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Friday, January 26, 2007

Prayers that are heard


As I mentioned earlier, both of Sunday's sermons were excellent and spoke to my heart. I've already posted about the repentance sermon. This time I would like to share with you what I gleaned from the evening sermon on prayer.

Do you ever feel like you pray but God doesn't hear you? That feeling could actually be fact. God does not hear every prayer. I bet that knocked some of you for a loop! Here is what the Bible says.

  • Psalm 66:18 "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:"
  • I Samuel 8:18 "And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall haven chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day."
  • Isaiah 1:15 "And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood."
  • Isaiah 59:1-2 "[1] Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear; [2] But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."


Prayer that is heard comes from a heart clean from sin and is not dependent upon formulaic methods such as the use of memorized prayers or rosaries. However, there are key essentials to remember when praying.

  1. We must pray in Jesus’ name, for He is our entrance into heaven. Consider Hebrews 4:14-16 “[14] Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. [15] For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. [16] Let us therefore {because of what has been said before} come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
  2. We must pray according to His will. I John 5:14 says, “And this is the confidence we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us:”
  3. We must pray with patience. Isaiah 30:18 “And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for Him.”
  4. We must pray with faith. Matthew 21:22 states, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”

HERE IS WHERE THE SERMON REALLY GRABBED MY ATTENTION:

But have you considered the following? If you, a Christian, have anything against anyone, no matter how justified, you must forgive them wholeheartedly before God will hear and answer your prayers.

Since this post is getting lengthy, I will finish this tomorrow. Lord willing.

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