I give up. Why am I still dealing with this situation? Where is God right now? Ummm, God, are You hearing me?
Millions of people around the world have asked themselves those same questions and desperately hoped that God would answer them.
There’s nothing worse than feeling like you have poured your heart out to someone who looks up at you blankly and says “huh?,” as if you haven’t uttered a word. Have you ever felt like that someone was God? No worries. Stress no more.
Here are Four Keys to Answered Prayers…
2. Target.
Scattershot prayers do NOT get the job done.
Take a moment to identify the desired outcome. Put together some goals and submit them to God for His blessing. If there’s a different direction you should take, praying over them will give God the point of entry to show you a different path.
But if you never get around to setting a target, how would you even realize if God had sent you the answer?
1. Pray.
You’d think that this would be a no brainer, right? But so many people would rather try to turn cartwheels, walk through burning buildings and and even lift cars with one hand before they would even think of asking God for help.
It takes a strategic mindset and humility to start with prayer instead of turning to God as a last resort. Getting a download from God first saves time, money, heartache, energy, relationships…the list could go on and on for miles.
In an emergency, you might not have time for a “Heavenly Father, I beseech you…” style prayer. But everyone has 30 seconds for a “Lord, if you don’t help me now, I will mess this up” kind of prayer.
The good news is that the Lord understands all, so there’s nothing that will be lost in translation. Just start talking and let God get to work.
3. Engage.
The burning bush was an unusual spectacle to behold. God is so creative that He can captivate us with something extraordinary for His purpose.
We just have to keep living, keep working, and keep trusting that God is making a way for the answer to our prayer to appear.
But what a shame it is to miss your answer, because you didn’t bother to show up. Or miss your answer because you stopped expecting one to appear. Many times we miss out on an answered prayer, because it doesn’t look the way we thought it would or we’re not even really looking for it anymore.
When Eliezar prayed to find a wife for Isaac, he still had to recognize Rebekah as the answer. She didn’t walk up to him and say, “You rang?” like she was waiting at the door. He had to engage her and discern that she was the one.
Refuse the urge to mentally check out and abandon your prayer, because you don’t see any movement yet. Until the answer appears, stay active and engaged and trust God for what’s around the corner.
4. Bless.
Only God would design a system that requires you to give in order to receive. If you want to be blessed, you must be a blessing. God modeled this for us from the very beginning, because He first demonstrated what He wanted from us before He gave us the capability to do it.
In Genesis, God was fruitful, He multiplied, replenished, subdued and had dominion before He blessed us (and expected us) to do the same. In other words, He did not demand from us what He was unwilling to perform or share with us.
Now, how bad do you really want love in your life if you refuse to show it to others? Are you sure it’s a good idea to pray for God to financially bless you when you struggle to give on your current level?
It may seem impossible to give something that you think you don’t have, but the truth is that God has already given seed to the sower.
That means that sowing comes before you receive in any area of life. You don’t get promoted without first showing that you can handle the next job. It’s the same way in God’s kingdom. Praying to be blessed requires you to be a blessing first.
Upgrade your life with these important four keys to answered prayers. My prayer is that God responds to you in ways that are undeniable and bring you closer to Him in every area of your life.
