THANKING GOD IN ADVANCE FOR EXPECTED ANSWERS TO PRAYER

MONDAY 14 MARCH 2022

A man named Lazarus was sick. He had two sisters, Mary and Martha; they were from a village known as Bethany, and Jesus was their close family friend. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick." When He heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." Although Lazarus eventually died, Jesus was not disheartened by the news because of His faith in God's ability. Being deeply moved in spirit and emotionally troubled, Jesus wept and the Jews acknowledged that He truly loved Lazarus.

Reference: John 11:41-42 New International Version (NIV) 'Then Jesus lifted His eyes upward and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, so they may believe that You sent Me."'

Considering the above Scripture, Jesus had and sustained the right mindset during His prayer sessions or moments. Before He called Lazarus out of his tomb, He already acknowledged that God had done it. In other words, Jesus is saying, "I have no doubt in my mind and spirit that you've heard me. Therefore, I present my thanksgiving in advance, reminding you my Father, that my high-priestly prayer is swiftly answered." What does this mean? Jesus had an inbuilt mentality that He had favour with God in all His earthly transactions. By reflecting the nature of their intimate relationship, Jesus expressed the stability and strength of auditory assurance between Him and His Father, in the Spirit.

Beloved, when you start praying, what sorts of terminology do you utter as you address the Almighty God? Do you approach Him with the mindset that He always hears you and answers your prayer? Have you built your conviction around His quality of being reliable in the character of His attributes or do you still entertain doubt and unbelief? In all His earthly dealings, Jesus exuded an aura of fixed and reassuring solidity in the God that answers prayer, not really because He was God the Son, but because of the strength of His personal relationship with our Heavenly Father. Remember He maintained regular personal private prayer as a custom (see Mark 1:35).

Remarkably, owing to Jesus' teaching ministry, one of His teaching techniques was to lead an exemplary attitude before the people or assembled crowd - as a desirable ideal. So on purpose, Jesus says, "I knew that You always hear Me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, so they may believe that You sent Me." By reasserting His divine "flourishing" relationship with God, He inspired His audience, not just to believe that God sent Him, but also to behave and speak in a confident manner while approaching God in prayer.

When you build a confident belief system on the strength of your personal relationship with God, it will intensify the quality of your faith in regard to your prayer life, such that you become commanding, bold and firm while making demands in prayer. And this will usually reflect in the conciseness of your expression in speech while addressing God in prayer. Simply put, acknowledging that God hears and answers you even before you pray is a function of the level of your intimacy with Him on the basis of persistent fellowship. As a result, you cultivate a relaxed ambience sourced from an inward knowledge, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that you have your requests established even before the reality emerges.

Splendidly, this is God's wordings of assurance to the righteous: I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers" (Isaiah 65:24 NLT). Now what should be our mood of response? 1 John 5:14-15: "And how bold and free we then become in His presence, freely asking according to His will, sure that He's listening. And if we're confident that He's listening, we know that what we've asked for is as good as ours" (MSG).

An assurance of effective prayer in advance before God is not automatic; it is often based on an ongoing personal affinity with God, developed on a habitual pattern of sustained fellowship over time. Therefore upraise and invest more in your personal relationship with God, so as to deepen your conviction about His faithfulness and heighten your sense of trust in Him - by taking your prayer life seriously. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Psalm 91:15; Matthew 7:7-8; John 9:31; Matthew 21:22; Psalm 65:2; John 14:13-14; 1 Peter 3:12.

Guided Prayer: Heavenly Father, I honour you today and always because you hear my prayers and grant my needs generously. As the righteous, my prayers and supplication will always be presented before you with thanksgiving, confidence and inner knowing that they are effective in obtaining and accomplishing much. Therefore, I demand all good things in prayer according to your will, believing and receiving them with a supply mentality and without doubtful perception in Jesus' Name, Amen!