Pray with confidence
“And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening oblation, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, O Jehovah, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Jehovah, hear me, that this people may know that thou, Jehovah, art God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of Jehovah fell, and consumed the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, Jehovah, he is God; Jehovah, he is God.”
1 Kings 18:36-39 ASV
http://bible.com/12/1ki.18.36-39.asv
In one of my devotions I learned about praying in confidence. Something I read in my devotion really opened my eyes. The Bible is full of prophets praying for miracles and getting answers. the quote from the devotion is: “Our prayers should be made over a rebuilt relationship with God, which gives us the confidence to ask God to perform miracles. Prayers made out of a desperate situation may not really be God’s will.” This quote is from the devotion, Effective Prayers by Johnson Varghese from YouVersion.
I remember several years ago when our children were very young and I had an in home day care. Parents of three young children I watched, were pastors with their own church. They were very nice, strong Christian people, and were always doing something for someone and were strong prayer warriors. I shared my prayer request with them that I needed more babies to baby sit, and did God answer immediately! I was in awe! God answered so abundantly that I had to hire a helper. God is awesome and I knew that then and now. What I learned that day was that God loves to answer our prayers, no matter how insignificant they may seem to us. I’ve experienced quick answers to seemingly small requests and long drawn out answers to major life changing requests. But that doesn’t make God any less Awesome! In fact that makes Him even more so. As I’ve said before, God sees it all. He’s looking at the bigger picture. What prayers has God answered for you? Was it instant or pain stakenly longer?