And this is the confidence that we have before him: that whenever we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, then we know that we have the requests that we have asked from him. (1 John 5:14, 15)
I performed a gospel sleight of hand trick before wide-eyed children at an evangelistic day club in Slovakia. An eight-year-old volunteer assisted me to slice a one meter length of rope in half.
“Satan uses sin to cut our innocence in two,” I said. “But Jesus can make us whole again.” We tied the ends back together.
I wound the repaired rope around my hand and reached in a pocket for some invisible Holy Spirit dust.
“When we wrap our life around him, he makes our sin disappear.” I sprinkled on the dust, unwrapped the cord with a flourish, and, voila, it was in one piece without a knot in sight.
Oohs and aahs rippled through the young audience.
I wanted the Slovakians to know I wasn't using magic, so I revealed the secret trick. The loop that was sliced and retied was actually at one end of the cord. I hid that fake end in my pocket as I pretended to retrieve dust. The kids were no longer amazed.
The Bible promises that if we ask and have faith, miracles will be done for us. I read these statements and shake my head. The supernatural seems impossible. But maybe it’s time to reveal the mystery shrouding answered prayer.
I’ve known prayer warriors who regularly ask for, and receive, God’s intervention. They’ve learned the secret that faith to access God’s power must accompany an understanding of his heart. They don’t believe in miracles so much as they believe in the the Father.
That’s what I want from my prayers—to be so entwined with the heart of Father, that I see what he is doing, and I’m used of him to call it into the natural.
Prayer: Father, help me ask for what you want.