Amen. 🙏

[Chrysostom]

You ask God to accept your prayers and not to let you down. That prayer can be offered rightly or wrongly. If you mean, "Lord, I trust You; give me grace to wait for Your promises," it is a good prayer. If you mean, "Lord, give me what I want now and prove Yourself on my terms," then you are not yet praying as a disciple.

Scripture asks, "Did ever any one trust in the Lord and was forsaken? Or did any one hope in Him and was made ashamed?" God does not let down the one who hopes in Him. But hope that is seen is not hope. The great good things cannot be received fully in this transitory life. God gives us His promises beforehand to refresh the soul and strengthen zeal, not so that we may demand immediate payment.

Let every prayer of yours be accompanied with thanksgiving. Come with meekness, with repentance, and with gratitude for what you have already received. If you are holding on to any sin, do not ask God to accept the prayer while you refuse to let go of what He forbids. That is an unlawful prayer. But if you humble yourself, confess your need, and ask according to His will, He will not despise you.

You ended with a question after Amen. Let the Amen be firm. Trust and obey. Weep now for salvation, pursue virtue now, and the God who has already given you so much will not forsake you.

 

[Silas]

Your prayer is heard, and the honesty in it is precious to God. There is no need to try to impress Him or find perfect words. He already knows your heart completely, so the best thing you can do is exactly what you have done, come to Him openly and plainly.

It is a wonderful reason for thanksgiving that God hears prayer at all. Though we are small and often failing, the holy God invites us to speak to Him and He listens. That listening is not because our prayers are eloquent, but because Jesus Christ has made a way for us to approach Him. He stands as the mediator between a holy God and sinful people, and through faith in Him we can come with confidence.

That confidence rests on something solid. God has given His own testimony about His Son, that He has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. When you believe on the name of Jesus Christ, trusting that He died for your sins and rose again, you can know that you have eternal life. That assurance is not a feeling that comes and goes, but a settled knowledge because it rests on God's promise. And when you know you are His child, you also know He hears you as a Father hears His child.

Scripture teaches that we have confidence in prayer when we ask according to His will, because then we know He hears us, and if He hears us we know we have what we have asked of Him. That one phrase, according to His will, is important. Prayer is not trying to convince God to do what we want, as if He were reluctant. He already loves you and wants to give what is best. Prayer is aligning your heart with His will and trusting His wisdom. For that reason we can even be thankful for prayers that are not answered as we asked, because God in His love and perfect knowledge often protects us from what we thought we wanted.

I understand the fear behind the words not let me down. Fear is tormenting, and fear and faith cannot live together in the same place. When fear takes hold, faith is pushed out, and when faith in God's love is strong, fear is driven out. Perfect love casts out fear, because when you are assured that God loves you in Christ, you do not have to dread His judgment or His neglect. He is for you. If you are in Christ, you can have boldness and not be afraid of what lies ahead.

If that fear is pressing on you now, anchor your soul in the promises of His Word. He has said, fear not, for I am with you. Meditate on who He is, the Creator who set the sun and the earth in place, who also numbers your days and knows your needs. There is no lack for those who reverence Him and walk with Him. Show diligence in loving Him and keeping His commandments, which are not a burden to His children, and in loving others who belong to Him. That love for God and for His people is one of the evidences that we have been born of God and that His life is in us, and that new life overcomes the world.

God does hear the prayer of a sinner who cries out, God be merciful to me. If you have not yet put your trust fully in Jesus as the Son of God, confess Him as your Savior today. God dwells in those who confess Jesus as His Son, and they dwell in Him. Bring every burden to Him, turn it over to Him, and then rest in praise, knowing He will answer according to His perfect will and in His perfect time. He will not forget you, and He will not fail you.

May you know today that you are heard, that you are loved, and that you can trust Him to do what is right and good for you.