How To Receive Answered Prayer

King James Daily Bible Study Devotional

Message Title: How To Receive Answered Prayer
Date: Monday May 23, 2011
Chapters: II Chronicles 7-9
Click Here to Read Them or Go to: http://imfollowingjesus.com/bible-may-23
Details of Today's Chapters: Divine acceptance, sacrifices and rejoicing, God appears to Solomon a second time in a dream, Solomon's fame riches, Solomon and the queen of Sheba, his wealth increase, and his death.

Hello My Friend/Guest,

“And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” - John 20:26-31.

Most of us, including many Christian's, base their faith by what they see in front of them, without proof they simply can not believe that miracles happen or that God can do the impossible. However, God can do the impossible, it is our lack of faith that keeps Him from doing it. If we truly want to see God do some amazing things in our lives we need to start living by faith, not by the circumstances, not by what we can and can not do, but by faith, which is convincing ourselves that nothing is impossible with God.

King Solomon is credited for having said some of the longest prayers and offering the biggest number of sacrifices in all the Bible. After the prayer he said standing in front of the whole congregation something amazing happened.

“Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD'S house. And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD.” - II Chronicles 7:1-4.

God loves to hear us pray, the more we pray the more He rejoices, Why? Because we are saying to God, I need your help, I have tried it on my own, but I know I can't. I humbly come before you and am depending on You to give me the things I need and desire. Now, sometimes we need hundred word prayers, but God not only hears the big gigantic prayers, He hears the little itsy bitsy ones. Sometimes all the strength we have is to say, “Lord I need you.” and He will hear you. “Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name; Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” - Jeremiah 33:2,3.

God always answers our prayers, more ofter than none He answers them in a way that we do not expect, but to hear the answer we just have to listen for His call back. God heard Solomon's prayer and answered him in another dream.

“And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice...If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place...But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations. And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house?” - II Chronicles 7:12,14,15,19-21.

God wants to give us things, but we must be willing to give ourselves to Him first, that means eliminating all the worldly things and doing what God wants us to do. We can pray all day long, but unless we seek His face, turn from all wickedness, and humbly and sincerely seek His forgiveness He will not hear us. To seek His face means to get in His Word so we may know what life God wants us to live. Contrary to what many believe God wants us to live life to the fullest, He just wants us to do it His way, and that does not mean to sit in a corner and pray all day, which is not a bad thing from time to time, but if we want to see answered prayer we must get in His Word and follow those commands. “Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” - Psalm 37:3,4.

Solomon's success as king soon became wide spread, kings and queens from all over the world came to meet this king, to see if he was as wise as they claimed and if this God of his really existed. Solomon got a visit from the queen of Sheba.

“And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,.. And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom: Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard...Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the LORD thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.” - II Chronicles 9:3,5,6,8.

The queen of Sheba put herself to a great deal of trouble and expense to hear the wisdom of Solomon and yet, learning from him how to serve God, and do her duty, she thought herself well paid for her pains. It is a big sacrifice to choose to serve God over the world, not because of what God asks us to do, but because of all the trials and affliction we face from family, friends, and others through our faith in Him. However, there is no better reward for our becoming a living sacrifice than by receiving eternal life. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.“ - John 10:27-30.

No matter what we choose to do in life we are going to face some struggles and hardships. Having God on our side makes them much easier to bare and before we know it we have faith that can move mountains. Sometimes to receive faith that moves mountains we are going to have to do more than say a prayer, we are going to have to give ourselves completely over to God. That means giving up food, hobbies, or other things of interest and using that time to spend with God in prayer, Bible reading, and meditating day and night on Him until we see Him give us some answers.

“Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.“ - Matthew 17:19-21. As we increase our faith in God by humbly giving ourselves to Him there is nothing that God will not do for us.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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