Key to Answered Prayer

"David sought the face of the Lord. " - 2 Samuel 21:1

There are times when we put forth tremendous effort in prayers without getting any answer from God, yet how seldom do we seek to discover why! For how can we expect God to answer prayers that are out of harmony with His mind? In all our praying we must first find the key. It was this David sought to do at the time of prolonged famine this chapter describes. He did not simply cry to God: 'This famine has lasted three years. Have mercy on us now and grant us a rich harvest this year.' No, He sought the face of the Lord. Had God something to say about it? To his direct question God gave a direct reply, and with it the key to answered prayer. Saul, it appears, by slaying some of the Gibeonites, had violated God's understanding with Israel to spare them. True, he had done it out of zeal for God; but he had sinned. God will not permit the breaking of a solemn vow. So there was something to be set right. 'And after that,' we read in verse 14, 'God was intreated for the land.' David had found the key.

A Table In the Wilderness (by Watchman Nee 主僕倪柝聲弟兄)

Read the Scriptures: 2 Samuel 21

Seek First

"But seek ye first His kingdom, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." - Matthew 6:33

Prayer will be answered if it aims at letting Christ have the first place in all things. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and God will add to us all our needs. May we transform the time of praying for our needs into a time of praying for God's affairs. God will then hear the prayer we have uttered - that is, prayer for the things of God; but He will also hear the prayer we have not uttered - that is, prayer for our own affairs. If we would ask first that the Lord receive His, He would cause us to receive ours too. One of the sweet experiences in the life of a Christian is to have prayer continually answered.

The Lord My Portion (by Watchman Nee 主僕倪柝聲弟兄)

Read the Scriptures: Matthew 6