Knowing God - Part 5

Believers can come to know God better through His answers to prayer. In the lengthy prayer at the dedication of the temple, Solomon asked for God to respond by revealing Himself even to foreigners who would seek Him and pray to Him. "Also concerning the foreigner . . . when he comes from a far country for Your name's sake . . . and prays toward this house, hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name to fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name" (I Kings 8:41-43). Following is a survey of truths to be learned about God through His answers to prayer.

God is compassionate. Hannah was greatly burdened because she did not have a son; furthermore, her husband's other wife provoked her bitterly over that fact. When she poured out her prayer to God, He gave her a son (I Samuel 1:2-20). God did the same for Rachel (Genesis 30:22).

God understands human weakness. Elijah was so troubled and discouraged that he prayed for God to kill him. God responded by sending an angel to minister to him and give him extraordinary provision (I Kings 19:4-8).

God is generous and delights to give blessing. God invited Solomon to ask any request. When Solomon humbly prayed for wisdom, God responded by granting his request and then promising abundant blessing beyond the wisdom (I Kings 3:5-13).

God is patient. When Gideon was filled with fear and uncertainty as he considered obeying God, he prayed twice for God to give him a sign of reassurance. God answered both of those prayers and even voluntarily gave other reassurance beyond what Gideon had asked (Judges 6:36-40; 7:9-15).

God is longsuffering. The prayers of the children of Israel took the form of grumbling (Exodus 16:8) as they demanded food and water. In spite of the nature of their communication and the repeated nature of the requests, God provided food and water for them (Exodus 15:24-16:14).

God is forgiving. David earnestly prayed for forgiveness in Psalm 51. God granted His forgiveness and went on to use David in wonderful ways, while expressing His esteem for David and acknowledging His godly heart (I Samuel 13:14).

God gives wisdom. When Joshua was dismayed and confused by the army's defeat at Ai, he called out to God. God responded by revealing the sin that needed to be addressed (Joshua 7:6-15).

God responds favorably to His children's requests to know Him. When Moses prayed to know God in a special way, God answered by revealing Himself in an unprecedented display of glory (Exodus 33:18-23).

God responds to prayerful worship. When Solomon dedicated the temple, he worshiped God in prayer, acknowledging His greatness, remembering His promises, requesting His favor, and imploring His help and mercy (I Kings 8:22-53). God responded by appearing to Solomon, specifically citing his prayer, and giving additional promises to Solomon (9:2-9).

God rewards faith. Elijah prayed something so extraordinary that no one would consider praying such a thing. He asked that it not rain for three and a half years, and it did not. Then he prayed that it would rain, and God sent rain immediately and abundantly (James 5:17-18).

God is faithful. God's people had been in Egypt for 450 years, much of that time under oppressive slavery. God had promised to bring them out, and He told Moses that He had heard their cry and was going to deliver them (Exodus 3:7-8).

God cannot lie. God was ready to completely destroy the nation of Israel after they sinned by making and worshiping the golden calf. Moses entreated God not to destroy the people by reminding God of His promise to Abraham. God answered by withholding His judgment (Exodus 32:9-14).

God is powerful. The people of Israel and Moses cried out to God when they were trapped at the Red Sea. God opened a miraculous pathway of escape and then completely annihilated the Egyptians (Exodus 14:9-29). When Hezekiah prayed for deliverance, God sent His angel to kill the entire Assyrian army overnight (II Kings 19:15-35).

The stories with their revelations of God's character could go on and on. I have not mentioned God's love in responding to heavy burdens, His omniscience in beginning to answer before the prayers were even made, or simply His desire to be magnified in the eyes of men through His answers. At times God worked in the life of one person only because someone else prayed for him (Genesis 19:29). God even answered prayers for people who had not always served him faithfully (Judges 16:28-30).

Because these Bible accounts tell the entire story and reveal God's intended instruction, they are wonderful tools to build our knowledge of God. We may be a bit more challenged to see all of these things in our own lives. Especially when prayers are not answered in dramatic fashion or with the answer we had desired, we may stumble and perhaps interpret those answers as revealing negative aspects of God's character. That is because we do not have the perspective of eternity and God's wisdom; in those cases, we must have faith in what God has revealed about Himself and must believe it to be true anyway. If, however, we will consider how God has answered prayers over the course of our lives, we will see many of these same qualities revealed.

"Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3 (NASB)