Author: Gary Witcher
Company: none

We Expect From Prayer/Prayer Expects From Us

	All too often we forget to pray.  We have time to work, to eat, to play, to sleep, to read the newspaper and to watch television.  But we don't have time to pray.  When we do pray, we sometimes do not get the results we think we should.  So we must ask ourselves: What can we expect from prayer?
	What can we expect from prayer?  For one thing, we can expect to be heard.
	"Now {there was} a certain man at Caesarea named Cornelius," Luke records in Acts 10:1-4, "a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, a devout man, and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the {Jewish} people, and prayed to God continually.  About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had {just} come in to him, and said to him, 'Cornelius!'  And fixing his gaze upon him and being much alarmed, he said, 'What is it, Lord?' And he said to him, 'Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God.'"
	"Your prayers have been heard," the angel informs Cornelius. And we, too, can expect to have our prayers heard.  We can also expect to have them answered.
	"Ask, and it shall be given to you," Jesus advises in Matthew 7:7-11, "seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.  Or what man is there among you, when his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone?  Or if he shall ask for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!"
	"Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God," we read in 1 John 3:21,22, "and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight."
	We can expect to have our prayers heard.  We can expect to have our prayers answered.  And we can expect powerful results.
	"And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick," James 5:15-18 promises, "and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.  And he prayed again, and the sky poured rain, and the earth produced its fruit."
	We can expect to have our prayers heard.  We can expect to have our prayers answered.  We can expect powerful results.  With this information we are content to have only part of the knowledge that we need, and we go merrily on our way until the next time we don't receive the results we want.  Knowing what we can expect from prayer is only a part of the picture.  We should be honest enough to also ask: What can we not expect from prayer?
	For example, we can expect nothing from prayer if we insist on being sinners.
	"We know that God does not hear sinners," the man who has been healed of blindness observes in John 9:31, "but if anyone is God-fearing, and does His will, He hears him."
	This does not mean that God will not hear the words uttered by a sinner.  It does mean, though, that God will not grant the requests of a person who insists on living in sin.
	In addition, we can expect nothing if we ask with wrong motives.
	"What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?" James 4:1-5 expresses.  "Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?  You lust and do not have; {so} you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain; {so} you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.  You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend {it} on your pleasures.  You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.  Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: 'He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us'?"
	We can expect nothing from prayer if we insist on being sinners.  We can expect nothing from prayer if we ask with wrong motives.  And we can expect nothing if we don't ask according to God's will.
	"And this is the confidence which we have before Him," 1 John 5:14,15 promises, "that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us {in} whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him."
	We can expect to have our prayers heard.  We can expect to have our prayers answered.  We can expect powerful results. We can expect nothing from prayer if we insist on being sinners.  We can expect nothing from prayer if we ask with wrong motives.  We can expect nothing from prayer if we don't ask according to God's will.  And we're not done, yet.  

	We can expect to have our prayers heard.  We can expect to have our prayers answered.  We can expect powerful results. We can expect nothing from prayer if we insist on being sinners.  We can expect nothing from prayer if we ask with wrong motives.  We can expect nothing from prayer if we don't ask according to God's will.
	We must ask one more question: What does prayer expect from us?
	Prayer expects righteousness.
	"Therefore, confess your sins to one another," we have seen in James 5:16, "and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."
	Prayer expects sincerity.
	"Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them," Jesus cautions in Matthew 6:1-7, "otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.  When therefore you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.  But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you. And when you pray, you are not to be as the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, in order to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.  But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.  And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words."
	Prayer expects steadfastness.
	"Pray without ceasing," 1 Thessalonians 5:17 expresses.
	Prayer expects persistence.
	"Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart," Luke 18:1-7 records, "saying, 'There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God, and did not respect man.  And there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, "Give me legal protection from my opponent."  And for a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, "Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, lest by continually coming she wear me out."'  And the Lord said, 'Hear what the unrighteous judge *said; now shall not God bring about justice for His elect, who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?'" 
	Prayer expects faith.
	"But let him ask in faith without any doubting," James 1:6 advises, "for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind."
	Prayer expects that we keep God's commandments.
	"Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God," 1 John 3:21,22 expresses, "and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight."
	Prayer expects that we abide in Jesus.
	"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you," the Lord offers in John 15:7, "ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you."
	What can we expect from prayer?  We can expect to have our prayers heard.  We can expect to have our prayers answered.  We can expect powerful results.
	What can we not expect from prayer?  We can expect nothing from prayer if we insist on being sinners.  We can expect nothing from prayer if we ask with wrong motives.  We can expect nothing from prayer if we don't ask according to God's will.
	And what does prayer expect from us?  It expects righteousness.  It expects sincerity.  It expects steadfastness.  It expects persistence.  It expects faith.  It expects that we keep God's commandments.  It expects that we abide in Jesus.  In other words, it expects that we follow the truth that sets us free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."