And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
Once upon a time there was a man named Jim. He was a Christian who really loved God. But he wanted to do more for God so one evening at a revival meeting he went forward during the invitation. He wanted to re-dedicate his life in a more meaningful way. He prayed for the Lord to help him with his prayer life. It was an earnest desire and he prayed fervently. After the invitation was closed he went back to his seat and soon the revival service was ended and everyone went home.
That night as he was kneeling before his bed praying, he felt the need to pray for his Aunt Jane who lived hundreds of miles away. His prayer was simple. It went something like this: “Lord, please save Aunt Jane and help me to be a better Christian.” Then he climbed into bed, lay his head on his pillow, and reviewed in his mind what a wonderful feeling he had during that evening's revival service.
The next day he got up and went to work as usual. He tried harder than ever to be a good testimony in front of his friends and colleagues at work. He did all he could to be a blessing to those around him throughout the day. When the work day ended he headed home to find a message waiting on his telephone answering machine. The message was from his Aunt Jane. She asked him to call as soon as possible because she had some good news to share with him. As he dialed her number he remembered praying for her the evening before.
When Aunt Jane answered she sounded totally different than she had ever sounded before. Her voice was chipper and the words she spoke over the telephone seemed to sound so sweet and pure. As Jim listened she explained how someone had come by her house that day and knocked on her door. They were looking for directions to an address in her local area which they were unable to find while driving their car around the neighborhood.
Aunt Jane had often complained about those people who come to the door trying to “. . . Sell their religion to her.” She had come to the point in life of nearly hating anyone who even suggested that she consider what the Bible has to say about salvation.
But this person was looking for directions and she was willing to help. She invited them in and they opened the local telephone directory which contained a map of the area. Together they determined how to get from where they were to where the strangers needed to go. Before leaving the house the strangers graciously thanked Aunt Jane for being so helpful. They explained that her house was the fourth house they had approached, but the first to offer any help. All of the previous attempts were greeted with negative responses.
They told Aunt Jane they assumed she must have been a Christian to be so kind to them. At that point the Holy Spirit must have broken her heart because she broke out into tears. The stunned strangers asked what was wrong and she explained that she wasn't a Christian at all. That's when they began to explain how she could become a Christian. That's when she took the time to listen. That's how Aunt Jane got saved that day. As she explained it to Jim his heart began racing. “What a miracle!” he thought. His Aunt Jane had always seemed like an impossible case to crack, but now she had purposely called him to relate the good news.
Jim shared the news with his wife and family and they were all as surprised as he was to hear the good news. Just like Jim, they had all more or less given up praying for Aunt Jane's salvation long ago. The next day, at work, Jim was probably the most cheerful person on the job. He felt good about the events of the past few days and couldn't help but show it with smiles and kind words throughout the day.
Life went on for a week or so and one afternoon, as Jim returned home from work, his wife, Mary, told him about their daughter, Sarah, who had become very ill. She had not felt well the day before and on this day had come home from school early with a temperature of 102 and looking very pale. Jim's wife had taken Sarah to the doctor right away because of the intensity of the illness. Although the doctor wrote out a prescription for an antibiotic and Sarah had taken the first dose, her temperature was now reaching 104 degrees.
Jim immediately took the time to go into his prayer closet, drop to his knees, and begin praying for his daughter. He told the Lord how much he loved Sarah and how much he knew the Lord loved her. Jim told the Lord that he knew He was able to heal her from whatever was causing such a serious illness. He finished by asking the Lord to have His own will in the matter but that it would be a real blessing if Sarah's temperature could begin to drop and she could be healed from whatever was causing her to be so sick.
After finishing his prayer Jim made his way into the bedroom where Sarah was laying in her bed, smiling. As he approached her he could see that she was not in any pain and, in fact, she was not pale at all, as he had been told when arriving home from work. He sat down on the edge of her bed and placed his hand upon her forehead. As his hand came in contact with the tender skin on her forehead he was amazed to find it about as cool as his own skin. Jim felt his own forehead to be sure of what he was experiencing. Sure enough, his forehead felt normal and so did Sarah's. Her fever was gone and she was not feeling ill at all. She gave her father a kiss on the cheek and told him she would be out to join the family for dinner in a few minutes after getting dressed.
Jim was amazed! He couldn't believe what he had just seen. It was like an instant answer to his prayer. Yet, he had never seen such results in the past. He had always had the same kinds of answers as we all seem to have; sometimes it seemed that God really did answer his prayers but at other times it seemed like his prayers were just bouncing off the ceiling. There were times when he had prayed fervently for something that seemed to him to be crucial, only to realize that it seemed like God wasn't even listening.
There had also been other times when he had prayed in a sort of lack-luster manner, only to realize that God had been listening and really did answer his prayer. He had one time made the comment in his prayer group that it is no wonder we get so excited when God answers prayer. That's because He does it so seldom. That comment didn't go over with the group as he had expected it to. He had meant it as a joke but no one seemed to be laughing.
Now, after seeing his daughter seemingly healed immediately after praying for her, he was confused. Were his prayers really reaching up to Heaven in such a timely manner? Was God actually listening that close to his prayers? Or, was this just one of those times when he felt like his prayers were being answered when, in fact, it just turned out that his daughter wasn't really that ill. Maybe, whatever illness she had contracted was not all that serious. Maybe it had been something she had eaten and it had now completed its path through her system. Maybe it had nothing to do with his prayers at all.
But Jim was thankful, whatever the cause. He took time to silently thank the Lord for His goodness and for healing his daughter. But he still had some doubt as to whether all this was a result of his prayer.
A few days later he was introduced to a new employee at work named Steve. Steve was a new hire who would be working along-side Jim for a while. As that first day passed and they became acquainted Jim could tell that Steve was lost and on his way to Hell. Because they were just getting to know each other Jim was hesitant to talk to him about salvation. But that night, at home, Jim prayed that the Lord would someday save Steve.
The next day Steve greeted Jim with a question: “Jim, could you answer a tough question for me?” Jim at first thought Steve would be asking about something related to their work but he was in for a big surprise. Jim asked Steve what it was he wanted to know. Steve replied, “Is it possible for a person to know for sure whether he is going to Heaven when he dies?”
Jim instantly recalled his prayer from the night before. Could this be another direct answer to one of his prayers? But, he took the opportunity over the next couple of hours to explain to Steve God's plan of salvation. He told Steve that he could pray and ask for God's forgiveness of his sins at home or anytime. Steve bowed his head right there on the job and was eternally saved.
Now, somehow, Jim knew it wasn't just a strange coincidence that his prayers were being answered. He went home that evening overjoyed and ready to tell Mary about all of the good news. But when he walked in the door he was greeted by a not-so-excited Mary. She had opened the mail that afternoon and found a tax bill from the city enclosed. They were making plans to re-pave the alley-way and streets in their neighborhood. The tax bill amounted to just over $2000 and it had to be paid within the next ninety days. This would be a major blow to their already-tight budget. There was no earthly way that they could ever come up with that much money within the next ninety days. Mary was almost in tears.
Jim just stood there silently thinking things over. Then he told Mary he didn't think she needed to worry about it any more. He asked her to just have faith and let him take care of it. As he hung up his coat in the closet he more or less secretly prayed for the Lord to come up with a solution to this problem. About an hour later the door-bell rang. Jim answered it to find a very short and meek older lady standing there. She introduced herself as their neighbor from down the street. Jim welcomed her in and as he did he seemed to remember seeing her once or twice in the past.
As they sat down in the living room she explained that she had also received the same tax bill in the mail that day. She didn't seem to be very upset about the matter and went on to explain that her deceased husband had left her with a large amount of money several years ago. There was more money in the account than she would ever be able to spend in her lifetime and she wanted to do something good with it. After receiving the tax bill she decided to contact her neighbors and find out who would need help paying their share of the re-paving costs. She was willing to cover the cost if they would let her.
Jim and Mary were in tears as they showed her to the door that evening, holding a check for $2000 dollars in their hand.
Now Jim was really excited. He closed the door, turned, and held Mary in his arms, praising the Lord. He explained to her about how Steve had asked him to explain the plan of salvation at work, and had trusted the Lord as his savior. Then he explained how he had just said a simple prayer while hanging up his coat that evening and how God had answered within the hour. Of course Mary wasn't as soundly convinced about how God was answering every prayer but Jim was beginning to have no doubts about his strong connection to God through prayer.
He was so convinced that when he bowed his head for his evening prayers that night he prayed for God to make it rain the following day. When he woke up the next morning he scrambled from his bed to get a glimpse out the window. Sure enough, it was cloudy and gray and he could see where the rain drops were falling on the surface of the puddles of water in the driveway.
As he worked through the day next to Steve he enjoyed the comments Steve made about the new feelings and sensations he was experiencing as a new Christian. Jim wanted to share his new-found secret with Steve but was reluctant to say anything because he didn't want to mislead a new Christian into thinking that God answers every prayer. But that evening, as he was praying before bedtime he asked the lord to make it warm and windy the next day - Just as a test to make sure he wasn't wrong about his suspicions.
The next morning he didn't need to get out of bed in order to check out the answer to his prayer. He could hear the wind howling outside. And as the day passed the temperature continued to climb until it broke all previous high-temperature records for that area of the country. Now he knew it was a sound gift from God. Now he knew for sure that his prayers, no matter how large or small, could get a direct answer from God. He didn't understand why but he knew it was true and he intended to make the best of it.
Jim spent the next couple of days contemplating the potential power he held through prayer. He knew he had some kind of special gift from God and he didn't want to abuse it for fear of losing it. He wanted to be sure that whatever he held up in prayer would be something that God would approve of and answer. He didn't want to spend any more of his time praying as a means of testing this fantastic power God had bestowed upon him.
Finally, he decided to pray that all of his co-workers and managers would trust Jesus and be saved. What a blessing it would be if he could go to work each day in a Christian environment. So, he prayed to that end and over the next couple of days there was a revival at his workplace. As it turns out, Steve wasn't the kind of person to keep his salvation a secret. He began spreading the good news and God took care of the rest.
The next thing on Jim's list was to pray for a revival at his church. He realized that the church had just held a traditional revival and that's where his life took a turn toward this new direction but he also recognized that it didn't have the same effect on most of the regular members. So he prayed that the entire membership of his local church would go through a personal revival.
For some reason, the next Sunday service was totally different than any other Sunday service he had ever seen. It just seemed like Jesus was standing behind the pulpit instead of the pastor. Every word was spoken as if it were coming from God the father himself. There wasn't enough room at the altar when the invitation was given and people were kneeling in the aisles asking for salvation as well as forgiveness for their sins. It was a beautiful sight to see.
As Jim and his family drove home it was a different trip than any before. Mary had also rededicated her life to the Lord and was excited about telling her friends and neighbors about how good God had been to her and her family. Jim wanted to tell her his secret but something kept him silent. He was reluctant to say anything about his latest prayer request and how all of he previous requests had been answered. But Mary had given him an idea. An idea that just might change the world.
That night, before going to bed, he prayed for the same kind of revival to take place in his city. He told God that if He could bring about true revival in his little church He should be able to bring about revival in his city. He also took time to praise and thank God for what he had just done.
The next day, as he drove to work listening to the radio, he heard an advertisement that almost made him pull off the freeway and break down in tears. The advertisement was more of a one-minute gospel message than just an advertisement. But within that one-minute message was the entire plan of salvation, presented in such a way that it would be impossible for a lost sinner to ignore. Jim wondered who had paid for such an advertisement. Never before had he ever heard of such a thing but it was wonderful and beautiful to hear over the radio.
As it turned out, that one-minute advertisement had been purchased by someone with a loving heart who actually lived in another state. That person was simply burdened by the Lord to put together a one-minute message of salvation which could be run on radio and TV. They had the funds to pay for radio and television air time and had chosen Jim's town randomly. Because it ran on every radio and television station in Jim's city and because the words were so well chosen, as if straight from the mouth of God, it was only a few days until the entire population of Jim's little city had trusted Jesus as their savior.
Jim could hardly contain the excitement he felt after seeing such perfect results to his prayer. But now he wanted more from God. Now he asked for a revival that took in his entire state. He considered asking for revival for the whole country but wasn't sure if that would ever be possible. Feeling a little ashamed of himself for lacking faith, he prayed this prayer before going to bed one night: “Dear Lord, if you could please bring about revival in this state in the same way you did in our little city I would sure be pleased and blessed. Thank you. In Jesus' name, Amen.”
By now you can probably guess what happened over the next couple of weeks. Jim's prayer that the entire population of the state would trust Jesus as their savior was answered. Everyone, from the governor down to the lowest level of society somehow turned their hearts and lives over to Jesus. It was truly a miracle. Nobody except Jim knew why all of this was happening but it became the hot topic of the network news media. ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and a multitude of world-wide news organizations descended upon the capital and other major locations within the state.
The politicians in Washington DC were becoming very concerned about what was taking place in Jim's state. The liberal left was fighting tooth and nail, trying to discount the stories that were beaming forth from this Christian state.
Then Jim decided to step out on faith and ask the Lord to bring revival to the entire nation. He bowed his head and very fervently asked God to use this media-hype to somehow bring about a nation-wide revival. And, it worked. It didn't work overnight but it worked. Christians across the nation suddenly became bold and stepped out on faith in their places of work and where ever they went. Gospel tracts were everywhere you looked. When one was seen laying on a sidewalk it was picked up and read with the results that its author intended. It was truly a miracle. The entire population of the United States was converted to Christianity.
You can imagine what it must have been like. Maybe you can't. It would be inconceivable to even dream of what it would be like to live in a totally Christian country. But with all of these changes taking place, like the abortion laws being revoked and liquor stores and taverns closing, Jim still kept his secret to himself. When he felt like he had to talk to someone about it he would simply talk to God. After all, it was God who was making all of this happen and it was twice as exciting talking to God about it anyway.
Then Jim got another bold idea: Why not ask God to bring about revival throughout the entire world? Could He do it? Would He do it? Jim already felt so blessed beyond his wildest expectations and he really had seen so much happen that he felt like he didn't have anything to lose. So he asked God to bring about true revival throughout the entire world.
As before, it didn't happen overnight but it did happen. Within just a month or two Jim's prayer had been answered again. The population of entire countries came to know Jesus as their savior. Tribes of people living in the most remote regions of the globe were reached with the Gospel and they gladly accepted the Son of God, Jesus, as their savior. It seemed unbelievable to Jim as he realized that he had changed the world with God's help. Or was it that God had changed the world with Jim's help. It really didn't matter now because God had simply answered his prayers, every one of them. Jim was a very happy man.
Then, it dawned on him! One more prayer needed to be prayed. He had been reluctant to tell anyone about this supernatural power of prayer. The central reason for keeping it a secret was because he didn't want to sound boastful, and, who would believe him anyway. He thought, “Can't you just hear my friends laugh at me now if I even tried to explain what has been going on in my life.” But then he had another marvelous idea. He would send up at least one more request to his Heavenly Father.
So he bowed his head and begged and appealed to God to give this same gift of answered prayer, which he had received, to all Christians. He knew what that power had done for the entire planet and he wanted all Christians to have the same power. And, if God could answer that prayer then it would be much easier to explain to his friends how he had received it a few months earlier. Once they had the same power they would be much more willing to believe that he had been the first to receive such a gift.
That prayer must have been answered immediately because within just a couple of hours he received a call from a friend who was extremely excited about how God had just answered one of his prayers. That night on the network news there was even more proof that it had been answered as reports came pouring in about people who had been revived from their death beds and brought back to perfect health as a direct result of answered prayer. And, as this news began to spread, all Christians began to test this new-found gift they didn't realize they had been given.
After only a few days the entire population of the world was praising God for answered prayer. People who were deathly ill were brought back to perfect health through prayer. Everyone soon realized how much power their prayers held and they began asking for good health, long life, bountiful blessings of material goods and just about anything you can imagine that a good, God-fearing Christian would want. The prayers that arrived at the throne of God were not prayers of selfishness because when revival had taken place it had been a true revival. Everyone you met was just the kind of Christian we would all wish to become. So God was pleased to answer each prayer in the same manner as He had been answering Jim's prayers. It was like Heaven on Earth. No one got sick. No one died. Everyone had everything they ever wanted and had no desire to die and go to Heaven.
And, that's why God DOES NOT answer every one of my prayers.