Prayers May Be Answered

  Have you even had times when you have wondered--is God even listening to my prayers? Does He even incline his ear to my requests and answered them?
  That is a few questions. And the Bible infers the answer to the last two by what it does say.
   I consider the Bible to be God's communication with us humans in the revealing of Himself. All through the first half of the Bible He reveals Himself as a person who hears prayer and answers prayer of those who are in a relationship with Him.
   He gave a son to Hannah when she asked. He saved Lot form Sodom when Abraham asked Sodom to be spared if ten righteous people could be found. Only Lot was found.
   He heard Jesus when Jesus prayed. He hears us also according to 1John 5:14. "And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us.' (esv)
 It is my contention that our asking is what is being referred to here as God's will.
 this promise is only for Christians. I define a Christian as one who has a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It is a family relationship.
  As for belief, this is where faith steps in. For without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith says that God exists and is one who rewards those who are His.

Faith Is The Answer To So Many Things

 Let us look at faith.
  Faith is the answer to so many things. Yet so few of us know what faith is.
  It can't be touched. You can see the results, but it is not something you can putt in a testtube and mesaure.
    Yet again we have in the eleventh chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews a number of names of people faith worked for. But it was a daily day by day walk without any tangible object to touch, taste or smell.
    In Hebrews 11:1 we are told that faith is a substance of hope that shows evidence . But what kind of evidence? We can't see it now. We will see it later. At least those of us who are in a proper relationship with God.
    Our examples of faith are listed. Abel who lost his life because he did right. Noah who saw no rain but still built the boat. Abraham who left his family and went out to a land that he never really did get. Abraham who also had a child in his old age who hung on because God said a child was coming. (Abraham who fathered an offsring that wasn't the one God was going to bless him and the world through. A child that would father the nation of Arabs) Abraham who was willing to sacrafice his only claim to fame because God told him to, but was stopped and received the child back. Moses who lead the people out of Egypt.
    So many more. They are all there in the book. Our examples. Not perfect but still what I would call masrters of faith.
   And it was learned.
   The key. There is always a key. The key to faith is found in verse six. The rewards of faith come about because of God's existence. God delights in rewarding those who believe in Him and His power. His ability. His existence.
    The question to ask is do we have our reward now? When  we pray and ask in faith, do we have a tangable reward now? If we ask for finances do we get finances now?
    That is the question. And the answer is..I really don't know. Yes, we believe the heaven is a place of no needs. No reason to have a form of barter. But as for this moment on earth, I really don't know the answer to the  need.
     This is a puzzlement.