Week 11: Will God answer my prayers?

God has the right to say “Yes,” “No,” or “Wait” to anything we ask of Him because He is the Lord God Almighty. It’s hard to understand why God sometimes says “Wait” or “No” to good things – like healing someone who is sick. However, we can trust that He is able to bring something good out of even the worst situation. Let’s take a look at when God says “Yes” to our prayers.

Be ready to read the following passages:

Let’s start it.

How do you want your family to pray for you, personally? Get a piece of paper and write down one personal prayer request from each member of the family. We will pray about these requests at the end of the devotion.

Let’s learn it.

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He gave them a model prayer as a pattern to follow. We started looking at Jesus’ model prayer last week. Have you worked on reciting it this week? Have a family member read Matthew 6:9-13 to refresh your memory.

Today we’ll take a closer look at verse 10. Go ahead and read that verse again. We talked last week about praising God’s character traits at the beginning of our prayer time. If we believe that He is the Lord of Heaven and Earth and that His character and plan are perfect, then we should want His will to be done everywhere – including in our own lives. Look at what the Apostle John wrote in 1 John 5:14-15 about our prayer requests.

Did you catch the key to answered prayer? John encourages us to pray for things that agree with God’s will. Read what else Jesus said about prayer in John 14:13-14.

Have you heard someone end a prayer by saying, “I ask these things in Jesus’ name”? Praying in the name of Jesus declares that He is God. It shows that you choose to follow His example to glorify the heavenly Father by obeying His commands. Praying in Jesus’ name announces that you want God’s will to be done. It means that the things that are important to Jesus are important to you, too.

Prayer and Bible reading go together like two lanes on the communication road between God and us. We hear from God and learn more about Him by reading Scripture. As we obey His Word, we become more like His Son, Jesus. Then we express our concerns to Him through prayer, wanting what God wants more than any selfish desires we have. If God says “No” or “Wait” during a difficult time, remember that He can be honored as others watch how you trust Him.

Let’s discuss it.

  1. What things do you already know from Scripture about God’s character and His plan for people? Based on those things, brainstorm ways you can pray according to God’s will.
  2. Look back at the prayer requests you wrote down during Let’s start it. How does your request honor and glorify God? What do you need to change about your request in order for it to line up with God’s Word?

Let’s do it.

Concentrate your prayer time this week on things that will honor and glorify your heavenly Father. First, find out what God has already said in the Bible about what you are asking. Then, instead of asking God to change His mind, ask Him to change your heart to match His will.

Close your family devotion by practicing what we’ve learned about prayer together. Begin your prayer time by praising some of the names and qualities of God – as we learned last week. Then move on to the requests you’ve written down during this devotion. How does each request honor God so that it can be asked in Jesus’ name? Ask each family member to pray for another member’s request.