Quote (Thor123422 @ Aug 20 2018 01:58am)
How do you know when prayer works and when you would have gotten what you rpayed for even if you hadn't prayed?
We have God's word. Look here.
Matthew 7:7-12 NIV
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
How do we know that God's word is trustworthy? The Bible shows us that God keeps his promises and is faithful to His word. Here is the beginning of God's great plan and his famous promises to Abram.
Genesis 12:1-3 NIV
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
Here are the 5 promises God made to Abram, think of the acronym GLOBE.
Make Abram into a Great Nation.
God will give Abram some Land.
Abram's Great Nation will have Offspring.
Abram will be a Blessing.
All peoples on Earth will be blessed through you.
Great Nation, Land, Offspring and Blessing through all the Earth.
So how do I know when prayer works? The Bible tells us that when we ask then we shall receive, when we seek then we shall find and when we knock then the door will be opened to us.
We also know that God keeps his promises and that he is faithful to His word.
So when we pray to God, we are showing that we are putting our trust in Him. When we put our trust in God then what could he possibly with-hold from us when he gave His one and only Son?