Prayer Product
Copyright © Stephen M. Golden 18 December 2001
[A work in progress]
This article
attempts to address the likelihood of answered prayer. The reader is strongly cautioned that this
treatise is highly speculative but attempts
to provide answers to the mystery of answered prayer.
The success of a prayer
is dependent on several factors.
The
likelihood of a positive answer to prayer can be loosely expressed as the
product of the following:
Intensity of prayer
Frequency of prayer
Quantity of faith
Number of souls praying
1/Complexity of the request
1/Necessary complexity
of the answer
Other promises God has
made
The
relative weighting of each of the criteria, and their priority is undetermined.
Intensity of prayer
Luke 22:44
And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great
drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Acts 12:5
So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
Frequency of prayer
Romans 1:9
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son,
that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers,
Colossians 1:9
For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for
you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all
wisdom and spiritual understanding;
1
Thessalonians 5:17 pray without ceasing,
2 Timothy 1:3
I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as
without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day,
Quantity of faith
Your
prayers are granted according to your faith.
Matthew 9:29
Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to
you."
Matthew 17:20
So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to
you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move
from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
Matthew 17:21
"However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."
Matthew 21:21-22
So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have
faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but
also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it
will be done.
"And
whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."
Mark 5:34
And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace,
and be healed of your affliction."
Number of souls praying
There
is a clear theme in the New Testament that the prayers of many are desirable.
Acts.11:5
So Peter was kept in prison, but the
church was earnestly praying to God for him.
6 The night
before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two
soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7
Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared
and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. "Quick,
get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists.
2 Corinthians
1:10b-11 On him we have set our hope
that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as
you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for
the gracious favor granted us in answer
to the prayers of many.
Philippians
1:18b-19
Yes, and I
will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus
Christ, what has happened to me will
turn out for my deliverance.
The reciprocal of the
Complexity of the request
1/ComplexityOfRequest
The
more complex the request, the greater the implications and impact on other
people and circumstances. God is not
going to grant us a request if it will cause problems later. We don't know everything, but God does.
The reciprocal of the
Necessary Complexity of the answer
1/NecessaryComplexityOfRequest
The
more complex the request, the greater the implications and impact on other
people and circumstances. God is not
going to grant us a request if it will cause problems later. We don't know everything, but God does.
Romans 11:33
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How
unsearchable his judgments,
and his
paths beyond tracing out!
1
Corinthians 1:20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the
philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him,
God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who
believe.
1
Corinthians 1:25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the
weakness of God is stronger than man's strength
1
Corinthians 2:5 so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's
power.
Job 15:8 Do
you listen in on God's council?
Do you
limit wisdom to yourself?
Other Promises God has
made
Our
God is faithful and true. Our God cannot
lie, and He keeps His promises. This is
a tremendous blessing we have indeed.
The gods of other religions, one in particular, can be arbitrary,
capricious, and even go back on decisions previously made. However, this does have implications for
prayer. We do not know the promises and
decisions God has already made. If God has already made a promise or commitment
that is in conflict with our request in prayer, He will not fail to keep His
previous promise in order to grant our request.
1
Corinthians 1:9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus
Christ our Lord, is faithful.
1
Corinthians 10:13a No temptation has
seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let
you be tempted beyond what you can bear.
2
Corinthians 1:20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes"
in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory
of God.
2 Timothy 2:13
if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
Heb.10:23
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is
faithful.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is
patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to
repentance.