Prayer, Answer, Response

Scripture:
I will come into your house with burnt offerings;
    I will perform my vows to you,
that which my lips uttered
    and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.
I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals,
    with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;
I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah

Come and hear, all you who fear God,
    and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
I cried to him with my mouth,
    and high praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
    the Lord would not have listened.
But truly God has listened;
    he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

Psalms 66:13-19

 

Observation: The psalmist is praising God as thanks for an answered prayer. In this section, he describes some of the situations of his prayer and praise ... he had been in a time of trouble, and in distress cried out to God who listed and granted his prayer, so the person has followed through on the promise he swore when he made the original prayer.

 

Application: God grants prayers not because we make promises - not because we negotiate with God - but because he loves us. That said, when God does answer our prayer, we need to respond to that answer. It isn't payment to God, it is simply faith ... we made a petition to our father, it was within his will and love for us to grant it and so he did, and we acknowledge that through praise and love for him.

 

The interesting thing for me is, I am having difficulty discerning my prayers from God's instructions. Just this Sunday I had thoughts about my wife, which I prayed to God about, and last night she told me about some guidance she was receiving from God that was a direct response to my prayer. So ... did God answer my prayer, or did he reveal to both myself and my wife his will so we could work together?

 

It doesn't matter. In fact, I think it is both - he revealed his will to me, so I prayed into that will, and knowing that I was volunteering to act, he granted the prayer. And so I praise him, giving God all honor, all glory, all credit, all love, all worship. He is my great and loving father who never turns away from the afflicted, the confused, the frustrated, the hurting. He listens to the longing of our hearts, and he responds, and I return all my love back to him.

 

Prayer: Thank you, father, for your abounding love, and for your wisdom to guide us in all matters at all times. May we now follow up on the promise and return that love to you. You have blessed us, so may we return love, honor, praise, and blessing back to you, forever. Amen.