears the prayer of the righteous, and He always answers....when the praying is done His way. And that is the crux of the matter; does your prayer match up with the way God said to pray?

God Is Not Moved By Your Need

The key to answered prayer is not how much you need it! God will not somehow be impressed with how badly you need something. We know this is true, because there have been billions of desperate prayers prayed, with absolutely zero results.

No, God doesn't need you to tell Him how much you need something. Matthew 6:8 clearly tells us that God knows what you need before you even ask Him. But...He still requires you to ask Him. Why? Because need alone does not move God.

What if I told you that there's a way to pray and get answers? What if I told you there is a key to your prayer life that produces incredible results? And what if I told you that God has already made it clear to us...right there in His book?

You see, begging will not work. Desperation will not work. Fear will not work. The only way to pray and see the answer is to pray by faith!

Only Faith Will Make Your Prayer Work

Mark 11:24 "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."

This is the key to prayer - faith. Faith in what God said He would do. Faith in His word when He told you "I will answer your prayer". Faith in His promise to hear you, and give you what you're asking for. If there is any prayer that has failed, it failed on this poin...there was a lack of faith behind it.

When we get so caught up in fear and worry, and then beg God to fix the problem, it won't work! God has already told you what prayers He answers! He's already made it clear that faith is the only key to an effective prayer life.

Look again at Matthew 21:22, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." This crystal-clear statement by Jesus is backed up again in 1 John 5:14-15 "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."

That's the key to receiving the things you're asking for, you must first know that He hears you. Isn't that what this verse says? "...if we know that He hears us...we know that we have the petitions..." Be sure of this, your prayers will be answered when you know that God is hearing you pray. This is what faith is - faith is how you know God is listening to you pray, and will answer you.

This is exactly what we see in James 1:5-7, which says: "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, Who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But, let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord..."

We know that James is talking specifically about praying for wisdom here. But, from the rest of Scriptures, we can see that this same faith is required in any prayer.
So if any man lacks healing, let him ask in faith.
If any man lacks finances, let him ask in faith.
If any man lacks peace, let him ask in faith.
Faith in what? Faith in the promise of verse 5, "...and it will be given to him." Unless there is faith in that one statement, then "let not that man suppose that he will receive anything".

Knowing God's Will Produces Faith To Pray

Let's take another look at 1 John 5:14-15:
"Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."

One of the biggest reasons Christians don't believe God will answer their prayers is because they don't know if what they're praying is the will of God. You can hear it in the way they pray, "God, if it's your will, I need thus and so..." That is not faith...and that's not what this verse is telling us to do. No, what we're being told here is to find out what God's will is before we pray!

I once heard Kenneth Copeland say this, "Faith begins where the will of God is known."

Can a person know God's will? Absolutely! In fact, we're commanded to know it! Ephesians 5:17 tells us, "Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is." If God told us to know His will, then make no mistake...we can and must know it!

Where do we find God's will? We find it in the words that He spoke! The Bible is the will of God!

If someone cuts me off on the road, it wouldn't be effective for me to pray, "God, wreck their car so they learn not to do that again!" Why? Because that is not the will of God! God is love. And He requires us to love our enemies and do good to them. That's a prayer that simply won't work, because it opposes God's Word.

If I have a friend that is sick, would it be effective for me to pray, "God, if it's Your will, please heal them"? Not at all. Why? Because there's no faith there! We are required to ask according to God's will and also ask in faith - faith that He hears and will answer.

No, the correct way to pray about a situation - whether it's our finances, our health, our family, or our job - is to find God's will about it in the Bible and then pray believing God will answer us. This is the only way our prayers will be effective.

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for my prayers to get results. I'm ready to see answers when I pray. Prayer wasn't meant to be a fumble around in the dark. It was meant to be a clearly defined process: Find out His will, and then ask in faith!