What does God receive from our prayers?
Prayer is typically viewed as a way for us to receive things from God. But have you ever considered this question: “What does God receive from our prayers?” Think especially about those times when you have persevered in prayer and waited upon the Lord to answer your particular request in His time and according to His will.
What is God’s purpose in sometimes having us wait month after month, or even year after year? We tend to assume that if we desire something good, then God is somehow obligated to answer our request rather quickly. But what if that is not the way prayer works? What if God has better things in mind for us even when we don’t discern everything God is doing in our life?
Loving and wise parents have reasons for answering certain requests from their children in short order, while waiting much longer before granting other requests. Only spoiled children get all of their requests granted right away. Likewise, our loving Father in Heaven knows that our faith and trust will grow much stronger and deeper when we humbly wait upon Him. God answers each one of our prayers with: “Yes,” “No,” or “Wait.”
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Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:7-12).
Asking, seeking and knocking is the way our Lord describes persevering prayer. As we press on in prayer, the Lord is working behind the scenes to answer our requests in whatever way is best for us and for others.
So, what does God get out of it? Well, we need to remember what the Lord wants to produce in our life. There is no better parent than the Lord with His children, and no one knows better what is needed for us to grow in our faith. God is working in a way that will facilitate our spiritual growth. The Lord wants to develop certain things within us, such as patience, trust, holiness, character, perseverance and hope. This fruit of our faith is not produced overnight, but often takes years to develop in our life of discipleship.
One of our assignments as a follower of Christ is to “find out what pleases the Lord” (Ephesians 5:10). And God’s Word reveals that He is pleased when His children trust Him enough to wait for His timing and His plan, rather than assuming we already know the right timing and the right plan for our lives. The Lord wants to develop mature faith in our heart, rather than the kind of attitude which views God as a “cosmic bellhop in the sky.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Every child of God would be wise to recognize: “I am God’s servant, and not His advisor.”
No one loves us more than the Lord. And no one receives more pleasure from seeing us grow in our faith than the Lord. Since God is perfect in every way, He receives much pleasure when we stand in faith and walk in holiness. Likewise, God is grieved when we doubt His promises or live in a way that is unholy (see Ephesians 4:29-32). God knows that anything which upsets our fellowship with Him will weaken our spiritual life. In addition, it will lessen the Lord’s pleasure because He delights in our holy living, perseverance and spiritual growth.
Jesus told his disciples a parable one day to,
“Show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said, ‘In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’ And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the Earth?’” (Luke 18:1-8)
“Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). And few things demonstrate more faith in the Lord than persevering prayer. Author L.B. Cowman wrote, “The failure to persevere is the most common problem in prayer and intercession. We begin to pray for something, raising our petitions for a day, a week, or even a month, but then if we have not received a definite answer, we quickly give up and stop praying for it altogether. This is a mistake with deadly consequences.”
Will you and I persevere in our prayer requests in 2024, or will we give up whenever God doesn’t seem to be answering our prayers fast enough? Faith holds on to God’s promises, even in the midst of storms, delays and confusing situations.
God’s Word declares: “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all — how will he not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).
Here is a simple prayer to get us moving in the right direction:
“Empower me and encourage me Lord to keep on praying and not give up. Remind me everyday that you love to grant the requests of your children, in your time and according to your perfect will. Help me to trust you, even when I do not understand something that is going on in my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
Dan Delzell is the pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Papillion, Nebraska.
