God’s Promise to Hear & Answer

PREACHER’S CORNER GOD’S PROMISE to HEAR & ANSWER

By Bishop Clifton Jones

Psalms 4:3 But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him. t is to the advantage of every believer to know that the Lord has promised to hear and to answer. God instituted prayer to make it possible for His believing children to reach and to maintain contact with Him.I The fact that God has promised to hear and to answer, that should inflame and motivate us to keep calling upon Him, knowing He is listening to the cry of His children. Prayer and praying are far more than begging the Lord for blessings; it is to keep us in touch with and He with us. It is that constant contact that develops an on-going relationship that prepares us for our future with Him. Every time the Lord answers a prayer, it aids us to focus the more on the next level. Answered prayer is a major faith builder and confidence promoter, it keeps us freshly aware that the Lord is a keeper of His word. I encourage each of us to single out a need and present it to the Lord without wavering; when He answers, He expects us to glorify Him. We can ill afford to listen to the flesh or the devil when it comes to the promises of God to hear and answer. Let us not disappoint Him by failing to call upon Him. On the other hand, let us not call Him and fail to feel that our cry went unheard. His Word is our confidence. Whatever we find in His Holy Word, we have a right to trust it.

Psalms 34:15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. Psalms 50:15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. Psalms 91:14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. Psalms 91:15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

May I suggest, we should not wait for trouble to start to call upon Him, neither should we stop calling because trouble raises its ugly head. The more we practice calling, the more likely we are to continue regardless to the circumstances. Our God is not intimidated by trouble. He has never seen and never will see a situation that is more powerful than Him. His record speaks for itself, what He has done, He can do it again.

Jeremiah 32:17 “Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.” Luke 1:37 “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

Let us not keep Him waiting. Let’s make the call because He is expecting us to cry... He is just a cry away. Let us keep in mind, we are calling upon the One who has promised to hear and to answer. It is our privilege to make the call; His promise is to hear and answer. If the righteous fail to call, we prevent Him from answering. When we call, we can be sure He is well able to deliver. Psalms 34:17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. It serves well to keep in mind His promise to the ones that call upon Him that when we call, we have His Word of what He will do.

Allow me to say, anyone with a God like ours, that soul is safe. We just need to keep calling upon Him..that is His will for our lives.

Psalms 34:6 “This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.”

Let us remember, the Lord is no respecter of a person; if ever He heard a cry, He will hear yours. Don’t keep Him waiting..call Him now and often.

The Lord wants to hear from us, and we need to hear from Him. The more we see His hand, the easier it is to keep our faith fed. The Word of God is what faith feeds on, which makes answered prayers mandatory for healthy faith.

Remember, the act of praying is a strong testimony that one’s faith is healthy and alive. Calling upon One that is not seen with the confidence He is there offers God what He needs to work with. The fact that others must summons God into their affairs and situations of unpleasantries, He stands ready to meet us wherever we are. Faith says to call Him. He is not afraid to enter the turbulent situation you are in. He is capable and qualified to turn things around for your good. It should be heartwarming to know the size of your problem does not reduce His ability to do exceedingly above all we can ask or think. It should be comforting to realize the more time we spend with Him, the more like Him we become. Praying goes beyond receiving blessings; it opens up a way to increase one’s relationship and stability.

Psalms 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Praying introduces us to the caliber of feeling that will be enjoyed throughout eternity; it is called practicing His presence. Allow me to leave you with these thoughts. Every serious prayer needs to become serious Bible students because the more one knows about what the Word says, the more confidence he or she will have in the process of asking and receiving.

1 John 5:14 “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:” 1 John 5:15 “And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”

When we load our spirits with the Word of God, we act in faith without consulting our human minds and feelings. God’s Word should be the foundation upon which our prayer life is built. That is why it is impossible to overemphasize the importance of loading our spirits with the Word of God. We use God’s Word to anchor our faith. Our faith in return elevates our spirits and circumstances to an acceptable level, one that meets God’s approval giving him even more reasons to answer our cry.

Psalms 34:19 “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.” Isaiah 58:9 “Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;” Isaiah 65:24 “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” Jeremiah 33:3 “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” Luke 11:9 “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

God’s invitation and appeal has gone out. It is up to us to take advantage of the summons to call unto Him. He will hear and answer. The fact others have cried and were heard, we should feel confident, the same will happen to us.

Psalms 84:11 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Micah 7:7 “Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.”

When we listen to God’s Word, we are sure to be encouraged to make the call. He wants to hear from us, and we need to hear from Him. The sky is the limit of what we can have, that is why we should not delay; we should call Him often and with confidence.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bishop Jones is the Diocesan of the 10th Episcopal District of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World Inc., an anointed preacher, inspired teacher, and a prolific writer. He has published more than 40 books at the present with others in the making.