"Answered prayer"
Then he said, "Don't be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. (Daniel 10:12 NLT)
I'm reading a book by Philip Yancey called "Prayer." I highly recommend it. It not only has given me lots to think about when it comes to prayer but it has made me more prayerful, which was the original goal in reading the book.
One of the most difficult mysteries about prayer to me is how it is answered. By studying prayer, I've actually discovered more questions than answers. Does God answer prayer? Why does one person's prayer for healing go unanswered while someone else is miraculously healed?
I can't say for sure why this happens. How are we supposed to approach a God who tells us to pray & yet sometimes doesn't answer the prayers we pray? Like I said, more questions than answers.
There is something here in Daniel 10 though that I think gives us some insight into answered prayer. Not that if we pray this every time, God will then be forced to answer. But here we see a prayer he did answer. He did respond to Daniel. And so it is worth considering how he prayed.
Daniel was teachable. He prayed for understanding. He was humble. He approached God as a leaner, not a know-it-all. He came to God in dependence, not with demands. He came to God to make sense of life not as someone who already has everything figured out. It's this dependency & humility that needs to saturate our prayers. How we approach God in prayer says more about how he answers than the actual words we say. Romans tells us that he intercedes for us when we don't have the words to say.
How are we approaching God in prayer? Are we approaching at all?
I know for certain that God does not answer 100% of unprayed prayers.
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