"He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds. He whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings" (Job 33:14-15, NLT). "He is there and He is not silent." (Francis Schaeffer)
"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pain." (C. S. Lewis)
God is not obliged to answer all prayers the way we want. He reserves the right to do His will, regardless of our desires or plans. Prayer is only for the believer, it's not a way to win over the lost by granting their desires as you pray for them--the only prayer valid for the unbeliever is his salvation, God only promises to meet the needs of His children, but not necessarily their felt-needs or wants. Playing God or Santa Clause to the infidel or even to the carnal Christian who needs repentance doesn't fly with God.
Our prayers must be explicit and specific to leave God the opportunity to answer them; this means not being general or making requests that one cannot know whether they can or will be answered (like God bless the people in Africa!). How are you going to find out if God ever answers such a prayer? "God is good" to all in some ways, and to some in all ways, known as general grace, but He's not obliged to show special grace to any (or it would be justice, not grace), which results in salvation (cf. Psalm 145:9). My rule of thumb is never to utter a prayer that its answer cannot be validated or verified.
Before one engages in big prayers, one should be proficient at the small ones--this is common sense. For an example of my point, George Mueller recorded over 50,000 answers to prayers he had made during his life devoted to prayer. I'm not saying you cannot pray for the impossible (Cotton Mather prayed hours a day for 20 years for revival and the Great Awakening didn't happen till the year he died!), but know that no request is too small for God and no need too great, for His love reaches out to all our needs and His omnipotence or plenipotence is never challenged by them.
When it's hardest to pray, we should pray the hardest! We ought always to pray like it all depends on God, but do as if it all depends on us. We are exhorted by Jesus in Luke 18:1 always to pray and never to give up or faint--to persevere! We are never out of our league in prayer, because we have an Advocate in the Holy Spirit putting our requests into perfect, heavenly diction. God's power is best demonstrated through weak vessels who will give Him the glory! Never think that a prayer ministry is a small one, for there are few so inclined that it's vital to the body to have prayer warriors. Also, remember that practicing the presence of God entails constant prayer and communion or fellowship with God.
Ending a prayer "in Jesus' name" is not a magic formula, but to remind us that we are praying God's will, not our own, and relying on Christ's merits, not ours to enter the throne of grace. God does promise to answer a prayer agreed upon by the body of Christ (two or three gathered in His name), but the assumption is that it's in Jesus' name, to bring Him glory! The more adept we become at prayer, the more we sense God's will and pray accordingly.
You can judge someone's prayer life (have a litmus test for it), by how in sync they are with God's will and how much they depend upon the Spirit to guide it, being sensitive to His promptings and on the same page as God. Prayer is not a wish-list to present, but dialogue with God--the purpose of prayer is prayer, not to get our will done in heaven, but God's will done on earth. Christ's motto was "Thy will be done," and this is the key to pleasing God and seeking His presence in prayer, not a cop-out or excuse if the prayer's not answered, and certainly doesn't indicate lack of faith. The key to understanding prayer is to know that God has ordained prayer as the vehicle for doing His will; both the efficacy of prayer and the sovereignty of God are at work and both taught in Scripture.
By and large, God is always at work speaking through His Word and Providence, and even circumstances. In passing let me mention an oft-quoted word to the wise: "Satan laughs at our toiling, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when he sees, the weakest saint upon his knees!" To sum up, God is never silent--we need to listen up--sometimes He chooses to say "No" and teach us a lesson on His will. Soli Deo Gloria!
"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pain." (C. S. Lewis)
God is not obliged to answer all prayers the way we want. He reserves the right to do His will, regardless of our desires or plans. Prayer is only for the believer, it's not a way to win over the lost by granting their desires as you pray for them--the only prayer valid for the unbeliever is his salvation, God only promises to meet the needs of His children, but not necessarily their felt-needs or wants. Playing God or Santa Clause to the infidel or even to the carnal Christian who needs repentance doesn't fly with God.
Our prayers must be explicit and specific to leave God the opportunity to answer them; this means not being general or making requests that one cannot know whether they can or will be answered (like God bless the people in Africa!). How are you going to find out if God ever answers such a prayer? "God is good" to all in some ways, and to some in all ways, known as general grace, but He's not obliged to show special grace to any (or it would be justice, not grace), which results in salvation (cf. Psalm 145:9). My rule of thumb is never to utter a prayer that its answer cannot be validated or verified.
Before one engages in big prayers, one should be proficient at the small ones--this is common sense. For an example of my point, George Mueller recorded over 50,000 answers to prayers he had made during his life devoted to prayer. I'm not saying you cannot pray for the impossible (Cotton Mather prayed hours a day for 20 years for revival and the Great Awakening didn't happen till the year he died!), but know that no request is too small for God and no need too great, for His love reaches out to all our needs and His omnipotence or plenipotence is never challenged by them.
When it's hardest to pray, we should pray the hardest! We ought always to pray like it all depends on God, but do as if it all depends on us. We are exhorted by Jesus in Luke 18:1 always to pray and never to give up or faint--to persevere! We are never out of our league in prayer, because we have an Advocate in the Holy Spirit putting our requests into perfect, heavenly diction. God's power is best demonstrated through weak vessels who will give Him the glory! Never think that a prayer ministry is a small one, for there are few so inclined that it's vital to the body to have prayer warriors. Also, remember that practicing the presence of God entails constant prayer and communion or fellowship with God.
Ending a prayer "in Jesus' name" is not a magic formula, but to remind us that we are praying God's will, not our own, and relying on Christ's merits, not ours to enter the throne of grace. God does promise to answer a prayer agreed upon by the body of Christ (two or three gathered in His name), but the assumption is that it's in Jesus' name, to bring Him glory! The more adept we become at prayer, the more we sense God's will and pray accordingly.
You can judge someone's prayer life (have a litmus test for it), by how in sync they are with God's will and how much they depend upon the Spirit to guide it, being sensitive to His promptings and on the same page as God. Prayer is not a wish-list to present, but dialogue with God--the purpose of prayer is prayer, not to get our will done in heaven, but God's will done on earth. Christ's motto was "Thy will be done," and this is the key to pleasing God and seeking His presence in prayer, not a cop-out or excuse if the prayer's not answered, and certainly doesn't indicate lack of faith. The key to understanding prayer is to know that God has ordained prayer as the vehicle for doing His will; both the efficacy of prayer and the sovereignty of God are at work and both taught in Scripture.
By and large, God is always at work speaking through His Word and Providence, and even circumstances. In passing let me mention an oft-quoted word to the wise: "Satan laughs at our toiling, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when he sees, the weakest saint upon his knees!" To sum up, God is never silent--we need to listen up--sometimes He chooses to say "No" and teach us a lesson on His will. Soli Deo Gloria!