CONDITIONS TO ANSWERED PRAYER
PART SEVEN: PRAYER ACCORDING TO THE SITUATION
Each life situation requires a corresponding prayer. Kenneth Hagin writes that each situation requires a suitable prayer in the same way each sports requires a suitable approach. For example, one cannot play soccer with a hockey stick. Moreover, one cannot expect answers to several requests at once using one type of prayer, or even more, bringing them during one prayer.
Sometimes I hear people pray this way, “Lord, bless our country! Lord, change our tax system! Lord, give peace to families, and let there be no divorces! Lord, keep our borders safe, and let there be no war! Lord, let there be no unemployment in our country! Lord, remove poverty! Amen!” Such prayers are made in one breath, during a few minutes, and are repeated for years. And people who pray them wonder why God does not respond to their cries. Why the situation becomes even worse instead of improving? The reason is, people do not have knowledge and are not doers of the Word of God.
First, each prayer to God the Father must be made in the name of Jesus Christ. “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (Jn. 16:23-24). Jesus the Savior told this before His crucifixion. Now, through the victory on the Cross, He is seated at the right hand of the Father and intercedes for each person who prays.
When a person prays in the name of Jesus Christ, they must be sure that His name has the power to make every impossible thing possible. “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth’” (Mt. 28:18). “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Lk. 10:19).
When Jesus appeared to His disciples after the crucifixion and rising from the dead, He again spoke about using His name and seeing results. “‘And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.’ So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs” (Mk. 16:17-20).
When John and Peter saw the lame man sitting by the Temple, they told him, “‘Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.’ And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them – walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him” (Acts 3:6-10).
Every prayer to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ must be prayed in faith. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).
The person who prays must clearly see that when they come to the Father, they are not in the position of a hopeless beggar, but of a person whose Lord is Jesus Christ, the One Who defeated the devil by His victory on the Cross of Calvary. The praying person must see that they have come in the name of Jesus Christ, the Victor, against the defeated foe, the devil, who has been trying to keep them in misery although he has no right to do it. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day…” (Eph. 6:12-13).
Each godly person must be well aware of God’s armor described in Ephesians 6:14-18. A person who has this armor will never weep in confusion before the Lord, saying, “Lord, help me…”, no matter what happens. Such prayers despise the victory of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary and rob the praying one of the opportunity to enjoy the results of that victory.
The request of the praying person must be made according to the Bible, as the Lord is faithful to fulfil His Word. “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Mt. 5:17-18). “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17).
No one can pray, “Lord, I am going to rob a bank, and if police tries to arrest me, I will kill them. Please help me!” I use this glaring example on purpose, in order to clearly explain to some people the difference between a prayer according to the Word of God and a prayer according to the dictations of the flesh.
The person who prays must be led by the Holy Spirit to pray according to their situation and according to God’s heart. “…praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance…” (Eph. 6:18). “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom. 8:26-27).
For each situation, people need a specific prayer by the leading of the Holy Spirit. People must never, never and never include requests of protection of the borders of their country, family issues, relationships of spouses, financial difficulties and problems with unemployment in one prayer. Also, they need to be led by the Spirit to understand what to do in a specific situation, whether to intercede or to pray in believer’s authority, to praise and worship the Lord or to pray in agreement with someone.
Years ago, I needed a large sum of money because of a very unexpected situation. The sum was so large and the situation was so unexpected, that I did not even think of praying and asking the Lord to help me. Right then, I phoned my friends and asked each of them to help as much as they could, promising to return the money. Then I calmed down and went to bed.
I woke up in the nighttime. At first I did not think that the Lord woke me up and the Holy Spirit would speak to me. I tried to sleep again, as early in the morning I had to take the money from my friends and do some urgent things. Praise our God that He does not reckon with our cares, but, with longsuffering, tries to get us to tap into His divine abilities!
The Lord started to speak through the Holy Spirit and suggested me to think over when and how I was going to repay the money to my friends. I got confused for a moment, as with my salary, it would be incredibly difficult to repay such a large sum of money. In obedience to the Holy Spirit’s prompting, I got up, dressed and came out of my bedroom. I started to pray. I understood that the Holy Spirit would speak to me concerning my financial problem.
I continued praying, and then, in obedience to the leading of the Spirit, I started praising God. It was difficult for me to praise for so long, as my body was not used to it. I tried to ‘convince’ the Lord, that I would give the only gold ring I had as an offering, just to finish praising and go to bed sooner. I thought, “The Lord is good; He will consider my offering and will help me to solve my financial problems”. However, the Lord is more than good. By the leading of the Holy Spirit, I gave up my suggestion of making an offering and continued praising Him. During my praise, the Lord showed me how He had saved me from many hopeless situations. He was showing me His glorious majesty, before which every financial issue depreciated.
After praising and worshipping the Lord for a long time, the Holy Spirit again spoke to me. He said that in the morning, I would receive the whole sum in His way, as a blessing, and not as a curse that is in the form of a debt. I opened my eyes and looked at the watch; for the first time in my life, I worshipped for 1 hour and 50 minutes. I did not do it on my own, but in obedience to the Holy Spirit. Obedience has wonderful results; during that worship I enjoyed the presence of the Lord, was reminded of the course I had passed and the mercies of the Lord. In addition, the problem that troubled me was solved in a divine way. In the morning, I received that sum of money through a miracle of God and was freed from the heavy burden of borrowing money and then repaying the debt.
Only in prayer and in obedience to the Holy Spirit, you will learn how to pray in a specific situation. No matter how critical the problem is, you need to rely on the Lord and be led by His Holy Spirit. What the situation urges and what the Holy Spirit says are different.
When Joshua son of Nun was going to conquer Jericho, he too faced a critical situation. However, he did not act according to the situation; he did not arm his troops and did not lay siege to the city, but in obedience to the Lord, he and the army marched around the city of Jericho once a day for six days. They were accompanied by the priests with the Arc of the Covenant and the jubilee trumpets. On the seventh day, according to the Word of the Lord, they marched around the city walls seven times and shouted. “So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets… the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city” (Jos. 6:20).
The Lord is faithful all the time, you simply need to know His will and obey it.