John 14:13,14

13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Prayer is not the twisting of Gods arm in order to make Him do what He does not want to do. Prayer is finding God’s divine will, coming into agreement with it, and declaring that His will be done in that and every situation. It is vital that we see this very important point it is not that we wait for God, but that He waits for us to come into agreement with His will. Because when we learn to find Gods will and pray it, we become instruments in His hands.

After thinking about the range and requirement of prayer we come to:

• The Reason for prayer

“that the Son may bring glory to the Father”

When we pray we often forget the Glory factor. Here in John 14 Jesus had just finished washing the disciple’s feet and communing with them in the last supper. Now as He prepares them for His departure he promises them that He will not leave them comfortless but will provide them with power through prayer for the Glorification of His Father. The purpose of prayer is for us to be blessed by God in such a way that He is honored and glorified, and we grow spiritually. God is not honored when people enjoy His blessings and give Him no credit. Or worse, when they give the credit to someone else – such as themselves, or luck, or chance. Are God’s blessings not enough that we feel the need to take the glory as well? Prayer reminds us that all the good things we enjoy, and the good things we seek, all must ultimately come from God. There is no other source for good things.

Do your prayers glorify God or are you just sending smoke signals? The question we need to ask is who’s getting the glory? Are our prayers for our selfish gain or the glory of God? In Joshua 7:19 Achan, violated a sacred ban by stealing gold, silver, and fine clothing. “Then Joshua said to Achan, ‘My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, by telling the truth. Make your confession and tell me what you have done. Don’t hide it from me’” Giving glory to God is to acknowledge His omniscience, His all-knowing and in so doing to confess and repent and present a complete truthful account with nothing hidden. Glorifying God is to take of the mask and get real with the redeemer. In John 9:24 when Jesus healed a man blind from birth, the Pharisees attempted to discredit Jesus while still appearing to honor God. “So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, ‘Give glory to God by telling the truth, because we know Jesus is a sinner’”. Hoping to break the man’s testimony, the Jewish leaders badgered him, but the former beggar chose solid ground, his own experience. This man’s open confession provided the weight of simple truth behind it, giving glory to God.

By hiding the truth we fail to give glory to God, in Jeremiah 13:15-17, the prophet, Jeremiah, urged God’s people to repent and confess their pride. “Listen! Do not be proud, for the Lord has spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God before it is too late . . .”  Will you come in prayer with truth keeping nothing hidden? In Psalm 96, all earth is summoned to give glory to God and the reasons for giving glory to God can never be exhausted. Those who choose to give glory to God discover reasons to celebrate daily, because in our adoration we set aside our fleshly nature to be set apart for God.

• The Response to prayer

“and I will do it”

If you need the power to make it through the storm, if your daylight has turned to midnight, if your mountains are high and your valleys are low call out in Jesus name. Jesus can lift the bowed head, dry the weary eyes, love the unlovable, save the lost, heal the untouchable, forgive the unpardonable, strengthen the weak, give courage to the coward, and Hope to the Helpless. Are you weary, and discouraged, wondering “does my praying really make any difference”? Does God even hear me? Most of us know that God can answer prayer and the scriptures all point to this truth and the earnest, diligent, seeking of God is the greatest expression of faith. If you really do have faith, you will diligently seek God, if you do not have faith, you will diligently not seek God. Hebrews 11:16 says, “but without faith it is impossible to seek him, for he that comes to God must believe that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”. It takes faith to move the hand of God and when you believe that you have  faith enough to move the hand of God, you will know, because you will be diligently praying.

God’s promise to us is that He will do it, Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Is it time for you to call out to God and get real as you give Him the glory, is it time for you to be reminded that He can do it, that He will do it?