Patti Burris

1 John 5:14-15

¹⁴ This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

Mark 11:24

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

In my 19 years as a single mom, God has answered ALL of my prayers. Yes, He has answered ALL of my prayers. I know you’re thinking that I mean that God has said “Yes” to all of my prayers. Not exactly. He doesn’t always answer with a yes. Sometimes, His answer is no or not yet. There are some issues that I have been praying about for years and it has not come about “yet,” but I know it will.

That is the promise: We can have confidence that God WILL hear us. We can be confident that we have what we asked of Him. We can be confident that whatever we ask for in prayer WILL be ours.

BUT (Yes, there is a But!)

God does promise all of the above, BUT there are conditions. When God promises something, you can bet that there will be a condition. He won’t just make a promise without asking us to do our part.

According To His Will – Our prayer has to line up with God’s will. We can’t pray for something of a sinful nature and expect God to answer affirmatively. We can’t pray for God to help us get away with robbing a bank if we promise to give 10% to the Church. This would not be in God’s will. If our prayers are coming from a place of hate or any other place that goes against God’s nature, be assured that the answer will be NO! We can not expect God to answer our prayers with a YES! when they go against His will and His nature.

Believe That You Have Received It – BELIEVE! HAVE FAITH! If your prayer lines up with God’s will, then you can pray with confidence. In January, I started praying for the funds to go through a program to become a certified Biblical lay counselor. I have an associates degree in Human Services and love psychology. I found this Bible based program that was highly recommended, but it was $375.00. I wanted to make sure that this was God’s will and not my own. My goal is to help other single moms, other women who suffer with anxiety etc. and other women in general. So, I waited and I prayed. My birthday is June 8th. On June 6th, I received a gift in the mail of $375.00 in cash. I had not told anyone of this prayer on my heart. No one knew of the need. I prayed according to God’s will and I believed that He would provide the funds. I am now studying for my certification in Biblical lay counseling, which may lead to a certification in Biblical counseling.

My CHALLENGE to you: When you pray, make sure that your prayers line up with God’s will. Also, have faith! If your prayers line up with God’s will and nature, then you CAN have confidence that it will be answered with a YES! BELIEVE!!! No prayer is to BIG for our God. We serve a God that has access to ALL of the resources in the universe, so pray BIG! He CAN and WILL answer with a YES!!!