God Will Be Listening
Have you ever been in prayer and suddenly had the disturbing sensation that God simply is not listening? It has likely happened to all of us at one time or another. We limp along praying the same old prayers, half-hoping those prayers are heard and half-suspecting they are not.
Today I would like to share with you the process I use to resolve that dilemma once and for all. However, and let this be a warning, what I post here is not coming with any assurance that God will listen to any old doubtful, self-centered thing we say to Him. He will not.
God has only promised to listen to prayers that are prayed according to His will. The Apostle John says when we pray like that, we will know that we have the petitions we desire of Him. I am posting the King James Version as well as the Amplified Version of 1 John 5:14-15 to help explain things better and provide additional clarification.
1 John 5:14-15 (King James Version)
14And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
15And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
14And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us.
15And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.
The word petition used in the King James Version is defined as “a formal written request addressed to a sovereign superior of a particular right or grace,” and that is exactly what we need when we are praying about something serious.
That being said, how do we put together a solid petition, one that is in line with the will of God?
First, we have to roll up our sleeves and dig into the written Word of God. We need to read the scriptures and find those that apply to our situation and make them the foundation for our petition.
Then, we need to get on our knees and consult with the Holy Spirit, and let Him help us develop our petition in detail. As we do this, we must expect God to reveal things from His heart to ours because He wants us to know His will. In other words, we need to listen while we are praying.
Lastly, we should put our petition in writing. Make a formal written request by writing down every scripture we found. Also, as we are listening to the Holy Spirit for the details, we need to write down the impressions and ideas He gives us.
In summary, we need to be patient and take our time when putting together our petition. We do so by studying and meditating on the Word of God as well as allowing the Holy Spirit to develop our prayer and letting the truth He reveals to us settle in and begin to work in us. We then get our petition firmly in mind and present it to God when we are ready. It is at this point that we can be assured that God will be listening.
God Bless!
“Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified Bible”
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