21 Keys to Answered Prayer E-Book

Dave Earley

• Herausgeber: PrayerShop Publishing
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 241

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Do you want to see more answers to your prayers? You can!

21 Keys to Answered Prayer looks at all the biblical keys that bring answers to your prayers or hinders you from seeing answers. Then it offers you practical ways to put each key into practice in your prayer life.

No matter where you are in your prayer life, 21 Keys to Answered Prayer will take you to a new level of effectiveness. If you are just starting, it will be a playbook for you. If you have been at it for awhile, use this book to fill the gaps. If you are an old pro at prayer, the Scriptures and stories in 21 Keys to Answered Prayer will rekindle your passion and reignite your effectiveness.

A great book for an individual or for a group or church to read and pray through together--either as a 21 day prayer initiative, or as a weekly study.

About the Author:

Dr. Dave Earley is a professor, pastor, and best-selling author. He is founder of the 21 Days of Prayer Global Event (www.21daysprayer.org).

Thousands of churches and individuals will be praying through this book together during the 21 Days of Prayer Global Event, January 6-26, 2025.

Leseprobe

PrayerShop Publishing is the publishing arm of the Church Prayer Leaders Network. The Church Prayer Leaders Network exists to equip and inspire local churches and their prayer leaders in their desire to disciple their people in prayer and to become a “house of prayer for all nations.” Its online store, prayershop.org, has more than 150 prayer resources available for purchase or download.

© 2024 David Bruce Earley

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of PrayerShop Publishing, P.O. Box 10667, Terre Haute, IN 47801.

ISBN (Print): 978-1-970176-38-4

ISBN (E-Book): 978-1-970176-39-1

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

1 2 3 4 5 | 2028 2027 2026 2025 2024

Contents

Introduction

1. Join God’s Family

2. Believe that Our Father Hears and Answers Prayer

3. Ask and Receive

4. Ask Repeatedly

5. Ask Specifically

6. Ask in Faith

7. Ask in Jesus’ Name

8. Make Time

9. Follow a Plan: TACOS

10. TA: Pray with Thanksgiving and Adoration

11. C: Confess Your Sins

12. O: Pray for Others

13. S: Pray for Yourself

14. Remove Roadblocks to Answered Prayer

15. Forgive Others

16. Unite with Others

17. Fast and Pray

18. Pray the Scriptures

19. Pray with Paul for Others

20. Pray Your Way Through the Spiritual Desert

21. Keep Praying Despite Delayed Answers

Introduction

DO YOU WANT to see more answers to your prayers?

You can!

When I was 18 years old, I committed to spend a significant amount of time in prayer every day. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Since then, I have seriously practiced and studied prayer. I’ve examined every verse in the Bible about prayer. I studied the prayer lives of nearly 100 Christian leaders. I read about 50 books on prayer.

I have wrestled with the role of prayer in the context of the sovereignty of God. I have struggled with unanswered prayers. In my personal life, I have gone through seasons of spiritual dryness when prayer was difficult, and I have dealt with high levels of spiritual warfare when prayer was a battle and a weapon.

Through my studies and experience, I collected notes and ideas about the conditions for answered prayer. I discovered aids— or keys—to answered prayer.

The more I use these keys, the stronger my prayer life becomes and the more answers I receive. I believe using these keys can do the same for you.

No matter where you are in your prayer life, my prayer is that this book will help you go to the next level of effectiveness. If you are just starting, make it your playbook. If you have been at it for a while, use this book to fill in the gaps. If you are an old pro, may the Scriptures and stories in this book rekindle your passion and reignite your effectiveness.

1

Join God’s Family

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven . . .”

(MATTHEW 6:9, ESV, EMPHASIS ADDED)

I AM A BUSY pastor and professor. Like many of you, I receive many calls, texts, messages, requests, and emails daily. But only a few of them take precedence over all the others—the messages from my kids. As a father, I respond to my kids readily and attentively because of our relationship.

“Our Father in Heaven”

Two thousand years ago, Jesus stood before a huge crowd and delivered a mighty manifesto we now refer to as the Sermon on the Mount. It was a bold declaration of what Jesus saw as the essential aspects of living in His Kingdom. Those who heard it thought it was radical.

In it, Jesus exposed the contrast between the false religion of the Pharisees and the true standard of God. This lofty Kingdom standard espoused by Jesus can only be experienced through a relationship with God.

Nowhere is this more obvious than in the first line of what we call “The Lord’s Prayer”—or better, the “Disciples’ Prayer.” Here, Jesus interjects the foundation, the atmosphere, and the primary basis of answered prayer when He introduced a new way to pray by saying, “Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven . . .” (Matthew 6:9).

THE 1ST KEY TO ANSWERED PRAYER IS TO JOIN GOD’S FAMILY.

It’s not the posture, place, or time of the request. It is the relationship.

The posture of prayer is not the primary issue. The Bible records people praying in various postures—kneeling, standing, bowing, lifting their hands, or lying on their faces. God requires no specific posture. We can pray in any position: walking, running, kneeling, and even driving.

The place of prayer is not the major issue. In the Bible, we see people praying in a cave, in a closet, in a valley, on a mountain-side, by a river, at a grave site, in a prison, on a rooftop, at the Temple, in a garden, on a boat, in the wilderness, and on a cross. We can pray anywhere.

The time of prayer is not the most important issue. In Scripture, we see people praying in the morning, at noon, in the evening, and at midnight. They prayed before meals and after meals. They prayed day and night. We can pray at any time.

Posture, place, and time of prayer are not the paramount issues when it comes to answered prayer. The most important issue is one’s relationship with God. Our Father hears and answers the prayers of those who are in His family.

The key to answered prayer is the relationship. Jesus said, “Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven. . .’” (Matthew 6:9). If God is your Father, then you can ask Him for anything, at any time, and from any place—and you can know He is listening to what you have to say. If the child asks for something that will be good for him or her, the father will most likely give the child what he or she asks for.

It is not approaching God as King, God, or Master. It is approaching God as Father.

The Bible presents God and our relationship with Him through several images. One is that God is the “Sovereign King of the Universe” (1 Chronicles 29:12; Psalm 10:16, 103:19). Jews traditionally opened each prayer with the words, “Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the Universe.” When I think of God this way, I think of approaching Him cautiously and only when I have a very significant need. I see myself presenting to Him a formal petition to act on behalf of my urgent request. When a peasant approached a king in this way, the odds of getting a favorable response from the king may be small.

God is also seen in Scripture as the “Holy Lord God Almighty.” To approach God in this manner, I picture lying on my face in surrender, submission, humility, confession, brokenness, and worship. I think of the apostle John before God’s throne (Revelation 4:8) or Isaiah seeing the Lord, high and lofty, on His throne (Isaiah 6:1-5). Both were crushed by God’s immensity, majesty, glory, and holiness. The issue in approaching such a massive, mighty, Holy God is primarily about being forgiven more than it is about influencing Him to issue blessings.

Beyond that, God is “the Master” and we are His servants (Matthew 6:24). Our focus is to be on His business. When I think of God this way, I feel like I need to make an appointment to see “the Boss” about my role in His business. Nothing else is to be discussed.

But Jesus gave us an entirely new and better image. He described prayer as a child approaching a kind, generous, strong, and loving “heavenly Father.”

In the prayers of Jesus recorded in the New Testament, each one begins with the word “Father.” This must have stunned the Jews because they would never consider approaching God with the familiar word “Father.” They approached God more with formal, less personal titles like “Sovereign King of the Universe.”

It is only through Jesus that we can call God “Father.”

Prayer giant Andrew Murray, in his classic book With Christ in the School of Prayer, states, “The atmosphere in which I am to breathe and pray is God’s Father-love, God’s infinite Fatherliness.”1

I love that thought: “God’s infinite Fatherliness.”

Murray also said, “We must learn to say, ‘Daddy, Father! Our Father who is in Heaven.’ Whoever can say this, has the key to all prayer . . . the secret to effective prayer is to have the heart filled with the father-love of God.”2

Reread that last phrase. He called the Father-child relationship with God “the key to all prayer . . . the secret of effective prayer.”

“THE SECRET TO EFFECTIVE PRAYER IS TO HAVE THE HEART FILLED WITH THE FATHER-LOVE OF GOD.” —ANDREW MURRAY

How Much More

In Matthew 6:9, Jesus introduces us to the concept of coming to God personally, as approaching a Father when we pray. In Matthew 7:7–11, Jesus took it up a level by giving us promises related to the Father’s willingness to answer the prayers of His children.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened (Matthew 7:7–8, emphasis added).

In this passage, Jesus helps us to see that answered prayer, in part, comes from asking. But there is more:

“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him? (Matthew 7:9–11, NLT, emphasis added).

Jesus draws a comparison between our earthly fathers and our heavenly Father. He states that even imperfect earthly fathers will make every effort to give their children the good things that they ask for. Therefore, we should expect our good heavenly Father to give us the good things that we ask for . . . and more. Answered prayer comes because of expectation. It is approaching God as our “heavenly Father” who “gives good gifts to those who ask him” (Matthew 7:11).

Is God Your Heavenly Father?

Jesus said that the special Father-child relationship with God is not automatic. We must be born into it. When Nicodemus, a very religious Pharisee, cautiously and privately approached Jesus, Jesus stunned him with His declaration: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, italics added).

Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed a second birth. His first birth was insufficient. Like the rest of us, he was born with a sin nature. No amount of religion can make up for the fact that Nicodemus was a sinner.

Nicodemus replied, “How can someone be born when they are old? Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” (John 3:4).

Jesus responded that being “born again” is not only experiencing a second birth. It is also experiencing a spiritual birth.

Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:5–8, ESV, emphasis added).

Jesus was clear: you will not experience the Kingdom of God unless you experience a second birth and a spiritual birth. As Jesus said, we must be born again into God’s family. This is through receiving and believing in Jesus (John 1:12–13, 3:16). This is through repentance and faith, turning from our sins, and turning to God. Being born again requires believing that Jesus rose from the dead, calling upon the name of the Lord, and confessing Him as Lord (Romans 10:9,13).

Do you need to join God’s family?

Have you been born again?

When were you born again?

How to Be Born Again

Jesus answered Nicodemus’ questions about being born again with the statement that has become the most quoted verse in the Bible. Note that being born again is a result of believing in Jesus.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16, emphasis added).

Earlier in his Gospel, John reaffirmed the necessity of faith and added clarity to it. We are born again when, by faith, we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior.

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God (John 1:12–13, emphasis added).

The good news is that humans can pray with confidence and expectancy to “our Father in heaven.” The bad news is we can only effectively pray to “our heavenly Father” if we have been born again into His family.

Following is a prayer. Thousands have prayed it—or something like it—when they were serious about turning their lives over to Jesus Christ. It does not contain magic words, and just saying it will not save your soul. But it incorporates the gospel and the elements of true conversion. Read through it. Decide if you believe it. If you sense the Father drawing you to Himself, you can pray it to God right now. He is listening.

Dear Heavenly God,

I admit that I have sinned. I admit that my religion alone is not going to give me a relationship with You. I admit that my goodness is not good enough. I admit that I need to be born again.

I believe that Jesus is Your Son. I believe that Jesus never sinned. I believe that Jesus died to pay for my sins. I believe that Jesus rose from the dead to give me eternal life.

Right now, I call upon the name of the Lord Jesus to save me. I ask the Holy Spirit to come into my heart and make me a new person. I ask that I may be born again as a child of God. I surrender the throne of my heart to You. I ask You to forgive my sins and save me.

I am willing to do anything You tell me to do. I am willing to stop doing anything that displeases You. I ask for the power to follow You all the days of my life.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

The Incredible Love of the Father

God hears us when we pray, and He looks to answer our prayers with “Yes” (Matthew 7:7–11). He sees us praying in secret and loves to reward us openly (Matthew 6:6). Why?

Because our heavenly Father “loves us” with a faithful, everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). The title, “heavenly Father” reminds us that God loves us with an immense quantity and an incredible quality of love. The apostle John was overwhelmed by the love of the Father when he wrote:

See what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to us, that we would [ be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! (1 John 3:1, AMP, emphasis added).

Suggestions

The 1st key to answered prayer is a family relationship with your heavenly Father. As you begin this 21-day adventure in answered prayer, build your prayers on a solid foundation—your family relationship with your heavenly Father.

1.Be certain you have been born again into His family.

2.Approach Him in every prayer with the confidence that He loves you.

3.Write 3–7 prayer requests for your heavenly Father. Every day approach your Father in heaven with each of them.

Questions to Consider

1.Have you been born again into God’s family through faith in Jesus?

2.Do you know the date, time, and place of your spiritual birth?

3.If you are not certain that you have been born again, will you respond to God and be born again today, on this date, at this time, at this place? This is a chance to make sure.

4.Would you say that you consistently approach God as your Father?

5.How could approaching God as your Father enhance your prayer life?

More Questions to Consider

1.What excites you about beginning this 21-day adventure in answered prayer?

2.What time each day do you plan to read this book and pray?

3.How much time will you set aside for reading and prayer each day?

4.Where do you plan to read this book and pray each day?

5.Which of your friends can you ask to join you in your prayer journey?

Notes

1. Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer (Rock Hill, SC; Life Training Center, 2001), 9.

2. Murray, 2.

2

Believe Our Father Hears and Answers Prayer

You who answer prayer, to you all people will come.

(PSALM 65:2)

ARE YOU FACING a big, impossible situation? You need an answer to prayer.

Is someone in your family dealing with a difficulty? You need an answer to prayer.

Have you been disappointed, and your faith is wavering? Are you dealing with doubts? You need an answer to prayer.

Maybe you have never had a strong prayer life but would like to have one that consistently sees answers to prayer for yourself and others. You want your life of prayer to strengthen believers and silence critics.

I know exactly how you feel. I have been in the same situation, more than once. I am writing this book for you—and for myself. Life is too brief not to have a great prayer life.

You can see answers to your prayers. You can have an amazing prayer life.

But you must believe.

50,000 Answers to Prayer!

By the age of 20, George Müller was an accomplished thief, liar, and gambler. But when a fellow college student invited him to a prayer meeting, God changed Müller’s life. After surrendering to Christ that night, Müller began an amazing life of bold faith and answered prayer.

At a time in England when orphans either lived miserable lives in workhouses or on the streets, the young pastor Müller and his wife Mary took 30 orphaned girls into their home. The orphan ministry grew until Müller had overseen the feeding, clothing, housing, and education of 10,024 orphans in his lifetime. Plus, he started 117 schools that educated 120,000 other children. Wow!

Müller did all of this without soliciting contributions. He believed that because this work was of God, God would provide. And God did supply—again and again—in response to prayer! More than half a billion dollars came in, unsolicited, in answer to prayer—often just in time.

Müller recorded his prayers and their answers in his journals. He eventually wrote a book called Answers to Prayer, in which he described some of his 50,000 specific answers to prayer. That is not a typo—50,000 answered prayers! Donald Whitney wrote, “Think of it: that’s five hundred definite answers to prayer each year—more than one per day—every single day for sixty years!”1

Five hundred answers to prayer each year! Answers to prayer every day!

How can this be?

Müller knew his heavenly Father. He knew the secret and he used the key. He believed that the Lord answered prayer. He believed our Father is willing to answer your prayers also.

Not every child of God is called by the Lord to establish schools and orphan houses and to trust in the Lord for means for them. Yet, there is no reason why you may not experience, far more abundantly than we do now, His willingness to answer the prayers of His children.2

THE 2ND KEY TO ANSWERED PRAYER IS BELIEVING THE FATHER CAN AND WILL ANSWER PRAYER.

Blessed Bread and Miraculous Milk

“The children are dressed and ready for school. But there is no food for them to eat,” the housemother of the orphanage informed George Müller one morning. But Müller believed the Lord can and will answer prayer. So, he asked her to take the 300 children into the dining room and have them sit at the tables. Then Müller prayed in belief, “Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat.”

There was a knock at the door; it was a baker. “Mr. Müller,” he said, “last night I could not sleep. Somehow, I knew that you would need bread this morning. I got up and baked three batches for you. I will bring it in.”

“Children,” Müller said,” we not only have bread, but fresh bread.”

Almost immediately they heard a second knock. It was a milkman. His milk cart had broken down outside the orphanage. The milk would spoil by the time the wheel was fixed. He asked Müller if he could use some free milk. Müller smiled as the milkman brought in ten large cans of milk. It was just enough for the 300 thirsty children.3

$60,000 in Kindness!

Müller described a time in 1883 when funds for his orphans ran dangerously low. At the time he was overseeing the complete care of more than 400 children. One day he only had $60 ($2,400 in today’s currency) to use to care for the children. But he desperately needed to buy flour, oatmeal, and soap. He also had to pay several workmen who were making needed repairs to the orphanage. Plus, the furnace needed to be fixed. These needs totaled $500 ($20,000 today). He said he had no human prospect of coming up with $2 ($80), much less $500 ($20,000)!

But Müller knew the secret and used the key. He believed the Father can and will answer prayer. He wrote:

In walking to the Orphan House this morning, and praying as I went, I particularly told the Lord in prayer . . . He could send me much.

And thus, it was.

I received this morning fifteen hundred dollars [$60,000 today!] for the Lord’s service, as might be most needed.

The joy that I had cannot be described. I walked up and down in my room for a long time, tears of joy and gratitude to the Lord raining plentifully over my cheeks, praising and magnifying the Lord for His goodness, and surrendering myself afresh, with all my heart, to Him for His blessed service. I scarcely ever felt more the kindness of the Lord helping me.4

The South Wind Blew

As winter began, the boiler used to heat the rooms of 300 orphans broke down. It was encased in bricks and was very difficult to get into, let alone fix. Repairs would be very time-consuming. The boiler would need to be completely shut down for several days. The day before repairs were to begin, the weather got extremely cold. Müller was concerned that the smallest children couldn’t stay in freezing rooms.

But Müller knew the secret and used the key. He believed the Father can and will answer prayer. He wrote,

What was to be done? The repairs could not be put off. I now asked the Lord for two things . . . that He would be pleased to change the north wind into a south wind, and that He would give to the workmen “a mind to work.”

He continued, “Well, the memorable day came. The bleak north wind blew still; but, on the Wednesday, the south wind blew exactly as I had prayed. The weather was so mild that no fire was needed.”

The boss said he would have the men work late to try to expedite the work. But according to Müller, the leader of the men said, “Sir, we would rather work all night.”

Müller said, “Then I remembered the second part of my prayer, that God would give the men ‘a mind to work.’”5

Peter, the Church, and the God Who Is Attentive to Prayer

Of course, Müller wasn’t the only one who believed God hears and answers prayers. The apostle Peter had the heart to do big things for God. But when he tried in his own strength, he was a miserable failure, going so far as to deny the Lord three times.

Yet, after being restored and recommissioned by the risen Lord Jesus, the apostle Peter became a fireball of faith and power. He preached the gospel, and 3,000 people were baptized in one day (Acts 2). He healed the sick (Acts 3). He boldly confronted the religious authorities (Acts 4). He courageously preached about Jesus in the Temple area (Acts 5). He strategically opened the door of the gospel to the non-Jewish world (Acts 10).

How did he have such a significant impact? How did this miserable coward become a courageous apostle who gave Spiritanointed leadership of the Church for decades? How was he able to withstand such fierce persecution and eventually give himself to be crucified for his faith?

One reason for his life-changing impact is that after joining a weeklong prayer meeting (Acts 1), Peter knew the secret and used the key. He believed God hears and answers prayer! Later, he wrote,

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer . . . (1 Peter 3:12).

Another leader of the disciples, James, was the brother of John. Because Christianity was growing too rapidly, James was executed by sword by King Herod. Peter was next to be arrested and thrown into prison, awaiting probable execution (Acts 12:1–4).

But the first church knew the secret and used the key. They believed God would hear and answer their prayers.

So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him (Acts 12:5, emphasis added).

God heard and answered their prayers. He sent an angel to execute a special operations mission to rescue Peter.

The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists (Acts 12:6–7).

The rescue mission did not end there.

Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him (Acts 12:8–10).

After the angel left, Peter went to a house “where many people had gathered and were praying” for his deliverance (Acts 12:12). As you recall, the girl who answered the door did not believe it was Peter. She thought it was his ghost and closed the door in his face! So, he continued to pound on the door until someone else answered. When they let him in, he told them how God had answered their prayers and sent an angel to rescue him.

So, to recap, an angel was sent, and Peter was spared because the first church believed our Father hears and answers prayer.

It Can Happen to You

As you read this chapter of God sending amazing answers to prayer to George Müller and the apostle Peter, please don’t think it can’t happen for you. God promises to hear and answer the prayers of His obedient children.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7–8, 11).