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Expecting answers
As a Christian, when you pray, do you expect an answer?
Our prayers are normally in the form of requests for blessings or understanding and supplications for deliverance from evil. But what type of response do we expect?
When we ask Jesus a question, his answer can be a “Yes,” a question, or a rebuke.
Getting the “Yes”
The “Yes” answers are simple, they come from the Lord’s compassion for us and his desire to bless us. “I am willing, be clean” (Matthew 8:3, Mark 1:41)*
Our requests that are according to His will always receive a yes.
This is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us. And if we know that he listens to us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him. (1 John 5:14-15)
For however many are the promises of God, in him is the “Yes.” Therefore also through him is the “Amen”, to the glory of God through us. (2 Corinthians 1:20)
Most Christians can testify about times when they got a “Yes” from God: a healing, a changed circumstance, a miraculous provision.
Questions for questions
The other answers from Jesus are harder to take. When he answers our requests with a question, it generally requires some self-reflection on our part. An example is His answer to the religious leaders when they asked about His authority:
Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from men?” They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’”(Matthew 21:24-25)
This questioning reply caused considerable debate among them and forced them to acknowledge their own weakness of conviction.
I clearly remember a time when my prayer was answered by a question. I was asking God for the funds to begin going to college for engineering. I laid out my case like this: I need this college education so I can advance my career so I can earn more money so I can provide for my family. His question to me was clear: “Do you need a college education for Me to supply all your needs according to My riches in glory?”
I knew the scripture He was referencing (Phil 4:19). I thought it over for about 15 seconds. Then I said, “No, I don’t need a college education for You to provide all my needs according to Your riches in glory.”
“OK,” He said, “I want your time.”
Shortly after that conversation He began to open doors to part-time ministries that I could not have done if I was spending my evenings in school. And He has met all our needs.
Rebukes
When our requests are out of line or come from a lack of faith, sometimes Jesus answers with a rebuke. The disciples learned this on stormy seas, their panicked petitions for help were answered by “Where is your faith?” (Luke 8:25) or “Why are you fearful?” (Matthew 8:26).
Peter was rebuked in the same way when he fell off the water.
But when he saw that the wind was strong, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:30-31)
James later made the point that errant prayers require a rebuke: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” (James 4:3)
One day I was praying (actually, I was complaining) to God about my wife, telling Him how frustrated I was with something she had or had not done. I don’t remember what I was upset about, but I never forgot the rebuke I received.
“Do you realized the reason you are frustrated is because you’re being selfish?”
“No way!” I thought. But I realized it was true. I wanted my way, and if I quit being selfish, the frustration and anger would go away. I looked a little deeper and realized that MOST of the times I was frustrated with Lynn, I was being selfish. What a heart check! It gave me a reference point for future disagreements: Am I being selfish?
What will you do with His answer?
When you pray, are you ready for any answer? Getting the “Yes” is awesome, but the questions and rebukes offer us more growth if we are willing to receive them.
When you pray, what are you going to do with Jesus’ answer?
By His calling, in His strength,
Dean
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*All Scripture quotations in this article are from the World English Bible (WEB).
Pop-up scripture references are from the New King James Version (NKJV).
