In this series of God's Promises and Man's Faith, we need to consider three requirements or conditions listed in the Bible relative to answered prayer. The first is Faith. In James 1:5-7, we read:

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.

This passage makes it clear that faith must accompany prayer for an answer.

Another condition to be met is motive as found in James 4:3: "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." Obviously we must pray with the right motive to receive an answer. The desired answer must glorify the Lord if we expect an answer.

The third requirement is to pray in the will of God. This we find in 1 John 5:14-15:

And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us: And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the the petitions that we desired of Him.

A good example of this is, when Christ prayed in the garden, He closed His prayer by saying: "...nevertheless, not what I will, but what thou wilt [Mark 14:36]."

Continued next week.

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