April 2024

God answers prayers so He will be glorified. Prayer isn’t primarily to give us what we want. God cares whether we have what we need, and He wants us to be blessed through our petitions. He therefore responds by pouring out blessings on those who pray. But the primary reason for all those blessings and provisions is to put God’s goodness, wisdom, power, and grace on display. 

For example, when we pray that God will redeem a certain person and he or she comes to Christ, what is our first response? We thank the Lord for saving that individual. Why? Because we realize that salvation comes from God, and we glorify Him as a result. But suppose we hadn’t been praying for that person when he came to Christ. God still saved him, but we did not experience the joy of that salvation or give glory to God in the same personal way … because we weren’t praying. The same is true if, for example, members of a Bible study or Sunday school class have been praying about someone’s illness, job prospect, or marriage relationship. The people who have been involved in heartfelt prayers have known that God answered their prayers and are able to give God glory for the display of His grace and power. Those who are uninvolved in praying are comparatively indifferent to the display of God’s glory in answering prayer. If I’m not involved in the prayer process, then I’m not going to be nearly as involved in the rejoicing. Our attitude should be, “How can I get involved in praying for as much as I possibly can so that I often see God display His divine power, mercy, grace, love, and all His other attributes?

While God answers prayer to glorify Himself, we still must maintain a watchful care and concern for His name and glory. The prophet Daniel prayed specifically that God would be glorified in answer this prayer:

“O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city, Jerusalem. Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers. Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and hear; open your eyes and see our desolation, and the city which is called by Your name,; for we do not present our supplications before you because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”  (Daniel 9:16-19)

The nations interpreted the captivity of Judah and the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem as indications that God was either powerless or non-existent. So Daniel prayed for God to vindicate His name and not to allow his sin or the sin of the people to slander the Sovereign’s name and corrupt His reputation. That is a mature prayer. Too many people today tend to pray only for their own desires, forgetting that God is to be glorified. So, pray that God will manifest Himself in your life and the lives of those you pray for so that He may be glorified in you.

In other words, the primary issue in prayer is not obtaining what we want but allowing God to display His glory. If we receive what we want, that is really just a bonus. The eternal benefit of prayer is that it magnified God’s glory. That is why we know we will receive from Him what is best for us and what glorified Him most. Our faith in God’s power will increase as we see Him work.“ ¹

¹   MacArthur, John. Lord, Teach Me to Pray: An Invitation to Intimate Prayer. J. Countryman, p.22-25, 2003.

May 2024