Like everyone, I have received many answers to prayer. As the axiom goes, “Some were answered ‘yes,’ some ‘no’ and some ‘not now.’”
But I have learned that there are some prayers God can’t resist. Some prayers He answers with alacrity. Some prayers seem to spur God to act. Here are seven such prayers:
1) I surrender.
Jesus said, “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37, ESV). God honors and accepts any act of surrender, large or small.
2) Bring Your kingdom; have Your way.
Jesus taught his followers to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10, ESV). Learning to pray this sincerely—and specifically—can transform your praying and your living. It is not only a prayer He taught us to pray, it is one He is anxious to answer
3) Forgive me.
No one who has sincerely asked for God’s forgiveness has ever been denied. He is “good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon [Him]” (Psalm 86:5, ESV).
4) Lead me.
Do you need guidance in making a decision? Do you crave strength to face a challenge? Do you want God’s purpose to be accomplished in a specific area of your life? Pray like the psalmist: “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing” (Psalm 143:10, NLT). Though you may not always feel His hand holding yours, God will always answer when you ask Him to lead you.
5) Draw them to You.
The Bible says that God doesn’t want anyone to perish; He wants everyone to come to repentance and experience new, abundant life in Christ (2 Peter 3:9). Therefore, whenever you pray for God to have mercy on someone and draw that person closer to Himself, He will answer. It may not seem that way. It may not happen as quickly as you would like or in the way that you had in mind, but when His will and your praying agree with each other, He will answer.
6) Use me.
The Bible records the earliest Christians praying, not for deliverance from hardship or persecution, but for God to “enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness” (Acts 4:29, NIV). And God answered their prayer, as He will respond to any of His servants who pray to be used. However, a warning is in order: Brace yourself when you pray to be used, because you may be surprised at how He answers.
7) Make me like You.
God loves to answer when a follower of Jesus prays to be made to look and act more and more like Jesus Christ, because that is what He wants and a work He has already begun in you (Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:18, 1 John 3:2).
These are not the only prayers God can’t resist, perhaps. But I’ve never known Him to turn down a single one of them. He has told us to pray these prayers, and over and over again has proven Himself willing and anxious to hear and answer them.
