Pray with Me? #4 (Supplication)
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. – John 15:7
Jesus tells his disciples to bring their requests to God, and God will hear them and answer them. I wonder why Jesus had to give that instruction to them? Did they feel like God shouldn’t be bothered? Did they feel like God would hear their requests? Or did they feel like things were already set in motion, and so what was the point in asking? If I am honest, I can feel all of those things too. But, Jesus thought it was important to tell them and us that we are supposed to give our requests to God and to do it with the posture of expectancy. Why? Because God hears us and answers our prayers. What wonderful news!
If you have been following along this month, we have explored the ACTS prayer model. And so far, we have explored the A, C, and T of the model.
A – Adoration: Praising God for who he is.
C – Confession: Acknowledging our sin to God.
T – Thanksgiving: Praising God for what he has done.
S – Supplication or requests comes at the end. And, I think that is an important place for it. Why? Because we have positioned our hearts to see God and ourselves rightly before we ask. In other words, it postures our hearts to be genuine in our asking. See, I think that is what Jesus was encouraging the disciples with in John 15. He says that if you remain in me and my words in you, then you should ask. Walking through the A, C, and T first fosters an abiding or remaining relationship with God. And, when we give our requests to God, we communicate our trust in his faithful presence and future provision. Finally, we can ask, knowing that God only gives good gifts (Ja. 1:17).
C.S. Lewis once said, “I must often be glad that certain past prayers of my own were not granted.” Here Lewis reminds us that we can ask expectantly, faithfully, and confidently that God, in his good and gracious will, does not answer all of our prayers in the way that we think is best. That is a wonderful gift!
Supplication – to give God our requests, according to His will
Prayers of supplication are prayers that seek the good provision of God in our lives for specific needs. We should bring a humble and expectant posture to prayers of supplication, knowing that God hears us and always works for our good.
- Don’t rush to requests.
- Sometimes the only thing we do in prayer is give God a laundry list of requests. Make sure to spend time on the A, C, and T so that our hearts are rightly postured to ask.
- Look for God to answer.
- God always answers our prayers. I have heard it said, he answers with a yes, no, or wait. When we give God a request, let us actively wait by looking for how God answers.
- Respond in praise and thanksgiving.
- When we see God answering our prayers, we should respond with prayers of praise and thanksgiving.