PRAYERS NOT ANSWERED 6: PRAY IN JESUS' NAME

(Message by Tanny Keng)

1. Prayers Not Answered

Matthew 7:11  
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” 

a) This verse tells us that God is ready to answer our prayers and supply our needs.  So why are all our prayers not answered?  Why does it seem that God sometimes does not hear us?  What is going on when it seems like our prayers are not getting any higher than the ceiling?

2. Pray In Jesus’ Name

John 14:13-14 
“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.“ 

a) Too many people think that this means simply tacking the phrase, “In Jesus’ name” onto the end of their prayers.  This is a shallow way of interpreting this verse and is an affront to the holiness of God. How can we think that simply by adding “In Jesus name” to the end of our prayer forces God into giving us what we want?

b) Apologist Dave Hunt writes, “For a prayer to be truly “in the name of Jesus,” it must be as He would express it if He were praying.  It must be for the furtherance of His interests and to His glory. His name must be stamped on the character and engraved on the heart and life of the one praying “in His name.”

c) Therefore, not only must one be praying in the will of Jesus [God], but one must also be living according to God’s will.  An unholy life will not produce a holy prayer life.  Nor will it produce effective prayers.


The End ...

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