What Happens When God Answers by Evelyn Christenson

  Chapter 3:  When God Answers…You prayed the wrong prayer

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That God will not answer prayer under certain conditions is just as clearly taught in the Bible as is that He will answer the prayers of His children at other times.  Even though they had prayed, James said:  “Ye ask and do not receive, because ye ask amiss, to consume it upon your lusts”. (see James 4:3)

There are two kinds of prayer to which God answers, “You prayed the wrong prayer.”  First, there is the prayer that asks for the wrong thing—which God in His holiness never would grant.  But then, there is the prayer to which God would have answered yes, except that it was for the wrong reason.

Wrong Motives

 

The reason God sometimes answers no to our prayers is that we prayed with the wrong motives.  Although the things for which we ask may be good in themselves, we want them for the wrong reasons.  So, even though we do ask, we do not receive.

This was an amazing chapter.  I pray all the time, but honestly have not thought about my motives.  This is something that I want to stop and take a good look at as I pray.  Evelyn even gives some examples of our motives that would not be good.

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Here are some of the common, everyday motives that creep into our praying; praise, fame, love of power, love of display, love of preeminence, status over others, ease, comfort, personal satisfaction, self-pleasing, self-vindication, gratification of sinful desires, and revenge. 

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A wrong motive makes it a wrong prayer—which, of course, God won’t answer.

So I want to stop and look at the prayers I have prayed recently and how or if God has answered.

My Prayer:

I have been praying for my son Jeremy for quite some time, but it does not seem like God is answering.  He seems to be getting worse and not better.  I need to spend some time thinking about my motives in my prayers.  In fact, I want to pray for God to show me my motives.  This is going to be challenging for me, but I need to find answers.

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It is possible that we are deceiving ourselves, as well as other people, about our motives in prayer, but never God.  He is aware of our hidden attitudes and motives –many times unrecognized even by ourselves.

Please pray for me as I learn to discover my motives in my prayers.

Merry Christmas to all of you!  Thanks for following my blog this year.  You have blessed my heart on this Journey.  I was not alone.  My thoughts and prayers will be with all of you. 

What Happens When God, Answers by Evelyn Christenson 

Chapter 2:  When God Answers When I Am Not Able

Page 13

People frequently ask me how much time they should spend in personal closet praying.  I reply, “That depends on how much power you want.”

Page 14

God with all his power of the universe is sitting on His throne in glory, even today, waiting and longing to release that power on planet earth.

Why?  Why don’t I spend more time praying?  I used to, but what has happened?  LIFE becomes so busy I can allow the things of life to take over. 

LIFE becomes so hard, that I allow my pain to overcome me.

Why do I allow this to happen?  I have a power source available to me and all I need to do is use it.  PRAYER POWER.

Page 20

A pastor in California told me he spends the first two hours of his day, starting at 5:00 am, in conference calls with his board members, prayer supporters, and even his mother in law.

Wow, I would love to hear the results of praying like this. 

I want my Prayer Time, or as I call it, my LISTENING Time with God to grow again.  It’s time! 

This time of year I try and spend a week making a goal poster for the year. I want Prayer to be a huge goal for 2014.  After all, it is my power source for everything.  I need to use it, instead of worrying about everything.

My favorite verse:  Don’t worry about anything.  Pray about everything.  Tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank him for his answers.  Philippians 4:6

I want to pray about everything.

Page 23

No matter how much I expect from God, He always gives more.  No matter how much faith I have, I never seem to have enough to equal the fabulous amount of whatever God is ready, willing, and anxious to do—when there is enough prayer.

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Capable, yes.  And able too—when there is enough prayer!  How much power is God releasing because of your prayers?  Then again, how much power is God waiting for you to unlock with your key of prayer.

Dear God,

Please forgive me for not making prayer a priority in my life.  I want 2014 to be a year of prayer, for our country, our state, our family and my life. Please help me to follow through with this commitment.  In Jesus name, Amen.

         

What Happens When God Answers, by Evelyn Christenson

I am so excited to read this book.  I have spent the last year reading Evelyn’s books about prayer, but now it sounds so refreshing to begin understanding more about Answers to our Prayers.

When I read the first chapter I wanted you to be able to read the whole chapter with me.  It felt so good to think about how God is going to answer my prayers and what comes after His answers.  You all know this has been a very hard year for me, but I wonder, where God is taking all that I have learned through the pages of Evelyn’s wonderful books.  I will wait and watch God show me.

Page 1

When God answers a prayer, it is not the final closing curtain on an episode in our lives.  Rather, it is the opening of the curtain to the next act.  The most important part of prayer is what we do with God’s answers and how His answers affect us.

God never intends that an answer to prayer be an end in itself.  He expects much more than an emotional response—joy, disappointment, or anger—to His answer.  He expects us to be prepared to act or to be acted upon by His answer to our prayers.

God’s answer to a prayer is His means of accomplishing His will here on earth.  The way He answers reveals to us His sovereign will, His plan, His reasoning, and His perspective on the subject.  We must ask, “What does God expect to accomplish with this answer?”

These words have challenged me to stop and take a good look at the way I pray and what I expect to happen when God answers. 

Looking back on my life, it seems like quite awhile since I have experienced that incredible joy when we see God’s answers to my prayers in a big way.   Everyday I see small answers to my quick prayers for the little things in life, but I have been waiting on God for many years to unfold his plan for my life.  I know he has been preparing me for his ultimate will for my life, but it seems so long.  I am so... ready to see his answers.

I wrote a poem several years ago that shares my thoughts on waiting on God.  I’d like to share this poem with you today. 

 In YOUR Time

 Years ago, this all began.

Over and Over I questioned your plan.

I thought I LISTENED, I tried to OBEY,

But the Learning continued day after day.

 

Many days I wanted to let everything go,

Like a stubborn child, I would tell you so.

Like a miracle you would send something along.

To give me what I needed to help me be strong.

 

My faith kept believing, it would happen in YOUR time,

But as each year would pass, I wanted that time, to be mine.

I tried to proceed, but a wall would hold me back,

Like a train that was charging, but then falls off the track.

 

You’ve broken down walls, in areas of my life,

You’ve broken my spirit, which caused me much strife.

At times I’ve wondered, “Where are you God?”  I’m all alone.

You’d wrap your arms around me, your love for me you’d shown.

 

When your timing, finally appears, joy will overflow my soul,

Because I know you’ve been preparing me, more than I’ll ever know.

I’m sure that I’ll be ready, for whatever the task,

Because you’ve taken the time needed, to prepare me in a way that lasts.

 

© Copyright 2012

 by Robin Gove

 

I am still waiting on God’s answers to his plan for my life and the work that I have done, but I know he is preparing me for it.

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Since God’s answer is always that which ultimately will produce what is absolutely best for the pray-er, we must be willing for His intermediary answers.  They are the stepping stones He knows are essential to His ushering us into that eventual and state He desire for us.

Opening the Curtain

Jesus said in Matthew 7:7, “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”  What will be opened?  Whatever God has for you!  His next open door.  A better life with Him.  God is using the prayers you are praying today to open the curtain to the rest of your life.

Closing Prayer

Oh, God, I deeply desire to understand Your perspective of prayer.  Please teach me how I should respond to Your answers to my prayers so that You can direct my life through them.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

This book is incredible already, the first chapter.  I would encourage you to stop by this website and purchase this book.   

http://www.evelynchristensonministries.org/bookstore.html

 

 

The Horizontal Dimension of Prayer-Results

Quote from the book, What Happens When Women (We) Pray:  by Evelyn Christenson

The Horizontal Dimension of Prayer-Results

Page 101-102

The Horizontal dimension of prayer is the visible result of our effective praying here on planet Earth.  But there can never be a horizontal dimension of prayer unless there is first a vertical dimension—that drawing nigh to God.  The two are inseparable, standing as it were at the opposite points of the base of a triangle, with God at the top.  The pray-er petitions God the Father¸ who receives the prayer, sifts it out according to His will, then reaches down to change people and circumstances on Earth.  The results we humans see represent the horizontal dimension of prayer.

Results!  What a wonderful feeling having prayed for something for a long time and then finally seeing the results of years of praying.  There is always a reason for what might seem like a delay in answers to our prayers, but God’s timing is always perfect.

I have been waiting on God for many years now.  This is not easy, but whenever there is a delay in my prayers, I know God is preparing me. 

UNITY

And we felt tremendous unity not as we studied together, or talked, or met as committee members, but as we prayed together.  One definite horizontal result of prayer, is unity—in the church, in the home, in the community.

I remember a time in my life when I felt God was leading me to pray together with someone.  I did not want to pray with them, but finally submitted to what God was asking me to do. The end result was a completely changed life.  Praying together with someone brings Unity.

Prayer Transcends Miles

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God is not limited to space as we are.  He is able to reach down and give the unifying sense of His presence not only to people sitting beside us in the room but to individuals who are separated by continents. 

It is wonderful to know and believe that it does not matter where we are, we can pray together in Unity.

Telephone Prayer Chains

Page 110

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  Philippians 4:6

Same verse/Living Bible Translation

Don’t worry about anything.  Pray about everything.  Tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank him for his answers.  Philippians 4:6

Yes, there is Power in Prayer, when we use it. 

As I read the last pages of this wonderful book, What Happens When Women (WE) Pray, I am compelled to make 2014 a year of amazing prayer in my life. 

I want to take steps to make this a reality.  I am praying about starting a Family Prayer Chain. So as I read the last chapter of this book, Telephone Prayer Chains, it is going to be my Guidebook for 2014.

So what are the some of the guidelines that I want to be a part of my Family Prayer Chain?

We need a Chairman for our Family. 

Page 116

 ...Because we wanted to have an many people as possible praying simultaneously, our chairman, after receiving the calls and recording the requests verbatim, called person number one on all ten of the prayer chains and in 15 minutes…people were praying.

We need to record our requests and then pass them on.

Page 117

The thing that really astounded me after I came back home was that not one person of the 115 on those telephone prayer chains gossiped. 

It could be hard for family members to share their prayer requests, so it is so… important that our prayer chain will not be about gossiping about a prayer request.  When a prayer request comes in, pray about it and then pass it on.

Page 118

Our basic rules are few and simple.  Members promise to pass on the request immediately to the next person in the prayer chain.  They are not to delete anything or add anything to the request.  And they are to keep it confidential—no gossiping.

The rules are so important.  We are all very busy people, so when I prayer request comes in.  Pray about it and then pass it on.  When we talk to other Prayer Partners, it should not be for more than 5 minutes or the time it takes to share the request.

Page 119

Yes, telephone prayer chains (as all forms of prayer) have a unique way of joining the human links together on a horizontal place here on earth.  But the marvel o fit is that each individual is directly connected to the source of power of the whole universe, who is up in heaven—God Himself. 

“Lord, teach me to pray! Amen.”

This book, What Happens When (We) Women pray is finished, but the power of prayer will just be beginning.  Please pray for my family that we can become a family that Prays Together.  There is power in prayer and our family needs that power. 

The three books left:

November-December What Happens When God Answers

I will begin this book and share next week.

January - February Battling the Prince of Darkness

February – March Praying God’s Way