Answering Prayer

Right off the bat; I still do not have a clear answer in regards to this topic. In fact, this is probably the foremost struggle on my mind right now, in multiple ways. My query is how does God answer prayer, or perhaps the more difficult question, how can we know when and how God will answer our prayers, if ever?

This presents itself in the greatest capacity when we ask God for something. For me personally, I've been urging God to give me (I don't really like that phrase, but it's the best one I can think of at the moment) something I desperately want. And I mean, I'm practically begging God for this one thing to happen like I want it to.

Unfortunately, I've ran into a few stumbling blocks. The first is; should I be asking God for this thing, or instead asking Him if it's the right thing to do? Second is; how will I know if this is indeed what God wants me to try and do?

Interestingly, throughout my Bible reading plans, I've ran into a few verses the past couple of days that I think speak directly to the situation, but unfortunately, to both sides of the argument. There's so many verses that speak about being courageous, and just going for something to obtain it (Matthew 7:7-8; ask and you will receive), but also tons of verses that speak about not testing God, or trying to stay with His will (Luke 4:12). Really, it seems like the Bible, which is supposed to be extremely helpful, isn't being too helpful in this case. It's providing an argument for either side.

Here is what I've discerned so far, which again, is by no means my final answer, or entirely what I think God wants us to believe in regards to the issue. In regards to should we ask God for things, my belief is that we should ask God for anything we want. I know some people who believe that we should only ever ask God for things that go along with His will, or for things that are only important enough that He would actually care. I believe God cares about everything happening in your life, and I mean absolutely everything. Why shouldn't we be able to carry everything to Him? Now, to be clear here, by asking Him for absolutely everything, I'm not saying that He will give you absolutely everything, He won't. But I think there's a certain degree of calmness, or even answers that come simply from asking God for certain things, sometimes even revealing to you exactly what you are looking for isn't what you think it is.

My second question has more to do with callings, or actions, than actual gifts from God. Really, it speaks to the confidence of hearing an answer from God, and truly believing that it is an answer from God. This goes back to my original thoughts on how does God answer prayer. How do you know when you are praying for discernment if you have your answer, if God is telling you to specifically do something or not, if God is trying to get you to say something specific or not? There are multiple theories here ranging from a literal word you hear from God, to just a feeling that you get. This is perhaps the area that I struggle with most. The thing with just a feeling is that sometimes you're just not sure, or sometimes you ignore the feeling because it's not the answer you want. I guess the same could be said with a literal word from God, although that does seem to me to be more concrete. I really can't find an answer for this, or at least one that applies to each person.

Here's what I mean by that. I think God uses different situations, and different methods, to speak to different people in different ways. Your answer for your prayers are not going to be the same as mine. God knows each and every person, and knows what they'll respond to the best, and uses that to speak to them. So really, there isn't just one answer in regards to hearing an answer from God; there's multiple ones.

That's the interesting thing with prayer; there's really no clear answers in regards to any aspect of it. It's one of those mysteries of the faith. Each person is going to be impacted by it slightly differently, making it not only a mystery, but also a miracle.