August 2008 message from Pastor Homan: God always answers prayers

Dear Members and Friends of Our Saviour's,

I was recently at an anniversary celebration, when a lady came up to me and said, "Thank you for praying for me." I didn't know here and she went on to explain that members of our church had requested that our church pray for her. She was so grateful and was a firm believer in Almighty God who is behind all answered prayer. She went on to explain that she is a walking miracle. She was given a 1 percent chance of survival. After a long stay in the hospital, and a lengthy time of recuperation, she is now able to get around and be part of celebrations like I witnessed.

While driving home that day, I reflected upon a passage from Philippians 4:6:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests to God."

God tells us not to be anxious--but how often we are pressed down by the worries of the world.

Jesus taught us how to pray in what we call The Lord's Prayer. Here are some of the things we pray for, and other places in Scripture where we are taught to do this:

• Hallowed be thy name. (I Peter 1:15-16)
  
• Thy Kingdom come. (Mark 1:14)
  
• Thy will be done. (Luke 22:42)
  
• Give us our daily bread. (Matthew 6:25-34)
  
• Forgive us our trespasses. (Matthew 9:1,2)
  
• Lead us not into temptation. (James 1:12-15)
  
• Deliver us from evil. (Ephesians 6:10-18)
  

Take a minute to look at each of these readings of Scripture and see how Jesus' prayer is taught throughout the pages of the Bible.

But, do we always get what we pray for? When we pray that God's will be done, then we get what God wants for us. Sometimes, God's answer to our prayer seems difficult at the time. But later on, we can come to understand what God says to us in Romans 8:28:

"All things work for the good of those who love God and have been called according to His purpose."

Sometimes God answers our prayers by giving us something better than we ask for. The Bible says:

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to His power which is at work within us."

So, keep praying and always focus upon that which God has done, is doing, and will do for us by His grace.

Prayerfully,

Pastor Brad Homan