Praise God for Answered Prayer!
Originally written by Charles H. Spurgeon. Updated to modern English by Darren Hewer, 2008.
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"I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart" Psalm 9:1
Praise should always follow answered prayer, just like the mist of earth's gratitude rises when the sun of heaven's love warms the ground. Has the Lord been gracious to you, and heard your voice as your earnestly pray? Then praise Him as long as you live! Don't deny a song to Him who has answered your prayer and given you the desire of your heart.
To be silent over God's mercies is to incur the guilt of ingratitude. It is to act as ungratefully as the nine lepers. After they were cured of their leprosy, they did not even bother to return to give thanks to the Lord who healed them. (Luke 17:11-19)
To forget to praise God is to refuse to benefit ourselves. Praise, like prayer, is one great means of growing our spiritual life. It helps to remove our burdens, to excite our hope, and to increase our faith. It is a healthy and invigorating exercise which quickens the pulse of the believer, and nerves us for fresh enterprises in our Master's service.
To bless God for His mercy is also a way to benefit our fellow brothers and sisters: "My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice." (Psalm 34:2) Others who have been in similar circumstances will take comfort if we say, "Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together. I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears." (Psalm 34:3-4) Weak hearts will be strengthened, and weak souls will be revived as they listen to our "songs of deliverance." Their doubts and fears will be assuaged, as we teach and encourage one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Then they too will "sing in the ways of the Lord" when they hear us praising His holy name.
Praise is the most heavenly of Christian duties. The angels do not pray, but they never cease to praise both day and night. And we the redeemed, clothed in white robes, with palm-branches in our hands, should never grow tired of singing the new song, "Worthy is the Lamb."
Question: Has your prayer been answered lately? Please share it with us, or a story about how God has answered your prayer in the past.
You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2009/07/03/cs_answered-prayer/
July 3rd, 2009 at 10:04 am
God answers my prayers. He is answering all our prayers according to His will.
Many of our intercessary prayers are being answered. In our daily family devotion, we pray for very little of our wants but we spend more of our time to thank God for all that He has been doing from the beginning for our lives. And also we do spent much time to pray for others.
We do not get tired of praying for others as we are encouraged by the answered prayers. God takes care of our needs before we ask for it.
July 3rd, 2009 at 6:51 pm
There is not enough room to share how faithful God has been to me in answering many, many of my prayers. It's amazing when you finally realize that if you submit to the will of the Lord and ask from the depth's of your heart, just what He will do. After reading the "Praise God for answered prayer" I also realized the need to pray for others with the same concern as your own personal prayers. If He has answered you for you He can answer yours for others if you are just as diligent.
July 4th, 2009 at 4:51 am
It is really a joy and blessing to have read your message "Praise God for Answered Prayers". I never realised the need to praise God for all the blessings and in so many
occasions kept quiet in the church instead of praising the God and witnessing for
his Glory. However in all that occasions I was feeling guilty. Now I understood
the need for praising God for whatever small or big thing He is doing in our life.
July 7th, 2009 at 2:26 am
I will forever be very grateful to God for answering my prayers. I finished my secondary education and had a good result, but I wasn't admitted to the University (University of Ghana) I applied for. Three weeks passed after admission, but I was still praying and believing God for a miracle. I was in church one evening when a church member came to me during praises time, and told me my father was looking for me from the village. To my surprise, I had admission from a private university.