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Prayers are heard and answered

In the Old Testament, it would seem that sacrifice played a part as a means of being an open channel to receive God’s favour or, having received God’s favour, a means of saying thank you. Jesus is my point of entry into the presence of the Father. Should I find myself in a place where I rush into His presence and bypass Jesus, He will hear me, and will draw me to Jesus, where my sins can be forgiven and I can be reconciled to Him.

The whole point of what we are saying is that we have such a High Priest, who sits at the right of the throne of the Divine Majesty in heaven. – Hebrews 8:1 GNT

This says it even better.

He is near to those who call to him,
    who call to him with sincerity. – Psalm 145:18 GNT

Prayer is that which comes sincerely from my heart. It is not only the how, but the why and the what of prayer.

When I pray sincerely I am not praying regarding matters that are here today and gone tomorrow, insignificant, but rather for that which is true and eternal. When I am sincere in prayer I aspire to uncover the inner meaning of my purpose, the very essence of my life’s calling. It is here in my discovery of how I can serve God that my prayer becomes authentic and is a reflection of my soul’s inner desire.

He supplies the needs of those who honor him;
    he hears their cries and saves them. – Psalm 145:19 GNT

God answers prayers spoken with sincerity.

Those men whom God set forth as a pattern of what he expected Christians to be – the apostles – regarded prayer as the most important business of their lives. – R. A. Torrey

Praying, and God answers

When I can turn to God and find expected relief, I find myself expecting even bigger things and doubt does not seem to be part of my journey. It would seem that as I experience the power in God to help me when I am weakest, I find that there is ample space in my life for Him to help. I have learned, like the Psalmist, to wait patiently – believing, hoping and praying.

I waited patiently for the Lord’s help;

    then he listened to me and heard my cry.

He pulled me out of a dangerous pit,

    out of the deadly quicksand.

He set me safely on a rock

    and made me secure.

He taught me to sing a new song,

    a song of praise to our God.

Many who see this will take warning

    and will put their trust in the Lord.

Happy are those who trust the Lord,

    who do not turn to idols

    or join those who worship false gods.

You have done many things for us, O Lord our God;

    there is no one like you!

    You have made many wonderful plans for us.

I could never speak of them all—

    their number is so great! – Pslam 40:1-5 GNT

I love that God answered his prayers – there is a confidence that the Father heard him always.

Prayer the Churches banquet, Angels age,
Gods breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earth;
Engine against th’ Almightie, sinners towre,
Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
The six-daies world transposing in an houre,
A kinde of tune, which all things heare and fear;

Softnesse, and peace, and joy, and love, and blisse,
Exalted Manna, gladnesse of the best,
Heaven in ordinarie, man well drest,
The milkie way, the bird of Paradise,
Church-bels beyond the starres heard, the souls bloud,
The land of spices; something understood.


Taken from George Herbert: 100 Poems, edited by Helen Wilcox (Cambridge University Press, 2016).