God Does Answer Prayers

Ever prayed a prayer you didn’t really think God would answer?

Why do we do that?

Maybe it’s because we’ve focused so much on what God doesn’t do that we forget about what he does.

“Well,” we think, “I know he created the world and parted the Red Sea and raised Jesus from the grave, but now . . .”

I’m not suggesting God is still resurrecting people, but I wonder if perhaps we ought to focus more on his might and power and less on all the reasons why he won’t do something.

When we’re struggling, James tells us to ask God for wisdom to see his hand at work.

Then he adds this:

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; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.  (James 1:6-8).

Another translation says, “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt” (NIV).

Or, “But he must ask in faith without any doubting” (NASB).

Maybe that passage convicts you as it does me.

It reminds me that I ought to pray with confidence in the power of my God.

It helps me remember that God really listens to me, that he cares about my needs, my wants, my struggles.

And he can answer.

He can work in incredible ways to bring about what’s best for his children, and we ought to believe that he still does that.

Today, let’s focus on believing in the God to whom we pray.

Let’s ask him to convict us of his power and strength.

Let’s talk to him, fully believing that he will answer and accomplish his will in us.

Remember: the God we call Father is the same God who spoke the world into existence. Surely he can find a way to do whatever it is we need him to do.