Does God Answer All Prayer?

October 16, 2005

Luke 18:1-14

THEME: Gallup surveys tell us 90% of all people pray. But often we pray and nothing happens or the situation turns out differently than our prayer. In the story of Jesus in Luke 18 the Lord shows us how God answers prayer. Are you living the kind of life that God can entrust His answers to?

I. God answers the SINCERE prayer in the way, which is BEST.
Contrast between the widow and the Christ-follower:
1. She was STRANGER and we are CHILDREN

“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense-Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”
1 John 2:1

2. She went to a COURT of law but we go the THRONE of grace.

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Hebrews 4:16

P-R-A-Y
Praise and Thanksgiving
Repentance
Anything else
Yourself

P-U-S-H
Pray
Until
Something
Happens

II. How God ANSWERS PRAYER.
1. We are to ASK God specifically.
2. We are to SEEK to honor him.
3. We are to KNOCK by taking advantage of OPPORTUNITIES.

Think it over
Use the following to improve your prayer life:
1. Find a specific time and place to read scripture and pray daily.
2. Confess all sin before prayer.
3. Keep a journal of prayer requests. That way you can see the hand of God at work through your prayers.