The following is adapted from the Blue Letter Bible Institute (BLBi) class The Attributes of God by David Hocking. The Attributes of God is one of fourteen free classes available at the BLBi.
God is able to answer prayer.
Think about the rich truths packed in that statement.
Who is God? He is the great Almighty Lord of all.
What is prayer? The privilege of speaking to this God as a son speaks to a loving Father.
God can answer prayer. This truth can bring so much joy to the believer. It encourages us to pray all the more. One of the first applications in the heart of the believer is that praying to the Lord is not a waste of time. Praying to Him is not meaningless. Praying to Him may be the most important thing I can do in life. God really does have power and greatness, as opposed to anything I might try; therefore, praying to Him is what I need to do more than anything else.
All of a sudden, when you understand who God is, guess what? Prayer moves up the list and becomes a priority in the believer’s life. Prayer is always down on the list when the preaching, teaching ministry of the church is focusing on the needs of people—believe it or not. Often that is where prayer requests come from, the needs of people. But what in fact happens is that because of the concentration on man and not God, the motivation to prayer becomes a weak matter. It is a difficult thing. Repetition becomes a problem of just going through the motions and saying the same kinds of words you have always said. We even teach children how to pray and new converts how to pray, and so there is a routine. Christians get used to it. We offer quickies when we have food, before we go to bed at night or when we get up. It becomes a routine or a pattern, and in some terrible sense it becomes empty because we forget who God is. It is the greatness of God and His power that says to me that prayer is most important.
In John 14:13–14 Jesus said,
And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
In John 15:16. Jesus said,
You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
And in verses 23–27 He says,
And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God. (NKJV)
What He is telling us is, “Ask. I can do it. I can answer prayer.” Talk about the power of God! He is incomparable. Who else can do this for you?
Pray today in Jesus’ name.