Confident Assurance: He Hears Us

Ah…Prayer, one of the most difficult of the Spiritual Disciplines is it not? Even one of the original disciples desired for the Lord to teach them to pray rightly. We see in Luke 11:1 (NIV): One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” Jesus was always retreating to a solitary place where He could pray to His Father. If Jesus did so, how much more so should we, Amen?
Most of us approach prayer cavalierly as if perhaps we were giving our orders at a restaurant or making a wish list for Santa Claus. We are great at asking for what we think we want. But being still and listening for God’s “still small voice” to direct us in the path He desires for us…well…that’s quite another story. It does us well to remember that God’s plan for our lives is always, always the very best – even though perhaps extraordinarily difficult - and we do not want to miss it – we want what He wants for us - whether we know it or not. When we kick against Him, we kick against His best for our lives. The Prophet Jeremiah tells us in Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NIV): “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and will bring you back from captivity.’” There is always “captivity” outside of God’s will, Amen? 
In Prayer, God will either remove us from the trying circumstance or strengthen us through it. Our reasoning judges only the outside of our present situations but faith looks behind the veil – to what God is doing in and through our lives because of them. Flesh will always choose the easy route yet there remains sweet secrets and invisible things that God makes known to waiting souls. Hope can hang on a small thread. Fervent prayer waits and continually looks for the favor of God – even in the smallest of things we can see signs of His love. The caveat in our verses for today is “according to His will”, Amen? And, you might be thinking, what is His will? We can be rest assured that anything in His Word is in His will, right? God loves for us to pray back His Word to Him. Remember, James 5:16B (NIV) tells us: “The prayer of the righteous man is powerful and effective.”