Bible Questions Answered:
How can it be a person knows that God will answer prayer?
Nbushe/ Pretoria, South Africa
Bible Answer:
First of all, we know it because our Saviour said so!
Matthew 7:7-11 KJV
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?
John 14:12-14 KJV
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in My name, I will do it.
John 16:23,24 KJV
23 And in that day ye shall ask Me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you.
24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
Prayers Answered:
Moses:
Exodus 15:24,25 KJV
24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
25 And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,
Gideon:
Judges 6:39,40 KJV
39 And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.
40 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
Hannah:
I Samuel 1:26,27 KJV
26 And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord.
27 For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of Him:
Samuel:
I Samuel 7:9,10 KJV
9 And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the Lord: and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel; and the Lord heard him.
10 And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.
Solomon:
I Kings 9:3 KJV
And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before Me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put My name there for ever; and Mine eyes and Mine heart shall be there perpetually.
Elijah:
I Kings 18:37,38 KJV
37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
38 Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
Hezekiah:
II Kings 19:19,20 KJV
19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only.
20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
Jehoshaphat:
II Chronicles 18:31 KJV
And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him; and God moved them to depart from him.
Ezra:
Ezra 8:22,23 NLT
22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to accompany us and protect us from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king, “Our God’s hand of protection is on all who worship Him, but His fierce anger rages against those who abandon Him.”
23 So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and He heard our prayer.
Zacharias:
Luke 1:11-13 KJV
11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
Early Church:
Acts 4:31 KJV
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
Prayer Answered, promised by the Word:
Psalm 91:15 KJV
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him My salvation.
Isaiah 58:9 KJV
"Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am..."
Isaiah 65:24 KJV
And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
Zechariah 13:9 KJV
And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on My name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is My people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.
John 15:7 KJV
If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
With such a tremendous resource before us, why oh why do we not pray more than we do?
Let's begin to believe the word of the Lord, and reach out for great things in His name. He will hear the humblest prayer and answer!
Jeremiah 33:2,3 KJV
2 Thus saith the Lord...
3 Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Luke 18:1-8 KJV
1 And He spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
7 And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them?
8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.
Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?
