Linda Evans Shepherd - Prayers for Every Need

God Wants to Hear from You

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Whatever happens, give thanks, because it is Gods will in Christ Jesus that you do this.

1 Thessalonians 5:1618

Imagine that you and a friend are crunching your way through a leaf-filled thicket crawling with hidden vipers. You whisper a prayer: Lord, please protect us from the snakes.

Stop! your friend cries. Youre not praying in Gods will!

What?! You think God wants us to step on a rattler?

Your friend explains, Dont kid yourself. Gods way too busy to listen to our prayers, rattlesnakes or not.

Could this be true?

Absolutely not. God loves to be invited into the details of our lives.

My prayer experiences with God have included long lists of prayer requests for earthshaking problems like tsunamis and world hunger, as well as problems that matter only to me. I go to him with my burdens because God cares for me as well as my concerns.

You might wonder, Why would he care to hear about my insignificant issues when he has huge issues to deal with, like world peace?

Simply put, God is a jealous God who does not like to be ignored. Not only does he want our attention, but he also wants to answer our prayers . Psalm 145:1819 says, The L ORD is near to everyone who prays to him, to every faithful person who prays to him. He fills the needs of those who fear him. He hears their cries for help and saves them.

Not only does God hear us, but hes always with us. Jeremiah 23:2324 records God saying, I am a God who is near. I am also a God who is far away.... No one can hide so that I cant see him.... I fill heaven and earth!

Wow! God is both present with us and present in heaven. He is eternally existent everywhere and is inside and outside of time. This means we are never in a contest for Gods attention, even when millions of souls call to him simultaneously. My prayer requests will not cancel your prayer requests, because God is listening to us individually.

Here are a few guidelines Ive gleaned from my Bible study and prayer life that may help you:

1. You can approach God, even about small matters.
2. God loves you and listens because he wants to have a personal relationship with you.
3. You cannot control God. God will answer your prayers in his time and in his way.
4. The more you bring your requests to God, the closer your relationship will become.
5. The more God answers your little prayer requests, the more you will understand that he really does care for you.
6. As you see God answer your little prayer requests, you will find it easier to trust him with your bigger prayer requests.
7. The more you trust God, the more faith you will have that he will answer you.
8. The more faith you have, the more miracles you will have the ability to see.

My prayer journey became deeper years ago after a violent car accident injured my then-eighteen-month-old baby. I was determined to uncover every secret of prayer so I could more effectively pray on my daughters behalf as she recovered and faced a life of difficulties. But it was through these same difficulties that I saw God answering my prayers and moving time and again.

Here are examples of answered prayers from my own prayer life:

• I once prayed for a million dollars to pay my daughters hospital bill. God answered, and the bill was paid in full.
• Ive prayed for sick friends and family members, and God has answered and healed them.
• Ive prayed for friends to open their hearts to God and had the privilege of seeing them come to faith.

All of these prayers have one thing in common: they never would have been answered if my praying friends and I had never prayed them.

And yes, of course Ive seen prayers that seemed to go unanswered, either because the answer was no or because the answer was still to come. Countless times Ive discovered Gods no was the needed path to the miracle Id hoped for. Ive learned that trusting God in the no s is always a challenging but necessary faith-growing experience.