As Matthew 7:11 says, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!" the God of love wants to give His children anything they ask for. Yet, in order to receive from Him, they should meet certain criteria, which are presented below. The following five check points are the secrets to receiving answers from God. Let's check ourselves based on them and thereby receive abundant blessing as God's children.
1. Do you believe and trust Jesus Christ?
Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and confirming His words with signs. The lame walked, the lepers were cleansed, the blind received sight, the deaf could hear, and demons were driven out. The news about His ministry was becoming wide-spread and people gathered wherever He went.
One day, Jesus was approaching Jericho and a blind man was sitting by the road. The man was told that Jesus was passing by and called out saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" (Luke 18:38) He had heard about Jesus' ministry and believed from his heart Jesus could open his eyes.
The man called Jesus 'Son of David'. This showed his belief in Jesus having come as the Savior; any Jew knew well that their Savior would be from David's genealogy. Just as the blind man did, if we believe and trust Jesus Christ from the heart, answers from God will be ours.
2. Do you cry out in prayer following the justice of God?
The first man, Adam, lived in opulence in the Garden of Eden though he didn't toil because God provided him with everything. But after he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in disobedience to God, sins entered the world; from then people came to eat only through toil all the days of their life (Genesis 3:17).
This is the rule that God set, which is called the justice of God. Accordingly, people would have to labor strenuously to gain the produce. In the same manner, we are to labor at prayer by crying out with all our hearts so that we can enjoy answers from God.
Jesus showed good examples. Luke 22:44 says, "And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground." When He revived Lazarus, who had been dead for four days, He also cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth" (John 11).
Again, Luke 23:46 records that Jesus cried out loudly just before He breathed His last on the cross, saying, "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit." Then, it is definitely a matter of course that we, mere creatures should cry out loudly in prayer if we want to receive answers, especially, when we want to solve a certain problem that can't be resolved with human power.
3. Do you show your faith through deeds perfectly?
Let's take a second look at the blind man described in Luke 18. When he cried out, people sternly told him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Rather than being quiet the man called out even more earnestly. He was showing his faith through deeds that didn't sway in any situation.
Had he felt hurt and intimidated and become quiet as he was told, he wouldn't have gained his sight. But since his faith was strong and not wavering, he believed that through Jesus he would receive his answer, so he asked persistently and didn't miss the chance.
Jeremiah 33:3 says, "Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know." As said, if we want to receive answers from God we should call to Him earnestly in a humble attitude in any circumstance.
4. Do you obey and throw aside your cloak?
In Mark 10 there is a record of a blind beggar named Bartimaeus. Hearing Jesus was passing by, he began to call Jesus with a loud voice. And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him here." Then he threw aside his cloak, jumped up, and came to Him (Mark 10:50).
A beggar's cloak is dirty and stinks but it is very important daily necessity to a beggar. It is his only possession. Bartimaeus heard and knew that Jesus is holy and clean and he had given grace to people, healed the sick, and given hope to the poor and the sick. So he thought from his conscience he could not come to Jesus in such a dirty and filthy cloak. Obeying the voice of conscience, he threw aside his cloak right away.
This spiritually indicates that we have to cast off all filthy and stinky sins to meet our holy God. Thus, to receive God's answer, we must first repent of our past sins fully with the help of the Holy Spirit, cleanse our hearts from such things, and then obey what the Holy Spirit urges us to do immediately without hesitation.
5. Do you confess your faith with your lips?
When the blind man appearing in Luke 18 called to Him with faith, Jesus asked, saying, "What do you want Me to do for you?" In fact, He knew the blind man's heart's desire but he still asked him what he wanted Him to do. Why did He do so?
This is because in order to receive answers from God, we must profess our faith with lips. The justice of God is that an answer comes only when we confess our faith with our mouth. In accordance with the justice, the blind beggar expressed his faith through the word of his lips, saying, "Lord, I want to regain my sight!" and it was answered as he said (Luke 18:41-43).
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