The Benefits of Reflecting on Answered Prayer
If prayer is the key to chest, then praise is the proper delight in the unlocked treasure.
The Answer is Not The Treasure
We are mistaken if we think the answered prayer is the main treasure. The answer is the treasure we seek.
The answer is but a click of the lock. And we’re so busy trying to figure out if the click sounded like a “yes” or a “no” answer, we forget to open the chest.
The Treasure is…
The treasure is what the answered prayer reveals about God after we have drawn near to Him intimately to behold His character displayed in His workings and gifts.
We’re Free to Take “no” As an Answer With This Mindset
We are free to take “no” for an answer if we know of this treasure, because we are primarily seeking to draw nearer to the Father and see His glory displayed. His glory is displayed when He works His will, not just when His will happens to match our requests and produce a “yes” answer.
Be Accustomed to Gratefully Observing Answered Prayer
If we are unaccustomed to gratefully observing answered prayer, we might listen to ten-thousand locks click open without ever opening a chest. We will neglect to praise Him if we never look to see how our prayers were answered.
3 Reasons to Reflect on Old Prayers and Answers
Just as a man would look more than once into a treasure chest, we must look more than once upon our answered prayers and praise God. There are three reasons why it is fitting to frequently look to God’s past answers to our prayers and turn to praise Him again.
First, God is worthy of continual praise, and the past of full of specific things to fuel such praise.
Second, it does our hearts good to be set straight by delighting again in God’s excellencies displayed in the past.
Third, we see each act of God with eyes limited by space and time. As the story unfolds yet further, we may see a fuller of view of God’s work, leading to richer praise.
Until we have praised God for who He has shown Himself to be, we have seen no treasure. We have only heard the lock click, then scurried on our way.
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Boy, you mention something here we really need. Reflecting on answered prayer is so vital to our spiritual maturity. We need to remember what God has done. It’s one of the benchmarks of discipleship.
Thanks Jonathan. I’ve got one more post on prayer, and then I am going to dig in to some new topics.
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