by Mary Beth

Created on: July 11, 2009   Last Updated: November 26, 2009

I've come to realize that God is not like a puppet to bend to my wishes. I sometimes presume that I have a right to get what I want when I pray. Not so. Who am I? I can be greedy, self absorbed, and my mind can easily travel to places it ought not. Am I a god to myself to make my wishes known and assume they will be? Maybe starting again with a clean slate about who God is and who I am will go a long way to get my prayers answered. I speak in first person because I want the reader to know that having prayers answered is a personal thing, an inward thing. I invite you to evaluate you heart too...along with me.

"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up" is one verse that says God is in control of all things. We can start trusting Him with the events of our lives. Most of the time things are out of our control anyway, and some events are not our doing. God knows this. Humbling yourself and throwing the load on Him is the a way to get your prayers answered. "Cast all your cares upon Him for He cares for you." 1 Peter 5;7 and I love the verse in Matthew 11;28-30 which says, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gently and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Maybe you want your prayers answered, but you have not even been close to God. Know God personally. God is not entitled to listen to the prayers of those that are not his own, Again, God is not entitled to, yet God is full of grace and mercy. He is also a just God. He desires you to have some communication with Him. So how do you become close to God? The question is what do you think of Jesus? He said I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes unto the Father but by me. This is found in John chapter 14, and in John chapter 3 it says that God so loved the world (people) that He gave His only begotten Son (Jesus) that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Believing in what Jesus did on the cross and asking him to forgive you of your sin will make you His child and you certainly will be close to Him then. He promises to give you His Holy Spirit to live in your live. John 14:12-18 are very good verses to read about answered prayer and the Holy Spirit living inside of you.

Even when we are His, sometimes the prayers we pray are not in His will. Sometimes the things we go through are for our growth...to make us strong. Our prayers may be for the best in our minds, but God knows the end results of things. Trust Him.

There are several verses that say we must have faith. Faith is simply believing. We must have faith in Him. Society teaches us that we need to have faith in ourselves. Who gets the glory then? Not God. The kings in the Old Testament won many battles when they asked God first for help. There was failure when the kings when to battle without God's blessing.

Lots of prayers are answered in life and those answered prayers alone show that God is with us. "Pray in faith then, nothing wavering, for he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. That man will receive nothing of the Lord." James 1:5,7. Surrendering our lives to the Lord, living a life that is pleasing to Him, and trusting Him when you go to Him in prayer is the best way to get your prayers answered.

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